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Advisory Group on Governance

3 April 2009

Lisa Hyde – 21st Century Schools Team

Marian Quigley – School Report Card

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The Children’s Plan set our ambition to make this the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up

• Achieving the Children’s Plan ambition depends on creating a school system which prepares every young person to make a success of their life

• In particular we want to break the link between deprivation and background and educational success – and intervene early so that ‘issues’ don’t become problems

In the longer term a vision for a 21st Century School system where:• Excellent, personalised education and development contributes to all aspects of well-being for

pupils and is the norm for all pupils• Targeted support through a multi-disciplinary workforce provides the heart of a preventative

system• Schools are a valued resource for parents and the wider community – ” extended schools ++ “• The best leadership is spread across the system and through constructive partnership working

better outcomes are achieved for all young people, including with the Children’s Trust• Accountability system reflects the range of outcomes and drives improvements at all levels –

school report card• Funding systems and governance arrangements incentivise and reward continuous improvement• The achievements of the least advantaged improving faster than average• No limit to aspiration

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Key features of 21st Century Schools

Personalised education and development

At the centreof a system

for earlyinterventionand targeted

support

A resource forthe wholecommunity

Schools working in

partnership to deliver

Supported by the right workforce, accountability and funding

systemsPersonalised education and development

At the centreof a system

for earlyinterventionand targeted

support

A resource forthe wholecommunity

Personalised education and development

At the centreof a system

for earlyinterventionand targeted

support

A resource forthe wholecommunity

Schools working in

partnership to deliver

Supported by the right workforce, accountability and funding

systemsSchools

working in partnership to

deliver

Supported by the right workforce, accountability and funding

systems

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What does this mean for Governance?

• Awaiting outcomes of Governance Review – on size, composition, powers and duties etc - as the nature of the system evolves, so will the role of governors

• Strong and strategic governance is critical to success and to challenging, supporting and holding to account the school leadership – not just for outcomes for children on the school’s roll, but for children’s outcomes across a local area and for the needs of the wider local community.

That will mean in particular looking at the role of Governors in support/governance of : • Schools working in reciprocal partnerships to extend and broaden the curriculum • Increasing numbers of formal partnerships - federations with shared governance and executive

headship – not just where schools are underperforming but to support better outcomes for all• Schools involving, working with or commissioning a wider range of professionals and wider

children’s services – in particular to lead on identification, prevention and early intervention• Ongoing school performance, across all 5 ECM outcomes

The White Paper will set out how we see Governors’ role developing, and what we will put in place to ensure that they have the information, advice, training and support to continue to play their vital role in schools and their communities.

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School Report Cards

The new School Report Card sits at the heart of the new accountability system and provides a means of achieving the vision for the 21st Century school. It will:

– give parents, communities and stakeholders a simpler, more comprehensive way of understanding how schools are performing in the round - raising attainment, promoting progress and supporting the wider development and wellbeing of children.

– provide a single clear set of prioritised outcomes for use throughout the accountability system: Ofsted, self evaluation, LAs, SIPs, Governors…. against which schools will be judged by all with predictable consequences

– complement Ofsted reports and form core of process for identifying schools for inspection. This is a joint DCSF/Ofsted consultation.

– we will initially develop Report Cards for mainstream primary and secondary schools (including Academies). Will later develop for introduction across the whole maintained sector.

– an illustration of what the front page of a School Report Card might look like follows – NB all underpinning data would be publicly available:

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School Report Card 2008 - 2009

Anytown SchoolGeneral Borough Council

The School’s website: http://www........./

Further information on the way the score are calculated is available at http://schoolreportcard.gov.uk

Direction of TravelInformation on whether the school’s performance has improved, declined, or remained the same in recent years.

Early Years Foundation Stage or Sixth Form ProvisionA measure of the effectiveness of the school’s provision for Early Years Foundation Stage or its sixth form.

Head teacher: Mrs Smith Age range: 00 - 00 Students: 0000

THIS EXAMPLE IS FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY

ATTAINMENTx out of y

PUPIL PROGRESSx out of y

PARENTS’ VIEWSx out of y

WIDER OUTCOMESx out of y

PUPILS’ VIEWSx out of y

OUTCOME OF THE SCHOOL’S LAST INSPECTION BY OFSTED

This school was last inspected on 00 December 2008. Its overall effectiveness was judged to be GOOD (grade 2)Its capacity for improvement was judged to be GOOD (grade 2)

The full inspection report can be seen at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk. The key judgements are given below:

Achievement Good (grade 2)

Personal development and well-being Good (grade 2)

Teaching and learning Good (grade 2)

Leadership and management Good (grade 2)

NB The wording of key judgements may change when a new inspection framework is introduced in September 2009

Partnership WorkingA measure of how well the school has contributed to its local partnerships.

How Scoring is worked out

Schools are assigned an overall letter score. The points for each score in 2008 - 09 were:

Rating RangeA y to z

B x to y

C w to x

D v to w

E u to vNARROWING GAPSx out of y

Outcomes for ages 00 - 00

x out of y

AOverall score

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School Report Cards

• Consultation on high level general principles ended on 3 March. Further consultation on next level of detail to be published in May. Detailed piloting and modelling 2009-2011. First date for introduction – 2011.

Big Issues for this Consultation:• Have we got the categories right?• How do we present performance in those categories – numeric score (9/10) and/or

rating (A, B, C …)• Should those categories be summed to an overall score?• How do we account for school context?• Should the School Report Card also show information on: direction of travel;

partnership working; sixth form provision; early years provision; Ofsted judgements?