The Programme Director (Bradford Opportunity Area) will submit a report (Document “S”) which advises Members that Bradford has been identified as one of twelve, “Opportunity Areas”  for which the Department for Education (DfE) funds a small team to work with the District to agree and deliver priorities in improving social mobility.  The work is driven by an Opportunity Area Board made up of key stakeholders from across Bradford.  The group identified four priority areas of work:-

•           Strengthening school leadership and quality of teaching

•           Improving literacy and oracy (spoken English) including a focus on            parental engagement

•           Helping young people access rewarding careers

•           Removing health related barriers to learning

Appended to the report are details of investment in a wide range of activity specifically focused on the Bradford South area.

Recommended –

That the programme progress be noted for information and the use of the Social Mobility Dashboard be endorsed to support the work of the Area Committee.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

(Kathryn Loftus - 01274 434590)

The Programme Director (Bradford Opportunity Area) submit ted a report (Document “S”) which advised Members that Bradford had been identified as one of twelve, “Opportunity Areas”  for which the Department for Education (DfE) funds a small team to work with the District to agree and deliver priorities in improving social mobility.  The work is driven by an Opportunity Area Board made up of key stakeholders from across Bradford.  The group identified four priority areas of work:-

•           Strengthening school leadership and quality of teaching

•           Improving literacy and oracy (spoken English) including a focus on            parental engagement

•           Helping young people access rewarding careers

•           Removing health related barriers to learning

Appended to the report were details of investment in a wide range of activity specifically focused on the Bradford South area.

The  Programme Director gave a detailed overview of the Opportunity Area Fund particularly in a Bradford South context.  The funding would be for 3 years to support young people achieve better educational outcomes and improve social mobility .  The Opportunity Area was not a Council led programme but made up of a Partnership Board of key stakeholders.

During the discussion, the Chair extended his thanks to the work done by the Opportunity Area Fund in the Tong Ward and that he fully supported the work they were doing.

A Member expressed her disappointment that no work was being done in the Schools in Wibsey ward. In response it was explained that the need across the Bradford was great and there was an imperative to prioritise work in Schools with the greatest challenges, particularly in terms of poor Ofsted judgements and deprivation.  However a number of children who live in Wibsey ward would be attending schools where funding had been earmarked.

It was acknowledged that more detailed indicators of what support was being offered in which Schools would be a useful inclusion in future reports.

A Member in welcoming the much needed investment in the Great Horton Ward, questioned the validity of the issues and figures outlined in the report, and felt that some of this data was historical, and in addition how were social mobility and its impacts measured. In response it was explained that the appendices to the report provided a breakdown, albeit to say that Secondary School performance was poor in Bradford South with the majority of these Schools requiring improvement.

The officer stressed that to this end a locality based approach was a better model for tackling issues and improving educational outcomes.  It was also stressed that in working with Schools and other agencies, the intention was not to duplicate what they were already doing in terms of improvement measures.

In response to a question on shared resources, it was explained that Head teachers were being supported as well as new teachers through the Programme.

A Member stressed that it was important to stress the progress Schools were making as a result of this additional support and funding.

In response to a question regarding attainment levels, it was explained that this remained a key area of focus as attainment levels were stagnant, and to this end more support  was being afforded to areas with the greatest weakness for example key stage support for Mathematics.

A Member stated that many of the Schools were now operating as Academies and therefore the Local Authority had little control over them.  In response it was explained that in working across the Bradford Schools, there was a good level of engagement with Heads and that they had facilitated the mentoring of teachers, which should yield better results going forward.

A Member raised concerns that the report did not address some of the core issues facing schools, in particular given the high levels of BME pupils in Bradford schools, the recruitment, training and retention of BME teachers, particularly in terms of their representation at senior leadership level was a crucial issue.

Members also raised the issue of governance or the lack of as a weakness facing many schools and their ability to fill Governing Body roles.

Resolved –

That officers be thanked for their presentation and their detailed responses to Member’s questions, and that a further report be presented to the Area Committee in 6 months time which addresses the questions, comments and concerns raised by Members.

ACTION: The Programme Director (Bradford Opportunity Area)

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate