Report of the Director of Education

This report provides a summary of the 2024 outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.  It also provides a list of actions which are being progressed to address some of the gaps in learning following the pandemic.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Education which provided a summary of the 2024 outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.  It also provided a list of actions which were being progressed to address some of the gaps in learning following the pandemic.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Background information;
• 2024 outcomes in relation to:
  • Early Years Foundation Stage;
  • Year 1 Phonics Test;
  • Key Stage 2;
  • Key Stage 4; and
  • Key Stage 5 and
• Next steps.

Gaynor Stubbs, Executive Headteacher, Aiming High C of E Federation informed the Committee about some of the steps their schools had taken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on children and their families.  She outlined a range of steps taken, relating to the curriculum, including identifying and mitigating key aspects of teaching that had been missed through online teaching and provision for the increasing numbers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), pastoral support, support for staff and support for families, including parent workshops on a range of issues and SEND Local Offer parent meetings.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the work taking place and the progress being made, in particular in relation to children from disadvantaged backgrounds and global majority children;
• Meeting the needs of children with SEND, including making an earlier diagnosis and learning from best practice in other countries;
• Whether there were any particular areas of the city that were a cause for concern;
• Concern about the widening gap between Manchester and the national average in relation to Year 1 Phonics; and
• Availability of T-Levels.

The Assistant Director of Education advised that there were no specific areas of the city where outcomes were lower but that thematic issues had been identified.  She highlighted writing as a skill which had been particularly affected by the pandemic and advised that it was being addressed through work with the Education Endowment Foundation on the Write Beginnings project, which was being rolled out to selected schools across Manchester.  She reported that “a good level of development” had also been identified as a thematic issue for some cohorts of children, linked to disadvantage, and she outlined some of the work to address this, including the Kickstarter project providing speech, language and communication support to schools, as well as educational psychology.  In response to a question about Phonics, she advised that there were pre-verbal children entering Reception and that speech needed to be developed before Phonics could be effectively taught and she outlined a range of programmes to address.  She reported that the Manchester approach to SEND was to meet the presenting needs rather than waiting for a diagnosis.  She informed Members that a tool for identifying early indicators of neurodiversity had been trialled in an area of the city and that discussions were now taking place with Health on how this could be rolled out across the city.  She advised that Manchester was strong on early identification of needs but the increase in children with SEND presented a challenge in terms of capacity to meet that need.  In response to a Member’s question, she outlined the support provided to Early Years settings, including childminders, in supporting children with additional needs.  In response to a Member’s question on when the validated attainment data, including a breakdown by gender and ethnicity, would be available, she advised that this was dependent on the Department for Education (DfE) but it was hoped that this data would be available by the Spring or early Summer Term.

Gaynor Stubbs advised that, while children with additional needs were being identified early, the challenge was in having staff that were equipped to support them, noting the difficulties at a national level in recruiting Early Years staff.  In response to a Member’s question, she advised that some families did not want to engage with Early Help because of previous interactions with Children’s Services which they had perceived as negative and, in those cases, her schools would provide support to the families.

The Director of Education informed the Committee that currently only The Manchester College provided T-Levels but that the Council had done a lot of work to increase post-16 places in the city and that from September 2025 a new provision opening in the city centre would be offering T-Levels and discussions were taking place with other post-16 providers about offering T-Levels, recognising the importance of having a balance of academic and technical courses.  In response to a question from the Chair, she outlined how a range of partners were involved in work to improve school attendance, citing as an example the multi-agency approach to improving attendance in Wythenshawe.  The Chair emphasised the important role of the wider community in children’s education.

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People reported that Manchester schools were now the best they had ever been, while noting the impact of the pandemic on children and babies and that the north-west had been particularly badly affected.  She congratulated schools and officers for their work.  She advised that the two-year-old offer should be available to all families and that there should be qualified teachers in Early Years and she expressed concern about poor levels of pay in the Early Years sector.  She encouraged the Committee to undertake visits to Children’s Services teams across the city and to look at the detail of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which was going through Parliament.   

Decision

To note the report.