Agenda item

The Board received a presentation and summary on the provisional outcomes for Halton’s Children and Young People and their performance in comparison to unvalidated national data and North West regional data.

 

It was noted that the outcomes for children and young people were only comparable to 2016 results for Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, and that these were to be treated with some caution as the new assessment processes experienced some unreliability in the first couple of years. 

 

In summary the provisional outcomes showed:

 

·       The Early Years Foundation Stage results – the Halton Gap to National had increased;

·       Phonics results Year One – the Halton Gap to National had reduced;

·       Key Stage One Reading, Writing and Maths – the Halton Gap to National at expected level;

·       Key Stage Two Reading, Writing and Maths – the Halton Gap to National reduced across the board;

·       GCSE Results – could not be compared to previous year due to new system;

·       Post 16 Results A Level & BTEC – in line with national A*- E pass rate of 98% and increase of 6% on distinction grades from 2016 respectively.

 

Members were advised that progress data would be released in December and any schools that were below the floor standard and those meeting the coasting school criteria would be identified.  These schools would be eligible for formal action by the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) and may be identified for an intervention plan that could lead to a sponsored Academy solution for the school.

 

The following queries/comments were made following the presentation:

 

The Good Learning Development (GLD) range was huge at 27% - 80%, what are we doing to improve this?

 

The School Improvement Team (SIT) would be challenging schools with poor results and making frequent visits to these schools to look at a range of data to understand what the reasons for this could be.  Consistency across PVI and Local Authority (LA) schools would continue to be encouraged through information sharing and working together.  A restructure of the LA teams was planned and a data tracking system would be implemented for the LA schools.

 

Key Stage 1 (KS1) is always a problem for Halton – what are we doing to address this?

 

Some schools indicated that part of the reason pupils did not perform well at KS1 was due to their low starting point but the SIT were looking into this and challenging schools.  It was anticipated that through better data information sharing and sharing of good practice that results would improve.

 

Key Stage 4 Maths was disappointing do we know why?

 

We are asking schools to share data and information so that more detailed analysis can be undertaken.  The results of the analysis would be brought to the November PPB.

 

Austerity cuts have affected staff levels – do we have the resources to deal with these issues?

 

An explanation was provided over the loss of the ESG and other funding reductions.  It was explained that the LA now had to bid together with other local authorities for Strategic School Improvement funding.  This was a complex and time consuming process and the LA and its sub regional neighbours had not been successful in securing funds to date.

 

What was the Early Years intake?

 

Three year old admissions to nursery schools had increased to above target to 96%.  This was in line with the North West region.

 

Comments around barriers against learning were made

 

A discussion on child development took place.  The ECAT (Every Child a Talker) project was explained and the importance of parents involvement with this.

 

Phonics and Early Years results – was there any information about the settings involved?

 

No analysis was available at this point but we hope to provide this at the November meeting.

 

Do you approach Elected Members who are also school governors of failing schools?

 

Yes and the school categorisation letter would be shared with the Chair of Governors of each school.  It was suggested that may be helpful if there was a prescribed set of questions that Governors could ask their schools in relation to performance.  Members agreed this would be helpful in their Governor roles.

 

RESOLVED:  That the presentation and comments made be received.