The Strategic Director, Children’s Services will submit Document “AN” which provides a summary of performance for children and young people attending Bradford Schools at the following key stages:

·         Early Years Foundation Stage – 5 year olds

·         Key Stage 1 – 7 year olds

·         Key Stage 2 – 11 year olds

·         Key Stage 4 – 16 year olds

·         Key Stage 5 – 18 year olds

Recommended-

(1)       That the revised report on the performance of Bradford’s Children and Young People in Key Stage tests and exams for 2016 be received.

(2)       That further reports be provided to the Committee as the Local Authority receives additional published data from the Department for Education.

                                                            (Judith Kirk – 01274 431078)

The Strategic Director, Children’s Services submitted Document “AN” which provided a summary of performance for children and young people attending Bradford Schools at the following key stages:

·         Early Years Foundation Stage – 5 year olds

·         Key Stage 1 – 7 year olds

·         Key Stage 2 – 11 year olds

·         Key Stage 4 – 16 year olds

·         Key Stage 5 – 18 year olds

It was reported that:

·         Outcomes in Early Years had improved over recent years and at a faster rate than national.

·         The percentage of Year 1 pupils achieving the required standard in phonics continued to improve in 2016.

·         In 2016, Bradford’s Key Stage 1 (KS1) pupils had performed slightly below national in reading, writing and mathematics on the new expected standard performance measures.

·         At the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) in Bradford, pupils’ results were below the national averages on the new expected standard for reading, writing and mathematics (RWM) combined and separately.

·         Bradford’s KS2 pupils made above average progress in writing and maths in 2016 but were below average in reading.

·         The number of primary schools below the Floor Standard was 6 (4% of schools).  There were 15 schools below the Floor Standard in 2015 and 23 in 2014.

·         In 2016, pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 in Bradford achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 45.7, slightly below national.  Bradford’s Progress 8 score was below average. 

·         Outcomes at Key Stage 5 in Bradford schools had been maintained in line with last year.

Members were informed that while in many areas results in the district had improved over the past year, boys still performed much worse than girls, and reading levels in Bradford were still too low.

It was also reported that:

·         in early years 66 per cent of children achieved a “good” level of development, compared to 69% nationally.  In 2014 the gap was five percent.

·         At Key Stage 2, the percentage of Bradford pupils meeting expected standards in reading, writing and Maths was 47 per cent, compared with the national average of 53 per cent.

·         The largest performance gap between Bradford and the national average was the percentage of pupils meeting expected standards on their reading test; 57 per cent of Bradford pupils compared with 66 per cent nationally – a gap of nine per cent.

·         The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in the writing assessment was the same nationally; Bradford leapt from 140^th out of 152 local authorities fro writing in 2015 to 81^st; last years figures also showed that Bradford pupils made better than average progress in writing and mathematics at Key Stage 1.

·         At GCSE level the percentage of students getting A-C in English and Maths was 52.1 % last year up 4.3% on 2015 results.

Members were informed that there was still a lot of development needed, especially in Key Stage 4 and 5. People were working very hard to deliver big changes.

It was reported that the Education Improvement Board met 4 times a year and held to account senior officers and people who were responsible for school improvement whether they were academies or Local Authority schools.

Members were informed that there was a particular focus on barriers to improvement and improving reading levels which had an impact on the next level of attainment; another key area was the recruitment and retention of good and outstanding teachers in all schools; the Service was working closely with the Schools Regional Commissioner who had also been attending the School Education Improvement Board on a regular basis.

The Chair emphasised the importance of parents/carers and community collectively taking responsibility for educational attainment.

Members were informed that an Education Covenant was being developed; part of that document included what was needed from parents/carers, schools and different communities.

A Member suggested that it would be useful for the Committee to have the outcomes of the various reading initiatives that were taking place.

Members also suggested that it would be useful for the Regional Schools Commissioner to attend a future meeting of the Committee to ascertain how attainment was being addressed in academies.

Members emphasised the importance of improving reading levels and ensuring schools had sufficient and appropriate stock of reading books.

In response to a Members question relating to the London Challenge and how it could work for Bradford, it was reported that it was important that educational improvement was properly targeted and monitored; investment in Head teachers working collaboratively to share information with other schools was crucial.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio suggested that reports such as this should  include  a paragraph on how well our Looked After Children were performing.

Resolved-

(1)          That the detailed information on the various key stages be welcomed and a further report on the reading initiative programmes to increase reading levels be submitted to the Committee.

(2)          That the Regional Schools Commissioner be invited to attend a future meeting of the Committee.

(3)          That further reports relating to Children’s Services include a paragraph on how well our “Looked After Children are performing”.

Action:           Strategic Director, Children’s Services/Overview and Scrutiny Lead