Oxfordshire County Council School Improvement Plan

Oxfordshire County Council School Improvement Plan

Oxfordshire County Council School Improvement Plan

2016-18

September 2016(version from 07.10.16.)

DRAFT until taken to:

  • OCC Education and Learning SLT 19.08.16. √
  • DLT 08.09.16 √
  • Informal CCMT 14.09.16. √
  • Operational Group 14.09.16. √
  • Education Scrutiny 26.09.16. √
  • Strategic Schools Partnership Board (28.09.16.)√
  • Schools Forum 04.10.16.√
  • Informal Cabinet 18.10.16.
  • Chairs of associations 08.11.16.
  • Chairs of partnerships 17.11.16.
  • and circulated in Schools News at the start of the Autumn Term √,

In association with Oxfordshire’s Strategic Schools Partnership Board (SSPB) and Operational Group (‘Ops Group’)

Chris Malone

Strategic Lead, Education Quality

Simon Bissett

Education Quality Commissioner

School Improvement Plan 2016-17

This is an update of the 2015/16 Plan. The current academic year is a further step on the journey to a school-led system as we await the legislative outcome of the White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ and ‘Schools that work for everyone’.

The Education and Inspections Act, 2006, says that local authorities will promote high standards,ensure fair access to educational opportunity, andpromote the fulfilment by every child concerned of his educational potential. In 2016, the following documents update this statutory function, and underpin this plan:

Educational Excellence Everywhere, 2016: Education White Paper

A single sheet summary is included in Annex 1. This White Paper says that ‘local authorities will move away from maintaining schools and focus on championing pupils and parents’ (4.6d).

Schools Causing Concern, 2016: Statutory Guidance for local authorities

A single sheet summary is included in Annex 2.

Oxfordshire Education Strategy, 2015-18

  1. Introduction

In Oxfordshire in September 2016, over 50% of pupils attending state-funded schools attend academies. Most secondary schools are academies (83% or 29/35), 28% of primary schools are academies (66/234) as are 40% of special schools (6/15). There are also three all-through academies and six standalone nursery schools. This plan for school improvement acknowledges that most secondary schools manage their own improvement journey, and that there are still 170 maintained schools in the county.

Oxfordshire’sEducation Strategy acknowledgesthe changing role of local authorities in education. It emphasizes the importance of local partnerships, systems leadership andthe increase in school autonomy and diversity.

Oxfordshire County Council’s ‘Education and Learning’ service includes three functions:

  • Education Sufficiency and Access, led by Roy Leach
  • Vulnerable Learners, led by Janet Johnson
  • Education Quality, led by Chris Malone. This includes the school Improvement function.

Statutory requirements on local authorities for education are wide and varied. Responsibility for meeting these sits with the three leaders listed above. This document focuses on the school improvement function only.

Statutory duties on the local authority for school improvement include fulfilling requirements:

  • for maintained schools in national Schools Causing Concern guidance
  • in relation to the Early Years Foundation Stage across all schools
  • for moderation and assessment in maintained schools
  • to represent the Director of Children’s Services in the headteacher recruitment process in maintained schools (a ‘power’ rather than a duty)
  • in the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (RE) (SACRE) to provide an agreed RE syllabus in maintained schools.
  • for Educational Visit Coordinators in maintained schools (managed through School Health and Safety in Education Sufficiency and Access).

In Oxfordshire we also

  • risk assess the education provided by all schools and maintain an overview of their quality
  • commission or broker support for maintained schools causing concern through the Strategic School Partnership Board (SSPB) Operational Group
  • offer traded services, delivered through Oxfordshire Partners in Learning’ (OPL)for example for governance and inclusion, and through Step into Training for early years
  • support schools to work together to deliver requirements in Keeping Children Safe in Education, September 2016 and Working Together to Safeguard Children, March 2015
  • provide an Early Years Team ‘offer’ for all providers with children aged 0 to 5, funded through Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

A self-evaluation exercise through 2015/16, involving council officers, resulted in an ongoing record of areas of strength and areas for development. This process uses the Ofsted framework for inspection of Local Authority Arrangements for Supporting School Improvement(see Annex 5) and informed the updating of this plan.

  1. PrioritisingVulnerable Groups

All Oxfordshire’s special schools are judged by Ofsted to be good or outstanding.

Oxfordshire’s attainment data show that gaps between vulnerable learners and their peers are too wide, and are not closing quickly enough. This is particularly evident in the gap between outcomes for children eligible for pupil premium and their peers. Oxfordshire’sEducation Strategy emphasizes this priority. The Strategy for Equity and Excellence provides more detail on Oxfordshire’s commitment to improve outcomes for vulnerable learners. It includes four priorities:

Priority 1 - Improve achievement for those who are disadvantaged

Priority 2 - Improve the achievement of those with Special Educational Needs

Priority 3 - Improve attendance and reduce persistent absence

Priority 4 - Reduce permanent and fixed term exclusions.

This strategy is currently being revised to include summer 2016 assessment outcomes, and more recent attendance and exclusion data.

  1. Partnerships

Effective partnership between schools, teaching schools, the local authority and other local providers, such as the Anglican and Catholic Diocese, is central to the delivery of high quality school improvement services.

3.1 Strategic Schools Partnership Board (SSPB)

This group’skey purpose is to ensure coherence and strategic oversight for school improvement in order that the transformational outcomes for all Oxfordshire learners, and especially those for vulnerable and disadvantaged learners, are improved in line with The Education Strategy 2015-18.The Strategic Schools Partnership is a board of key partners and providers brought together to review strategic issuesfor educationin Oxfordshire and prioritisecommissioning themes for county-wide improvement, research and effective practice to support school to school support.

3.2 The Operational Group(‘Ops Group’)

This Group reports to the Strategic Schools PartnershipBoard and leads the operational school improvement process in Oxfordshire. Partners include:

  • Oxfordshire County Council (OCC)
  • Oxfordshire Teaching Schools Alliance (OTSA)
  • The Anglican Diocese
  • Accredited school based providers for school to school support (National Leaders in Education; Local Leaders in Education; Specialist Leaders in Education; Leading Teachers; National Leaders of Governance etc.)
  • Headteacher representatives

3.3 Oxfordshire Early Years Board

The Early Years Board operates in parallel to the Strategic School Partnership Board. It offers strategic oversight for early years education in Oxfordshire. The Early Years Board currently oversees the development of systems leadership in early years, and prioritises narrowing the gap.

3.4 School Partnerships

Local area school partnerships are autonomous groups led by their head teachers to identify and address common issues across their partnership. Some partnerships are constituted as collaborative companies. All partnerships provide a starting point for collaboration between schools. They provide professional development and support. They also aim to facilitate smooth transition for pupils between schools locally. The chairs of the partnerships meet termly with Oxfordshire County Council representatives. ASchool Improvement Leader is the main point of contact and support for each partnership.

3.5Oxfordshire Governors' Association (OGA)

All governors of state-funded schools in the county are members of OGA. The officers and the executive committee are elected at the Annual General Meeting. The executive committee has representatives from across the five historical divisions of the county, north, south, vale, west and city and across different types of school. It works to represent the views and opinions of the boards of school governors, to bring to the notice of the authorities concerned the needs and interests of schools and to press for action where it is required. It acts as a consultative body on behalf of Oxfordshire governors.

3.6Secondary,Special, Primary and Nursery representatives

Each phase has its own association and a lead individual as chair of the association who is the main point of contact for consulting and liaising with other schools and wider partners. The organisation for primary schools is the Oxfordshire Primary Head Teachers' Association (OPHTA); for special schools it is the Oxfordshire Association of Special School Headteachers (OASSH) and for secondary schools the Oxfordshire Schools Secondary Headteachers' Association (OSSHTA). Oxfordshire’s six standalone nursery schools also work closely together. The Ace Centre has Teaching School status. Each phase of education has OTSA Teaching School leads.

3.7Multi-academy trusts(MATs)

Multi-academy Trusts deliver school improvement services to their schools, and engage in collaborative work with others. They are represented in local partnership arrangements between groups of schools, but not yet at a strategic level. This is work in progress.

3.8School Information Exchange

Council officers meet six times a year to share current information about maintained schools causing concern. The Nexus system is used to house management information about all schools. Schools have access to the system through Perspective Lite.

4Council-funded school improvement work

School Improvement Leaders (SILs) are commissioned to broker and provide support for schools causing concern and will be available as a point of contact for schools by school partnership area. School Improvement Leaders are all National Leaders of Education (NLEs), Local Leaders of Education (LLEs), and / or current practising Ofsted inspectors.

Work with schools will be targeted as follows:

  • Tier 1: outcomes for children in all academies will be kept under review through analysis of academy information and data. Academies are included in Oxfordshire’s family of schools and are offered traded school improvement opportunities.

Tier 1a: good and outstanding academies

Tier 1b: academies at risk of being judged as inadequate or RI by Ofsted

Tier 1c: academies judged inadequate or RI by Ofsted

  • Tier 2:light touch support will be provided for all maintained schools with good and outstanding inspection judgements.
  • Tier 3 includesmaintained schools at greater risk of becoming schools of concern (for example due to low pupil attainment or progress, or changes in leadership). A more comprehensive SIL visit will risk assess and support the school using the criterialisted below. Visits will result in a brief Note of Contact which will judge the accuracy of senior school leaders self-evaluation judgements with reference to the school’s Position Statement, and referring to the following aspects:
  • Overall effectiveness
  • Leadership and management
  • The quality of teaching, learning and assessment
  • Personal development, behaviour and welfare
  • Safeguarding
  • Outcomes for pupils
  • The effectiveness of early years provision (if applicable)
  • The effectiveness of 16-19 study programmes (if applicable)
  • Tier 4:maintained Schools Causing most Concern (ie those judged by Ofsted to be inadequate or to require improvement) will be required to participate in intensive support and challenge following a ‘plan, do, review’ model. Schools may be charged for this work. Academisation may be the next step for the school.

The council will also provide / commission attendance at headteacher interviews in maintained schools free of charge to schools. This may be an attendee from a partner organization. Schools can buy support for the headteacher recruitment process.

When a maintained school is inspected, the council will provide / commission / broker a senior education professional to talk with the lead inspector. This will not be charged to the school.

Budget: There is a small OCC budget to support school improvement. This reduces further in 2017/18 as we move into a school-led system. Schools in tiers 3 and 4 will be prioritised. If school improvement services for a school are funded through another means, then any OCC funding allocation will be returned to the ‘pot’. Where possible, schools will be charged for services.

Communication: in the autumn term a letter will be sent to all headteachers, chairs of governors, clerks to cascade to all governors, and to directors of MATs (or equivalent). The letter will alert school leaders to this School Improvement Plan and will explain if the school is in tier 1, 2, 3 or 4 and why. The letter will explain how the school’s Position Statement, and subsequent evidence provided by the school, will be used to risk assess schools according to the simple four tiers described above.

5Data analysis and risk assessment

Oxfordshire County Council data and analysis services provide a central collection point for data which is shared with schools via ‘Perspective Lite’. The data team provides analysis for schools and groups of schools some of which is provided at no cost to the school and some of which is traded.

In the autumn term each year, all headteachers and chairs of governing bodies are sent a Position Statement (primary schools in August and secondary schools in October). Position Statementshighlightthe school’s strengths and areas for development in relation to a series of indicators, comparing it with national and county averages.

A half-day visit by a School Improvement Leader is provided for schools in tiers 3 and 4. This is an opportunity for school leaders to discuss the Position Statement, provide the story behind the data, and draw attention to good practice in the school.

Where there are sufficient indicators to cause concern a follow-up letter will be sent to the headteacher and the chair of the governing body. School leaders may be required to meet with the Oxfordshire County Council officers to determine the programme for additional monitoring, intervention, challenge and support. The Council then commissions or brokers support and monitors the progress of the school.

Special schools are offered bespoke support as required.

The Strategic Schools Partnership Board oversees Oxfordshire’s Data Sharing Agreement which enables systems leaders to access data and information in order to support other schools (see Annex 3).

6Schools Causing Concern

The processes outlined below operate in the spirit of openness with schools. If an Oxfordshire maintained school is identified as ‘causing concern’, the headteacher and the chair of governors will be engaged in dialogue with either Oxfordshire County Council or its representative (for example a School Improvement Leader or SIL), about next steps.The council will exercise its right to send a warning letter to schools that meet the criteria in the Schools Causing Concern Guidance, and will liaise with the Regional Schools Commissioner as required.

6.1 All schools categorised as ‘special measures’ or ‘serious weaknesses’ or ‘requiring improvement’ by Ofsted will immediately trigger a School Causing Concern category – tier 4 - (unless leadership has been judged by Ofsted as good) Support for these schools will usually be organised through the Operational Group, or through potential sponsors.

Maintained schools that fall into special measures or serious weaknesses will be supported to become sponsored academies, through liaison with the office of the Regional Schools Commissioner. Locally agreed solutions will be brokered wherever possible. Interim measures, for example the setting up of an Interim Executive Board, may be necessary while the academisation process is underway.

6.2Maintained schools that are inspected as good (or outstanding) will be monitored in a ‘light touch’ manner. If standards of education drop so that the school may be vulnerable to an inspection outcome of less than good, the school will be deemed as ‘causing concern’. This will be the case if the school is defined as ‘coasting’ or ‘below floor’. The Operational Group will organise support. Oxfordshire’s Task Group approach may be employed.

6.3Outstanding maintained schools will be encouraged to work with the Oxfordshire Teaching School Alliance to provide support for other schools.

6.4Academies causing concern fall under the remit of the Regional Schools Commissioner. Council officers and the Chair of the Operational Group will alert the Regional Schools Commissioner and the appropriate Multi-Academy Trust, if they have unresolved concerns about academies.

7Supporting High Quality Leadership

Leadership development programmes including new head teacher induction are available through the Oxfordshire Teaching Schools Alliance. These may be accessed directly or may be brokered through the Operational Group. Leadership programmes can also be accessed through the National College of Teaching and Leadership which provides programmes for school governors and middle leaders.

Support for governance: Oxfordshire County Councilcommits to supporting and ensuring effective governance. The clerking service for governors is quality assured through a national accreditation programme. Governance reviews are commissioned using a range of experienced and skilled professionals.

8Assessment and Moderation

Oxfordshire County Council commissions a robust statutory moderation process for the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, so that practitioner judgements are checked in line with statutory requirements. Teams of experienced school-based moderators, including teachers and headteachers are drawn from good and outstanding schools. Oxfordshire works in partnership with other local authorities to ensure that quality assurance is externally validated. In view of significant national changes to assessment in schools theOperational Group is encouraging partners to ensure that school assessment systems are fit for purpose and that good practice in assessment is shared across the system. Moderation services are available to all providers, and are traded with academies.

9Ofsted and HMI

Oxfordshire County Council officers meet with HMI to account for the quality of schools, including early years, in Oxfordshire.

When maintained schools are inspected (under section 5 or section 8), council officers or their representatives (for example a SIL) contact the school. They hold discussions with the lead inspector during the inspection and may either attend the feedback, or arrange for a local colleague to do this. More support is provided for schools causing concern. Inspection outcomes for all schools are reported to the Director of Children’s Services and to council members, for example through regular reports to the Lead Member and to Education Scrutiny.

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