Agenda item

Mike Stoneman, Deputy Director for Children, Families and Education took members through the presentation slides included with the papers for the meeting.  He explained that the results would be validated in January.  The Council did not yet have the KS4 progress and attainment 8 scores. The KS4 results are based on the returns from the schools. It was anticipated that the KS4 results would be ready towards the end of the month. 

In terms of Ofsted judgements Portsmouth was now close to the national average for this with 85.7% of schools being judged as good or outstanding the national average is 86.1%.  There are no schools that are judged to be inadequate but the remaining 8 schools require improvement.  Mike referred to the two day inspection of Westover Primary School which is one of the schools that is requiring improvement.  

For Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Portsmouth had seen a very slight drop in the GLD measure from 71% to 70% which for the first time is now slightly below the national average.  Jo Peach added that this had been heavily skewed due to three schools.  However, the EYFS average point score is above the national average and the Council is putting targeted support in place for literacy which was contributing to the GLD drop.  

In terms of the proportion of pupils meeting the phonics standard in Year 1 the gap between Portsmouth and the national average has closed slightly as a result of 2% point increase from 77% to 79%, with national increasing by 1% point to 82%. 

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 gap to national has widened slightly due to a national increase of 2% points.  Mike added that the Council is working closely with schools through the moderation process and associated training / CPD.  Jo Peach added that they are confident that writing will improve and the improvement can be seen in pupils' books already.  There has also been strong attendance at CPD events.  KS1 maths at expected standard has remained at 73% and nationally this increased by 1% meaning the gap has widened. 

Key Stage 2

For the combined measure of Reading, Writing and Maths at expected standard there was a decrease of 1% which was a disappointment.  Mike explained that there were a variety of reasons for this and included a dip in maths and in specific schools.  Reading has improved by 1% this year however nationally this increased by 3% so the gap has widened.  Writing has also increased by 1%.  Maths has dropped from 71% to 68%.  The Portsmouth Education Partnership had predicted this and a bid was submitted to the Strategic School Improvement Fund for KS2 maths, but it was not successful.  A back up plan is in place working with Solent Maths Hub targeting 7 schools that have not engaged with maths mastery.  The Solent Maths Hub is also able to provide a range of CPD for schools - most of which is free.  

With regard to KS2 progress scores there have been declines since 2017 across all three measures - reading had dropped by 0.1 points, writing by 0.3 and maths by 0.3.

Key Stage 4

For pupils achieving a strong pass (grade 5 or above) this remained at 37%.  Numbers achieving a standard pass for English and Maths have remained at 58% which was the same for both 2016 and 2017.  The national figures are not yet available but it appeared that nationally the figures had not increased significantly.  The expectation is that there will be a significant improvement next year based on local intelligence and predicted results.

The number of pupils achieving a strong pass in English had decreased by 1% and the Council were still waiting for the national data. KS4 standard pass for English had decreased by 2% compared to 2017. 

Overall KS4 was a fairly static picture and Mike said it would be interesting to see how Portsmouth ranks against the statistical neighbours.  It was hoped that the details of the statistical neighbours would be available next month. 

For KS4 attainment 8 this decreased by 1.1% compared to last year but these scores are not directly comparable over time due to changes in methodology.  With regard to the percentage of pupils entering the EBacc for 2018 this increased by 2% compared to last year and has been above national for the last few years. 

In response to questions the following matters were clarified:

·         The council, through the PEP, has been doing a lot of work with the Solent Maths Hub and the number of schools in the mastery programme has increased.  There has also been CPD and targeted support through schools.  Officers were unsure why the performance in maths had dropped.  Jo Peach added that it had been difficult getting some Portsmouth schools to engage.  All case studies show Portsmouth schools improve after completing the programme.  The recruitment and retention of teachers and school attendance are also significant factors that are hampering improvements. 

• The Portsmouth Teaching School Alliance has looked at which schools have not performed well in maths - some of those schools have not engaged.  Jo Peach referred to Langstone Junior School who undertook the training and their results in maths were excellent. 
• Mike explained they are setting up a sub group of the School Improvement Board which Jane Bush is heading.  She will be starting with the schools within her multi academy trust first.
• The recent Ofsted inspections have been very encouraging and they are seeing good teaching and leadership.
• Attendance levels at secondary are some way below the national average but at primary level it is around the national average.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.