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ITEM EX6 Supplement

Executive – 1 June 2004 – Agenda Item 6

Performance Management: Progress against Priorities and Targets 2003-04

Supplementary Comments by Director for Learning & Culture

The pass rates for GCSE in Oxfordshire maintained schools are similar to national average rates. Our students, however, do not do as well as students in similar, relatively advantaged counties. The Council has recognised this and is intent on improving achievement in secondary schools as one of its highest priorities. Improving GCSE attainment of 5 A*-G (including English and Mathematics) is a target within the local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) programme. By selecting this as a LPSA target, the Council has ensured additional money is obtained from the government to add to our existing resources to improve achievement.

We have already made some real progress. In 2003, 14 year olds in Oxfordshire’s schools achieved good results in the end of Key Stage 3 tests. Our results for 14 year olds were as good as students in similar counties and above the national average. Oxfordshire was the most improved shire county nationally for 14-year-old achievement. These students were able to begin their GCSE courses in September 2003 with an excellent foundation for good progress in their GCSE courses. As a result their prospects for good GCSE results in 2005 are very promising.

A significant reason for these much-improved results is the ‘Key Stage 3 strategy’. This is a national programme for improving teaching and learning in secondary schools. We have a team within the School Development Service dedicated to supporting schools in the successful delivery of this strategy. Aspects of the strategy are now being developed, nationally and locally, to support a wider age range in our secondary schools.

Considerable support for schools is already in place to improve the GCSE pass rate for students of all abilities. Members, headteachers and Council officers worked together on a successful Best Value Review of services to support secondary achievement in 2003. A wide-ranging set of recommendations was jointly produced to ensure our support to schools and students becomes both increasingly effective and better value. We have many of these recommendations already in place and making an impact on practice in secondary schools.

Examples of strategies in place to ensure secondary schools are effectively supported to raise GCSE achievement are:

• A Secondary Action Group where the Executive Member (Schools), headteachers and officers work together to agree and oversee joint work to improve standards.
• A new, dedicated team of specialist secondary advisers led by a newly appointed Senior Secondary Adviser. This team is well placed to offer high quality, consistent challenge and support to secondary schools.
• Secondary School Improvement Networks – 6 networks of similar schools (based on pupil intake) were established in 2003. The networks initially focused on sharing and developing practice to raise the numbers of students passing 5 A*-G (including English and mathematics). This has been funded through the LPSA.
• Work led by the Co-ordinating Adviser 14-19 to improve curriculum opportunities such as through developing applied GCSE and vocational qualifications, introducing new qualifications and disseminating good practice among schools.
• Work to improve teaching and learning through targeted support to schools and subject departments where practice is underdeveloped and students are underachieving.
• Introducing schools to recent developments in teaching and learning, most notably Assessment for Learning where our work has been nationally recognised
• Targeted support to schools to assist them in raising standards in ICT and developing ICT across the curriculum.
• A wide programme of support from Children’s Services to students at risk of underachievement, and, in collaboration with the School Development Service, to their schools.

Overall, there are much-improved prospects for good progress towards our GCSE targets.

The Council has set challenging targets for improving the educational achievement of children in care. We are making progress towards these:

• there has been an improvement in the achievement of children in care at Key Stage 1 (7 year olds) and Key Stage 3 (14 year olds);
• the percentage of children leaving care achieving 1 GCSE A-G has improved from 31% in 2001 to 41% in 2003;
• permanent exclusions of children in care have reduced.

However, the attainment of children in care at KS2 (11 year olds) and at GCSE is still not as good as we want it to be, and the Council has identified raising the achievement of children in care as one of its top priorities. Improving the achievement of children in care at GCSE has been identified as a target within the local Public Service Agreement with the Government. By doing this, the Council has ensured that additional money is obtained from the Government to add to our existing resources to improve achievement.

There is a wide range of support in place to support the educational achievement of children in care. Examples of the strategies in place include:

• appointment of a designated teacher for children in care in every school;
• training for designated teachers;
• the establishment of a Reach Up team of teachers and learning mentors who work with designated teachers to provide additional support for children in care;
• personal education plans for all children in care;
• additional resources targeted to particular children who are under-achieving;
• special arrangements to pay for transport so a child in care, studying GCSEs in years 10 and 11, does not have to move school if their family placement changes;
• the development of a Compact between schools, Learning & Culture and Social & Health Care to improve support across agencies for children in care;
• appointment of specialist staff in the Education Social Work Service and Educational Psychology Service to work with children in care;
• the expansion of the leaving care team and appointment of specialist personal advisers from the Connexions Service specifically for children in care.

The Council is determined to improve the educational achievement of some of the most vulnerable children in our county. Overall, there are good prospects for improvement.

The target set against this indicator is a national Youth Service target (see Resourcing Excellent Youth Services and subsequent clarification by the Minister of State for Children requiring the Youth Service to ensure that 60% of young people have their learning recorded and that, of these, 30% have an accredited outcome). The Youth Service has included this target in the Implementation Plan of its Transforming Youth Work Operational Plan (see Implementation Plan 2004/05). Young people gain certification for work they are doing with the Youth Service, and this demonstrates their personal and social development and reflects their needs. Young people are keen to receive certification for their input; in the Youth Service customer satisfaction survey (2003/4) 63% of young people said they were interested in gaining certificates through involvement in youth work. The Youth Service aim is "to enable young people 13-19 years, and other young people at the margins, to progress towards identified goals through the provision of personal and social development opportunities" - outcomes from this work foster community well being, responsibility and citizenship.

Initial estimates by the Youth Service in 2002 showed approximately 8% of young people gaining certification for their learning over the year 2002/3, this has risen over 2003/4 14%. In addition in 2003/4 the Youth Service has introduced accreditation through AQA, all full-time staff have been trained to write AQA units and assess learning; the Youth Service Youth Achievement Award has been relaunched to provide certification for young people involved in youth forums, skills based projects and other innovative work and a robust monitoring system is now in place. Whilst the percentage rise between 02/03 and 03/04 is small the infrastructure and capacity of the Service to rapidly increase levels of certification for young people over the coming period is in now in place and the Service anticipates meeting the 60% target by 06/07.

Our view within the Service is that, despite the question mark indicated in the report, we are firmly on track to meet this target.

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