Agenda item

6.1

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director, Children, Young People and Families, on Educational Attainment 2012/13.  The report, which had been requested by the Committee at its meeting held on 5^th September 2013, contained details of the educational outcomes for children and young people who were eligible for end of Key Stage assessments, tests or public examinations in summer 2013.  The report also contained details on the achievement of identified groups of learners, including Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), Special Educational Needs (SEN), English as a Second Language (EAL) and Looked-after Children (LAC).

6.2

In attendance for this item were Iain Peel, Interim Director, Inclusion and Learning Services, and Pauline Anderson, Strategic Lead – Primary.

6.3

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·         The rankings referred only to performance nationally and in comparison with other Core Cities, but the statistics in terms of rankings in comparison with other local authorities, including neighbouring authorities, could be circulated on request.  Following investigations into the Early Years’ outcomes for Rotherham MBC, it had been identified that similar work was being carried out in Sheffield, but Rotherham had been undertaking such measures for a longer period of time, resulting in such changes in rankings.  Whilst considerable work had been undertaken to find out how other local authorities had shown bigger improvements in terms of their outcomes, it was accepted that more work in this area was required.  As part of the planned work, secondary schools would be attending a workshop, led by a school in Gateshead, to share ideas and receive advice on teaching methods in terms of mathematics, with similar events planned to be held for other subjects.  There were also plans for officers to meet with Governing Bodies of a number of schools in January 2014, in order to look at how schools could make improvements in terms of educational outcomes. 

·         Whilst ESCAL, the award winning City-wide Literacy Strategy ensuring that ‘Every Sheffield Child is Articulate and Literate’, was being used through a partnership approach, aiming to further embed literacy across services to families, children and young people and ensuring that there is a cohesive approach to meeting children’s and young people’s needs, it was accepted that the Strategy could be used more effectively and that there was a need for more targeted focus work in this area.  A programme focussing on phonics had been undertaken last year, which had proved very effective and had resulted in a considerable improvement in terms of attainment levels.  However, there were only three officers in the ESCAL Team, which limited the scope of work which could be undertaken.

·         Officers had met with the Headteachers of groups of primary schools in specific geographical areas to discuss educational outcomes in their respective areas.  As part of such discussions, the Headteachers of those schools which historically had an intake of higher performing pupils had been requested to look at how attainment levels at those schools could be improved even further.  If attainment levels at such schools were not as high as expected, the Headteachers were asked why this was the case.  It had been identified that even small improvements in terms of outcomes for such schools could result in big changes to the Authority’s rankings, but most importantly, to the children involved.

·         Considerable work had, and would, continue to be undertaken in terms of future proofing, which had included the establishment of a number of learning partnerships in the City, whereby Headteachers would work with each other to work on and develop ideas to improve all aspects of schools’ operations.  Funding from schools had been used to commission additional capacity. It had been identified that the most important factor of a successful school was the leadership, so special efforts had been made to ensure good quality Headteachers were appointed to the City’s schools and it was hoped that with good leadership, together with a number of shorter-term interventions, including training for teachers, teaching standards would either improve, or remain at a high level.

·         Whilst it was accepted that schools would suffer in terms of attainment levels when their more able pupils moved to other schools, including the University Technical College, the schools and the Authority needed to focus on the progress of all pupils, wherever they studied.  In terms of the reporting of exam results of pupils at the University Technical College, although it was not accountable as a directly-maintained school, the Council would still monitor the progress of pupils, as with the Academies, and raise any concerns regarding attainment levels directly with all schools and academies.

·         It was no longer the role of the Authority to provide direct support for Headteachers.  Officers now broker partnerships with other schools so they could share good practice and look at other ways of offering help and advice.  The National College for Teaching and Learning Programme was also used for leadership development.

·         The recruitment of Headteachers had been a major concern nationally for a number of years and it had been known that schools had advertised for posts up to two to three times, and received no applications.  This was considered to be due to the challenging role and high level of accountability. The Council often provided help and advice to Assistant Headteachers in terms of them acting up prior to applying for the post of Headteacher. Teaching School Alliances  provided a range of support for school staff and the Local Authority had actively promoted Executive Headships to secure good leadership.

·         Whilst it was difficult to find 2013 national comparisons in terms of attainment levels regarding Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) pupils and Looked-After Children (LAC), although the gap was narrowing slowly, it was believed that Sheffield’s attainment levels were still below the 2013 national average.  Whilst attainment levels of Looked-After Children were lower than the main cohort of children in schools, consideration should be given to the progress made by  children on an individual basis as some will have made good levels of progress.

6.4

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the report now submitted, together with the responses to the questions raised; and

(b)       thanks Iain Peel and Pauline Anderson for attending the meeting.