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Northumberland County Council
Education Review of the Structure and
Pattern of Education Provision
Executive Summary
December 2001 John Williams
The Education Review was commissioned by Northumberland County Council and undertaken by John Williams of Sheffield Hallam University, School of Education.
All enquiries regarding this report should be addressed to:
Lindsey Davies Director of Education County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2EF Email: education@northumberland.gov.uk
Section 1. Executive Summary
1. The main focus of the terms of reference for the Report was to evaluate whether a change in the current pattern and structure of provision, in some or all of the County, would further promote an increase in educational standards and, to this end, would release resources that could be redeployed within schools. The evidence base for the Report comes from an analysis of various sources of information, including comparative performance data, OFSTED inspection judgements, discussions with headteachers, governors, parent representatives, Teacher Associations, elected members and others.
2. The issue of surplus places is both an urban and a rural issue and it affects both large and small schools. Surplus places in schools is an indicator of the efficient use of resources, though in a county with the physical geography, settlement patterns and transport routes of Northumberland, the implications of addressing the issue for small schools in remote areas will always need to be considered.
4. Cutting the number of surplus places would help, eventually, to release funds for priority areas such as books and teachers and represent a more effective use of resources. Whilst there is a clear need to take into account the accessibility of any alternative provision for parents and children, the closure or amalgamation of schools and the re-distribution of any resources resulting from this should be a priority.
Recommendation 1: The County Council and the Diocesan Education authorities need to agree an overall strategy for the reduction of surplus places before proceeding to make any statutory proposals.
Recommendation 2: The County Council should develop a strategy and targets for reducing the number of schools overall and the number of surplus places.
5. Ideally, it would be preferable to have a school structure that fitted in with the rest of the country. This would make accountability more transparent through the better alignment of the school structure with the Key Stages of the national curriculum. It may also help to reduce any uncertainties about teacher and headteacher recruitment that could arise in future. It would also mean that children would only need to transfer schools once rather than twice during their school career. All things being equal, these things are desirable.
6. However, a re-organisation would be very disruptive, take a long time to complete, and, in the short to medium term, it is probable that it would have a negative impact on standards. Equally, 14-19 is emerging as a coherent phase of education but it isn’t yet clear what impact this may or may not have on the structure of education. Whether 11-16 and 11-18 secondary school structures will continue to be as common as they are at present remains to be seen. There is also a question about whether Key Stage 3 will become a two-year rather than a three-year phase. If this did happen the whole of KS3 could be taught and assessed in Northumberland’s middle schools and this would remove one of the arguments for changing the structure.
7. National performance data shows that attainment in primary schools is higher when compared to middle deemed secondary schools. However, this is reversed at secondary level where attainment in middle deemed secondary schools is higher compared to all non-selective secondary schools.
8. With regard to OFSTED Inspection judgements about standards achieved and the quality of education, the proportion of schools in Northumberland regarded as good or very good is higher than national averages. However, this does disguise some variations in performance in different parts of the County and at the different Key Stages. Different sources of evidence also give somewhat different views about performance. Compared to national averages the attainment of Northumberland schools in the end of Key Stage national tests is broadly in line with the national averages. Compared to Benchmark data for Northumberland attainment at Key Stage 1 is well above the national averages but at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 some aspects of attainment are lower than expected.
9. There is a lack of systematic, comparable, data about performance in the years when SATs tests are not taken and, in consequence, accountability is a problem. Some progress has been made with this recently but in a first and middle school system that cuts across the Key Stages the need for systematic information about how children progress on a year by year basis should be even more of a priority than it is where Key Stages are taught entirely in one type of school.
Recommendation 3: The collection and analysis of school performance data needs to be improved and common approaches developed, at least in Partnerships, but preferably across the whole County.
10. There are major weaknesses in the curriculum liaison arrangements in some school Partnerships. Curriculum liaison and the use of information about children’s progress are also variable. These shortcomings should be addressed as a priority because they fail children. In some areas of the County schools work together effectively but in other areas it works much less well.
Recommendation 4: Schools should prioritise effective liaison and the LEA should support this process by helping to identify and address the barriers that exist as well as disseminating more widely the good practice that exists in some Partnerships.
11. The government is keen to see an increase in the numbers of church schools as a way of raising attainment. The Diocesan Education authorities are also interested in a better distribution of church school places across the County. It may be that some schools would welcome re-designation as a Church school. As mentioned above it would be helpful if the LEA and Diocesan authorities were able to agree on an overall strategy for the reduction of surplus places before making statutory proposals.
Recommendation 5: The LEA should work with the Diocesan Education authorities to develop a strategic approach to the place of church schools in the local pattern of education.
12. A majority (60%) of people responding to the questionnaire that was sent out felt that there should be a uniform system of education in Northumberland. In some parts of the County a change to a two-tier primary and secondary school structure would be difficult to introduce because of problems with expanding provision on existing school sites and/or because it would lead to some very large secondary schools and/or because it would create split site schools.
13. One option considered was whether a mixed system of a two-tier structure in some areas and the present three-tier structure in other areas was feasible. However, a disadvantage of this is the destabilising effect it could have on areas that kept a three-tier structure. The recruitment of teachers to first and middle schools might have become a problem because of a perception that these schools had no long-term future in a mixed system. The practicalities of schools working together would have become more complex because they would not be working with the same age range and curriculum issues. Organising professional development activities would have been more difficult. A mixed system might have made it difficult for some parents who wanted to express a preference for a school in a Partnership that had a different structure.
14. Another option of creating a system of 5-11, 11-14 and 14-19 schools was considered. This option would have helped to resolve some problems concerning a lack of space in some high schools by removing one whole year group from the roll. It would also have meant that the structure was aligned with the national curriculum Key Stages. However, this option would have meant that some small high schools would become non-viable. Another disadvantage is that it would require all schools to change and the option would have created maximum disturbance.
15. There is also a risk that if Key Stage 3 were to become a two-year 11-13 phase, a re-organisation would have proved to have been unnecessary. The creation of an 11-18 structure sitting alongside an 11-14 and a 14-19 structure would also go against the principle of a uniform system and Northumberland would still be out of step with the rest of the country. Equally, it is rather premature to propose 11-14 schools before government policy has been clarified in this area and the awaited consultation exercise on the 14-19 curriculum has been completed.
16. There is not enough evidence that a change in the structure would lead to an improvement in educational attainment, or would be worth the disruption that would occur over a long period of time, or would be worth making at the present time when there are uncertainties about the impact of Government policy.
Recommendation 6: Northumberland should keep its present 3-tier First, Middle and High school structure.
17. Northumberland now has approximately 14% of all Middle deemed secondary schools in the country. If the present three-tier system is retained one issue that may arise in the future is the recruitment of teachers to middle schools. Future teacher recruitment is difficult to predict because it depends on national as well as local policies.
Recommendation 7: The LEA should monitor recruitment patterns for different posts across the County, analyse how First, Middle and High schools compare when trying to recruit teachers and keep the situation under review
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