Contact: Melanie Saunders, Education Officer (Secondary/Post-16), 01962 846364, e-mail: [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 The purpose of this report is to introduce the document entitled "Education in Hampshire in the Secondary Years" (Appendix 1) by giving a brief account of its purpose and scope.

1.2 The report also outlines the need for further consultation on the document and seeks members' approval for this consultation.

1.3 This proposed policy paper supports aim 1 of the Corporate Strategy (maximising life opportunities) by seeking to establish an accepted vision for education in the secondary years across the County Council and in all Hampshire schools. This document should be read in conjunction with Hampshire County Council's Education Strategy and the Strategy for Lifelong learning.

2 Background to a secondary strategy

2.1 Hampshire currently has some of the highest performing secondary schools in the country. Sixty-eight of the county's seventy-one secondary schools either are or aspire to be Specialist Schools and the County Council has supported them in this aspiration. Some extremely effective networks of schools operate and many of our schools are recognised as centres of excellent or innovative practice.

2.2 The Children Act, the Report of the Tomlinson Working Party on 14-19 Reform and the Government's Five-Year Strategy for Children and Learners which is currently the subject of consultation, have far-reaching implications for education in this country. The education bill currently going through parliament will implement some policy developments. In recent years secondary schools have been encouraged to become more autonomous with successful schools being granted increasing "freedoms". Following the Education Act 2002, schools also have extended responsibilities for the wellbeing of children, for their safety, their sense of citizenship, financial literacy, enterprise, religious and social mores, community involvement, work awareness, health and happiness, as well as their educational achievements.

2.3 Hampshire County Council as the Local Education Authority (LEA) is responsible for commissioning schools to deliver the educational vision of the community as a whole. In the light of the plethora of recent legislation and the culture of increasing freedom and accountability within which secondary schools operate, the vision needs to be explained and clarified so that schools, and the LEA itself, are aware of what the County Council is commissioning them to deliver.

3 The purpose of the document

3.1 The attached document is not a strategy; it is intended to provide clarity for secondary schools and for the LEA by describing what Hampshire County Council, as the commissioner for the education service in Hampshire, would expect to see in a highly effective school and a highly effective LEA. The document attempts to provide a coherent set of descriptors with associated indicators so that schools, their leaders and all branches of the education department are clear about how a range of DfES and County Council strategies and policies link together in the cause of school effectiveness. It is anticipated that many schools will recognise the descriptors as applying to aspects of their own current practice and will appreciate that "Education in Hampshire in the Secondary Years" is an attempt to unify all aspects of such successful schools within one document.

3.2 This document draws on an array of other County Council strategies and the text directs readers to these documents for guidance on implementation or for detailed policy explanation. All branches of the education department contribute, through their core work, to maintaining and improving the learning and teaching experience within Hampshire schools. Other departments of the County Council also play crucial roles and there are strong partnerships with other statutory and voluntary agencies.

3.3 The document also paves the way for the development of extended schools and for the County Council to respond to the Government's Five-Year Strategy for Children and Learners. It also provides a platform from which to support schools in seeking specialist status or other accreditation, for example, Investors in People, Charter Mark, Leading Edge or Training School status, through the validation of effective practice.

3.4 From 2006, local authorities will be required to prepare a Children and Young People's Plan which will replace requirements for separate documents such as the Education Development Plan. As an excellent authority, the County Council is not required to conform to every detail of this, but it will need to have clear strategies, which "Education in Hampshire in the secondary years" will support.

4 Consultation and dissemination

4.1 "Education in Hampshire in the Secondary Years" has been jointly written by officers from the Standards and Improvement and the School and Community Branches of the LEA; the views of a small number of representative headteachers were sought to provide an initial sounding board for the content and tone of the document.

4.2 Following minor alterations in response to suggestions from these headteachers, the document was subjected to the scrutiny of schools through both Branch Standing Committees, Secondary Headteachers' Executive and the Curriculum and Pedagogy Group of Hampshire Teachers' Liaison Panel (TLP). The general response has been positive and a number of amendments to the document have arisen from these discussions.

4.3 The revised document was considered alongside a parallel document being developed in reference to primary education in Hampshire and a number of amendments were made to both to bring the tone and content more closely in line. The current draft, (Appendix 1) will require further consultation with schools and views should be sought from the local Learning and Skills Council, Connexions and other agencies before a final document is agreed for distribution to schools and across the LEA.

5 Legal implications

5.1 None

6 Financial implications

6.1 Whilst it is not possible to attach any specific costing to such a strategy, it is important to recognise that the document poses challenges for the County Council, both in Education and in other departments. If it is accepted that this is a description of the way in which the community, through the County Council would want schools and the LEA to perform then there are implications for the way in which schools are supported to meet these challenges and therefore for future proposals for the distribution of existing resources. This would include the strategic use of County Council resources in the management of surplus places, strategic planning, behaviour and inclusion, support for families and children's services as a whole.

7 Personnel implications

7.1 None

8 Impact assessment

8.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

9 Crime prevention issues

9.1 Issues of crime and disorder have been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

10 Views of the Local County Councillor

10.1 These have not been sought

Recommendations

That members recommend that the Executive Member for Education approves further consultation with schools and other agencies on the document entitled "Education in Hampshire in the secondary years," before the paper is considered by the Cabinet.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have 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.

None.