Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1) Summary of Decision Area:

1.1. Overall, Hampshire's children and young people have done better in assessments, tests and examinations this year than in any other year before. Standards of attainment are rising in most age groups, with the most improvement achieved by the youngest children and those in the last year of compulsory schooling. Children and young people from most black and minority ethnic groups have continued to do well in Hampshire; those with special educational needs have, again, made good progress; those who are in care have, in most age groups, done better than in previous years and children and young people eligible for free school meals have improved their performance. While there is some way still to go, the gap in attainment between more vulnerable children and young people and the rest has narrowed this year while, at the same time, standards as measured by assessments, tests and examinations, have risen overall for the whole population.

1.2. Despite the positive picture overall, there is some light and shade and a series of specific actions is needed to address areas of relative weakness or insufficient strength, and the Executive Member is asked to approve those actions.

2) Issues Covered in Report:

2.1. The report summarises the assessment, test and examination data for 2008 for children in the early years, those in primary schools and those in secondary schools up to the age of 16.

2.2. It also sets out the action that is needed by schools, by the school improvement service and by the wider partnership for children and young people, to ensure further improvement

3) Recommendation:

It is recommended that:

3.1. the Executive Lead Member for Children's Services notes the assessment, test and examination results for 2008 and endorses the priorities for future work that stem from them, in particular, that the Children's Services Department:

· Makes sure that everyone involved with the early years foundation stage understands the implications of it being a statutory stage of education and development, and uses the information provided by the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile to improve outcomes for young children.

· Aligns the work of Children Centres, as they begin to operate, with that of other early years foundation stage providers, and helps providers to improve the communication, language and literacy and the personal, social and emotional skills of children in deprived areas with a particular focus on developing early writing skills for all children and closing the gender gap.

· Makes sure that the implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage is aligned with the parenting strategy, and that early years practitioners work alongside parent support colleagues to ensure that their work reaches those parents who need most help and support.

· Continues to work to ensure that more children make appropriate progress between the age of 7 and the age of 11, especially in mathematics.

· Targets resource more surgically to those districts where progress, or headline results, are least strong, and the gap in attainment most wide, and develops better support for learning through new, more local, Children's Trust arrangements.

· Ensures that there are no schools that score below 30% 5 A* - C at GCSE including English and mathematics by 2010.

· Improves progress in English in the early years of secondary education.

· Improves progress in mathematics in the later years of secondary education.

· Continues to narrow the gap between the percentage who achieve 5 A* - C and those who achieve 5 A* - C including English and mathematics.

· Continues to work on whole system solutions so that the gap between the attainment of those young people who live in relative poverty and the rest keeps narrowing while, at the same time, overall attainment remains on a rising trend.

· Finds whole system solutions so that the attendance of children and young people in care and their attainment continue to improve.

MAIN REPORT

1) Purpose of the Report:

1.1. This report seeks the Executive Lead Member's permission to pursue a series of priorities to improve, still further, educational attainment in the county.

2) Contextual Information:

2.1. High levels of educational attainment are essential: for future economic prosperity for the nation, for individuals and for those individuals' future families. They provide choice for young people in relation to how they will spend their adult lives. They mean that young people are better equipped to play their part as citizens. And high levels of attainment have to be achieved by everyone. The knowledge-based, global economy that Britain has become means that the number of unskilled jobs is shrinking rapidly. We need to unlock the potential of every child and young person because we need the contribution of all of them - to support themselves and not be dependent on the state, and to support others. The population is ageing. When the old age pension was first introduced in 1908 there were 14 people working for every pensioner; in 2020 it will be four; by 2050, only two. We cannot afford to leave any child or young person behind.

2.2. Schools and other educational settings are key players in the drive for higher standards - but they are not the only ones. While it will always be true that the quality of leadership, management, curriculum, teaching, assessment, and the approach taken to under-achievement in educational settings, will be crucial to the success of children and young people in terms of their educational attainment, the way in which adults within the whole community organise themselves to support the county's children is also key to their success. The quality of parenting, and caring, and the way in which each child is supported at home in their learning is crucial. We know, for example, that a child whose mental abilities are assessed as low at 17 months, but who is well supported to learn at home is likely to overtake, in attainment at 7, a child who began with more in terms of innate ability, but who has not had that quality of support at home in their learning. We know that 16 year olds who live in families where the main earner is in a professional occupation are over twice as likely to achieve 5 A*- Cs at GCSE, compared with 16 year olds who live in families where the main earner does a `routine' or unskilled job.

2.3. The establishment of Children's Services in Hampshire, in 2005, provided an opportunity to develop a whole system for children that brings together all the partners that work with them to impact on their learning and, therefore, to unlock the potential of every child and young person, not just those who, traditionally, we have served well. This is a major challenge, but the development of a parenting strategy, all the work beginning to be done around Children Centres, effective early education provision, extended schools and the work of the voluntary and community sector, a better understanding of the relationship between, for example, health, safety, wider well-being, and educational attainment - and what to do now that is understood - all have the potential to impact on improving the attainment of those who have not done well in the past. This is a long-term programme but needs to be seen as a very important part of a strategy for improving educational attainment. The improvement of the technical work of schools will always be fundamental to raising educational standards - no matter how well they are prepared and supported in their learning, children still need to be taught well - but it is not the only work on which we are now engaged.

3) Key Issues:

3.1. Hampshire's children and young people, overall, attain high educational standards when they are compared with standards nationally and, on most measures, standards in places most like Hampshire. 2008 saw improvements in these standards across the age range but particularly so for the youngest children and for 16 year olds.

3.2. Most vulnerable children and young people make good progress too, especially most Black and Minority ethnic groups and children with special educational needs. Some vulnerable children, especially those who live in conditions of relative poverty, and children in care, do not do as well, although their performance, in most age groups, improved in 2008.

3.3. Despite this strong performance in 2008 further improvement is needed, and always will be. In summary, more work is needed to increase the number of children who reach the national expectation at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage; in the progress made in mathematics in the junior years and the last two years of compulsory schooling; in improving progress in English in the first three years of secondary education; and in narrowing the gap between the attainment of most children and those who are vulnerable.

3.4. Schools are key players in this work but further whole-system solutions need also to be developed alongside the technical work of schools. In particular, `narrowing the gap' is a job for all the partners within the Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership. It is everybody's business.

4) Background

4.1. This report concentrates on the attainments of pre-school aged children up until those young people who have ended their time in compulsory education. The results of assessments, tests and examinations are reported for each stage of development and education and a number of priorities for work which will lead to future improvement are set out. The priorities flow naturally from the analysis of the results.

4.2. It is anticipated that, as the transfer of responsibilities from the Learning and Skills Council to the County Council proceeds, future reports will also encompass the attainments of students up to the age of 19, in colleges and other educational settings.

5) Early Years Foundation Stage - the results:

5.1. The Early Years Foundation Stage is now a statutory stage in a child's life and how well children are progressing is measured at the end of the stage by an assessment against the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. More four year olds in Hampshire reached the threshold set by government in 2008 than in previous years. There was a five percentage point improvement on 2007, meaning that, now, slightly more than half have reached that threshold. Girls continue to make better progress than boys and reducing the gender gap will be a specific focus within future work.

5.2. Children's Services are also judged on the gap between the performance of the median child in each cohort and the average score of the lowest achieving 20%. This narrowed by one percentage point to 33%, with children in the most disadvantaged areas developing greater personal, social and emotional, and communication language skills than previous years. Whilst the gap is in line with the national picture, it is important that the gap continues to reduce. The Children Centres' programme will have a significant role to play in achieving this.

6) Early Years Foundation Stage - future priorities:

6.1. There are three main priorities and they are likely to be priorities for some years:

· Make sure that everyone involved with the early years foundation stage understands the implications of it being a statutory stage of education and development ,and uses the information provided by the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile to improve outcomes for young children.

· Align the work of Children Centres as they begin to operate with that of other early years foundation stage providers, and help providers to improve the communication, language and literacy, and the personal, social and emotional skills of children in deprived areas with a particular focus on developing early writing skills for all children and closing the gender gap.

· Make sure that the implementation of the EYFS is aligned with the parenting strategy, and that early years practitioners work alongside parent support colleagues to ensure that their work reaches those parents who need most help and support.

7) Attainment in the primary years - the results:

7.1. The attainment of 7 year olds is measured by teacher assessment against the levels of the National Curriculum, in speaking and listening, reading, writing, mathematics and science. Level 2 is regarded as the national expectation but that level is divided into three: levels 2A, 2B and 2C (in descending order of competence). Level 3 is attained by more able children.

7.2. Results for 7 year olds are little changed from last year and this is part of a pattern. There are year on year minor fluctuations but they tend to remain about the same each year. Standards in speaking and listening are very high with 91% of children reaching level 2 or better. Reading standards are high overall at 87% achieving level 2 and, while level 3 results declined nationally, they stayed much the same in Hampshire. Writing standards dropped one percentage point in Hampshire in line with the national picture but, nevertheless, 84% of Hampshire's 7 year olds achieved level 2 or better. Standards in mathematics are down one point from last year, at 92%, level 2 or higher, in line with the national picture although the proportion achieving level 3 in Hampshire remained the same as in 2007 while results nationally went down.

7.3. Level 4 is the national expectation in English, mathematics and science for 11 year olds and Hampshire's children continue to do better overall than children across England or in places most like Hampshire. There was a small improvement in Hampshire in English and mathematics in 2008 - to 83% attaining level 4 or better in English and 80% in mathematics, and a slight decline to 90% in science, in line with the national picture. 75% of children achieved level 4 in English and mathematics, better than across the country as a whole but still a measure of the improvement that is needed in future years. That measure is the best for determining how well children are likely to do in secondary schools. Being able to read and write to a reasonable standard and to be numerate are prerequisites of a successful secondary school career that will lead to the sort of success at GCSE that young people need. The proportion who are able to do that has been inching up since 2006 - a three-percentage point improvement since then - but there is more to do.

7.4. 2008 saw a decline in the proportion of children attaining level 5 in English, mathematics and science, largely as a result of the debacle over the marking of papers, but children in Hampshire still did better than those across the country.

7.5. One measure of the effectiveness of schools, and the communities that support children within them, is the progress that children make in the four years from ages 7 to 11. 89% of them made appropriate progress in English culminating in the tests in 2008 and this percentage has been growing year on year - by 8 percentage points since 2006. However, this still means that 1347 children did not make the expected progress in English during that four year period. The picture is worse in mathematics. In this subject 3055 children failed to make the expected progress. Only 75% did the same proportion as in 2007 and only 2 points better than in 2006. There are differences across the districts. In the `best' performing district for progress, Hart, 92% of children made appropriate progress in English and 84% in mathematics. In the `worst' - Havant for English and Gosport for mathematics - 84% did so in English and 68% in mathematics. Havant and Gosport are also the two districts where there are more likely to be schools that do not hit a new benchmark - above 55% level 4 in both English and mathematics.

7.6. The work of the school improvement team makes a difference in primary schools. In those schools where additional work was done, on average results improvement by 3 percentage points more than the county in English and 2 percentage points in mathematics. In schools that received substantial additional support the difference was often over 10 percentage points.

7.7. Substantial progress was made in narrowing the gap in attainment in primary schools, culminating in the 2008 tests for 11 year olds. In 2007 the gap between children eligible for free school meals and those who are not had been 27 percentage points for level 4 in English. This reduced to 22 percentage points in 2008. In mathematics it had been 25 points and that reduced to 22 in 2008. The 55 children in care did better at 11 than the 48 had in 2007. A higher percentage of children were entered for the tests than ever before and the proportion attaining level 4 in English rose by 3 percentage points and 2 for mathematics. Results in science were about the same as in 2007. Some intervention work in English was undertaken by the Children's Services department in the south east of the county, as a pilot project. Four children who took the test had improved their reading so much that they were able to reach level 4. Without the intervention, that would not have occurred and, as a result, the same work is to be done with all primary aged children in care during 2008-2009. Despite the improvements in 2008, the attainment of children in care lags unacceptably behind the general population.

7.8. Children with special educational needs continue to make good progress in the primary years in Hampshire and that of black and minority ethnic groups continues to be strong. There are no comparative data for 2008 yet but, in 2007, some groups outperform the predominant white British population and, in those groups which do not, the relative underperformance tends to be less than across the country as a whole.

8) Attainment in the primary years - the priorities:

8.1. All the work that has been done in recent years to make sure that each school is as good as it can be will need to continue, but there are some specific priorities that emanate from the 2008 results, especially when those results appear to be part of a trend. They are:

· Continue to work to ensure that more children make appropriate progress between the age of 7 and the age of 11, especially in mathematics.

· Target resource more surgically to those districts where progress, or headline results, are least strong, and the gap in attainment most wide, and develop better support for learning through new, more local, Children's Trust arrangements.

· Focus more work on improving the support for children in care in respect of their learning.

9) Attainment in the secondary years - the results:

9.1. There are two measures used to assess performance for 14 year olds - the proportion attaining level 5+ in the National Curriculum in English, mathematics and science and the proportion attaining level 6+. The reliability of the data is complicated by two factors. Firstly, the quality of the marking of the English papers has always been a source of contention and numerous appeals have been made each year. Secondly, about a third of Hampshire's secondary schools enter children for the tests a year early - i.e. at the end of Y8 rather than Year 9 - and there is no meaningful information showing how many other schools, elsewhere, do that. It is likely that results at the end of year 8 are not as good as they would be if the test were taken a year later and this, potentially, gives a skew to the Hampshire figures.

9.2. Nevertheless, results in Hampshire in 2008 were good. 76% of Hampshire's children attained level 5+ in English and 35% level 6+, 3 points and 2 points better than the national figures. On an upward trend, 80% attained level 5+ in mathematics and 62% 6+, 3 points and 5 points better than the national average. In science 77% attained level 5+ in Hampshire and 46% level 6+, 6 points and 5 points better than the national picture, and a wider gap than in 2007. The percentage of children attaining level 5+ in both English and mathematics was 71, 6 points better than the national picture and the proportion attaining level 6+ two points better.

9.3. An important measure of the success of secondary schools is the way in which they build on the attainments that children arrive with, and the degree to which they can ensure two levels of progress within the national curriculum from the age of 11 until those same children take the next set of tests, either at 13 or 14. There is a very big subject difference when the progress in English and mathematics is analysed. Children make much better progress in English than in mathematics. 25% of them made two levels of progress in English - and much worse for those who took the test at the end of year 8 rather than year 9 - while 63% made that same progress in mathematics. The progress in English was worse than in the years leading up to the tests in 2007.

9.4. Children with special educational needs continue to make good progress in the first three years of secondary school as do most black and minority ethnic groups. Children in care did better in 2008. 35% of them achieved level 5+ in English, ten points better than in 2007, 31% of them level 5+ in mathematics (10 points better as well) and 20% in science, 3 points better.

9.5. For the general population there are two main measures relating to the performance of 16 year olds at GCSE or its equivalent - 5 A*- C GCSEs and 5 A*- C GCSEs including English and mathematics. Only in the last two years has the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) added English and mathematics to the indicator set, although Hampshire was working with schools to improve performance in this area for two years before that.

9.6. 2008 has been a good year for 16 year olds, in Hampshire and, overall, across the country. In Hampshire we saw a 4 point improvement in 5 A* - C, up to 67%. About 10% of schools in the county now achieve over 80% on this measure, and the best achieved 96%. Hampshire is still 4 points better than the national average.

9.7. Arguably the more important indicator is 5 A* - C GCSEs including English and mathematics, because having those two subjects enables a much wider choice of pathways into a young person's future. Failing to achieve one or the other - or both - is a considerable impediment. Hampshire improved the proportion of young people achieving 5 A* - C including English and mathematics to 53%, a 2 point improvement and 6 points better than the national average.

9.8. In both 5 A* - C GCSEs and 5 A* - C including English and mathematics Hampshire's young people outperformed those in all the counties most like Hampshire except one.

9.9. Progress in English and maths in the last two years of compulsory schooling is the reverse of that in the first three years. Here, young people make much better progress in English and much worse in mathematics - almost as though it would be better to measure progress throughout the secondary years, from 11 through to 16 rather than splitting it at 13 or 14. 66% made two levels of progress in English in the last two years of schooling, 7 points better than last year and 26% in mathematics, 5 points worse.

9.10. Young people with special educational needs, and most black and minority ethnic groups, performed well in 2008 and continued to perform better, in most cases, than similar groups across the country. Young people in care did better too. Their attendance improved overall, though there are still major pieces of work to do to improve it to where it needs to be. Many more young people in care were entered for examinations this year and, on the figure the government uses to measure how well they are attaining, which is 1 A* - G at GCSE, 75% achieved that, 5 points better than last year. 10% attained 5 A*-C GCSEs, 4 points better than last year. Significant too is the performance of children in care in Key Stage 3 which is far better than in 2007, particularly in English where the proportion attaining level 5 was 13 points better. If this achievement can be carried through to Key Stage 4, results should be better still in 2010.

9.11. The gap in attainment between those young people eligible for free school meals and those who are not, narrowed considerably. 40% achieved 5 A* - C compared with 29% in 2007, and 27% achieved 5 A* - C including English and mathematics compared with 20% in the previous year. The national figures are not yet available for this indicator in 2008 but the performance of young people eligible for free school meals in Hampshire outstripped last year's national average by some distance. It is difficult to know whether schools specifically targeted these young people or whether they did better because some `coasting' schools sharpened their performance overall. Further work is needed to find out. Whatever the reason, given the importance of narrowing the gap in the county's Local Area Agreement, as well as for the young people themselves, 2008 has been a good year.

9.12. There were 6 schools in Hampshire identified in 2007 by the DCSF as being `National Challenge' schools. These were schools where fewer than 30% of 16 year olds attained 5 A* - C grades at GCSE including English and mathematics in 2007. The number of schools in that category in the county fell in 2008 to 3. The County Council has been given additional resources by the DCSF to spend on improving those, and the three that have already improved and one more school that was perilously close to 30% in 2008.

9.13. The School Improvement Service can boast considerable success in secondary schools in 2008. It identified 9 secondary schools that needed significant support - i.e. above that routinely given by the School Improvement Partner. On average, these schools improved their performance at 5 A* - C GCSE by 9 percentage points (against an average for the county of 4 points) and at 5 A* - C including English and mathematics by 6 points (against 2 points for the county as a whole).

10) Attainment in the secondary years - future priorities:

10.1. The School Improvement Service will continue to support those schools that need it most but there are some key priorities for future years:

· Ensure that there are no schools that score below 30% 5 A* - C at GCSE including English and mathematics by 2010.

· Improve progress in English in the early years of secondary education.

· Improve progress in mathematics in the later years of secondary education.

· Continue to narrow the gap between the percentage who achieve 5 A* - C and those who achieve 5 A* - C including English and mathematics.

· Continue to work on whole system solutions so that the gap between the attainment of those young people who live in relative poverty and the rest keeps narrowing while, at the same time, overall attainment remains on a rising trend.

· Find whole system solutions so that the attendance of children and young people in care and their attainment continues to improve.

11) Outline of Options:

11.1. Option 1:

a) Is as set out in the body of the report - courses of action proposed because the data on attainment for 2008 suggest that there are areas of relative weakness, or insufficient strength, that need to be addressed.

11.2. Option 2:

a) Is to ignore the lessons from the data and to give equal weight to supporting each school, each vulnerable group, and each subject; and to treat schools as solely responsible for educational attainment.

12) Option Analysis/Comparison:

12.1. There are powerful reasons for targeting effort at those areas of relative weakness or insufficient strength. The targets for children within the Local Area Agreement have to be achieved and many of those relate to areas of relative weakness or insufficient strength; other National Indicators, of which there are 79 in total relating to children and young people, concentrate on the performance of vulnerable groups as well as that of the general population.

12.2. To concentrate efforts solely on developing the quality of teaching, assessment, curriculum, and leadership and management in schools - and ignore the part in improving educational attainment that can be played by parents, Children's Centres, health, district councils, police, the voluntary and community sector and early intervention services, etc - would be to disadvantage children and young people.

13) Financial Implications:

13.1 There are no additional financial burdens that result from the recommendations.  The School Improvement Service will deploy existing resources to carry forward the action proposed.  Schools will be encouraged to deploy their resources to remove deficiencies and maintain strengths, and to use the additional resources agreed by Schools Forum - in particular those to mitigate the effects of deprivation and those to improve the education of children in care - to further narrow the gaps that need to be narrowed.

14) Conclusions:

14.1. 2008 has been, overall, a good year for educational attainment in Hampshire. More can be done to improve further, however, and the actions proposed in this report should reap benefits for children and young people.

15) Recommendations:

Please see Executive Summary for recommendations.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION: