Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies.

Councillor Tom Coles declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as a member of the Academy Advisory Board at Penhale Infant School.

Councillor Suzy Horton declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as a governor at Craneswater Junior School.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 2^nd October 2018.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2018 be confirmed and signed by the chair as a correct record. 

To receive a presentation on the validated results for EYFSP, KS1, KS2 and KS4.

Mike Stoneman, Deputy Director for Children, Families and Education took members through the presentation slides.  It was noted that there was no substantial change from the provisional results that had been presented to the last meeting.  During the presentation he highlighted the following areas:

·      That 85.7% of schools in Portsmouth had been judged as good or outstanding by Ofsted, an increase of 17.5 percentage points over a five year period.  Portsmouth was now on par with the national average for this measure.

·      That the Council had been above the national average for the number of Year R pupils who had achieved a good level of development, but was now at 70%, two percentage points below the national level for the measure.  There was a comprehensive plan in place to address the issue.

·      That there had been an improvement in the percentage of Year 1 pupils who met the phonics standard, after in a dip in 2017.  This measure had been targeted for improvement since 2014, and further improvements would be made in the current year.

Key Stage 1

KS1 reading at expected standard remained the same as last year at 74% with the gap to national reducing slightly.  For KS1 writing at expected standard there was a 1% increase but the there was a national increase of 2% points which had widened the gap.  He added that the Council was working with schools through the moderation process and associated training.

Key Stage 2

For the combined measure of Reading, Writing and Maths at expected standard there was no change.  Mr Stoneman explained that there were a variety of reasons for this and included a dip in standards at specific schools which included both academies and LA maintained schools.   Additional support would be provided to those local authority schools that were in this situation and MATs would be providing support to improve the results in primary and junior schools.  As a result of MATs and recent amalgamations of infant and junior schools, we should see a greater level of consistency across KS1 and KS2 in the future.

Reading had improved by 1% this year but the national figure had increased by 3 percentage points, widening the gap.  Writing has also increased by 1%.  Maths had dropped from 71% to 68%.  The Portsmouth Education Partnership had predicted this and a bid was submitted to the Strategic School Improvement Fund for a targeted KS2 programme. Whilst the bid was unsuccessful an alternative plan backed by Solent Maths Hub had been put in place involving 7 schools that had been targeted.  The schools that were an issue were known, and the problem would be addressed.  

Mr Stoneman informed the Board that the Minister for Schools, Nick Gibbs, had requested a meeting to discuss the KS2 results - a provisional date of 26^th March has been set.  As 70% of Year 6 pupils in 2018 were in academies, the Local Authority would be joined by the Regional Schools Commissioner. 

Key Stage 4

For pupils  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive the school improvement update.

The Board received a school improvement update.  Mr Stoneman, the Deputy Director of Children, Families and Education highlighted the following areas:

·      That the local authority was below the national level in improving outcomes for SEND pupils in the mainstream, and that any improvements in this area would have an impact on overall improvements.  A year long SSIF programme was in place, with SEN reviews in twenty-two schools which were focused on a number of pupils in those schools.  There was also outreach support from the Portsmouth Special Educational Needs Support Partnership and a range of CPD courses for staff.

·      That the SSIF funded programme designed at closing gaps for disadvantaged pupils compared to national non-disadvantaged pupils had been positive in developing reading and writing for pupils.

·      New priorities were in place including the priority to improve outcomes for more able pupils.

·      That the networks that had been put in place to support curriculum development across a range of subject areas were gaining momentum.

·      That it was important to continue to develop school leadership. There had been a good uptake of the NPQML and SL programmes through the Teaching School and leadership programmes offered through Ambition School Leadership. These programmes were either free or heavily subsidised as Portsmouth was a category 6 area. 

To receive a summary report on the late summer and autumn terms inspections.

Mr Stoneman presented a summary report on the Ofsted school inspections in the late summer and autumn terms 2018.  He said that there had been eleven inspections and outlined the results as laid out in table 1 of the report.   Mr Stoneman said the results had been positive with the exception of Westover Primary Schools which remains as Requiring Improvement. He noted that Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School can expect a Section 5 inspection due to the areas of improvement identified by the inspection team that conducted the Section 8 inspection. The school continues to remain Good.  Mr Stoneman was particularly pleased with the result for Ark Ayrton which moved from RI to Good.

Mr Stoneman concluded by saying that there were now seven schools requiring improvement and the expectation was that this would reduce further.

In reply to a question, he said that there were five outstanding schools in the city.

To receive verbal feedback from the LA's annual conversation with Ofsted.

Mr Stoneman reported on the Ofsted Annual Conversation with the Local Authority, and highlighted the following:

·         That there had been a long session with the inspectors around education, and Ofsted liked the inclusiveness of Portsmouth schools and the breadth of the curriculum, as demonstrated by the recent Ofsted inspections in the city. Ofsted were also complementary about the challenge and support from the Local Authority in relation to school attendance, exclusions, reduced timetables and elective home education.

Ofsted is currently consulting on the new framework and a workshop will be held in the city during the Spring term (now confirmed for 4^th March 2019).