DRAFT ITEM NO:C1(a) SUBJECT: SECONDARY EDUCATION REVIEW - PRE- STATUTORY CONSULTATION DECISION-MAKER: CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES AND LEARNING DATE OF DECISION: 5 DECEMBER 2005 REPORT VERSION No: 5 FORWARD PLAN No: CL01176 KEY DECISION? YES STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY None WARDS/COMMUNITIES AFFECTED: All wards in the city. SUMMARY The city’s secondary schools and the Council have a unique opportunity at this time to undertake a restructuring of provision in accordance with government imperatives that will leave schools well placed to enjoy the benefits of specialist status, greater collaboration, and more autonomy, ultimately delivering higher standards of achievement across the city. However, secondary schools are collectively facing a number of significant issues in the future including too many places, concerns about standards in some schools, deficiencies in buildings and sites and, in many cases, sizes of school that are too small to maintain long-term educational and financial viability. This report proposes the undertaking of pre-statutory consultation commencing in late January 2006. It recognises the intrinsic links between a successful configuration of secondary education for the City and other key developments such as those in the areas of transport, neighbourhood renewal and the achievement of social and economic well-being. The report is essentially about the review justification and process. RECOMMENDATIONS: (i) That approval be given to the undertaking of pre-statutory consultation as part of the secondary education review; (ii) That approval of the detailed proposals for pre-statutory consultation be delegated to the Executive Director of Children’s Services and Learning following consultation with the relevant Cabinet members. (iii) That the pre-statutory consultation be undertaken between January and March 2006; (iv) That a detailed pre-statutory consultation leaflet be drawn up and circulated to a wide range of stakeholders to assist the consultation; 1 (v) That the outcome of the pre-statutory consultation be reported to the City Council in June 2006. (vi) That the City Council formally requests the governors and trustees of St Anne’s and St George Catholic Schools, and the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, to commence work on a parallel review of Catholic secondary education in the city with a view to reducing surplus places and improving future school organisation in their schools. REASONS FOR REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS 1. A consensus view is emerging across the city that structural change is needed to the city’s secondary education system. It is the Council’s practice, when considering change requiring a statutory process, first of all to undertake pre-statutory consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including schools, local communities and the wider educational network. This report seeks approval to undertake that pre-statutory consultation. BACKGROUND 2. For some time now, officers of the City Council and secondary headteachers have been involved in discussions about various issues affecting the future development of secondary education in the city. The issues discussed with schools have included standards of attainment, surplus places, the small size of some of the city’s secondary schools, and quality of buildings. The engagement of headteachers with these issues and the contributions they have made at these meetings has been significant and greatly appreciated. A consensus is building that there is a compelling case for undertaking a wide ranging review of secondary education in the city, and that the review may involve structural change to provision. Such a review should reflect a clear national agenda for ensuring provision of high achieving secondary schools, with few surplus places, popular with parents and of sufficient size to command long term financial security. 3. A briefing of all members of the City Council has also taken place. There is recognition that the issues facing secondary education will be one of the most important challenges for the Council at this time. 4. The prospect of a city-wide review of secondary education is both a challenge and an immense opportunity. There is a strong national agenda for secondary schools aimed at driving up standards through promoting:- • Increased diversity in the secondary education system as a whole; • Increased specialisation at the level of the individual school; • Rising levels of collaboration within and across, key stages; • Greater autonomy for schools; • Improved “choice” for parents, especially in relation to greater access to popular and successful schools; • Deeper involvement of schools with their communities as “extended schools”; • Modernised buildings and facilities under the aegis of the “Building Schools for the Future” initiative. 2 5. The proposed review offers the Southampton community a major opportunity both to respond to these national issues and to re-align the secondary school system to address the difficult issues, many of them structural, facing the future delivery of secondary education in the city. These issues are described in the main body of the report. A successful outcome for the proposed review has the potential to bring very significant benefits to the city’s young people for many years into the future. Opportunities for the City’s Secondary Education System 6. Any review of secondary schools in Southampton would take place against a back-drop of almost unprecedented momentum for change in secondary education at national level. The government’s Five Year Strategy has set out an ambitious agenda of promoting greater autonomy for secondary schools, improved collaboration, greater ‘choice’ for parents, increasing specialisation and a higher profile for schools delivering an increasing range of services to the community as extended schools. Every Child Matters 7. The government’s drive to join up Children’s Services emphasises five outcomes for all children and young people:- • To be healthy • To stay safe • To enjoy and achieve • To make a positive contribution • To achieve economic well-being 8. Schools have a central role in improving outcomes in partnership with other agencies, in particular Health, Social Care and the voluntary sector. Their key accountability for raising standards will remain central and their contribution to the wider development of young people will be recognised and strengthened. Building Schools for the Future 9. This key government initiative offers the prospect of the renewal of all secondary school buildings over the next 10 to 15 years. This ambitious programme will ultimately ensure that all young people are educated in buildings fit for purpose in the 21st century. The major investment involved will support a strong local agenda of property improvement, guided by schools’ asset management plans, to make sure that pupils have the very best facilities and accommodation. Extended Schools 10. This national strategy aims to enable schools to offer a range of services to their community. There will be increased opportunities for children and young people to engage in additional activities before and after school, or during school holidays. There will be further opportunities for community learning and schools will be encouraged to explore possibilities for co- locating with school provision public services such as health facilities, libraries or social services drop-in centres. 3 11. Many secondary schools are already exploring opportunities for harnessing any space not needed directly for mainstream education purposes to the needs of the local community. The “Building Schools for the Future” initiative described in paragraph 8 offers the prospect of local schools being able to raise their profile as an extended school. Pupil Attainment 12. This year’s provisional figure for pupils achieving 5 or more GCSE passes (A* to C grade) is 47%. This is an improvement on last year’s figure of 44%. The 2005 rate is the best ever result for the city. Further improvements are confidently expected but this is reliant on ensuring that resources are fully channelled into teaching and learning rather than taken up with maintaining places for which there is no long term need. Specialist Status 13. The majority of Southampton schools have achieved specialist status over the last three years. Remaining schools are either working to achieve this award, or are considering doing so. The city has a strong foundation on which to build. New Technology and Managed Learning Environments 14. The advance of new technology has created new ways of learning personalised to the needs, interests and abilities of individual learners. A managed learning environment creates the possibility for pupils to access learning materials via the internet. Powerful data management techniques enable pupils’ learning to be tracked and for individual programmes of study to be developed. Targeting future investment within available resources on enhancing IT infrastructure is seen as a priority if schools are to take full advantage of the opportunities. Collaboration 15. A number of the city’s secondary schools have developed partnership working with neighbouring schools, including feeder premises or with colleges. In addition, all secondary schools are involved in collaborative activities through the Excellence in Cities programme. These partnerships enable schools to improve curricular access, develop jointly operated courses and share staff expertise more widely. Possibilities for federation between, or among, schools