Report of the Director of Education

Thereportprovidesa summaryof the2019 provisionaloutcomes ofstatutoryassessment attheendoftheEarlyYearsFoundationStage,Key Stage 1, KeyStage2, KeyStage4 andKey Stage5.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Education which provided a summary of the 2019 provisional outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included:

• Provisional outcomes for all key stages;
• Contextual information;
• Pupil progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2; and
• Next steps.

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

• To recognise the hard work of staff and pupils;
• The impact of tests, including phonics tests, and a results-driven approach at a young age on children’s well-being and love of learning;
• To request information in a future report on what percentage of Manchester schools were achieving the national average results or better and what was being done to support schools which weren’t achieving this;
• What was the reason for the slight decline in outcomes at the EYFS and in the primary sector;
• To request that a future report provide further details on the population-related issues that were facing the city’s schools, including population growth, international new arrivals and the traveller population; and
• To request that, when the validated outcomes at primary and GCSE level were confirmed, officers circulate a note to Committee Members with the headline information.

The Head of Schools Quality Assurance and Strategic SEND reported that the slight decline in outcomes at primary level had been in the reading scores and that this appeared to be due to the paper being longer than in previous years and some pupils not having developed the resilience to complete it.  She informed Members how the new Ofsted Framework would shift the focus more towards the curriculum and the quality of education, including instilling a love of reading, rather than assessment data.  She also outlined how the Manchester School Improvement Partnership facilitated the sharing of good practice and support between schools.  She reported that further information on this could be provided in the next report on school attainment, provisionally scheduled for March 2020.  The Director of Education informed Members that information on the school population, such as pupils arriving in and leaving the city partway through their education, would be provided in this report.

The Chair reminded Members that a briefing on the new Ofsted Framework would take place on 20 November 2019 at 5.00 pm.  He encouraged Members to attend and requested that a copy of the presentation slides be circulated to all Members of the Council.

The Executive Member for Children and Schools outlined the achievements within the Early Years sector, including the embedding of the Early Years Delivery Model and 96% of Early Years settings now being judged as good or better by Ofsted; however, he reported that further work was needed to address the gap in outcomes between Manchester and the national average and that this work would include a focus on wider issues in the family’s life.

Decisions

1.            To note the report and that the Committee will receive a further, more detailed report with the validated outcomes, provisionally scheduled for March 2020.

2.            To request information in a future report on what percentage of Manchester schools are achieving the national average results or better and what is being done to support schools which aren’t achieving this.

3.            To request that a future report provide further details on the population-related issues facing the city’s schools, including population growth, international new arrivals and the traveller population.

4.            To request that the presentation slides from the Ofsted Framework briefing be circulated to all Members of the Council.

5.            To request that when the validated outcomes at primary and GCSE level are confirmed officers circulate a note to Committee Members with the headline information.