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Hampshire County Council Education Policy Review Committee 11 May 2004 Combating Racial Harassment : Annual Report Report of the County Education Officer

Item 7

Contact: John Clarke, Assistant County Education Officer, County Office.
Tel: 01962 846459 or Ian Massey, Intercultural Inspector, Fleet Local Office.
Tel: 01252 814772

1. Summary

1.1 This report provides an overview of the Local Education Authority's (LEA) work in relation to its statutory duty to promote race equality, including the annual data on racial incidents in schools.

1.2 There has been considerable progress in embedding this aspect in the educational agenda and this is reflected in the practical actions from training to curriculum development.

1.3 The percentage of schools making a return to the LEA on the number of racial incidents has increased to 91%. There has been a significant increase in returns from secondary schools from 70% in 2002 to 85% in 2003.

1.4 The majority of incidents, 82%, relate to name calling or comments in discussion.

2. Rationale for the report

2.1 The place of race equality has received an increasingly higher profile through recent legislation and in the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) inspection of schools and LEAs. The revised framework for the inspection of LEAs now includes Section 5.7 LEA Promotion of race equality as well as Section 3.5 Support for minority ethnic pupils, including travellers.

2.2 As a result of these requirements the report containing the data from the annual collation from schools on the number of racial incidents, has broadened to reflect the changing requirements. This will give members a broader view of progress in the area of race equality and cultural diversity.

3. Race equality development

3.1 The issue of race equality is now firmly established into the education agenda. In line with the statutory duty placed on public bodies under the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 (to promote race equality), Hampshire County Council (HCC) published a Corporate equality plan and race scheme in May 2002.�Race and�equality impact assessment of policies is an essential requirement of this scheme and the education department will be ensuring that all service plans include race and equality impact assessment. An assessment of progress was undertaken in February 2003 and further action is required to ensure�impact assessment is included in service plans by October 2004. Race and equality monitoring systems are now in place through the Systeme Anwendungen Produkte - which translates to "system application design tool product" (SAP) Human Resources (HR) system.�This will�deliver staff monitoring data and as schools move to using this system,�schools' related data will�be available by April 2005.

3.2 We have also monitored the number of schools with race equality policies. Schools have a legal duty under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) to have such a policy. Three hundred and forty five schools have them in place, 118 partly in place, with 28 schools still without a race equality policy. These schools need to be reminded of their statutory responsibility and the governors' attention drawn to their obligations.

4. Promoting cultural diversity

4.1 The opportunities for pupils to learn about cultural diversity have been a requirement of the National Curriculum for many years, for example, in art, music, the choice of texts in literacy, history and many other subjects. It is now integral to pupils' overall Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) development and the promotion of race equality.

4.2 In Hampshire we set out clear principles of good practice in the document Strategies for intercultural education in 2001. This also included examples from schools of curriculum plans and policies.

4.3 Judgements on this aspect have also been a feature of OfSTED school inspection reports for many years and we have been able to monitor these judgements.

4.4 For the period May 02 to July 03 there were 70 OfSTED reports available on Hampshire schools. There are no national comparisons that can be made on this aspect which appear within the section on pupils' SMSC development. Our analysis of OfSTED judgements on cultural diversity is arrived at through scrutiny of either the full, or summary reports. It focuses on where there is a clear judgement on cultural diversity and not just cultural development. Far more schools receive a good for cultural development than for cultural diversity provision.

Table 1

OfSTED grading of schools on cultural diversity May 2002 - 2003
	Good or better	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory/ Weakness	Issue to be addressed
Primary	40%	40%	20%	19%
Secondary	37%	37%	25%	-
Special	75%	25%	-	-

· Eighty percent of primary schools and 74% of secondary schools were judged as satisfactory or better in terms of cultural diversity, with 40% good or better.

· Of these, 17% of primary schools had very good provision.

· There has been an increase in the number of primary schools for whom this is an aspect to be addressed. (This reflects the more rigorous application of the Inclusion criteria in operation since September 2002).

· Special schools continue to make good progress on this aspect.

4.6 We have scrutinised OfSTED reports for many years and Appendix 1 gives a summary over time. These figures compare very well with our urban neighbours and reflect the strength of the guidance and support given to schools, schools' commitment to preparing pupils for a diverse society and the availability of resource support.

5. Resource support

5.1 Schools in Hampshire continue to benefit from intercultural resource provision provided by the Intercultural Centre. Schools subscribe to this service and it is part of a wider resource provision which includes the History, Maths and Religious Education Centres. It is also open to Portsmouth and Southampton schools. There are 471 schools, mainly primary schools, which subscribe to the centre. The centre offers resources for schools to borrow from a range of cultural traditions in and beyond the UK. Resources range from books, to textiles and musical instruments. It includes special topic boxes covering common topics in the primary curriculum. In the past year there have been a total of 2,500 loans. The centre can also be used as a venue for in-service training, with 15 training sessions during the year and as a stimulus to integrate this dimension into the curriculum. There were a further 60 visitors who came to assess resources or seek support on their curriculum plans. The centre responded to 538 telephone requests for advice on resources or contacts for a range of artists.

6. Continuing professional development

6.1 Intercultural professional development is offered to schools via a mixture of school based in-service or centre based training. It covers aspects of race equality and cultural diversity. As with any Hampshire Inspection and Advice Service (HIAS) training, school based training is geared to the specific needs of the school staff. It may include twilight sessions, whole day training, work with a co-ordinator and a possible follow up evaluation of impact. Over the past year we have worked with 33 schools on aspects of policy or training on classroom practice. In addition we have also contributed to King Alfred's College's education department on a professional day's training.

6.2 There are also two-day centre based courses aimed at schools where it has been identified as a weakness and new co-ordinators for whom this is a new development. There is a further course for those schools that wish to develop their policy and practice further. Other centre based in-service focuses on the provision of promoting race equality and responding to racial incidents.

6.3 In order to keep schools up-to-date the intercultural website offers schools ongoing advice on changes to requirements and expectations. It is also home to examples of practice such as, school race equality policies, exemplar curricular materials, template letters for parents and impact assessment questions.

7. Curriculum support

7.1 As a response to an audit of resource support and good practice, including visits to schools at different key stages, we identified a gap at upper Key Stage 2 (KS2) in terms of effective and challenging material for the teaching about race and racism. As a consequence we have developed a new resource within the Education Development Plan (EDP) for KS2. `Coming Unstuck' supports schools and teachers in meeting their specific duties under the legislation and on teaching about race and racism. This has now been formally launched.

7.2 It is an innovative piece of curriculum development which has been praised by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and has aroused interest from many other LEAs who are requesting copies and training.

8. Links to Rights, Respect and Responsibilities (RRR)

8.1 The promotion of race equality is developing in the context of wider LEA developments on RRR. The work above is now being set within the framework of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child. `Coming Unstuck' is therefore a way of promoting Articles 20, 28 and 29 of the Convention.

9. Support and progress of ethnic minority pupils

9.1 According to Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) 2004 data, the number of ethnic minority pupils is 7,839. This includes some, but not all, `new arrivals' to Hampshire between April 2003 and March 2004 of 495, most of whom have no or little English. There are now over 60 languages other than English represented in Hampshire schools.

9.2 The Ethnic Minority Achievement (EMA) service consists of 7.6 full time equivalent (fte) teacher posts made up of 10 specialist teachers. There are 14.5 fte bilingual assistant posts. The total number of bilingual assistants used is 39, speaking 26 languages.

8.3 Work of the service is targeted following analysis of performance data held by HCC to identify pupils who appear to be at risk of underachievement. This now allows the service to examine differential performance between ethnic groups. Schools are then invited to be part of an achievement project working with EMA service on causes of any underachievement and developing appropriate strategies.

8.4 It is often difficult to draw conclusions from the performance data on ethnic minority pupils as they are often small in number in any cohort. This makes comparisons with other pupils and year on figures subject to considerable fluctuations. However, in 2003 ethnic groups who out-performed the 61% target for 5 A*-C, included Chinese, mixed White/Asian, Pakistani, Irish and mixed White/Black.

8.5 Pupils who did not perform as well from Black Caribbean, Mixed/White/Black African, white other and Indian backgrounds will be looked at closely to see if they would benefit from additional EMA service support.

9.6 The EMA service is popular with schools who have voted for a `buy back' centralised service. The service is under considerable pressure from increasing demands, especially new arrivals, and facing a reduction by one third of the Department for Education & Science (DfES) grant to Hampshire from 2005. A plan to restructure the service is in operation which still allows schools to access the service to gain advice and support.

9.7 The Traveller Education Service (TES) has continued to work with traveller children and schools with the aim of improving attendance and attainment. In 2002 - 2003 the total number of traveller children residing or resorting in Hampshire was 412.

9.8 The TES record the numbers of traveller pupils in the county schools each term. TES can then advise the schools about the assessment and support for these pupils.

9.9 Performance of traveller pupils is monitored, for example at KS1 & 2:
Traveller pupils' primary Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) Table 2

2003	KS1 Level 2+	KS2 Level 4+
English	57%	36%
Maths	61%	17%

80% of traveller children on roll in Hampshire primary schools successfully transfer to secondary schools.

10. Government recognition

10.1 In a speech last June by Schools' Minister Stephen Twigg at a conference organised by the CRE, the Minister mentioned schools that were successfully tackling underachievement and gave examples from schools in London, Leeds and Bransgore School in Hampshire for its work with the traveller community. In outlining what an LEA can do in relation to race equality, Hampshire was cited as a good example with references to how this aspect features in the EDP.

11. Racial incidents

11.1 The annual collation on data on racial incidents again made use of the on-line form on the Hampshire Intranet.

11.2 The data for 2003 are in Appendix 2. There are several elements worth noting:

· The percentage of schools making a return for 2003 has increased from 85% to 91%. When analysed by phase of school, it shows that 96% of infant and primary schools made a return, and 88% of junior schools. There has been a significant increase in returns from secondary schools from 70% in 2002 to 85% in 2003.

· There has been an increase in the total number of recorded incidents as a result of more schools making annual returns from 448 to 549 in 2003.

· `Name calling' and `comments in discussion', still account for the majority of incidents at 82%. Those incidents which involve a more physical element, are still comparatively low at 3.6% and mainly confined to secondary schools. Those involving parents now account for about 2% of all incidents.

· There are currently 12 schools that have not made a return for two years, six of whom have not made a return for three years.

11.3 Last year schools were reminded of their legal obligations under the Race Relations Amendment Act by the head of Legal Services. Chairs of Governors of schools who had not made a return for three or four years were also written to by the Chairman of the Policy Review Committee requesting them to assist with the LEA scrutiny function. This year all but one of those schools made a return.

Recommendations

1. The work of schools and teachers be commended.

2. All schools be reminded of the need to monitor incidents and make a return to the LEA as required.

3. A report based on the 2003 data be sent to all schools.

4. Those schools not making a return for two or three years be written to separately to inform them of the established good practice and legal obligations. The names of these schools to be passed to county councillors.

5. Those schools without a race equality policy be written to reminding them of their statutory obligations and how they can obtain support.

Section 100 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 extent in the preparation of this report. NB The list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE FILE

OfSTED reports and cultural diversity in Hampshire schools 2003
Hampshire schools racial incidents - by phase and type Year end 2003

OFSTED reports on cultural diversity in Hampshire schools Appendix 1

Special schools

Appendix 2

HAMPSHIRE schools racial incidents - by phase and type - Year end 2003

Percentage of schools making returns