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Background

This briefing paper has been prepared to inform debate at the Policy Cabinet meeting on 14 March 2012 about the future of education and schools in Newcastle.

The paper summarises the current provision in Newcastle, the significant national policy changes and the impact that these are having.

It then considers what the future education landscape might look like and asks what the role of the local authority might be.

The paper focuses on the statutory phase of education, that is, for 5-16 year olds, but increasing to 17 years by 2013 and 18 years by 2015.

Around 58,500 children and young people aged 0-18 years live in Newcastle, just over 20% of the total resident population. Of these42,109 are aged 5-18 years (GP data, May 2011). The demographics are constantly changing due to the fluctuating birth rate as well as inward and outward migration. The birth rate in Newcastle increased by 22% between 2004 and 2010 to 3,561 births – the increase is the equivalent of more than 20 primary school classes. However, the birth rate and changes to it are very different in different parts of the city. In 2010, there were 29 births in North Jesmond compared to 338 in Elswick.

The purpose of education and schools

With the changing policy and structural landscape, there is renewed discussion about the purpose of education and of schools.

Generally, this is considered across three dimensions: economic, social and cultural. In recent years, the purpose has been more heavily focused on the economic dimension of skills generation and increasing employment prospects. While this is important, the debate also needs to consider broader societal impacts and focus of education in relation to individuals achieving their potential, being able to deal with the rapidly changing environment and ultimately leading more fulfilled lives, and creating better, inclusive and fairer communities.

Schools in Newcastle have a history of working collaboratively with each other, the Council and other partners to improve outcomes for children, young people and families. They have been a crucial part of a successful Children’s Trust in the city. Schools offer a wide range of childcare, activities for young people and the wider community that go beyond the school day and traditional education remit.

Good schools help all children and young people to achieve their potential, particularly if those children haven’t had the best start in life or their families are struggling or there isn’t a history of academic success in the family.

Good schools are one of the cornerstones of the fair society we want in Newcastle, helping to achieve our priorities of:

  • A working city – by providing children and young people with the education and skills that they need to gain meaningful employment and a good quality of life
  • Decent neighbourhoods – with successful schools at the heart of their communities, providing a hub of support and services for children, young people and families
  • Tackling inequalities – educational achievement is a way out of poverty and our schools can help to break this cycle by raising aspirations and improving outcomes for the most vulnerable.Schools have a significant contribution to make to reducing health inequalities, identifying the need for early intervention to support children and families before their problems escalate and, in ensuring that young people are engaged in a curriculum that meets their individual needs and are able to see a positive future for themselves

There is a risk that the application of a “market forces” approach to educational provision with a strong emphasis on competition and the increasing emphasis on structural change to improve schools, alongside a narrow focus on a small number of performance measures to judge success will exacerbate existing inequalities.

The world is changing as is the education landscape. Whatever governance arrangements or types of schools are in place across the city it is imperative that we continue to build on our common goals and shared values, ensuring the best outcomes for all children and young people in the city.

It is important that the broader purpose of schools at the heart of their communities is not lost in the fervour around changes to status and governance.

The ‘shape’ of education in Newcastle - current position

Types and size of provision

To inform the debate on whether we need more or different schools in Newcastle, it is important to understand the shape of current provision. There are 98 state-funded schools in Newcastle at present: 6 nursery schools; 72 primary schools; 14 secondary schools (including 3 middle schools); and 6 special schools, including one hospital school and a pupil referral unit. As of 1 March 2012, five of these schools are academies and two are in the process of convertingThere are 10 independent schools, two of which are special schools (January 2012). There is one Further Education college, and two Universities.

In terms of size, the distribution of primary schools in Newcastle broadly matches the national picture. But there are a higher proportion of large secondary schools. One in every 14 secondary schools nationally has more than 1,600 pupils compared to one in four schools in Newcastle. KentonSchool is the tenth largest school nationally in terms of pupil numbers and three others, Heaton Manor, GosforthAcademy and Walbottle, are in the largest 200. Additionally, NewcastleCollege is one of the largest colleges in the country with almost 30,000 students. According to DfE school and local statistics, the college has 7,512students aged 16-18 on roll at the start of this academic year.

School capacity

  • Primary schools - currently an average of 14% unfilled school places in primary schools within Newcastle, varying between schools from around 10% over capacity to 50% under capacity. This compares to 10.5% unfilled places nationally.
  • Secondary Schools -have an average of 14% unfilled places, varying from 2% over capacity to 40% under capacity. This compares to 11% unfilled paces nationally.

The size of individual schools and the numbers of places that are filled are driven by a range of factors, including demographic change both across the city and in specific communities, as well asparental choice.

Parental choice

  • In 2012, 92% of parents were allocated their first preference of secondary school in Newcastle, compared with, 89.8%in 2011,a North East average of 94.3% and a national average 84.6%.This figure rises to 96.2% in Newcastle for parents being offered one of their three preferences.
  • Newcastle had a higher proportion of parents without an offer corresponding to any preference (3.4%) than the North East (1.2%) and England (2.8%) averages.
  • Only 14.8% of appeals (against a decision to refuse a primary school place) were decided in the parents’ favour in Newcastle, compared to 41.7% across the North East and 24.5% on average across England. A key factor in whether primary school appeals can be upheld is legislation that limits classes for 4-7 year olds to 30 pupils.
  • For secondary school appeals,43% were decided in the parents’ favour in Newcastle compared to 34.4% nationally and 51.4% in the North East.

School Funding

There are two key elements of funding that go to schools, the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and the Pupil Premium which is allocated based on the number of pupils registered for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority. It is targeted at pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to try to provide the same opportunities as pupils from less deprived families. Schools will be expected to publish information about how they have used the pupil premium.

In 2012-13, the value of the Dedicated Schools Grant will be £178.5 million in Newcastle. This represents unit funding per pupil of £5,287.85 - which has remained static for the last three years.

Although schools are not facing budget reductions on the same scale assome other public services, many are facing inflationary pressures in balancing their individual budgets to meet staffing costs, rising utility costs and rising rates bills. Where this is exacerbated by falling numbers of pupils, schools may find themselves struggling financially.

Schools will see an increase in the pupil premium in 2012-13, estimated to be worth £7.5 million across schools in the city with the funding per eligible pupil increasing from £485 to £600. The pupil premium is specifically earmarked for accelerating the rates of educational progression of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and Ofsted Inspection teams will be challenging schools to show that this accelerated progress is being delivered.

Funding for Academies is paidfrom the government through the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) not the local authority. It is an annual grant made up of core school funding and an element known as “local authority central spend equivalent grant” (LACSEG) which is intended to cover the responsibilities that are transferred from the local authority to the new Academy.

How are our schools performing?

Educational Attainment

In Newcastle, there is evidence of continuing and sustained improvement at all key stages in attainment.

Good educational attainment sets young people on a path to achieve economic wellbeing and a range of better outcomes. Research shows that investment in early years, education leads to improved outcomes in later life.Overall the picture is one of continued improvement in educational attainment and a closing of the gaps between Newcastle and national average performance. And there is strong evidence of improving aspirations as well as achievement in Newcastle with a high proportion of young people aspiring to go onto Higher Education and increasing numbers doing so, including young people who are care leavers. But there are still significant challenges, in particular, closing gaps between the most deprived and most affluent areas of the city.

In 2011, 57% of reception children reached the expected level of 78 points across the Foundation Stage Profile; an increase from42% in 2007; compared to 59% nationally and 55.4% for similar areas.

At Key Stage 2, the percentage of children achieving level 2 or better in both English and maths has increased from 62% in 2005 to 72% in 2011. This compares to 74% nationally. In English, the percentage of children making expected progress between key stages 1 and 2 in 2011 was 85%, compared to the national average (84%). The percentage of children making expected progress in maths has improved from 72%in 2007 to 84% in 2011, compared to 83% for the national average.

At Key Stage 4, the percentage of young people achieving 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and maths rose from 49.5% in 2010 to 52.6% in 2011. This compared to 53.8% for similar areas and 58.9% for the national average. In 2005, the equivalent GCSE result for Newcastle was 33.3% compared to a national average of 44.7%.Subsequently, Newcastle’s results have improved by 19.3 percentage points to 2011 compared to 14.2 percentage points nationally over the same period and the gap has narrowed, as shown below.

At A level, the average point score per A level entry rose from 213.7 in 2010to 217.2 in 2011. This compares to an average of 216 nationally and for similar areas. In 2006, the average points score per entry was 197.3. The improvement to 2011 (19.9 points or two thirds of an A level grade), is comparable to similar areas and almost twice the national improvement (10 points).In 2006, Newcastle’s average points score per student was 625.3. The improvement of 108.8 points to 2011 equates to 3.6 grades better per candidate. Over the same period, the national average improved by 24.4 points and similar areas by 42.5 points.

The factors that have the greatest effect on educational attainment are: special educational needs; child poverty or deprivation; and school attendance. These factors also have a relationship to each other.

15% of pupils with identified special educational needs achieved 5+ A*-C including English and maths at GCSE compared with 63.6% of pupils without special needs

  • 31% of pupils registered for free school mealsachieved 5+ A*-C including English and maths at GCSE compared with 58.9% of those not.
  • Children and young people who are persistent absentees do less well at school. In 2011, only 18.4% of 16 year olds regarded as persistent absentees achieved the expected level of 5 or more GCSEs or equivalent at grades A*-C including English and mathematics. The average across the city was 60.1% for those 16 year olds who weren’t persistent absentees. (DfE defines persistent absence as missing 64 or more half day sessions in an academic year, equating to absence rate of 20%.)

Some other groups with lower overall attainment than average include: boys; looked after children and young people; excluded pupils; mobile pupils (those who change school frequently); some black and minority ethnic communities (though some have much higher attainment than average). The attainment of many of these groups is well below the city average, although the gaps are narrowing over time.

Absence from school is a longstanding and continuing issue in Newcastle. While attendance continues to improve over time, absence rates remain above those in similar areas and the national average.

  • In 2010/11, the average primary pupil missed 16.7 half day sessions out of around 320 possible (5.2%). In secondary schools, the average was 23.2 (7.25%). These figures are lower than in 2009/10 when the averages were 17.9 and 25.3 respectively.
  • Absence rates are similar for boys and girls across primary and secondary phases.
  • In 2010/11, primary school children registered for free school meals missed 21.6 sessions on average compared to 15.1 for those not eligible. In secondary schools, the average sessions missed was 32.5 for children registered for free school meals and 21.2 for those not; and the gap has widened over time.
  • Primary school children from black and minority backgrounds tend to miss more sessions (18.2) than white British children (16.2). In secondary schools, the BME average sessions missed is 18.2 and white British 24.2. The average sessions missed by BME children is consistent across both primary and secondary phases whereas absence increases substantially for white British children as they get older
  • Children with special educational needs (SEN) miss more sessions on average than children with no SEN. In primary schools in 2010/11, the average sessions missed was 20.9 for children with SEN compared to 15.3 for children with no SEN. In secondary schools, children with SEN (35.9) miss almost twice as many sessions as children with no SEN (19.2)

Poor school attendees are more likely to be: eligible for free school meals (FSM); to live in a deprived area, or to have special educational needs (SEN). Children who are frequently absent from school are more likely to become unemployed in later life, to engage in antisocial behaviour or crime, become pregnant as teenagers or to misuse alcohol, drugs or other substances.

Inspection

Ofsted inspection judgements for schools in Newcastle continue to improve with a high proportion of provision judged to be good or better.

  • Of the 72 primary schools in Newcastle, 48 have been judged good or outstanding in their most recent Ofsted inspection, which is in line with the proportion nationally and in similar areas.
  • Secondary (including middle) school figures show that 10 out of 14 or 71% of Newcastle’s schools and academies were judged to be good or outstanding, higher than the proportion nationally and in similar areas.
  • 100% of nursery schools and 83% of special schools (including PRU) were judged to be good or outstanding at their last inspection.

The changing landscape of schools

There is now no doubt that the type and range of institutions providing education is changing dramatically as a result of government policy. There is a sustained and increasing drive from central government to encourage and enforce structural change on schools to become academies. In addition, the introduction of new types of Academies, such as FreeSchools, StudioSchools and University Technical Colleges (UTC) is adding to the diversity of the school system. This has been enabled by new legislation, particularly the Academies Act 2010 and the Education Act 2011.

Prior to this new wave of legislation, Newcastle had one Academy, Excelsior, which opened in 2008 with an external sponsor identified by DfE.Since then, there have been the following developments:

  • Five secondary schools (including one middle school) have converted to Academy status and one secondary and one primary school are in the process of doing so.
  • The Secretary of State is using the new legislation to bring pressure to bear on two further Newcastle schools to become sponsored Academies because they are deemed to be underachieving, despite evidence of strong recent improvement.
  • Recent changes to DfE thresholds for underperformanceand revisions to the Ofsted school inspection framework are likely to identify more schools that will be targeted and forced to become academies.
  • Discovery UTC, a collaboration between NewcastleCollege, NewcastleUniversity and local business partners could open in September 2013.
  • Newcastle College Group has also announced its intention to sponsor more UTCs and schools, establishing an Academy chain at local, regional and possibly national levels.
  • At least two other organisations are currently known to be interested in opening Free Schools in Newcastle in September 2013.

It is clear that the education “market” will continue to expand and the number of schools could increase in the short term. This is likely to challenge the future viability of some existing schools.

There is no consistent evidence that becoming an academy leads directly to an improvement in standards. Proponents and opponents of Academies have both produced analyses that support their positions, proving only that schools and educational attainment are more complex than a simple question of governance and academy status.

Characteristics of pupils in Newcastle schools

In any debate on the future of education and schools in Newcastle, it is important that we consider the profile and trends in relation to our pupils.

  • 36,310 pupils are enrolled in state-funded schools and academies in Newcastle (January 2012), with 54% in primary schools and 43% in secondary schools.

Changing demographics means that there are shifts in the balance between primary and secondary age pupils over time, as shown in the chart below.