To consider school performance for summer 2014 and the effectiveness of the school improvement partnership strategy and framework approved by the Cabinet Member for Young People and Children’s Wellbeing to improve performance for Herefordshire’s children and young people.

The Head of Learning and Achievement provided the committee with an overview of the report and associated presentation, the principal points included:

 

i.        Slide 2 of the presentation should refer to Key Stage 1 covering years one and two in primary.

 

ii.       Overall, it had been a positive year, improving on the previous year’s results.  Attainment and achievement in key measures included:

 

Early Years Foundation Stage [EYFS] (5 year olds): the percentage of pupils achieving a good level of development was in line with the national average.

 

Key Stage 1 (7 year olds) and Key Stage 2 (11 year olds): attainment in Reading, Writing and Mathematics had improved year on year but, particularly for Key Stage 1, there were improvements still to be made.

 

Key Stage 4 (16 year olds): performance was slightly better than the national average, with Herefordshire being one of only six local authorities with improved results in terms of 5+ A*-C GCSEs, including English and Mathematics.  It was noted that seven secondary schools were performing above the national average.  Pupils at St. Mary’s RC High School had achieved 87% in this measure, putting it in the top percentile in the country; St. Joseph’s RC Primary School had also attained excellent results.

 

Key Stage 5 (19 year olds): average point scores continued to be above the national average.

 

iii.      Numerous examples were given of individual primary schools that attained consistently good and outstanding results.  Nevertheless, overall attainment in Key Stage 2 was slightly below the national average.

 

iv.      Pupils who were eligible for pupil premium (including looked after children, pupils who received free school meals, and pupils with English as an additional language) were performing below the national average.

 

v.       The areas of focus for the current year included: testing in Key Stage 1 to ensure that pupils could read as well as possible in order to access the curriculum; reducing the gaps at all key stages for pupils who were eligible for pupil premium or who were vulnerable, this would remain a key are of focus; and raising standards above national average in EYFS and further above national average in Key Stage 4.

 

In response to questions from the Chairman about the use of pupil premium by schools, the Head of Learning and Achievement reported that:

 

•        Information was being collated on which schools were using pupil premium to the best advantage, with the intention of disseminating practice to other schools; it was noted that the Minister of State for Schools had commended John Kyrle High School in relation to its use of pupil premium.

 

•        Ofsted reports had not indicated any concerns about local schools not publishing details of pupil premium allocation and spending.  The Chairman said that further assurance about this would be helpful for public understanding.

 

In response to questions from a committee member:

 

1.       The Head of Learning and Achievement confirmed that all looked after children in the cohort for GCSEs in 2014 were in education, training or employment in September 2014.  The Assistant Director Commissioning and Education acknowledged that the GCSE results for the cohort might appear disappointing at face value but emphasised that the approach, through the virtual head teacher role, was focused on supporting the needs of each individual and circumstances could change year on year.

 

2.       The Assistant Director commented that the education landscape was increasingly complex and the authority was working with the relevant bodies to collectively address performance issues.

 

3.       In response to comments about the need to provide looked after children with the appropriate environment and support to help with their studies and revision, it was suggested that a presentation previously received in respect of corporate parenting be made available to all members.

 

4.       The Cabinet Member Young People and Children’s Wellbeing noted that there had been some significant improvements but pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with English as an additional language continued to achieve less well than the same groups nationally.  He added that officers were facilitating meetings between head teachers to share experience.

 

5.       The Assistant Director advised that the authority was retaining an element of pupil premium to enable the virtual head teacher to support looked after children and information about this could be provided to members.

 

In response to questions from another committee member:

 

§    The Assistant Director acknowledged the need to address the gaps between Herefordshire and national trends in respect of EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, and particularly in respect of disadvantaged pupils.

 

§    The Head of Educational Development advised that: schools meals supply arrangements were delegated to schools; with the introduction of universal infant free school meals, information had been collated on the range of suppliers, many of which were local; the School Food Trust monitored the quality of school meals; not all pupils entitled to free school meals made use of the provision; and, in terms of correlation between food and attainment, wider issues around deprivation were perhaps more significant.  The committee member commented on: the potential for children to educate their parents and carers about healthy meals; the need to understand supply arrangements and to promote local food sources; and the benefits of children learning to prepare and cook meals.

 

Mr. Sell made the following observations:

 

a.       The effectiveness of the school improvement framework in Herefordshire should be reflected upon, particularly given the challenges faced by the local authority in providing support to schools with diminishing resources, and there had been upward movement in a number of key indicators.

 

b.       The Hereford Diocese and the Arch Diocese of Cardiff were involved in the Herefordshire School Improvement Partnership and had supported the work of local authority officers to help schools in difficulty.

 

c.       The local authority role was becoming more strategic, helping with brokering and commissioning rather than undertaking activities itself.

 

d.       Although it did not have a direct responsibility for academies, the authority was expected to oversee standards. 

 

e.       The authority needed to be mindful that it might need to have conversations with the sponsors of sponsored academies, rather than an individual governing body; it was for the sponsor to delegate powers and responsibilities and there was no requirement for a local governing body.

 

f.       The authority also needed to be mindful of the potential for other schools to join an existing academy trust or a multi-academy trust.

 

Mr. Burbidge commented on:

 

i.        Improvements were taking place in the education sector in the county, despite the removal of resources to support schools. 

 

ii.       Peer group involvement, meetings, training and the exchange of good practice could help to raise standards but teachers had to teach properly and this should be a key objective.

 

iii.      The need to support the local agricultural economy was acknowledged but many schools employed companies to provide food and, although there might be a wish for them to source food locally if possible, ultimately they had to deliver to a price.  It was questioned what could be achieved with further monitoring or inspection.

 

A committee member suggested that officers could work on a matrix, in conjunction with the Herefordshire Rural Hub, to identify and monitor food sources and provision in schools.

 

A committee member noted the importance of stability in home environments and in the support arrangements for looked after children, adding that the Executive needed to consider relevant staffing structures carefully.  The Cabinet Member Young People and Children’s Wellbeing made a number of comments, including: the small size of some schools meant that children with individual needs could have a disproportionate effect on performance figures; the high turnover of social workers continued to be an issue for the county; and stable placements were not the only factor in attainment.  The Assistant Director reminded the committee of the ‘Pledge to those children and young people looked after by Herefordshire Council’ that had been endorsed by Council (26 September 2014, minute 28 refers) and suggested that an update could be provided to members on how this was being fulfilled from an education perspective.

 

A committee member said that some members have received a helpful Quarterly Performance Report on education provision and related statistics and suggested that this could be circulated wider.  In response to a question, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that individual high performing or under performing schools could have disproportionate impacts on overall figures but there was no evidence available on how this was reflected in the figures of other authorities.  The Assistant Director added that, although Herefordshire was in a positive position comparatively in terms of the numbers of good and outstanding schools, the proportion of outstanding schools was less than might be expected.

 

A committee member made a number of further comments, including:

 

•        The authority had endorsed the Herefordshire Food Strategy and this had included a number of actions in relation to the education sector.  It was suggested that delivery of these actions be assessed initially.

 

•        It was suggested that an understanding was needed about what was appropriate for Herefordshire to aim for.  The Assistant Director said that some aspirations were identified in the Education Strategy and that there was sufficient information about the current position in Herefordshire to warrant the authority being more aspirational about performance going forward.

 

•        In view of the success of particular schools, the need to share experience and best practice was emphasised and the authority could promulgate this.

 

•        It was questioned how assurance could be provided around the authority’s public sector equality duty, with particular reference made to children from traveller communities.

 

•        Comments were made about the challenges for disadvantaged children to catch up with their peers in primary school, particularly if they had not benefitted from a nursery school setting.

 

•        It was commented that there was a need for effective handover between primary and secondary schools to ensure that pupils did not lose momentum, progress and interest.

 

•        It was suggested that an understanding was needed about how widely distributed pupils with English as an additional language were in the county and what pressures this might put on particular schools.  The Assistant Director said that information was collated on this and that there was a support team in place to work with individual schools.

 

The Assistant Director said that transition was an issue that had been identified by the School Improvement Partnership and there was more work to be done on this; head teachers were particularly interested in achievement trajectories between Key Stages 2 and 4.

 

The Head of Educational Development commented on work that was ongoing with children’s centres in relation to the scheme to provide additional nursery provision for disadvantaged two year olds and to identify children’s development needs.

 

The Chairman adjourned the meeting to enable recommendations to be prepared.  Upon recommencement of the meeting, recommendations were proposed, discussed and amended where necessary.  The final recommendations agreed by the committee are reproduced below.

 

The Chairman commented on the need to encourage schools to share experiences and best practice, to be mindful of the issues around transition, and to enable individual pupils to realise their potential.  In response to a question, the Assistant Director confirmed that School Examination Performance could continue to feature as part of the annual work programme for the committee.

 

RESOLVED:      That the following be recommended to the Executive:

 

1.       That officers reprise the actions within the Herefordshire Food Strategy in the context of food provision and education in schools and that the committee be updated with the current position in terms of the delivery of those actions.

 

2.       That a report be prepared on the monitoring and support provided to vulnerable groups qualifying under the public sector equality duty, particularly in relation to groups with protected characteristics.

 

3.       That officers check whether schools are fulfilling their requirement to publicise the use of pupil premium on their websites.

 

4.       That an update on progress be prepared on the retention of an element of pupil premium to support looked after children, particularly with regard to the delivery of improved outcomes.

 

5.       That an assessment be made of the distribution of the support demand for English as an additional language across Herefordshire schools and suggestions made for the most efficient service and support delivery.