Agenda item
Annual School Standards and Achievement report 2015-2016
This report is being referred to theCommunity and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee as, at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 27 February 2016, it had been resolved that resolved that school standards and achievement would be scrutinised again after one year.
This report meets Brent Council’s strategic priorities and policies, and affects the wellbeing of the Borough’s communities and residents becauseschool standards are a corporate priority for Brent Council as set out in the Brent Borough Plan 2015-19.
Minutes:
A report reviewing school standards and achievement for 2015-2016 was presented to the committee by John Galligan (Head of Setting and School Effectiveness). Members heard that in 2014, 78 per cent of Brent’s Schools were rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding. At this time, the Education Commission had set Brent a target -that all of the borough’s schools be good or outstanding. Meeting this target had been the aim of the Strategic Framework for School Effectiveness in Brent 2014-17. Currently, 96 per cent of Brent schools are judged good or outstanding by Ofsted, well above the national average. The arrangements which had supported this improvement were outlined to the committee. Collaborative, school led partnerships were now a key feature of Brent’s education provision. In particular, the school to support provided by partners including the Brent Schools Partnership and the borough’s two Teaching School Alliances contributed greatly to the improvement of schools. Head Teachers Karen Giles, Jane Jardine, Theresa Landreth and Laura Wynne were introduced to the committee and their key roles in providing school to school support and raising school effectiveness across Brent explained.
John Galligan further advised that Brent had performed well against the national averages in 2016 for the primary and secondary headline attainment measures but was below London at the end of Key Stage 2 and just below London at the end of Key Stage 4. The borough performed very well in measures of pupil progress. It was significantly above the national averages at both key stages, and above the London average at Key Stage 4 and in mathematics at Key Stage 2. The committee was advised that, as a consequence of performance measures for schools and colleges being changed in 2016, it was not possible to make comparisons with previous years.
In the subsequent discussion, the committee queried whether the commitment for all Brent schools to be judged good or outstanding by 2017 would be met. Further information was sought regarding Brent’s performance relative to other London boroughs and members queried how the council would avoid complacency to support continued improvement in Brent’s schools. Further details were sought regarding the role of the Strategic School Effectiveness Partnership Board and the committee questioned the work being undertaken on the new Strategic Framework for School Effectiveness due later in the year. Members highlighted the importance of good school governance, sought further information about school to school support and queried the council’s role in ensuring the contribution of school leaders with proven expertise and experience. It was subsequently queried how the council identified schools requiring intervention, the timing and nature of that intervention and why Interim Executive Boards had been put in place in two Brent schools. Questions were raised regarding the recruitment, training and retention of governors and teaching staff. The committee raised several queries regarding improving attainment for underperforming groups, including the specific projects undertaken and organisations engaged, and an explanation was requested of the variation of attainment across the borough.
In response, Gail Tolley (Strategic Director, Children and Young People) advised that there were two schools with a current Ofsted rating of requires improvement which were not due to be inspected until the following year and one which was due to be inspected in 2017; however all other schools in the borough were now judged good or outstanding. The rate of improvement that this represented was rapid and Brent was one of the best performing boroughs against this measure both in London and nationally. To sustain this progress, the strong partnership working and focus on achievement and progress for all children needed to be maintained. John Galligan advised that the council, in discussion with school leaders, was now looking specifically at local priorities for Brent in driving forward the quality of provision and this was reflected in the forthcoming Strategic School Effectiveness Strategy. The delivery of this strategy was supported by the Strategic School Effectiveness Board which provided a strategic hub for partnership working. Head Teachers Theresa Landreth, Laura Wynne and Karen Giles outlined their experiences of providing school to school support including expounding the role of specialist centres and consultant head teachers. The committee heard that this support was often very carefully brokered through the Setting and School Effectiveness Service.
Addressing queries regarding formal intervention in schools, John Galligan advised that the School Effectiveness team monitored schools by reviewing the School Effectiveness matrix, a comprehensive dataset on schools which included information on exclusions, attainment and leadership. Where risks were identified, a proactive approach was taken and school to school support brokered. If formal intervention was required, this would usually be in the form of a rapid improvement group to address insufficient challenge from a governing body. It was emphasised that since the introduction of the Strategic Schools Effectiveness Strategy, there are now no schools in Brent judged inadequate by Ofsted. The importance of robust governance and the role that the local authority had in challenging this was highlighted. Part of the role of the School Effectiveness Lead Professional was to provide advice on the training offer for governors and to sign post to the Brent Schools Partnership where appropriate. Informal support was also provided to governors through school to school arrangements. Co-opted Member Alloysius Frederick advised that, as one of two National Leaders of Governance in Brent, he worked closely with schools to offer support in this area.
John Galligan advised that the challenge previously provided by the committee regarding underperforming groups had ensured that this issue had been at the forefront of the agenda for school improvement across all schools in Brent and school effectiveness partners. Some governors were providing robust challenge on this issue; though there was still lots of work required. Karen Giles expressed the view that the key to addressing this was less about the specific projects and more about ensuring good practice on a day to day basis in schools, identifying individual needs and personalising learning. Theresa Landreth added that the relationship with parents and raising the aspirations of parents for their children was another important element of the work required to improve the attainment of underperforming groups. Local community groups were engaged as part of this work including the Reach Society, a nationally acclaimed organisation led by Black men in the community. Addressing concerns regarding variation in attainment, Karen Giles advised that this depended on a range of factors from the variation in characteristics of the children, leadership at the schools and recruiting and retaining good teachers.
Gail Tolley emphasised the important contribution that Members could make to ensuring good governance in the borough’s schools. As leaders within their communities, Members were well placed to identify local residents with the skills, knowledge and experience to become excellent school governors. The committee was therefore asked to encourage Members to take an active role in encouraging and nominating local residents to become school governors.
The committee commended the emphasis placed on supporting underperforming groups to achieve improved attainment and RESOLVED:
i) that the Annual School Standards and Achievement Report 2016/2017 detail the progress made in raising attainment of identified underperforming groups and provide case studies illustrating the strategies employed by schools;
ii) that a report on the impact of the new National Funding Formula on Brent Schools be brought to a future meeting of the committee;
iii) that Members be encouraged to take an active role in encouraging and nominating local residents to become school governors.
Supporting documents: