Agenda item
Education Standards in Brent
This report comments on education standards achieved by Brent schools at the end of the academic year 2010/11.
Minutes:
Faira Ellks (Head of Services to Schools) presented a detailed report to the committee setting out the educational achievement of Brent pupils for the academic year 2010/11. The report outlined educational achievement for Key Stages 1 to 5 and provided comparable data for the previous five years. The report also detailed achievement by ethnic group and for children in receipt of free school meals (FSM). This latter measure sought to capture the educational achievement of children potentially disadvantaged by deprivation related issues. The services to schools department worked in partnership with Brent’s schools to improve the achievement of pupils. Whilst there was always some polarisation of results by school, overall there was a trend of continued improvement in the educational achievement of Brent pupils.
Faira Ellks explained that for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) there had been a steadily improving trend over the previous five years. There were two key performance indicators (PIs) to consider. The first of these PIs was the number of pupils achieving 78 points or more across all the different areas of learning including six or more points in each of personal, social and emotional development, and in communication, language and literacy. For this PI, there had been a 14 percentage point improvement in 2011 from the previous year. The second PI examined the gap between the lowest performing 20% of pupils and the rest. This equality gap had continued to decrease in 2011 and was greater than the national average by only 1 percentage point. This was considered to be a particular achievement in view of the low starting point of many of Brent’s children due to issues relating to deprivation or having English as a second language.
Faira Ellks stated that in previous years, attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (KS1) had been an area of concern. Performance at Level 2+ (the main performance indicator) was in line with national averages in 2011. Faira Ellks highlighted that attainment at Level 2B+ was a key predictor of attainment at Level 4+ at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2). For 2011 this remained just below the national average; but the gap between Brent and the national average had narrowed.
For KS2, Faira Ellks advised that with regard to achievement at Level 4 and above in English and mathematics, there had been a rising trend at all levels over the previous five years, with the exception of English at Level 5. Turning to the other key measure of success at KS2, Faira Ellks advised that the percentage of pupils in Brent making two levels of progress in English and in mathematics was well above the national average and had remained the same as in 2010.
Faira Ellks explained that the main indicator of success at Key Stage 3 (KS3) was the percentage of children achieving Level 5 or above by age 14. However, as KS3 tests were no longer statutory, schools had greater control over when KS3 assessments took place. As a consequence, many schools had chosen to carry out KS3 assessments at the end of Year 8 when pupils were aged 13. The committee was advised therefore, to treat the comparison of these results with the national average with some caution. The national expectation was that most pupils would achieve Level 5 or Level 6 in English and mathematics by the end of KS3. At present, Brent results at KS3 were slightly below the national average; however, there had been an upward trend in performance at Level 5 + in Brent in both English and mathematics over the previous five year period.
With regard to Key Stage 4 (KS4), Faira Ellks advised that there were three key measures of success: the percentage of pupils achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics; those achieving three levels of progress between KS2 to KS4; and those achieving the English Baccalaureate, which consisted of GCSE A* to C grades in English, mathematics, two sciences, humanities and a modern foreign language.
Faira Ellks then provided the committee with a summary of the educational attainment of children of different ethnic groups and the FSM cohort. Faira Ellks reported that at all stages Asian pupils were the highest performing ethnic group. The achievement of Somali pupils had remained below that of other ethnic groups but good progress had been made from previous years. In contrast, the achievement of Black Caribbean pupils had remained below the Brent average and the five year trend was static, indicating that further work was required to raise the achievement of pupils of this ethnic group. With regard to the FSM cohort, at KS1 and KS2, the achievement of Brent FSM children was slightly below the average for Brent pupils but had remained higher than the FSM national average. At KS4 the gap between the Brent average and the achievement of Brent FSM was considerably greater than that at KS1 and KS2. There was no data available as yet regarding the national average at KS4 for the FSM cohort. In response to a query, Rik Boxer advised that approximately 25% of children within Brent were in receipt of FSM. It was agreed that comparative data for London regarding the number of pupils in receipt of free school meals be provided to the committee.
In the subsequent discussion, members raised several queries. The Chair noted that achievement in mathematics by Brent pupils was good and that nationally this was an area where achievement was traditionally weak. Councillor Cheese queried whether there was reluctance by professionals to engage in training to improve standards of teaching due to issues such as embarrassment. Councillor Al-Ebadi noted that a recent report had indicated that only very few teachers were dismissed from schools for poor standards of teaching. The Chair queried how many of Brent’s 85 schools were rated ‘outstanding’ and Councillor Mitchell Murray sought details of the geographical distribution of these schools. Councillor Mitchell Murray also noted that traditionally the educational achievement of girls was better than that of boys; however, it appeared that this trend was not as evident in the data presented.
In response to the issues raised, Faira Ellks advised that primary school teachers’ knowledge of mathematics tended to be weaker and there was still considerable work required to address this issue. The MaST programme was a specialist teacher programme specifically aimed at improving the teaching of mathematics in primary schools. Alongside accessing such national programmes, the council had a very experienced member of staff, with a professional background in teacher training, who supported headteachers and teachers in developing strategies to improve the teaching of mathematics in Brent schools. Most teachers were eager to engage in professional development and improve their skills; however, head teachers also assumed a key role in monitoring teachers’ strengths and weaknesses.
Faira Ellks further explained that the standard of teaching in most Brent schools was deemed to be satisfactory or better; however, further work was required to ensure that all teaching was of good quality. It was expected that most head teachers knew their staff sufficiently to determine whether further support and training could address any issues or whether alternative action was required. Part of the role of the council’s link advisers was to support head teachers to take decisive action to address issues of poor performance. Faira Ellks acknowledged that traditional practice had involved ineffective teachers being informally moved on from particular positions. At present there were 16 schools in Brent ranked by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ and there was little evidence of a correlation between locality and school success. Rather it was considered that the quality of the head teacher was the most important determinant of success within a school.
Turning to discuss Councillor Mitchell Murray’s query regarding the relative educational achievement of boys and girls, Faira Ellks advised that the data indicated that whilst girls continued to do well and improve, the achievement of boys was catching up to that of girls.
During members’ discussion the committee requested that comparative information for educational achievement across London be provided. Faira Ellks advised that there were some indicators for which this would not be possible but that she would endeavour to provide this information. The Chair also requested information on the number of schools offering the subjects for the English Baccalaureate and the number of Brent pupils who go on to further education. The committee further requested that a breakdown of achievement for each key stage by ethnicity be circulated to committee members and that information regarding the measures in place and the activities being undertaken to support the educational attainment of different ethnic groups be provided to the committee.
RESOLVED
i. That the continuing improvements in education standards and the contribution made by Services to Schools to these outcomes be noted.
ii. That a breakdown of achievement for each key stage by ethnicity be circulated to committee members
iii. That the committee’s congratulations be conveyed to all head teachers and teaching staff for their continuing dedicated efforts in raising achievement of Brent pupils
Supporting documents: