Agenda Item 4 Report to Cabinet 21 January 2015 Subject: The Performance of Sandwell Secondary Schools and Academies Presenting Cabinet Children’s Services Member: 1. Summary Statement 1.1 The Ofsted Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw published his annual report on the performance of schools in December 2014. This report highlights the national and regional performance of schools and mainly focuses on the percentage of children attending schools that are rated as good or outstanding in each local authority area. In Sandwell Ofsted ratings for schools are significantly different between primary schools and secondary schools. The report states that in Sandwell 82% of primary-age children are attending good or outstanding schools (as of 31st August 2014) but in the secondary sector this is much lower at 53%. Following inspections in the autumn term, which were not taken into account in the report, this figure could reduce further in 2015, to 44.4% of pupils at good or outstanding secondary schools, compared to 71% nationally. 1.2 The aspiration and attainment of all children and young people in Sandwell schools is a central concern of the council and an important element of our strategy for the social and economic regeneration of the borough. This remains the case irrespective of the fact that legislative changes by successive governments mean that the council no longer fulfils the traditional role of a local education authority or that the majority of secondary schools are independent academies outside direct council control. 1.3 This report proposes that the council should adopt a significantly more assertive role with all schools, irrespective of their governance arrangements, in order to promote the best outcomes for children and young people, and in particular with the Department for Education, the Regional Schools Commissioner, Academies and their sponsors, to secure improvements in Ofsted ratings and GCSE results. [IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] 1 1.4 At present eight-two of the ninety-four primary schools in Sandwell are maintained by the council. This, however, is not the case in the secondary sector where twelve of the seventeen high schools are independent academies. 1.5 The academies currently causing most concern over their performance in Sandwell are ACE Academy and Wodensborough Academy following significant falls in their GCSE performance this year, placing them below the 40% floor standard and taking account of their current Ofsted judgements. Holly Lodge, a council maintained secondary school, may also be below the floor standard when recent Key Stage 4 results are validated, although it is currently judged to be a good school by Ofsted. 1.6 In addition to those schools above, the following is noted:- Bristnall Hall Academy, Oldbury Academy and Mesty Croft Primary Academy have all fallen below a good Ofsted rating since becoming academies. RSA Academy, Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy and Forge Academy are all rated as “requires improvement” by Ofsted. There has been a three year decline in GCSE examination performance at both Sandwell Academy and Wood Green Academy. 1.7 In the past the council has successfully used the academies programme to intervene in underperforming maintained schools by bringing in sponsors to support their improvement. A number of schools have also converted to academy status of their own volition, either on their own or with a sponsor if they were not already graded as good or outstanding. Now we need to consider the mechanisms that we can use when academies themselves fall below the performance we expect for our children and young people. This echoes Sir Michael Wilshaw’s report which identifies that improvements in secondary education have stalled nationally. In his report he calls upon councils to challenge the performance of academies in their areas. 1.8 The council does not have direct legal powers to insist on providing support to academies that have poor Ofsted ratings or low GCSE results – and, in recent years, the council has generally regarded academies as being largely outside our ability to influence. [IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] 2 1.9 However, some local authorities have not taken this view and have asserted their role in holding schools to account, irrespective of their governance arrangements, in order to promote the best outcomes for children and young people. This more assertive approach is particularly common in London, where educational attainment has improved faster than anywhere else in the country in the past ten years; Haringey, for example, is ranked as the thirteenth most deprived Council area in the country, yet one hundred percent of secondary-age pupils in Haringey attend good or outstanding schools. Consequently, this report recommends that the council should redefine our ways of working with the secondary sector to greater demonstrate our influence over standalone and sponsored academies – and to challenge schools’ performance on behalf of the children and young people of the borough. 1.10 In September 2014 the Department for Education appointed eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) to oversee the performance of existing academies and to help broker new academies. In the Midlands region, Pank Patel, the former head teacher of Wood Green Academy in Wednesbury, was appointed to this role. The RSC visited Sandwell in September 2014 to discuss the performance of schools and academies in the borough and has since made initial visits to some of the academies causing concern. Sir Michael Wilshaw says that he is keen to see local councils pressing Regional School Commissioners for improvements in academies where there is cause for concern. 1.11 Despite significant national cuts to council education budgets and ongoing reductions in the educational support grant due to academy conversions, the council continues to maintain school improvement services as part of its core budgets which allows for the continued work of school improvement advisors in maintained schools and dedicated workforce, school governance, teaching and learning support delivered by Sandwell Inspired Partnership Services (SIPS). The performance of schools is currently monitored by the Quality and Standards Performance Board. This officer group, which includes head teachers, meets every six weeks to review the performance of schools across a range of indicators including:- Standards and achievement Quality of teaching & Learning Quality of leadership Quality of School Governance Safeguarding and complaints Financial management [IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] 3 Human resources Special Educational Needs performance Exclusions of pupils Attendance and prosecutions School organisational issues Engagement with Local Authority Issues raised by unions. The board reviews performance in all indicators and decides if further intervention is required. However, there is no doubt that the work of this Board could be more rigorous and demanding than it has in the past, particularly in respect of secondary school academies. In the future a regular report from the Board to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services will be key to driving this step-change in performance. 1.12 Ofsted has the right to undertake inspections of local authority arrangements to support school improvement. Technically they can inspect any area which is below the national average on many measures including attainment and rates of progress and they could already (if they chose) come to Sandwell. Ofsted would start by doing fresh inspections on a number of schools and attention is paid to any marked change in grades as an indication of a direction of travel in the authority as a whole. Sandwell may well face such an inspection because of the poor performance in secondary schools. Officers are working to ensure that the Council meets the criteria for an inspection. 1.13 Ofsted do recognise the reduction in local government’s role in school improvement and the delegation of some of the resource for school improvement to schools themselves. There is much more emphasis on school to school improvement, with good and outstanding schools working with less successful schools to achieve improvement – and the council working as a broker and agent to ensure the effectiveness of these peer support mechanisms. 1.14 An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) screening has been completed and a full EIA is not required for the proposals in this report. Full details are attached for your information. [IL0: UNCLASSIFIED] 4 2. Recommendations 2.1 That the Director - Education is authorised to take a significantly more robust approach to challenging secondary academy performance, revising the Council’s approach to working with secondary schools and academies, and to hold to account the Department for Education and the Regional Schools Commissioner for improving academy performance. 2.2 That the Director - Education should consult with head teachers, academies, governing bodies, academy sponsors and the Regional Schools Commissioner on the changes required to bring about a step change in secondary school performance. 2.3 That the Quality and Standards Performance Board reports the performance of all schools, to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services on a regular basis and that the Director and Cabinet Member seek performance improvement plans and regular performance review meetings with schools that have poor Ofsted ratings or low GCSE results, or are failing to improve with sufficient speed, irrespective of their governance arrangements. 2.4 That the Director -