Issue - meetings

Background:

This report presented an updated School Improvement Strategy, which outlined the key priorities in Medway and targets for school performance.

The strategy set out an accelerated programme of improvement. It promoted collaborative working across schools, sharing of good practice and collective responsibility for all the children and young people in Medway.  It recognised that the landscape of education was changing rapidly and the role of the local authority had primarily become one that challenged and supported the most vulnerable schools and brokered support for those schools from the stronger schools. It was noted that the Teaching Schools were key players in mapping out professional development pathways and training opportunities, supported by the local authority.

Members were advised that the strategy had been out to consultation with schools and key partners during November 2014, with the responses considered by the School Effectiveness Strategic Board (SEB) on 11 December 2014. It was reported that the consultation had confirmed that the four main priorities should be:

• Leadership, Management and Governance,
• Outstanding Teaching,
• Recruitment and Retention
• OFSTED Readiness (i.e. preparing for and managing the inspection).

A marketing strategy to ‘Get Medway Learning’ underpinned this work, engaging the community in learning. It was noted that there were many examples of good practice in Medway schools and the marketing strategy would celebrate good practice and engage the community and the media in recognising the achievements of Medway’s children and young people.

A Diversity Impact Assessment had been undertaken and was attached at Appendix 2 to the report. This stated that one of the biggest challenges in Medway in terms of diversity and equalities was the gap in achievement between the most disadvantaged and their peers. The assessment included a number of actions to take forward the identified issues.

It was noted that the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered the draft strategy on 9 December 2014 (as part of a wider report on the provisional test and examination results for 2014). The Committee had noted the report and details of the discussion were set out in section 6 of the report.

Reasons:

This programme will provide the basis for supporting and challenging schools to achieve improved primary performance and better OFSTED inspection judgements. Whilst the strategy is focused on the primary sector, all schools will benefit from the clarity of vision and actions proposed.