Issue - meetings

Summary of Schools Performance 2010-11 & Quarter 1 Reporting 2011-12 for the Children and Families Directorate

Meeting: 20/09/2011 - Children and Families Scrutiny Committee (Item 92)

92 Summary of Schools Performance 2010-11 & Quarter 1 Reporting 2011-12 for the Children and Families Directorate pdf icon PDF 84 KB

To consider a report of the Strategic Director (Children, Families and Adults).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Lorraine Butcher attended to present a report to update on the year end performance relating to school academic standards for the 2010/11 academic year as well as to summarise the Quarter 1 Performance of the Children’s and Families Directorate.

 

After considering the report, a number of Members queried the use of the term ‘narrowing the gap’ described in paragraph 10.6. It was suggested that an authority could ‘narrow the gap’ by bringing down higher achieving schools and pupils rather than by bringing those at the bottom to a higher level. Lorraine Butcher confirmed that there was no perverse incentive behind the concept and that it only meant that Cheshire East would strive to drive up standards across the board and also to narrow the gap in achievement between those young people in receipt of free school meals and those not in receipt.

 

It was asserted that more needed to be done to tackle low achievement in a number of Cheshire East schools. In terms of paragraph 10.6(e), which stated as a priority for the 2011-12 academic year: ‘To commission, as required, high quality personnel to support the ongoing monitoring and challenge to schools underperforming or at risk of underperforming’, it was queried what this actually meant. With this in mind, it was suggested a report was required which outlined what was being done to improve underperforming schools and that this should be added to the work programme.

 

It was queried whether all the academic results from Academies had been received. Lorraine Butcher confirmed that these had been received but drew attention to the fact that as there was no requirement for Academies to report performance to Local Authorities

 

RESOLVED –

 

a)    That the report be noted.

 

b)    That an item be added to the work programme relating to what Cheshire East were doing and were able to do to improve underperforming schools.