Agenda item

To consider a report of he Director of Children’s Services. (to follow)

Jacky Forster, Director of Education and 14-19 Skills, provided an overview of the Annual Education Report 2014/15. During the presentation the following points arose:

·         92.7% of Cheshire East schools were judged as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted and the Borough was third in the country for schools judged at least Good.

·         At Primary School level Cheshire East was doing well across all outcome areas in relation to its statistical neighbours.

·         At Secondary School level Cheshire East was at least as good as its statistical neighbours in all areas and better in some.

·         Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and those receiving free school meals where slightly lower than the national average in most areas but higher in some.

·         Special Education Needs (SEN) pupils outcomes where mostly better than national average but were lower at key stage 2.

·         For pupils for whom English was not their first language (English Alternative Language [EAL]) Cheshire East was performing below the national average in all areas. Is was suggested that part of the issue may be that the numbers of EAL pupils in Cheshire East were very small so statistics could vary with each individual pupil.

·         Cared for Children were performing below the national average at key stage 1 and 2 but above the national average at key stage 4.

The presentation also outlined the Council’s priorities and actions for 2015-2016 which included:

·         Improvements in outcomes in Maths at secondary school

·         Measures to further close the gaps in achievement for disadvantaged learners

·         Establishment of a dedicated programme to directly support the learning outcomes for SEN pupils.

During members questions and discussion the following points arose:

·         Schools should be aiming to achieve even higher than the National average and look to the higher standards set by some European countries.

·         EAL was a particular issue in Crewe were there was large inward migration of families with low standards of English  for whom local schools were working hard to offer support.

·         As well as ensuring there was a school place for every child is was suggested that the Council should ensure that there was sufficient choice for parents. Large scale development in local towns had created some issues for parents trying to access their closest school.

·         The Council had less influence over academies regarding their intake and who they accepted. However the Council could refer academies to the Secretary of State if they are not taking sufficient pupils. The Council was encouraging academies to develop Fair Access Protocols which had not been agreed yet.

·         The Council needed to encourage the local academies to work together to improve services. Members suggested that groups of academies worked well when they operated in the same locality but some academies were part of fragmented groups of academies from a variety of boroughs. There were lots of different models of Multi Academy Trusts (MAT) and local academies would need to consider which model worked best for the area. Officers suggested that the Council needed to bring all schools together to develop a vision for a Cheshire East families of schools. Although the Council had no direct control over academies as it did with maintained schools, it could try to influence academies.

RESOLVED – That the Annual Education Report 2014-15 be noted.