Improving Educational Outcomes in Somerset

Dave FarrowHead of Improving Outcomes

Commissioning

• The LA is the champion of children and families (2010 White Paper)

• Monitoring Challenge Support Intervention (MCSI) framework still applies (Revised guidance Jan 2015)

• LA retains statutory duty “to promote high standards so that children and young people achieve well and fulfil their potential” (1996 Education Act)

• Ofsted expectations of LAs

The LA’s role in the Changed Landscape

LA School Improvement Inspection

• The effectiveness of corporate and strategic leadership of school improvement

• The clarity of transparency of policy and strategy for supporting school improvement and how clearly the LA has defined its monitoring, challenge, support and intervention roles

• The extent to which the LA knows schools and, where appropriate, other providers, their performance and the standards they achieve and how effectively support is focused on areas of greatest need

• The effectiveness of the LA’s identification of, and intervention in, underperforming maintained schools, including where applicable, the use of formal powers available to the LA

LA School Improvement Inspection• The impact of LA support and challenge over time and the

rate at which schools and other providers are improving, including impact of the LA strategy to narrow attainments gaps

• The extent to which the LA brokers and/or commissions high quality support for maintained schools

• The effectiveness of strategies to support highly effective leadership and management in maintained schools and other providers

• Support and challenge for school governance• The way the LA uses any available funding to effect

improvement, including how it is focused on areas of greatest need

The Next Five Years

• 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds

• Free meals to all infants• £7b for increasing the number of good

school places• Protect funding for schools (not increase)• Continue Pupil Premium at current rates• Fairer School Funding – current levels will

be the baseline

The Next Five Years

• New standards for literacy and numeracy• If standards not met in primary schools

resit at start of secondary• Require secondary school pupils to take

GCSEs in Eng, maths, science, a language and history or geography

The Next FiveYears

• Good primary school place for every child (zero tolerance of failure)

• Expand NLE programme to take control of failing primary schools

• Every ‘failing an coasting’ secondary school to become an academy

• Expand academies/free schools etc• Force coasting schools to accept new

leadership• RI schools to convert to academies

The LA Role Going Forward• Taking the lead role in facilitating/bringing about

change• Ensuring high educational standards are secured in

all schools• Ensuring the availability of a good or outstanding

school place for every child• Safeguarding the more vulnerable including

through closing the ‘achievement gap’• Championing all Somerset children and families• Convening partnerships that will most benefit

Somerset’s children and families, and• Commissioning high quality services

What Next?

• Develop commissioning function

• Develop and Publish Improving Outcomes Strategy– Priorities– Schools Led System– Accountability/monitoring systems– Schools Causing Concern Policy

Improving Outcomes Strategy• All schools Good or Outstanding by (2018?)• Improved ‘school readiness’• On-going improvement in outcomes in all phases• Narrowing the gap for vulnerable groups (Pupil

Premium / CLA / SEN / EAL)• Improving outcomes for the most able• Addressing rurality issues• Building the capacity/capability of effective school to

school support (RAPs / NLE /LLEs / Teaching Schools etc)

• Developing effective monitoring / accountability systems• Making best use of available resources

Support and Intervention

Schools where performance is a concern

Continuum of School Improvement and Intervention

Good or Outstanding with no or few risk factors identified

Schools with short term risk factors

Schools with significant risk

factors, eg: RI/at risk of

RI/Inadequate

Schools consistently below the floor standardsSchools judged as

RI

Central Monitoring

Support/InterventionBrokered by SSE NLE, LLE SLE etc Focused/

Intensive/ Short Term

IEB Academy

conversion

UniversalPhase RAPSGroupings of schoolsIndividual School to SchoolOngoingInformal/formal

Schools Causing Concern

This could include schools:

• Likely to be judged as Inadequate if inspected by Ofsted

• Judged by Ofsted as ‘Requires Improvement’ (RI) or and not making rapid improvement

• Likely to be judged by Ofsted as ‘Requires Improvement’ and not making rapid improvement

• Below or close to floor standards over time and not making rapid improvement

• Consistently below floor standards

Schools Causing Concern

This could include schools:

• With a decline in performance over time

• Where performance is significantly below standards of comparable schools

• Where there are serious financial concerns which are not being addressed appropriately

• Which have been causing concern and are showing early signs of improvement

Schools Causing Concern

This could include schools:

• With complex weaknesses

• Requiring significant improvement with limited capacity to improve

• Where there are other serious concerns which will affect outcomes for children

Process• School (and where appropriate Academy sponsor)

notified it is causing concern • Support package and Improvement Plan agreed/

brokered with performance measures/ milestones• Progress monitored through SSE• Insufficient progress – warning notice issued• Continued insufficient progress

– for maintained schools, intervention procedures

– for Academies notification to RSC / DfE