PAPER D

Committee :  CABINET

Date : 7 NOVEMBER 2006

Title : SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY

JOINT REPORT OF THE CABINET MEMBER FOR EDUCATION, SKILLS AND LEARNING AND THE CABINET MEMBER FOR ISLAND HEALTH, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY WELLBEING

IMPLEMENTATION DATE : 17 November 2006

1. PURPOSE

1.1 To approve the Strategy for School Improvement and the associated protocols for monitoring, support, challenge and intervention in schools, as set out in the attached appendix.

2. BACKGROUND AND STRATEGIC CONTEXT

2.1 Educational standards on the Isle of Wight are acknowledged to be lower than they should be. This has been confirmed most recently by the Joint Area Review which found educational outcomes for children and young people on the Island to be ‘inadequate’. It had already been acknowledged by the identification of educational standards as the number one priority of the Council’s Children and Young People’s Plan and as one of the five Council priorities.

2.2 The Commission for Children and School Results has carried out an enquiry into the Council’s arrangements for school improvement and has concluded in its Blue Paper that the strands of activity identified in the attached Strategy for School Improvement are the right ones to raise standards and improve school performance.

2.3 An early draft of the Strategy was made available to the Joint Area Review team who also endorsed the strands of activity identified. They have been further supported by the representatives of the School Intervention Team from the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) who have been working with officers to develop a support project to raise standards in schools.

2.4 The delivery of the Strategy for School Improvement will be a key element of the action plan for the Joint Area Review.

3. CONSULTATION

3.1 The strategy and its associated protocols have been considered extensively by headteachers and governors, professional associations, the Children’s Services Adviser from the DfES, colleagues from the National Primary and Secondary Strategies, consultants from Mouchel Parkman, and through the full deliberations of the Commission for Children and School Results.

3.2 The strategy will be reviewed after 6 months so that stakeholders can propose amendments based on experience of the strategy’s implementation. Any major revisions will be brought to Cabinet in June 2007 in preparation for full implementation from September 2007.

4. FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

4.1 The costs of implementing the strategy fall within the existing budgets of the Direct Schools’ Grant (in particular school budgets, the school improvement central budget and the Standards Funds for school improvement). The budget available would be significantly enhanced if the current proposals for a post-Joint Area Review school improvement project are approved by the DfES.

5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

5.1 The Children and Young People’s Plan, of which this strategy is a part, is a statutory plan, under the provisions of the Children Act 2004 (s.17-19).

6. EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IMPLICATIONS

6.1 The preparation of the School Improvement Strategy has taken full consideration of the Council’s policy and statutory guidance on issues relating to diversity, equality and disability. Prior to its final iteration in June 2007, the School Improvement Strategy will be subject to a Diversity Impact Assessment.

6.2 The School Improvement Strategy will contribute to ensuring that all pupils, irrespective of their background, will be given access to high quality learning within a context which supports their well-being.

7. OPTIONS

7.1 The Commission considered and discussed the many different reasons behind the Isle of Wight’s ‘inadequate’ school performance and the different ways in which it might be possible to raise standards. There are initiatives in other parts of the Children and Young People’s Plan and the post-Joint Area Review action plan which will supplement the particular strands of activity identified, notably the 14-19 Strategy, the Parent and Family Support Strategy, the emerging Access and Inclusion Strategy, and a range of extended school activities which are intended to raise aspiration and achievement. The strands of activity identified in the strategy are those which are thought most likely to make the most difference.

8. EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

8.1 The central risk to the successful delivery of this Strategy is that of capacity. The Joint Area Review report identifies concerns about the Council’s capacity for school improvement and significant steps have been taken to build that capacity by:

· the appointment of a Director of Children’s Services who has a background in school improvement;

· the appointment of a new Head of Service for School Improvement;

· additional mentoring and support to the Council’s school improvement team from Mouchel Parkman;

· the proposal to the DfES for a major project focusing particularly on the leadership and management of schools;

· a new determination to tackle school underperformance as evidenced by the strategy itself and its associated protocols.

RECOMMENDATION

That the Cabinet be recommended to approve the Strategy for School Improvement and the associated protocols for monitoring, support, challenge and intervention in schools, as set out in the attached appendix.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

Commission for Children and School Results – Blue Paper

Isle of Wight Children and Young People’s Plan  

Ofsted Joint Area Review Report 2006

APPENDICES ATTACHED

Appendix 1 - School Improvement Strategy

Contact Point : Rose Ward, Principal Inspector, tel: 01983 832500 email: [email protected]

COUNCILLOR PATRICK JOYCE Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and learning	COUNCILLOR DAWN COUSINS Cabinet Member for Island Health, Housing and Community Well-being
STEVE BEYNON Director of Children’s Services