Agenda item

This report provides the committee with an update on recent school Ofsted inspections. 

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Learning and Achievement, introduced the report setting out the differences between the overall Ofsted inspections in Medway between 2009 and 2010. The committee was advised that from
1 September 2009 there had been a change in the inspection framework and judgements before that date used different criteria to those inspected since that date. This had resulted in a tougher inspection regime that was reflected in inspections statistics nationally.

The committee was also advised that there had been three key developments with schools causing concern and these were:

·        pairing the school with a stronger school, resulting in most of them showing good progress;

·        the Local Education Authority was intervening quicker and making radical actions by changing the leadership of the school;

·        enhanced monitoring of primary schools on a risk-assessed basis. Since this had been set in place, the results of the inspections had significantly improved.

Members welcomed the concept of pairing schools together which clearly showed as a successful strategy and noted that even under the new framework the vast majority of schools gave no cause for concern.

The committee expressed concern about the uncertainty of the capital funding for Medway’s three academies, especially as they were at a such advanced stage of being implemented, as this could have such a detrimental impact on all those involved. The Director of Children and Adults advised that the government had recently advised that Medway’s academy rebuilds were ‘under discussion’ and the academy sponsors were completing a submission as the first response to this announcement. This meant that the funding for the re-building works at the academies was not yet secure.

The committee also expressed concern over the monitoring visits of Warren Wood Primary School & Language Unit, Spinnens Acre Junior School and St Margaret’s CEV Junior School as they showed inadequate progress. Officers responded that the council’s own monitoring currently showed that St Margaret’s in particular was now making good progress and the Local Authority was taking further steps in the other schools to secure rapid improvement. Members asked that in the future another column was added to the report to show dates of Local Authority visits.

The Headteacher representative asked if there were any lessons to be learned that largely the schools under notice to improve or special measures were often primary or junior schools in areas of high deprivation? The Director of Children and Adults responded that this was broadly true, although there were also good and outstanding schools in those areas. Officers agreed that it was an area that required further investigation and discussion and that recent developments in which schools were providing more support for each other were very positive.

Decision:

Members requested:

(a)               that a letter is sent from the Chairman of the committee to the Secretary of State for Education expressing the committee’s extreme concern at the potential loss of funding for the three academies in Medway, especially as they were so close to implementation. The committee also wanted young people due to attend the academies to have aspirations for their future which would be let down if the academies no longer went ahead;

(b)               that a copy of the letter to the Secretary of State for Education should be sent to the three local Members of Parliament.