Agenda item

1:10 pm

The Committee has previously agreed to undertake a review of educational attainment and this report outlines the scope of the review and also asks the Committee to agree to nominations to form the sub-group who will carry out the deep dive.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)       agree the scope of the deep dive;

(b)       co-opt three additional members to the sub-group.

The Committee had previously agreed to undertake a review of educational attainment.  The Committee now had before it a report which, following an officer presentation to the Committee in March, outlined the scope of the review and sought nominations to form the sub-group who would carry out the deep dive.

The Committee had at its previous meeting noted that although the overall picture appeared to be positive, there were areas where the county was performing below the national average:

(a)         Writing outcomes at KS1 and KS2 were below the national average, though improvements were being made.

(b)         Attainment for disadvantaged pupils and SEN learners remained below those of non-disadvantaged pupils, although there were areas of improvement.

(c)          The curriculum offer under Attainment 8 consisted of 5 precise subjects and 3 open element subjects. The KS4 offer could vary across schools and the Committee felt that it would be beneficial to investigate how this impacted on the Attainment and Progress 8 scores across the county.

The Committee agreed that the overall aim of the deep dive would therefore be to gain a greater understanding of the drivers behind trends associated with improved educational attainment, particularly for vulnerable learners, including:

(a)      gaining a greater understanding of the Pupil Premium monies received by schools, and how the income was streamed to other similar schools outside of Oxfordshire;

(b)      identifying how the money was used in schools to facilitate the educational attainment of pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium and in particular children in care;

(c)       to investigate the work being undertaken by the Council, schools and colleges in the county to promote school inclusion and how this linked to educational attainment;

(d)      to investigate the work undertaken to ease the transition between primary and secondary school, and for those that moved into 14-18 schools, particularly vulnerable learners;

(e)      to consider the Key Stage 4 offer at schools across Oxfordshire and the opportunities and challenges that existed in relation to Progress 8 and Attainment 8 figures for all learners;

(f)        to understand the educational attainment levels of gypsy and traveller communities in Oxfordshire compared to the national average.

The Deputy Director, David Clarke whilst welcoming the investigation, cautioned that due to the size of this piece of work, greater clarity would be needed around whether around the scope of the review and whether this was focused around attainment 8 or progress 8.  In response Councillor Howson indicated that it was the intention was to be secondary school focused, concentrating on the following vulnerable groups:

Pupil Premium;

SEND in Mainstream Schools;

ROMA and travelling Children;

Looked After Children – out of County – Implications of how long it was taking to get them into school;

Links with Progress 8;

Children who arrive Mid-Year – transfer/mobility Issues.

Following debate, the Committee RESOLVED to:

(a)       agree the scope of the deep dive;

(b)       co-opt Councillor Ted Fenton and Councillor Michael Waine to the sub-group;

(c)       ask Councillor Jeanette Matelot and Mrs Carole Thomson whether they are able to be the fourth member of the group.