Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement introduced a report on progress against the Council’s Education Strategy for 2014-17 and the performance of schools during the 2016/17 academic year.

The Cabinet Member commented on the excellent work by pupils, teachers and parents during 2016/17 which had helped achieve significant improvements, examples of which were:

·  The proportion of good or outstanding schools had risen by 6% to 91% - 2% above the national average and in line with Outer London;

·  Primary results in national tests and assessments were strong, with Key Stage 2 Reading improving by 6% to be in line with the national average and the overall combined figure for Reading, Writing and Mathematics up 5% on 2015/16 to continue above national averages;

·  At Key Stage 4 / GCSE, performance on the headline Progress 8 measure was particularly strong at 20th best in the country out of 151 local authorities;

·  There had been a marked increase of 44% of successful university applicants going to the most competitive top third universities;

·  The validated 2015/16 data for Looked After Children placed the Borough’s Key Stage 2 performance amongst the best in the country.

The Cabinet Member referred to the priorities for 2017/18 which included celebrating pupils’ and schools / colleges success, supporting ambition and aspiration for all children and young people particularly in the 16-18 age range to encourage them into employment, further education or training, and supporting the recruitment and retention of experienced teachers.  Comments were also made which encouraged School Governing Bodies to resist the Government’s outdated programme of academisation and stay within Barking and Dagenham’s family of schools.

In respect of issues that had been raised at the Headteachers’ Summer Conference, Cabinet Members spoke on the pressures being faced within Barking and Dagenham in terms of the significant school age population growth, deprivation levels and the Government cuts to education funding allocated to local authorities.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the performance against the overarching objectives within the Education Strategy 2014-17, as set out in section 2 of the report;

(ii)  Endorse the priorities for 2017/18 as set out in section 3 of the report;

(iii)  Reaffirm the Council’s commitment to continuing the strong partnership with all schools in the Borough to achieve the best possible outcomes and opportunities for children and young people; and

(iv)  Note the performance of schools in national tests and examinations as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.