MIDDLESBROUGH COUNCIL

AGENDA ITEM

Report Title Progress against LA school improvementpost inspection action plan

Executive Member for Education & Skills: Janice Brunton

Executive Director, Wellbeing Care & Learning: Richenda Broad

Date 7thOctober 2014

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1.To report to Executive on progress against the Local Authority’s action planfollowing the Ofsted inspection of Middlesbrough Council’s school improvement role in January 2014 and to provide a summary of 2014 pupil outcomes.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

2.To note the progress made against the action plan in the second quarter of 2014/15 and to receive further quarterly updates until the LA is re-inspected which include. Progress since the last quarterly report which include

  • The development of a School Effectiveness Strategy that provides a process of categorisation of all schools so that support can be provided in response to need;
  • Ensuring that all secondary schools have a Raising Attainment Plan in place;
  • The recruitment of subject specialists in English, Maths and Science;
  • Regular Elected Member briefings have been planned for October, December and January and a review of the role of LA representatives on governing bodies is underway.

IF THIS IS A KEY DECISION WHICH KEY DECISION TEST APPLIES?

3. / It is over the financial threshold (£150,000)
It has a significant impact on 2 or more wards / 
Non Key

DECISION IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE

4.For the purposes of the scrutiny call in procedure this report is

Non-urgent / 
Urgent report

If urgent please give full reasons

BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

5.This is the third report to Executive on the Ofsted inspection of the LA school improvement role in January 2014, as part of a regular suite of progress updates on the improvement plan. The report was published in March 2014; a judgement of Ineffective was made with a re-inspection 9 – 12 months after the original inspection. The last report highlighted Ofsted’s feedback on the LA’s improvement plan and provided a Red/Amber/Green rating against the actions.

PROGRESS AGAINST THE ACTION PLAN

6.The key areas of progressduring the last quarter are as follows.

  • The Executive Director Wellbeing Care and Learning and the Executive Member for Learning and Skills have metwith all secondary head teachers and discussed the head teachers’ plans for achieving rapid improvement and potential barriers.
  • The School Effectiveness Strategy has been developed further and is now ready for the final consultation with schools before seeking political approval.
  • Meetings between the Interim Head of Achievement and secondary heads continue, at which key data on attainment and progress has been openly discussed, providing a basis for the identification of issues and plans to address them.
  • A Senior Lead for the newly developed Secondary School Improvement Partnership(SSIP) has been appointed. This post will be line managed by the Interim Head of Achievement, to ensure coherence with the work of the Middlesbrough Schools’ Teaching Alliance (MSTA) in primary schools and the effective implementation of the over-arching School Effectiveness Strategy. The recruitment of subject specialists in English, Maths and Science has been completed and by the end of September a Raising Achievement Plan for each secondary school will be in place.
  • A target setting protocol based on pupil level information has been agreed, enabling greater challenge to schools on pupil outcomes. It will also facilitate targeted support in line with the School Effectiveness Strategy.
  • Primary and secondary schools are working well together, supported by MSTA, to establish data sharing and transition planning, based on new assessment and accountability arrangements which are still changing nationally.
  • A data sharing protocol has been agreed, incorporatingthe methodology for target setting and data used for challenge purposes,as part of the School Effectiveness Strategy.
  • The work of the National Literacy Hub is being rolled out across Middlesbrough.
  • The School Categorisation process has been agreed and has been undertaken for the first time under the new arrangements. Each head teacher and chair of governors will be informed of the initial category for their school and will be given the opportunity to confirm or challenge it. The allocation of schools to categories will drive differentiated levels of support, and will be presented to the Steering Group of Middlesbrough Achievement Partnership (MAP) along with LA-level data to determine priorities for action in the new academic year.
  • The work on the 14-25 strategy as part of plans to reduce NEETS is on track. Two secondary schools (Macmillan and Outwood Academy) are engaging in a pilot project overseen by the multi-agency Youth Employment Group, which is a sub-group of the Wellbeing in Middlesbrough Partnership (Aim 1 of the Health & Wellbeing Strategy). This pilot will explore the most effective approaches to:
  • communicate Labour Market Information to schools;
  • identify emerging industries for the next 5-10 years;
  • foster links with businesses to ensure that the qualifications on offer match the economic needs of the area and increase opportunities for high quality work experience, apprenticeships and internships; and
  • ensure that young people have the personal attributes to make them employable, e.g. enthusiasm, punctuality, smart appearance, good communication skills, and self-motivation.
  • Two part-time appointments have been made to Governor Services to enable the Governor Development Manager to support governing bodies in their self-evaluation process, quality assure their action plans for improvement and develop a needs analysis training programme. Governing bodies will be RAG rated (red, amber, green) and support offered according to need.
  • The National College for School Leadership has been consulted about possible accreditation via National Leaders in School Governance for some Middlesbrough governors.
  • Governors’ Forum now includes more strategic information related to the work of MSTA, MAP and SSIP, and The Executive Member for Education & Skills has commissioned a half termly newsletter for members and governors.
  • Regular Elected Member briefings have been planned for October, December and January and a review of the role of LA representatives on governing bodies is underway.

7.2014 Pupil outcomes are summarised below. Please note that all except KS2 are provisional results and therefore need to be treated with caution; they could change following appeals and validation. Similarly many national figures are not yet available for 2014.

  • There were some significant improvements in Early Years Foundation Stage, with the overall indicator of Good Level of Development increasing from 38% to 50%. The national average is not yet known.
  • At KS1 there has been improvement in Level 2B+ in reading, writing and maths and in the number of pupils achieving Level 3 (except in maths). Middlesbrough is, however, below 2013 national average by 3% for all three subjects and significantly below on the Level 3 indicator.
  • At KS2 there has been a good improvement in Level 4 or above in reading, but writing and maths have remained static. The combined measure for reading, writing and maths has improved by just 0.7% to 76.7%, compared to a 4% increase nationally to 79%. Whereas in 2013 we were 1% above national for this measure, we are now 2.3% below. The number of pupils making the expected level of progress between KS1-KS2, however, exceeded the national average.
  • GCSE results were disappointing, with a reduction of 1.3% from 50.3% in 2013 to this year’s 49% in the headline measure of 5 A* to C grades including English and Maths. Some of this has been attributed to changes in English, i.e. the removal of teacher assessed modules in speaking and listening; nationally this fell by almost 2%. However, some other LAs in the region are believed to have had a more significant decline of between 5% and 8%. The number of pupils making expected progress in English exceeded the national average by 4%, but in maths it was -17%.

Key Issues / Mitigation (See PIAP actions in 6 above)
  • 17 primary schools fell below 2013 national outcomes in the ‘Good Level of Development’ measure in EYFS
/ Primary
  • School Effectiveness Strategy –Middlesbrough’s policy for support, challenge and intervention.
  • The new school categorisation process introduced Sept 2014 via the School Effectiveness Strategy has identified the schools for support and action –adviser time will be focused and outcomes monitored half termly.
  • MAP developing a stronger focus on achievement.
  • Introduction of School Standards Monitoring Group to support and challenge identified schools.
  • Appointment of additional primary adviser to work with identified schools.
  • MSTA partnership – peer reviews and brokering of school to school support.
  • Appointment of Interim Head of Achievement for continuity purposes.
  • Introduction of a Middlesbrough approach to Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Learning.

  • At KS1 The same schools plus 3-4 others fell below 2013 national outcomes in reading, writing, maths or all three

  • Under achievement of more able pupils at KS2

  • The need to improve 3 Levels of progress between KS1- KS2

  • Secondary school outcomes (NB: new accountability measures will be introduced in 2015/16, causing much turbulence)
  • Maths is a key issue but also need to focus on English
  • Performance of vulnerable groups
  • Need to focus on accelerated progress in secondary schools (expected progress only results in ‘Requires Improvement’ judgment)
/ Secondary
  • As above, plus:
  • The appointment of a Secondary School Improvement Partnership (a strategic leader who is a lead Ofsted Inspector, and 6 subject support specialists for English, Maths and Science).

8.Detailed discussions will take place with secondary head teachers to identify the reasons why the majority of schools have not achieved results in line with their predictions. The categorisation of primary and secondary schools will provide further analysis to identify priorities for support and challenge.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT (IA)

9.An IA is not applicable to this decision as the recommendation is simply to note the progress against the improvement plan which will be examined by Ofsted in line with statutory requirements. Improving the attainment levels of pupils in Middlesbrough will undoubtedly bring positive benefits for all sections of the community.

OPTION APPRAISAL/RISK ASSESSMENT

10.An option appraisal is not appropriate to this report, as there is no option but to implement the improvement plan to address the issues identified by Ofsted.

FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS

11.Financial –The funding to implement the plan has been found from existing budgets within WCL and the Dedicated Schools Grant, by agreement with the Schools Management Forum.

12.Ward Implications –There are no specific ward implications arising from the improvement plan; however, a rise in attainment will benefit the whole town.

13.Legal Implications – the implementation of the plan will be considered along with the 2014 results by the inspection team that re-inspects the LA. If this results in a further ineffective judgement, the government could consider intervention and bring in another provider to run the LA’s education function. However, no policy currently exists to clarify what the options are following two successive judgements of ineffective.

SCRUTINY CONSULTATION

14.Overview and Scrutiny Board has already considered Middlesbrough’s attainment position, the outcomes of the Ofsted inspection and the LA’s plans for improvement at its meeting on 2nd April 2014.

15.The Children & Learning Scrutiny Panel examined School Improvement and Support and the authority's post inspection plans for improvement at its meeting on 16th July, and will report to Executive separately.

RECOMMENDATIONS

16.The Executive is recommended to note the progress made against the action plan and receive further quarterly updates until the LA is re-inspected.

REASONS

17.To ensure that improvements in attainment are secured and that the LA is judged to be effective in the re-inspection in 9 to 12 months.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

No background papers were used in the preparation of this report:

AUTHOR: Julie Cordiner, Assistant Director Learning & Skills

TEL NO: 728201

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Address: Vancouver House, Gurney Street, Middlesbrough

Website:

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