Showing posts with label school improvement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school improvement. Show all posts

Wednesday 7 September 2016

London boroughs need to be more vocal about their role in school improvement

From London Councils

London boroughs renewed their commitment to driving school improvement at London Councils’ Education Summit, held at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) on Monday.

London is currently the best performing region at GCSE level and around 80 per cent of schools in the capital are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, but at the same time 40 per cent of young Londoners are failing to achieve  5 A* to C grades including English and Maths. 

At the Education Summit, councillors and council officers from across London discussed various strategies to boost pupil performance across the capital, particularly for those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

Cllr Peter John OBE, London Councils Executive member for children, skills and employment, said:

London’s schools have much to celebrate when it comes to standards and performance, but it is vital that they do not rest on their laurels. By analysing what drives success in schools across the capital and focusing on narrowing gaps in attainment for pupils on free school meals, who are classed as being the most disadvantaged, boroughs can pave the way for further school improvements.

London boroughs remain committed to playing our part within the education system to ensure children in London receive a top-quality education, and that is why we are so concerned about the likely impact of the national funding formula for schools, on top of rising costs and growing pupil populations.
Keynote speaker Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Ofsted, focused on why it is imperative for local authorities and schools to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and voiced scepticism about the effectiveness of re-introducing grammar schools. He shared insights gained as a head teacher at Mossbourne Academy in Hackney and during his tenure at Ofsted on the education system at large and the factors that create better schools. 

Another keynote speaker at the event was Alan Wood CBE, currently Chair of a government advisory group on the role of local authorities in relation to children. He called on London boroughs to be vocal about their role in school improvement and to do more to help schools push the most able students and those from working class backgrounds, boost attainment among pupils with special education needs and those interested in vocational 14-19 education routes, and improve standards in early years education. 

Wednesday 26 February 2014

A thriving and well organised library lives on in NW2

At a time when many Brent residents are still mourning the loss of their local libraries it was heartening to visit Braintcroft Primary School in Warren Road, NW2, this afternoon and see the well organised and beautifully cared for library being used by the children.

These pictures were taken after school:


In another contribution to literacy in the borough, the school last year became a training centre for Reading Recovery after the closure of the Brent School Improvement Service's facility.

A special room has been set up where Reading Recovery teachers can observe colleague's teaching behind a 'mirror' screen to learn, share and discuss the strategies pioneered by Marie Clay. Reading Recovery is carried out on an intensive 1:1 basis with proven success but is under threat in some areas because it is seen as expensive.

The Governing Body at Braintcroft decided that Reading Recovery was too precious a resource to be lost to the borough and employed the key Reading Recovery trainer and financed the building of the training room. Local schools now buy into the service..

More information on Reading Recovery HERE

Friday 28 June 2013

Christine Gilbert to head up Brent Education Commission as school improvement changes take place

Last week I briefly attended the farewell party for eighteen or so people who are leaving Brent's School Improvement Service, including Faira Ellks who has led the service for many years. Some had accepted early retirement, others redundancy, some have set up a consultancy and a few had been employed by Brent schools who will sell their expertise, such as Reading Recovery,  to other schools..

As I looked on I reflected on the years of experience and expertise in the group that has done so much to improve Brent schools, that will be lost as a consequence of this cull. Yes, a core service will remain but its quality is uncertain and yes, Brent headteachers have formed a Brent Schools a Brent Schools Partnership to support each other, but its quality is untested.

Interestingly these concerns were echoed by Rebecca Matthews, the new interim head of School Improvement, at the Brent Governors Conference this week. She said that the BSP raised issues that include:
  • lack of clarity on aspects such as accountability and leadership
  • the capacity among senior leaders of schools to undertake the tasks involved
  • the threat to a school's own standards when its senior leaders are engaged on collaborative activities with other schools
  • measuring and evaluating the impact of such interventions
  • engaging all schools so that they looked beyond themselves
As someone said at the farewell party, 'Schools won't know what they are missing until it is gone'.

Matthews also outlined the challenge of Ofsted's new emphasis on all schools being rated Good or Outstanding and the potential of a sudden drop in the rating of schools rated 'Good' under the old Ofsted criteria when inspected under the new framework, particularly if they had been coasting or facing new pressures since the previous Ofsted.

The authority itself faces the challenge of diminishing resources both human and financial which means a reduced core School Improvement team and the challenge of dealing with the mixed economy of school categories - maintained, academy, free - with lack of powers over the latter.

Rebecca Matthews said that as a consequence of diminishing resources a new core offer to schools would be made which would include:
  • A closer focus on 'need' rather than a universal offer
  • A lighter touch with 'secure' schools with the bulk of support going to schools in need of improvement
  • Brokering school to school support arrangements
  • Regular meetings to judge and recognise progress rather than once a year meeting
  • An emphasis on the speed of improvement
To address the wider challenge facing the authority a short-term Education Commission for Brent would be set up. Interestingly in the light of the appointment of Sara Williams as acting director of Children and Families, this will be headed up not by her but by the council's Interim Chief Executive, Christine Gilbert (former head of Ofsted) and Robert Hill from the University of London Institute of Education. They would look at the context of the performance of Brent schools, examine inspection evidence, visit schools and take evidence from stakeholders, including governors. They would identify the 'scope for innovative support for improvement' and work with the BSP and Teaching Schools on a sustainable shared model.

The Commission will report in November 2013.

In a way this can be interpreted as the authority attempting to claw back responsibility for  school improvement from the group that set up the BSP. With Ofsted and the DfE focusing on the role of local authority's when their area's schools are under-performing the LA has to demonstrate that it is proactive.

Cllr Michael Pavey, lead member for Children and Families, had a Q&A session,  in a candid reply to a question from me why Camden had managed to keep the maintained sector intact but Brent hadn't, said that the authority had 'allowed the best schools to walk away' and now faced losing 'our failing schools because of government legislation'.  He repeated his belief that the imposition of an Interim Excutive Board and academisation was the only viable solution for Copland High School because it was failing its pupils and the local authority did not have the resources to support it.. When asked about how Copland had been allowed by the local authority to get into that state he said, 'I can't say. That was before my remit'.

Unfortunately the situation at Copland, and precisely that last question, is likely to put Brent Council's school improvement arrangements under the Ofsted and DfE microscope. However, it also raises questions about the government policy where foundation schools, academies and free schools have autonomy with reduced powers of direct intervention by the LA whilst that at the same time they have an overall responsibility for the education and well-being of children in the borough.

Pavey agreed with a governor who said that governors had not been involved in the development of the Brent Schools Partnership despite having a strategic responsibility for school improvement, and should be better represented on the Brent Schools Partnership.  Only one place on the headteacher dominated management committee has been allocated to governors.

Interestingly,in his workshop, Luca Salice, Vice Chair of Camden Schools Forum, discussed the imposition of  IEBs by the local authority, not as a way of bringing about academisation, as in the Copland case, but as a way of the LA preventing a school academising against the wishes of teachers and parents.