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School Updates
- Improvements made at Key Stage 2 in Essex
- 2000th Apprentice
- Message from Tim Coulson to all ECC Commissioned and Traded Service users
- Ambitious plans to transform Essex County Council outlined
- Views sought on Lifelong Learning Strategy
- Personal Education Plans (PEP) for Children in Care
- Conference Report: Essex- No Place for Bullying
Following the publication of the 2012 Primary Performance tables by the DfE last week, Essex Primary Schools are being congratulated for improving Key Stage 2 results.
The percentage of pupils achieving level four in English and Maths has increased by 5% (from 74% in 2011 to 79% in 2012) and we are now reaching the national average of 79%.
The percentage of pupils making two levels of progress in English has increased by 7% (from 81% in 2011 to 88% in 2012). This is ahead of the national increase of 5% and means Essex is now closer to reaching the national average of 89%.
The percentage of pupils making two levels of progress in Maths has increased by 5% (from 81% in 2011 to 86% in 2012). Again, this is ahead of the national increase of 4% and means that Essex is now closer to reaching the national average of 87%.
There are 36 fewer schools below the national ‘floor’ target of 60% of pupils achieving l level 4 in English and Maths.
Essex County Councillor Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Education said: “I would like to congratulate all teachers, parents and pupils for their hard work and achievements in securing such an improvement in results of 11 year olds.
It is vitally important that learning at primary school is of the highest standard to ensure children are given the best possible start in life. These results show that we are moving closer towards our aspiration of a truly world class education system in Essex.”
To access the 2012 Performance Tables, please use clickhere.
Please also remember that there is a legal requirement for schools to publish their performance on their websites – for further information click here.
2000th Apprentice
Last week, ECC’s Essex Apprentice scheme, run by the Essex
Employability and Skills Unit (ESU), celebrated its 2,000th apprentice. Bradley Scott (pictured), aged 19, is the first Creative and Digital apprentice – he’ll be working at Toner Graphics in Rayleigh, to complete a NVQ Level 3 in Social Media for Business.
Bradley was presented with the award at a ceremony for European Social Fund (ESF) apprentices at the Shire Hall in Chelmsford – Engineering and Logistics apprenticeships (NVQ Level 2) and pre-apprenticeships (NVQ Level 1) are half-funded by the ESF to enable ECC to meet the growing skills shortage across the county.
Message from Tim Coulson to all ECC Commissioned and Traded Service users.
Dear colleague,
These past 12 months have seen significant change to our Traded Services and there remains plenty of further development work left to do. However, we remain committed to providing you with the best possible services, tailored specifically to your needs. In the new year, we will be communicating details about our future plans and structure as well as inform you about new any new appointments that may be made to support our vision. Rebecca Matthews is leading the service on an interim basis and we expect to make a permanent appointment shortly.
Tim Coulson
Director for Education and Learning,
Ambitious plans to transform EssexCounty Council outlined
Plans to radically change the way Essex County Council is run and delivers its services in the future were approved the ECC Cabinet meeting held on the Friday 7 December 2012.
ECC’s Cabinet took the decision to back an ambitious proposal aimed at saving ECC approximately £200 million a year by 2017.
The plan, which will be worked up between now and June 2013, will help the Council with a three-year programme during which it will push forward its aim of becoming a commissioning-led authority – specifically around its children’s, adults and community services.
This will mean the Council will seek to work more in partnership with other organisations to deliver services rather than delivering them itself, allowing the services to be more flexible and to better meet the needs of the people using them.
As a result of the proposed changes the roles and accountabilities of the authority’s Corporate Leadership Team will also be changed. This could include, for example, merging the roles of Director of Children’s Services and Director of Adult Social Care to help strengthen and enhance the Council’s social care work.
Dave Hill, Executive Director for SCF, has reiterated the importance of continuing to deliver an excellent service to our customers and build on the impressive results we have achieved in recent times.
View the Cabinet report on the ECC website.
Views sought on Lifelong Learning Strategy
The proposed Lifelong Learning Strategy which is currently out for consultation is a five year plan that outlines a number of key objectives for the Schools, Families and Children directorate – one of which is to ensure all children across Essex achieve a good level of development in early years.
Colleagues across the council, as well as Essex residents, are being asked for their views on the proposed strategy and whether they agree with the following five priorities:
- Ensure every child achieves a good level of development in early years
- Ensure every child can go to a good or outstanding school
- Lead the UK in education and skills attainment
- Ensure education and skills provision are driven by the needs of employers
- Enable all residents to learn throughout their lives.
“This plan outlines our proposed approach, particularly over the coming year, to improve things under those five key priorities. If you have any views, please let us know.”
The deadline for responses to be received is Friday 21 December. If you wouldlike to participate, please visitthe online consultation.
Personal Education Plans (PEP) for Children in Care
In issue 65, on 4 December 2012 the Achievement Service for Children in Care announced the new Personal Education Plans for Children in Care. It can now confirm there are 16 training venues across Essex, with a mix of morning or afternoon times available throughout January 2013. The Service has emailed to all Designated Teachers in Essex schools (who have a child in care in their school) a flyer/booking formand a copy is here. Can you please ensure this is returned promptly – the first session is 10 January 2013. I urge you to ensure that the Designated Teacher attends the training in order to drive up the performance and educational outcomes for Children in Care.
Please return the completed booking form to
Should you have any questions please do contact us, either by email or telephone 01245 434957.
Conference Report:Essex- No Place for Bullying
Friday 16th November 2012
Wickford Curriculum Development Centre
The determination to tackle bullying in schools across Essex was evident at this massively over-subscribed event.
Tim Coulson, ECC Director for Learning, and members of the Young Essex Assembly opened the conference by putting the day into context and leading a short practical exercise designed to help young victims of bullying.
Keynote speaker Lance Corporal James Wharton’s account of his decision to come out as a gay man whilst still serving in the Army was moving and inspiring.Britain’s first openly gay soldier, James is a high profile campaigner for LGBT rights.
Delegates participated in workshops addressing three prejudice-based forms of bullying.
Show Racism the Red Card, an anti-racism charity linked to football, led a challenging session on responding to racism. Stonewall, the largest gay rights organisation in Europe, presented approaches to addressing homophobic bullying. The Behaviour Intervention Group (BIG), the organisation administering the first National Award for Bullying Intervention, addressed the issue of SEN and Disability related bullying. Click on the here to access presentations produced by Stonewall and Show Racism the Red Card together with a list of useful contacts on the Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement resource
Feedback from the conference was highly positive, with the range and relevance of workshops and the quality of presenters universally praised.
Finance Update
- Education Finance SupportHelpdesk -Christmas Opening Hours
- Free Funding Information
- Connecting Classrooms
Due to the helpdesk being rarely used over the Christmas holidays, our helpdesk will operate as follows during the festive period:
Monday 24 December until 2 January: Closed
Thursday 3 January and Friday 4 January: Open 9.30 to 3.30
Normal service resumes on Monday 7 January, i.e. open 9 to 5 Monday to Thursday and 9 to 4.30 on Fridays.
If you are an Essex LA Maintained school that does not subscribe to our Finance Helpdesk, it is not too late. You can still access our service on a pro rata basis for 2012/13. This will help to cover queries during the budgeting season (recognising the forthcoming changes in the funding formula). Other common queries are the Pupil Premium, Schools Financial Value Standard and Financial Regulations.
For more information about how our Helpdesk can help you, please email
Michelle Roots - Service Manager
Educating Finance Support
Free Funding Information
Christmas has come early!
The Essex Funding team have recently launched the Funding E-bulletin. This free subscription service allows you to select themed areas of interest, for example; Children & Young People and Education, Employment and Training. Each month you will receive a dedicated e-bulletin with up to date and relevant information. There are 17 themes to choose from and you can select as many as you wish.
To subscribe please click here.
For more information please feel free to contact or call 01245 430420 or visit our webpage.
Connecting Classrooms
Are you partnered with another school overseas? You may be entitled to access funding to support;
- grants for travel to help you work together with your international partner school
- free resources for partnership projects and
- an easy-to-follow framework for building and developing your partnership
To find out which countries are eligible CLICK HERE
Getting involved will help you develop your young people as global citizens, with the skills they need for work in our global economy. Working with their international peers on curricular projects not only opens their eyes to the wider world, but also gets them excited about the curriculum at home. As a teacher, you will also benefit, through sharing best practice with your colleagues in other countries. And the whole school and wider community can take part too.
You can find out more information, guidance and contact details HERE
Education Essex is written by the Schools Communications team.If you have any comments or would like something included in a future edition of Education Essex please contact us:
Telephone: 01245 434745 Extension: 40745
Email:
Previous editions of Education Essex can be found on the Essex Schools Infolink website by visiting the Home page > General Information > Education Essex
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Useful Links
Department for Education
- Essex County Council website
- Professional Learning and Development website
© 2012 Essex County Council