Archived decisions

Contact: Ann Begley, Assistant County Education Officer (School Branch), ext: 6518; [email protected];

Melanie Saunders, Education Officer (Secondary/Post-16),

ext: 6364; [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report provides details of the proposal for the transformation of the Leigh Park Education Action Zone (EAZ) in Havant to an Excellence Cluster with effect from 1 January 2005. Members' views are sought on the proposal.

1.2 Consultation with headteachers of schools in the EAZ on the changes involved in transforming the EAZ to an Excellence Cluster are ongoing and as part of this a specific consultation meeting for both headteachers and governors was held on 3 February 2004.

1.3 The proposal supports the County Council's corporate aim 1: maximising life opportunities; aim 4: building strong and safe communities; and aim 5: improving services.

2 Background

2.1 Leigh Park's initial bid for an Education Action Zone (EAZ) was driven by a group of headteachers who had been working in partnership for a number of years. EAZ status was sought as a means of consolidating, developing and extending the partnership working of the schools through the provision of additional and complementary resources. Since the EAZ bid was formulated considerable progress has been achieved within individual schools as well as in the co-operative working between schools. The number of schools involved in the EAZ has decreased to 14 (see appendix 1) as one primary school, Park House, has closed and two others Sharps Copse Infant and Sharps Copse Junior, have been amalgamated to form a primary school.

2.2 Whilst there are a great many successes to record at the schools, it is perhaps important to note specifically that Park Community School has been designated as a performing arts specialist school and Staunton Park Community School will be seeking sports college specialist status as soon as consistent improvement in its GCSE results allow it to. In addition, one of the county's SureStart children's centres opened in September 2003 at Warren Park Primary School with further ones scheduled for Sharps Copse and Trosnant. The single special school in the Zone, Riverside Special School, has retained the Beacon status which it was awarded in 1998.

2.3 The EAZ Director took up her appointment in May 2000 and worked on the development of the action plan which was submitted to and approved by the DfES in August 2000. The Zone was launched officially by the Leader of the County Council in September 2000. The strategic intentions of the action plan were to:

· raise significantly the level of achievement of every child in Leigh Park, making the Leigh Park schools the natural first choice of parents for the education of their children;

· make early years development the bedrock of the Zone's commitment to raising achievement;

· make an absolute commitment to develop the quality of teaching, the leadership and management of teaching, and school leadership throughout all Zone schools;

· recruit, retain and develop a high quality proficient staff team to make Leigh Park a rewarding place in which to work and an even better place for learning;

· accelerate the development of the partnership culture, which embraces local children, their families, schools and businesses, and agency partners in Leigh Park;

· promote social inclusion by increasing the engagement of young people, especially boys, in the learning process;

· create a `learning community' which raises the self-esteem of children and parents, elevates the profile of education in the community and promotes lifelong learning;

· create, in partnership with business and other agencies, an "electronic community", which will help all children and their families to use information communication technology effectively.

2.4 These strategic aims were addressed through a series of projects, jointly implemented by schools and other partners, and fall into three main programme areas:

1 school improvement;

2 inclusion;

3 the learning community.

2.5 Whilst the value of partnership and joint working has been fully recognised, so has the evidence which shows that across the Zone individual schools or groups of schools have different needs. A profile of needs in the Zone has been produced by conducting an audit using statistical data and information supplied by the County Council's school performance database, and by the schools themselves. This has been reflected in the individual development plans of the schools within the Zone and in the way different schools have responded to the targets set by the Zone.

2.6 The Zone's action plan was originally for the period 2000 - 2003. During this period the DfES indicated that in some circumstances Zones might be considered for an extension period. The DfES approved an extension period for the Leigh Park Zone until 8 January 2005.

2.7 The Zone has successfully submitted annual action plans to the DfES. The present plan outlines developments for the remainder of the Zone's statutory lifetime.

2.8 The Zone has been visited regularly by DfES officials and members of Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMI). They have been positive in their praise of the Zone's work and have continued to stress the importance of monitoring and evaluation of activities undertaken by the Zone's schools.

2.9 An external evaluation of the Zone's work after three years has acknowledged that within the Zone there is a `child focused passion for learning'. It serves a community suffering relatively high levels of deprivation, particularly child poverty, where there are significant barriers to learning. The Zone has identified these barriers and put in place a wide range of activities to overcome them. As a result, attainment levels in the zone are generally rising with gains at Key Stages 1 and 4 that significantly exceed the rate of improvement nationally and in the county. There are some persistent weaknesses, particularly in English at Key Stages 2 and 3 where levels of attainment are not yet secure.

2.10 The key contributory factors to the Zone's success include:

1 The Zone's collective ethos: the development of a collegiate approach to learning, driven by schools, and rooted in effective cluster working.

2 Organised and effective leadership: the establishment of a shared vision, effectively communicated and implemented with executive responsibility exercised by schools and their staff.

3 Systematic activity focussed on identified need: the systematic identification of need and the planning of activity to meet it, based on intelligent use of data, management information and effective monitoring and evaluation.

4 Close partnership with the LEA: the reinforcement of strong strategic links with the LEA to provide additional and complementary support and resources without imposing additional burdens on schools.

5 A learning culture: the development of a thirst and desire for learning at all levels within the Zone that empowers staff, pupils and parents.

6 Investment in ICT: significant additional investment to improve the infrastructure, resources and support available to schools.

7 School-focussed multi-agency working: development of school-based intervention approach focussing on the needs of children and families with increasingly effective central co-ordination of links between agencies under the Family and School Support Team (FASST) scheme .

8 Effective marketing and communication: new partnerships with the media and innovative marketing approaches that have begun to build the community's confidence in the real achievements of their schools.

9 Additional targeted resources: effective targeting of the additional resources available to the Zone on initiatives to overcome the barriers to learning, with particular emphasis on the appointment of additional learning support assistants, the funding of professional development opportunities and ICT.

3 Transformation to Excellence Cluster

3.1 In November 2001 the then Minister for School Standards, Stephen Timms, announced the government's transformation policy for statutory Education Action Zones. There are two main transformation options for EAZs:

1 EAZs within existing Excellence in Cities (EiC) areas would have the opportunity to create an EiC Action Zone;

2 In those zones outside EiCs, the LEA would have the opportunity to establish an Excellence Cluster.

3.2 Of the 73 EAZs, it is anticipated that 41 will become Excellence Clusters with the remainder transforming into EiC Action Zones

4 Hampshire Excellence Cluster in Leigh Park

4.1 The headteachers and governors of the 14 EAZ schools wish to remain as members of an Excellence Cluster. They value the opportunities for partnership working which have been offered over the life time of the EAZ and acknowledge the benefits which have accrued to the young people within the Zone. The headteachers wish to ensure that the work which has begun will continue successfully.

4.2 One further school, Wildern School (Secondary) in Hedge End, has accepted an invitation to be included in the cluster. The headteacher of Wildern is already working with one of the secondary schools as a consultant headteacher funded through the Leadership Incentive Grant. The headteacher welcomes the opportunity for further involvement with the Zone. Wildern School has particular strengths in the performing arts and considerable success in raising the standards achieved by all pupils, in particular boys. The school has made an application to the DfES to become a Training School, allowing it to share its good practice with other schools through offering continuous professional development programmes for their staff. This initiative will support the key aim of recruiting, retaining and developing high quality, proficient staff within the Zone. It is considered that the successful work undertaken in these areas could be shared with Leigh Park schools for the benefit of their staff and students

4.3 To increase membership any further would dilute the focus of activity and make it more difficult for programmes to benefit all the Leigh Park schools which share specific local concerns.

4.4 It is a testimony to the enthusiasm of everyone involved in the EAZ and to the County Council's commitment to supporting schools in their mission to raise standards and ultimately improve the life chances of the young people that this initiative has been so fully embraced. All schools expressed a strong desire to remain within the Zone and recognise the benefits which have accrued from partnership working. Wildern School, which has enjoyed considerable individual success in recent years, has also identified real benefits to itself of becoming part of the new excellence cluster. The approach pioneered by FASST (see para 2.10) is becoming recognised as an example of excellent inclusion practice both within Hampshire and nationally.

5 Priorities for the Excellence Cluster

5.1 The Excellence Cluster will have four key strands of which three are common to all excellence clusters and EiC action zones and one is a tailored strand specifically for the Leigh Park area. The three common strands are Inclusion Units, Learning Mentors and Gifted and Talented Students. After discussion and consultation with headteachers, LEA officers and DfES advisers, the tailored strand will be "Learning to Learn." This strand will focus on addressing low level oral and written communication skills within some families of children who attend Zone schools, which continue to act as a barrier to learning

6 Funding

6.1 Capital funding implications : There are no capital funding implications.

6.2 Revenue funding implications : The revenue funding for the Excellence Cluster is paid as a Standards Fund grant directly from the DfES to the LEA. There are no additional funding implications for Hampshire County Council.

6.3 The funding of Excellence Clusters is based on a formula, which includes the number of pupils on roll of the schools forming the partnership; the individual schools' performance in relation to national averages at the appropriate National Curriculum Key Stages, in addition to deprivation factors.

6.4 The funding for the Leigh Park Excellence Cluster runs from 1 January 2005 to 31 March 2007. For the three months (part year) the funding level will be £165,000 and in a full financial year will be in the order of £660,000. The annual figure includes a £10K contribution towards the co-ordination and management costs. In addition, the LEA is also eligible for a one-off payment of £10K to assist with the development costs associated with the preparation of the Transformation Action Plan (TAP).

6.5 The funding of the Excellence Cluster is for two years and three months, therefore any staffing will be fixed term with the possibility of temporary appointments or secondments from within schools. The DfES will expect the Excellence Cluster to have an exit strategy in place which will be reflected in the Transformation Action Plan.

7 The Transformation Action Plan

7.1 In order to transform the EAZ into an Excellence Cluster, the LEA must prepare a Transformation Action Plan with targets and success criteria which are agreed by the participating schools. The plan must make clear how the targets will be delivered within the cluster. Headteachers have been working with LEA officers and the Director of the EAZ to finalise this plan for approval by the DfES.

7.2 The plan recognises the need to maintain and develop those activities which achieved impact within the Zone through good practice and work towards more consistent application of those activities within individual schools. There is, however, a commitment to reducing the number of activities undertaken by the cluster and ensuring that they are effective across all schools and fully evaluated rather than developing a programme as extensive as that of the Action Zone.

7.3 The money for operating the Excellence Cluster will be passported directly to the schools for them to implement the actions outlined in the plan. The funding necessary for overall co-ordination of cluster activities is provided in partnership by all of the schools within it.

7.4 The LEA also has a key role in working with schools to plan cluster activities and set targets and in monitoring and evaluating the impact of these activities on the Leigh Park schools and the communities which they serve.

7.5 The TAP must be completed and submitted to the DfES by 1st July 2004. A copy of the full plan will be available to members upon completion.

8 Consultation with County Councillors

8.1 The views of the local County Councillors were sought and they expressed their full support for the transformation of the Leigh Park EAZ into an Excellence Cluster.

9 Consultation with Headteachers and Governors

9.1 The consultation meeting of 3 February 2004 was attended by 26 headteachers and governors. All schools within the EAZ were represented and the headteacher and chair of governors of Wildern School were in attendance, as was the Director of the EAZ. Officers explained the differences between the EAZ and the Excellence Cluster and laid out the timetable for transformation and the main areas which the TAP would concentrate on. Those present at the meeting expressed universal approval for the plan to transform the Leigh Park EAZ into an Excellence Cluster.

10 Role of the County Council

10.1 The County Council has continued to demonstrate its full support for the EAZ by recognising the Leigh Park Education Action Zone as being the `Hampshire EAZ' and is committed to supporting the schools in their efforts to achieve success. The Education Officer (Secondary/Post-16) was, until his retirement in August 2003, chairman of the EAZ and an active member of the Executive. His successor has continued to be involved with this initiative. The ACEO (Schools Branch) has been the County Council's representative as a member of the Executive and the Forum since the EAZ was established.

10.2 The Strategic School Improvement Manager (SSIM) for south-east Hampshire and his team also contribute to keeping the work of the EAZ under review. The SSIM has worked closely with both the ACEO (Schools Branch) and the Education Officer (Secondary/Post-16) to ensure that the Excellence Cluster continues to have the positive outcomes which characterised the EAZ. Hampshire Inspection and Advisory Service (HIAS) will have a key role in fulfilling the responsibility of the LEA in monitoring the work of the cluster, in assisting it in the review and setting of targets and in facilitating the role of elected members in evaluating the success of the cluster. A service level agreement being considered between the Excellence Cluster and HIAS would be beneficial both for the cluster and for the LEA.

10.3 The aims of the Excellence Cluster support the County Council's corporate aims of commitment to high standards and the creation of a range of learning opportunities to meet individual needs. The Hampshire County Council Strategy for Education states that learners should be able "to develop as happy, self-respecting, creative, skilled, motivated and emotionally literate individuals who enjoy learning and are able to communicate effectively." The primary aim of the EAZ has been to make this a reality in Leigh Park. The Excellence Cluster, particularly the tailored strand, will seek to further that aim through appropriate targets, enhanced funding and effective evaluation.

Recommendation

That the Education Policy Review Committee of Hampshire County Council advises the Executive Member for Education of its views on the proposal to transform the EAZ in Leigh Park into the Hampshire Excellence Cluster.

Section D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extend in the preparation of this report.

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Appendix 1

List of Schools in Leigh Park EAZ

Primary

Barncroft Infant

Barncroft Junior

Front Lawn Infant

Front Lawn Junior

Riders Infant

Riders Junior

Sharps Copse Primary

St. Thomas More RC Aided Primary

Trosnant Infant

Trosnant Junior

Warren Park Primary

Secondary

Park Community

Staunton Park Community

Special

Riverside (Learning Difficulties 3-11)