PART 1
(OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)
ITEM NO.
REPORT OF THE LEAD MEMBER FOR
TO THE CABINET ON 5th MARCH, 2003
TITLE : EDUCATION AND LEISURE DIRECTORATE PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING THE
TARGETS IN PLEDGE 1 OF THE CITY OF SALFORD’S 6 PLEDGES
RECOMMENDATIONS : That Members note the content of this report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY :
The report outlines the progress made by the Education and Leisure Directorate in relation to
achieving the objectives of Pledge 1 of the Six Pledges, which have been established by the City
Council “To create the best possible quality of life for the people of Salford.”
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS : "The City of Salford 6 Pledges and You" leaflet.
(Available for public inspection)
CONTACT OFFICER :
Anne Hillerton, Assistant Director, 0161 778 0135
Helen Hayes (Early Years), 0161 778 0307
Richard Dodd (Key Stage 3 Pilot), 0161 778 0153
Jane Austin (Excellence in Cities), 0161 778 0154
WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATE(S) : ALL
KEY COUNCIL POLICIES : Best Value, Community Strategy, Education Development Plan, Early
Years and Child Care Development Plan, Post-OfSTED Action Plan, Excellence in Cities and
Excellence Challenge Plans, Lifelong Learning, Key Stage 3 Strategy
DETAILS (Continued Overleaf)
1.
Introduction
1.1
The Cabinet has requested that Directorates report on a regular basis against the 6
Pledges established by the City Council which aim to ensure that the Council
mission statement is achieved, which is: “To create the best quality of life for the
people of Salford.”
1.2
The 6 Pledges are as follows:






Pledge 1 – Better Education for all
We want every child to have the best start in life
Pledge 2 – Quality Homes for all
We will ensure every person in the City lives in a decent home
Pledge 3 – A clean and healthy City
We will make Salford a cleaner and healthier place to live and work
Pledge 4 – A safer Salford
We will make Salford a safer place to live and work
Pledge 5 – Stronger communities
We will make Salford a better place to live
Pledge 6 – Support for young people
We will create the best possible opportunities for young people in our
City
1.2
This is a report on Pledge 1 “A better education for all” in which the City
Council aims to give every child a better start in life.
1.3
Pledge 1 has three sub sections:



Every child is offered a free pre-school nursery place.
GCSE results improve faster than the rest of the country.
Every young person leaves secondary school with a recognised
qualification.
Pledge 1 has links with Pledge 6 – Supporting young people, particularly in
relation to the post-16 sector.
1.4
Following is a summary of the action taken by the Education and Leisure
Directorate and an outline of the progress made so far in achieving the aims.
2
“Every child is offered a pre-school nursery place”
2.1
The Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership has responsibility for the
planning and development of nursery education for three and four year olds
across all sectors. Provision is currently funded through the LEA and DfES
Nursery Education Grant.
2.2
Provision for 3 year olds in Salford is offered through a variety of settings within
the maintained and non-maintained sectors. In September 2001, there were 2,373
funded three year olds in Nursery classes and Early Years Centres, with an
additional 236 children funded in the non-maintained sectors. This rose to 610 in
the Spring term 2003. There are, therefore, currently 2,983 three years olds
currently in funded places. This takes account of all Salford children and
additional non-Salford residents who are in Salford settings whose parents have
requested a place.
2.3
The BVPI showed a drop last year. This was felt to be due to changes in the way
figures were calculated. (2001 – 87%, 2002 –77%). However, the figures in the
Early Years Development & Childcare Plan for 2003/04 show that 114% of three
year olds access provision. This is due to the additional non-resident children
who are obviously not calculated as part of Salford’s population. This BVPI will
no longer be required to be reported on from 1 April 2003.
2.4
All four year olds are currently funded for 3 terms after their fourth birthday. For
those attending LEA reception classes, funding is for full-time provision, with
four year olds in the non-maintained sector being funded for part-time provision.
2.5
From April 2003, there will be other changes to nursery education. Firstly,
funding for all three and four year olds will be directed through the Local
Authority FSS. From 2004, legislation will be introduced which will require
Local Authorities to fund all three year olds on a part time basis and all four year
olds on a full time basis, for all children whose parents want it. It will not be a
statutory requirement for children to attend but it will be a duty of the Local
Authority to make provision when requested.
2.6
Secondly, new BVPIs will be introduced which will measure the quality of
teaching for early years and childcare services. Expectations are as follows:



All practitioners delivering Foundation Stage education to have access to an
average of 4 days relevant training and development per year.
All settings that deliver the Foundation Stage to have access to a QTS
(Qualified Teacher Status) teacher with a target ratio of 1 QTS teacher to
every 10 non-maintained settings.
All QTS teachers involved in the delivery of the Foundation Stage to have
undertaken appropriate training and development to improve their specialist
knowledge of early education.
These will be measured by:


Average days access to relevant training and development per practitioner
delivering Foundation Stage education; and
Average number of QTS teachers per 10 non-maintained settings.
These targets have been taken from the Early Years Development and Childcare
Plan and are currently being met through LEA and DfES funding.
3.
GCSE results improve faster than the rest of the country
3.1
Salford is the 28th most deprived LEA in the country. All LEAs are subject to
targets which are set by the DfES. While targets reflect the context of the LEA,
they are nevertheless challenging and expectations of schools are high. This is an
essential part of the drive to improve standards.
3.2
Progress may be judged against national data and comparisons made with other
LEAs in similar contextual circumstances (statistical neighbours).
3.3
The usual way of reporting on attainment at GCSE level is in relation to:



3.4
Different organizations produce statistical information relating to pupil
attainment.


3.5
The percentage of pupils gaining 5 A* - C grades (BVPI 38)
The percentage of pupils gaining 5 A* - G grades
The percentage of pupils gaining 1 A* - G grades (BVPI 39)
Ofsted (Appendix 1) based on unvalidated figures ie before remarking of
papers requested by schools/parents
DfES (Appendix 2) based on validated data and including adjustments arising
from re-marking of papers etc. DfES data is used to form the “League
Tables” which were published in the press 23 January 2003.
This report is based on the more reliable data published as Appendix 2.
Salford Results at 5+ A*-C
It can be seen from the figures in Appendix 2 that:


In 2001 results at 5+A*-C regressed by 1.2% on 2000, however in 2002
results in this category rose by 1.6% on 2001 showing an improvement above
the national rate of improvement of 1.5%.
Salford is one of a group of 11 LEAs with similar characteristics (statistical
neighbours), within this group. Salford is ranked 8th on the basis of pupils
attaining 5+A*-C, however in terms of improvement on the previous year
Salford is ranked 4th.
Salford Average Points Scores (APS)
3.6
Capped average points score is calculated by aggregating pupils’ best 8 results at
GCSE e.g. A* counts as 8 points G counts as 1 point. In previous years every
result was counted not just the best 8. Consequently direct comparisons with
previous years cannot be made. However, the gap between Salford APS and
national performance has decreased but this is a new measure and requires
further investigation.
3.7
The modest improvement in GCSE results overall masks some real success
stories for individual schools:



All Hallows RC High School moved from 13% 5+A*-C in 2001 to 36%
5+A*-C in 2002.
St. Ambrose Barlow RC High School made a 16% improvement in 5+A*-C
Irlam and Cadishead Community High School made a 10% improvement in
5+A*-C.
A number of other schools held their own or made more modest improvements.
In a minority of schools performance fell.




3.8
The reasons for schools performing less well from one year to another are
many and varied, such as:




3.9
8 schools improved on 2001 performance
1 school maintained 2001 performance
No previous comparative performance data was available for 1 school
For 4 schools there was a drop in performance on 2001
Prior attainment of the group of pupils
Major disruption to the school e.g. amalgamation
Lack of availability of suitably qualified specialist teachers may affect
performance in individual subjects.
Gender imbalance – girls often out perform boys. Boy dominated groups
perform less well in particular subjects and this affects overall school
performance.
The Government has recognized the difficulties that schools in less advantaged
areas have in the drive to raise standards and has made funding available to
support schools in this through two new initiatives.
(i)
The Leadership Incentive Grant – a grant of £125,000 per year to all
secondary schools in Excellence in Cities and Education Action Zone
areas and those elsewhere whose GCSE results were at or below 30%
5A*-C in 2001 or 2002 and with more than 35% entitlement to free school
meals.
The grant is for each of the next 3 years and is targeted at development
programmes tailored to meet the particular needs of the individual school.
The overall aim is to raise standards by building managerial/leadership
capacity.
The second initiative is a grant to support the “School Improvement Adviser
Function”. LEAs will be given funding on the basis of the number of secondary
schools achieving 30% or less 5+A*-C GCSEs in either 2001 or 2002. Funding
will be for 3 years but allocated annually on the basis of the number of schools
within the category. The purpose of the grant is to enable LEAs to enhance their
support to schools categorized by DfES as “Schools Facing Challenging
Circumstances”. LEAs have the freedom to determine whether they wish to
allocate this function to an existing staff member or employ an additional person.
3.10
Based on DfES definitions, i.e. a school which as attained less than 30%
5+A*- C in either 2001 or 2002, Salford has 7 schools “Facing Challenging
Circumstances”.







The Albion High School
All Hallows High School
Buile Hill High School
Canon Williamson High School
Harrop Fold Community High School
The Swinton High School
Wentworth High School
The DfES definition of schools facing challenging circumstances changed in
January 2003 from below 25% 5+A*-C GCSE grades in any one of the past 3
years to 30% in either 2001 or 2002.
3.11
It is clear from the statistics shown in the appendices, that there needs to be a
significant improvement in the number of young people obtaining 5 or more
GCSEs at grade A*-C. It is the responsibility of the LEA to work with schools to
ensure that this happens.
During the past two months every secondary Headteacher, in most cases
accompanied by the Chair of Governors, has met with the Director of Education
and Leisure and senior colleagues to review school performance and identify
areas for development/improvement. This is part of the LEA strategy for
supporting and challenging its schools to raise standards as defined in the
Education Development Plan.
4.
Every young person leaves secondary school with a recognizable
qualification
Salford Results at 1+A*-C
4.1
It can be seen from the figures in Appendix 2 that:


There has been a slight regression of 0.3% to 94.0% (this represents
approximately 7 pupils) leaving Salford schools without a qualification. This
figure is very close to the national average of 94.6%.
Within the group of statistical neighbours Salford is ranked 5th out of 11 in
this category.
4.2
In reviewing the performance of individual schools it is noteworthy that the 2
schools with the highest percentage of pupils leaving school with no passes are
the two which were involved in major re-organisation. The third school
involved in re-organisation did not admit additional pupils into Year 11.
4.3
The Government is leading a major new initiative on reforming the curriculum for
14-19 year olds, detailed in its recent White Paper.
Courses for Year 10 and Year 11 pupils (14-16 year olds) will be developed with
a more vocational bias and some statutory curriculum requirements removed to
ensure schools respond with greater flexibility to the needs and interests of all
pupils.
4.4
The LEA is working closely with the Post 16 Sector, the Learning and Skills
Council and training providers to develop a wider range of courses for 14-19
year olds. It is anticipated that this will lead to increased motivation of pupils,
raising of standards and improved staying on rates. Excellence in Cities is
also working towards these aims through its work on “Excellence Challenge”.
It is hoped that these initiatives will impact positively on this pledge and fewer
pupils will leave at age 16 without a recognized qualification.
4.5
In the future this national performance measure (i.e. pupils leaving school with no
passes) will be discontinued and replaced by “the number of pupils gaining
5A*-G passes including English and Mathematics.
4.6
Salford LEA faces a number of challenges to the achievement of the demanding
targets set by DfES and Pledge 1. However, there are strategies and initiatives
which are planned and in place to address the complex issues involved in raising
standards. These initiatives are evidence of the recognition by DfES of the
challenges faced by Salford and similar LEAs.








Excellence in Cities – a range of initiatives directed at raising attainment
14-19 Agenda
National Strategies at Key Stages 1, 2, and 3
Behaviour Improvement Programme *
Leadership Incentive Grant *
Schools Facing Challenging Circumstances *
Creative Partnerships
LPSA target 2 will ensure additional support for targeted groups of pupils
with the aim of increasing the percentage of pupils gaining 5 or more GCSEs
or equivalent. This will come into operation in 2004 and will involve pupils
taking GCSEs in 2005. There are other LPSA targeted activities already
aimed at improving school attendance. In the longer term this will also
improve attainment. LPSA target is aimed at increasing the proportion of
Year 11 pupils going on to further learning by 2005. This target is linked to
LPSA targets 2 and 3.
*= new in 2002/2003
4.7
These initiatives are welcomed since they bring additional resources but they also
represent a challenge for schools and for the LEA to manage them in a coherent
way so that they impact positively on the drive to raise standards rather than
causing “initiative overload” which could be counter productive.
4.8
Overall progress on Pledge 1 is disappointing. The reasons for this, referred to
above, are complex. Many individuals, groups and organizations play their part
in enabling Salford’s young people to attain high academic standards. These
include the LEA, schools, parents and the pupils themselves. The LEA’s role is
to provide leadership, support and challenge throughout all phases of education to
ensure that young people in the City have every opportunity to fulfill their
potential.
GCSE results, Salford and National, 1999 to 2002 - Ofsted Data
APPENDIX 1
The figures used are supplied by OFSTED and show the percentage of pupils reaching the levels indicated.
Figures from OFSTED are for maintained schools only.
OFSTED have updated the 2001 unvalidated figures which were used to produce this table last year. The updated figures have been used.
5 A* to C
5 A* to G
Inc.on prev year
OFSTED
Salford
Stat
National
OFSTED Stat
Salford
National
Neighbours
Neighbours
1998
34.5
33.2
44.7
1999
34.8
35.5
46.6
0.9
2000
36.7
36.9
47.8
5.5
* 2001 37.2 (35) 39.3 (38.4) 48.8 (48.4) 1.4
2002
36.6
39.2
49.9
-1.6
6.9
3.9
6.5
-0.3
4.3
2.6
2.1
2.3
Inc.on prev year
Salford
OFSTED Stat Neighbours
National
88.4
88.6
90.9
91.3 (90.5)
90.0
85.8
87.5
87.4
88.8 (88.4)
88.0
89.8
90.9
90.9
91.1 (91.0)
90.9
Salford
OFSTED Stat
Neighbours
National
0.2
2.6
0.4
-1.4
2.0
-0.1
1.6
-0.9
1.2
0.0
0.2
-0.2
1 A* to G
Inc.on prev year
OFSTED
Salford
Stat
National
OFSTED Stat
Salford
National
Neighbours
Neighbours
1998
94.2
92.9
95.2
1999
95.6
94.2
95.8
1.5
2000
95.9
94.1
95.8
0.3
2001 95.9 (95.6) 95.1 (94.9) 96.0 (96.1) 0.0
2002
95.4
94.4
96.1
-0.5
1.4
-0.1
1.1
-0.7
0.6
0.0
0.2
0.1
* Figures in brackets show the unvalidated figures for 2001 and thus demonstrate
The difficulties in working with unreliable data.
APPENDIX
2
GCSE results, Salford and National, 1999 to 2002 – DFES Data
The figures used are those produced by the DfES which are validated and therefore more reliable than those produced by OFSTED
5 A* to C
Salford National
Change since
prev year
5 A* to G
% Inc.on prev year
Salford National Salford
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
33.3
34.1
35.5
34.3
35.9
46.3
47.9
49.2
50.0
51.5
0.8
1.4
-1.2
1.6
1.6
1.3
0.8
1.5
2.4
4.1
-3.4
4.7
Salford National
National
3.5
2.7
1.6
3.0
Change since
prev year
Salford National Salford
86.3
86.9
89.9
88.8
88.0
87.5
88.5
89.9
88.9
88.9
0.6
3.0
-1.1
-0.8
1 A* to G
Salford National
Change since
prev year
92.9
94.4
95.4
94.3
94.0
93.4
94.0
94.4
94.5
94.6
1.5
1.0
-1.1
-0.3
0.6
0.4
0.1
0.1
1.0
1.4
-1.0
0.0
0.7
3.5
-1.2
-0.9
National
1.1
1.6
-1.1
0.0
APS
% Inc.on prev year
Salford National Salford
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
% Inc.on prev year
1.6
1.1
-1.2
-0.3
Salford National
National
0.6
0.4
0.1
0.1
Change since
prev year
% Inc.on prev year
Salford National Salford
30.7
31.4
32.4
31.6
29.2
37.0
38.1
38.9
39.3
34.7
0.7
1.0
-0.8
1.1
0.8
0.4
2.3
3.2
-2.5
National
3.0
2.1
1.0
From 2002 the calculation of the average point score has changed so it is not possible to compare 2001 to 2002 APS scores directly
GCSE Data Compared to Statistical
Neighbours
Appendix 3
Taken from 2002 Secondary School Performance Tables published in January 2003 for each Local Education Authority and Government Office Region
Average
District
Percentage of 15 year old pupils (3)
capped (4)
achieving at GCSE/GNVQ:
GCSE/GNVQ
5+ A*-C
5+ A*-G
No
point score (5)
grades
grades
passes
per 15 year
old pupil
Coventry
43.2
86.5
7.0
31.5
Oldham
42.9
89.4
5.4
31.7
Halton
42.7
88.7
5.0
31.4
South Tyneside
42.2
90.0
4.7
31.8
Hartlepool
42.0
88.6
6.0
31.3
Sunderland
41.6
88.8
5.4
31.2
Rochdale
40.0
88.2
7.0
30.8
Salford
35.9
88.0
6.0
29.2
Middlesbrough
35.8
82.5
9.7
28.4
Sandwell
34.2
84.2
7.9
28.2
Kingston-upon-Hull
28.9
78.7
9.9
25.0
Position in rank order of 11 OFSTED Statistical Neighbours Based on:
%5 A* to C
8th
%5 A* to G
7th
No Passes
Jnt 5th
Capped APS
8th