Agenda item
2011 Education Standards (Verbal Report)
Minutes:
Faira Ellks (Head of Services to Schools) provided a verbal report to the committee outlining the education standards achieved for 2011 in Brent Schools. A supporting document was tabled for members' information. Faira Ellks noted that education achievement in 2011 had been largely good. The committee received a brief overview of achievement for each key stage from Early Years Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 5. Faira Ellks also provided the committee with an analysis of education attainment by ethnic group and for those children in receipt of free school meals.
· Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Faira Ellks advised that there had been a significant improvement in EYFS outcomes in 2011 against the two main performance indicators. The first of these performance indicators examined the percentage of children scoring 78 points or more across all areas of learning. Performance against this indicator had improved from 43% in 2010 to 57% in 2011, which brought Brent into line with the 2010 national average (the 2011 national average was not yet available). The second key indicator measured the gap between the lowest achieving 20% and other children. This gap had narrowed from 35.2 in 2010 to 32.1 in 2011, representing a significant improvement. The national average in 2010 was 32.7.
Faira Ellks noted that key priorities for EYFS for 2011/12 and the measures required to achieve these were set out on page 3 of the supporting document.
· Key Stage 1
The committee was advised that performance at Key Stage 1 had improved, with attainment for Level 2 broadly in line with national averages. Whilst attainment for Level 2B remained slightly below the national average, it was highlighted that improvement was evident across all three areas of reading, writing and mathematics. Faira Ellks added that achievement at Level 2B was a good indicator of achievement at Level 4 at the end of Year 6.
· Key Stage 2
Faira Ellks noted that the number of pupils attaining Level 4 and above in both English and mathematics had fallen from the unusually high figure of 77%, achieved in 2010, to 73% in 2011. When is adjusted to account for recent arrivals to Brent schools, it was expected that it would rise to bring Brent into line with the national average of 75% for 2011. In addition, progress rates from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 were at 85% for English and 83% for mathematics, as calculated under the new formula introduced for 2011 by the Department for Education (DfE); these figures were above the national averages for 2011.
· Key Stage 3
Faira Ellks advised that pupils were not required at this stage to take a statutory test and therefore, progress at Key Stage 3 was measured via teacher assessment. Consequently, due to a high degree of variation in the assessments conducted, this data did not create an accurate overview of performance in Brent at Key Stage 3. Currently, the data indicated that Brent’s performance for English, mathematics and science were all below the national averages, although results had improved from 2010.
· Key Stage 4
The key performance indicator for Key Stage 4 measured the percentage of pupils who gained five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and mathematics. Brent was likely to be above the national average having achieved 63% for 2011, compared to 60% in 2010. Another performance indicator measured the percentage of pupils who gained five A* to C grades in any subjects. Against this performance indicator, Brent had achieved 81% which was an increase of 6 percentage points from 2010.
· Key Stage 5
Faira Ellks informed the committee that there were two main performance indicators for Key Stage 5 which focussed on A-level average point score per pupil and average point score per entry. For the latter of these, Brent continued to perform above the national average. For the former, Brent’s performance had improved incrementally in recent years and the gap between Brent’s performance and the national average was now minimal.
· Performance by ethnicity / free school meals (FSM)
Faira Ellks highlighted some of the trends evident from the analysis of the data on educational attainment by ethnicity and noted that there was an uneven pattern overall. However, whilst there were still significant gaps between the performance of all Brent pupils and that of the three ethnic groups whose performance in recent years had caused the greatest concern (White Other, Somali and Black Caribbean), there had been significant improvements. The performance of children on FSM had also improved considerably.
Specifically, Faira Ellks noted that outcomes for Somali pupils at Key Stage 2 had been poor but had improved at Key Stage 4. At Key Stage 4, the gap between the performance of Black Caribbean pupils and all Brent pupils had widened. The attainment of White Other pupils had improved, reducing the overall gap between their performance and that of all Brent pupils. Outcomes for pupils on FSM were below those of non-FSM pupils at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4; however, this group performed better than their counterparts nationally at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
During members’ discussion Councillor S Choudhary queried why educational attainment had fallen for Black Caribbean pupils at Key Stage 2, noting that English would not be a second language for children of that ethnicity. Faira Ellks advised that there were many contributing factors that could be considered. An ‘improving outcomes working group’ had been established to identify such factors and devise measures to improve performance. It was also important to note that performance varied considerably across schools. Rik Boxer (Assistant Director, Achievement and Inclusion) reiterated that there were a variety of factors including poverty and peer pressure, which could affect educational attainment. However, lessons could be learnt from how the best performing schools supported pupils and monitored performance.
In response to several queries by the committee, Faira Ellks advised that there were many different measures in place in schools to improve performance. In particular, good monitoring procedures in schools allowed interventions, such as one to one tutoring, to be appropriately targeted. Monitoring the overall performance of schools was a key function of the service offered by the council. The council worked intensively with schools to help identify problem areas and put appropriate measures in place; however, raising a school’s performance took time. Responding to a concern that parents needed to be involved and made aware of bad schools, Faira Ellks explained that there were not really any bad schools in Brent and noted that the role of the head teacher in encouraging parental involvement and creating a positive educational climate was key. She added that not all head teachers would be outstanding in this area. It was highlighted that governors would also play a key role in encouraging parental involvement.
The Chair thanked the officers for their contributions.
RESOLVED: - That the verbal report be noted.