Agenda item

EDUCATION ASSESSMENT READINESS

To receive a presentation from the Interim Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance.

Minutes:

The Interim Director Education of Standards, Quality and Performance informed the Committee that she had attended a meeting that morning where it had been agreed that the self-assessment methods for education were to change so that they would align with those practiced within the Social Care. This meant that they would start using peer review and challenge model to continuously improve.

 

The Interim Director Education of Standards, Quality and Performance then delivered a presentation to the Committee which showed an overview of the key performance data for the Council. The presentation then went on to describe the Council’s position in relation to early years/school readiness, standards at all key stages, and special educational needs. The presentation also covered which areas the Council was performing well, where the Council needed to improve and how the Council was to achieve the improvement. 

 

Following the presentation the Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions. One Member asked how attainment of pupils was tracked throughout their education when they moved around the borough or into a different area. The Interim Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance responded that when trying to ‘close the gap’, the Council mainly looked at children in early years, which the Council had a good level of data for. The Interim Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance acknowledged that it became more difficult to track children’s progress when it came to children transitioning from one school and another. She assured the Committee that the Council worked hard to track children throughout their education so that the efficacy of their work could be measured.

 

Another Member enquired as to the powers the Council had to challenge academies. The Committee were told that Officers from the Council meet with the Regional School Commissioners on an annual basis and that is the main mechanism through which the Council is able to affect the practices of academies.

 

The Vice Chairman asked how many children were educated outside of the area. The Interim Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance was not certain of the figure but knew that not many Trafford Children left the borough for school as more came from outside of the area to attend Trafford schools. In the north of the borough there were a few who went across into Manchester to attend secondary school but not a significant amount.

 

Another Member of the Committee asked what research had been done on the education attainment gap and what the reason was for the gap. The Interim Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance explained that the reason for the gap was not clear and there was a lot of research ongoing locally, nationally, and internationally to work out the reason for the gap and how to overcome it. The Council had pockets of data which were held by the data team. The data team ‘drilled down’ into that data and analysed the differences in attainment in order to identified any patterns that existed and RAG rate children who would be at risk of underperforming. 

 

The Chairman mentioned that a piece of work had been done by the main Scrutiny Committee which had looked at closing the gap and this Committee could follow up on that work. The Committee requested that the report of the Scrutiny Committee be sent to Members for information.

 

A Member then asked the Council made sure that the pupil premium was used properly.  The Interim Director of Education Standards, Quality and Performance responded that applying for the pupil premium was not the Councils responsibility but the responsibility of schools governing bodies. The Council supported schools by providing training for governors so they are aware of what the school can claim for and how to do it. The Council did provide challenge by asking schools to explain their use of the pupil premium and the Council also tried to collaborate with schools and share learning.

 

RESOLVED:

1)    That the update be noted.

2)    That the report of the Scrutiny Committee on closing the gap be sent to Committee Members.

 

Supporting documents: