People have aspirations and achieve their ambitions through
education, training and lifelong learning Essex County Council
Commissioning Strategy 2014-2018 Version: 8 Date: 30.09.14 Author:
Chris Kiernan Approved by: Cllr Gooding Next Review: Annually
Contact: Chris Kiernan [email protected]
Slide 2
Version Control Version numberDateAuthorComment & nature of
update 121/02/14Nicola ParkInitial draft for sharing with TC and RG
212/03/14Nicola ParkDraft for sharing with development groups
328/03/14Nicola Park Draft reflecting comments received from
development groups and further developed data slides
411/04/14Nicola Park Draft reflecting comments received from SLT
and Finance 522/04/14Nicola Park Draft reflecting further comments
for consideration at CCB meeting on 30/04/14 613/05/14Nicola Park
Draft reflecting comments from CCB meeting on 30/04/14 for
presentation to SCB and PLT on 19/05/14 723/06/14Nicola Park Draft
for public consultation reflecting amendments made by PC and HR on
employability and skills indicators 830/09/14Nicola Park Final
draft reflecting outcomes of public consultation, further changes
on employability and skills indicators from PC and updates to
finance slides Strategy development (1/3) 2
Slide 3
Strategy development (2/3)3 Roles and responsibilities Lead
commissioner(s):Chris Kiernan Interim Director for Commissioning
Education and Lifelong Learning Paul Bird Director for
Commissioning Transport and Infrastructure Supporting
Commissioner(s):Graham Ranby Head of Commissioning Education and
Lifelong Learning (Planning and Provision) Annemarie Blackshaw Head
of Commissioning Education and Lifelong Learning (SEN/AEN Provider
Services) Clare Kershaw Head of Commissioning Education and
Lifelong Learning (Schools) Stavroulla Yiannou Head of
Commissioning Education and Lifelong Learning (Early Years) Michael
OBrien Head Commissioning Education and Lifelong Learning (Youth
Services) Peter Cook - Head of Commissioning Education and Lifelong
Learning (Skills) Pippa Shukla Lead Strategic Commissioner - Pupil
and School Intelligence Jason Fergus Head of Active Essex Jane
Gardener Head of Commissioning Growing Essex Communities Dominic
Collins Head of Commissioning Growing Essex Future Development
Sheila Norris - Director for Integrated Commissioning &
Vulnerable People Lead member:Cllr Gooding Cabinet Member for
Education and Lifelong Learning Officers: Lisa Wilson Commissioning
Support Manager Nicola Park Senior Policy and Strategy Advisor
(People)
Slide 4
Strategy development (3/3)4 Process The development of this
Strategy has been based on a set of Turning the Curve reports for
each indicator group produced in January 2014. The process for
development was agreed with the Lead Commissioner and has involved:
detailed discussions with the Lead Commissioner and all associated
Tier 4 Commissioners, early and ongoing engagement with Cllr
Gooding and a number of workshops focused on specific indicators
involving commissioners and operational teams. The content of the
Strategy is fully reflective of the outputs of these engagements.
Throughout the process there has been involvement of a variety of
support functions from Strategy, Transformation and Commissioning
Support. Performance and Business Intelligence, Information
Services and Finance have also been directly engaged. The Strategy
has been subject to a number of quality assurance processes based
on the agreed quality expectations. The Strategy has been subject
to a period of public consultation and this version is reflective
of an analysis of comments made during that process. The Strategy
will be subject to on-going review and revision to ensure it
remains up to date and relevant. An Equality Impact Assessment
(EqIA) has been completed for this Strategy which identifies at a
high level the potential impact of the outlined activities on
different equalities groups. Individual EqIAs will be completed as
required for each individual aspect of the work included. As this
Strategy is a high level document it does not include a detailed
examination of how the identified issues reflect any particular
equality group. There is however a commitment throughout all
indicators to ensure that the work outlined appropriately accounts
for the requirements of various vulnerable and other groups. The
specific requirements of these groups in accessing the outlined
provision will be considered during the more detailed work of
implementation. There are a number of actions throughout the
Strategy about the improvement of data collection and analysis this
work will include ensuring we have the data available to help us
better understand the needs of our residents from all equalities
groups and how we can best meet these. How this Strategy will be
implemented This Strategy is a high level document covering
strategic actions related to a number of different services within
Essex County Council and partner agencies. It sets out a programme
of work which is intended to be implemented over a four year
period. As such it is not intended to provide full detail about
precisely how and when actions will be implemented or how this will
be resourced. On completion this document will be translated into a
more detailed work plan which will define the specific
commissioning and other activity required to implement the actions
these plans will be aligned to available resource and inform future
resource planning. These work plans will further influence the
development of individual team and service plans and will also
identify dependencies with the work of other agencies. It is
recognised that activity required to implement this Strategy can
also be found outlined within existing partnership and other high
level plans and strategies, for example the Children and Young
Peoples Plan this activity and the links with the Strategy will be
identified and reflected in the work plan. The Council is committed
to on-going consultation with relevant partners and partnerships,
including, for example, the Local Childrens Partnerships, in
implementing this Strategy and to co-designing responses to the
identified issues. It recognises the contribution that partners can
make and the positive work that is already being undertaken which
this Strategy can draw on and further promote.
Slide 5
Why is this outcome important to Essex and Essex County
Council? People have aspirations and achieve their ambitions
through education, training and lifelong-learning 5 Essex County
Council is responsible for ensuring that Essex residents have high
ambitions for what they want to achieve and for enabling them to
achieve these ambitions. It does this through working with partners
to influence the provision of, and supporting residents with access
to, a range of opportunities linked to education and lifelong
learning from birth and throughout the rest of their lives. These
opportunities encompass: high quality early years provision; world
class education in schools, further and higher education
institutions; a diversity of training and other support focused on
employability and skills; the availability of other learning and
development opportunities recreational and otherwise intended to
enrich life generally. We want all children to achieve the best
start in life that they can during their early years so that when
they begin school they enjoy learning and have a strong foundation
for high achievement throughout the rest of their lives. Good
levels of educational attainment are important to us as they are an
important driver of economic growth. People who have higher levels
of attainment are also more likely to have longer, safer and
healthier lives. We want to drive out inequality in attainment
across Essex to ensure that we become amongst the best in the
country overall. We also want to foster a culture of lifelong
learning so that people of all ages have a thirst for learning in
all its guises. In a constantly changing global economy it is
important that Essex has a highly skilled and adaptable workforce
which reflects the needs of the local economy and local
communities. Residents will need, and want, to be able to continue
to develop and add skills throughout their lives. We want to
support residents to achieve their ambitions through a
comprehensive range of world class provision which is delivered
through a simplified, localised and cost effective education and
skills system.
Slide 6
Summary 6 This Commissioning Strategy is intended to shape our
activities and behaviour over the next four years, making clear how
we will use capacity within ECC, across partners and amongst
current/new providers, to make progress towards the Outcome. The
big issues we face that this strategy seeks to address are: School
performance is not good enough Beyond schools, quality of data is
poor Too few people have sufficient levels of literacy and numeracy
The number of NEETs have reduced but further work needs to continue
The strategy encapsulates actions that will seek to turn the curve
in these areas. The headline actions being proposed to address the
issues are: A transformation of how services to and for schools are
provided, this will include consideration of the role of Essex
Education Services The commissioning of a new data system to
support one vision of the child a single record A data focused
approach to targeted interventions in education and lifelong
learning A whole Essex approach with partners to maximise the
skills levels for literacy and numeracy Work with schools and
colleges to ensure early identification of young people at risk of
disengagement and becoming NEET and to ensure robust transition
plans are established A review of how adult and community learning
is provided in Essex The Strategy recognises that any proposed
actions must be aligned to available resources and that resources
are likely to be reduced as the Council seeks to close the current
budget gap for 2015/16 and 2016/17. There are clear examples within
the strategy (in bold) where actions are expected to deliver
services at reduced cost (for example Education Services to and for
Schools) and also a clear indication (annotated by **) of which
agreed indicators / actions are a higher priority than others. This
prioritisation will be used to support future resource allocation.
Further more detailed work in respect of this will follow in future
iterations and also via the development of the corporate
commissioning workplan which will identify the detail of how the
Strategy will be delivered. The activities outlined will need to be
reviewed on an annual basis to ensure they remain affordable as
budgets change. In terms of prioritisation of indicators the
Council believes that indicators 1,2 and 4 (numbers of good and
outstanding schools, children achieving at school and NEET) should
be prioritised for action and resources over others. This is on the
basis that turning the curve against these indicators has the
largest potential to have a positive impact on the other indicators
for this strategy and beyond, and, to improve residents life
chances. These are also the indicators where we have the greatest
direct role and responsibility and therefore greatest potential to
enact change through our own agency; our ability to influence a
turn in the curve against other indicators is less as our principal
means of doing so is through influencing the actions of others.
This prioritisation should not be taken to imply that the Council
holds action against other indicators as less important or that
action will not be taken against these; it is however likely to be
different in nature.
Slide 7
Links to other outcomes (1/3) 7. People in Essex enjoy good
health and wellbeing People in Essex have a healthy life
expectancy, Reduced differential in life expectancy across
different areas of Essex, Prevalence of healthy lifestyles,
Percentage of Essex residents who consider themselves to be in good
health, Life satisfaction rates, Percentage of children achieving
at school, Percentage of working age people in employment,
Percentage of families living in safe and suitable housing,
Percentage of households living in fuel poverty, Prevalence of
mental health disorders among children and adults, Teenage
pregnancy rates Children in Essex get the best start in life
Percentage of children ready for school, Percentage of children
achieving a good level of development by the age of five,
Percentage of families living in temporary accommodation,
Percentage of children living in non-working households There are
important dependencies between activity to improve performance in
schools and the need to ensure that children entering Essex schools
do so with a good level of development and are ready to achieve.
Schools need to ensure that children enter primary education with
an accurate baseline assessment and that early support has been
obtained for children identified as having needs within early years
settings. There is a need to further develop the engagement of
primary school heads with early years settings, and of early years
settings in the education partnerships and federations in their
local areas. Early years settings and services also have an
important role to play in working with parents to improve
aspiration and in providing them with access to / facilitating
their access to training and support, including through the
provision of childcare. Work related to families living in
temporary accommodation and children living in non-working
households is being taken forward through the development of a
Child Poverty Strategy. Research shows there are important links
between child poverty and educational attainment. There are also
clear links between child poverty and the work covered within this
Strategy related to increasing employment and skills there are
particular links between poverty and maternal employment and early
years and childcare settings can have an important influence on
this. Participation in high quality education, the attainment of
basic and higher level skills, the development of high aspirations
and of a love of learning have an important role to play in
promoting good health and wellbeing for our residents. This is due
to the impact of these things on residents in their own right and
also because of their impact on enabling them to obtain well paid,
fulfilling and sustainable employment. Engagement in learning can
have a particular transformative role in respect of the well-being
of identified target groups, such as those with mental health
disorders and physical ill health. Schools and other education
institutions have particular responsibilities in promoting healthy
eating, engagement in physical activity and safe sexual activity in
young people. There is additionally clear evidence that engaging in
volunteering has the potential to improve both mental and physical
wellbeing of volunteers and as many of those who volunteer do so in
sports and sports related activities this volunteering further
promotes the wellbeing of those engaged in the activities
themselves. The lack of good health and wellbeing can be an
important barrier to engagement in education which can affect both
children and young people and adults. Improving rates of
participation, engagement and positive outcomes in education
(particularly amongst certain groups) is therefore highly dependent
on activity within the health and wellbeing strategy. This Strategy
recognises that there are important links between it and the other
corporate commissioning strategies, in particular those for
Children in Essex get the best start in life, People in Essex enjoy
good health and wellbeing and Sustainable economic growth for Essex
communities and businesses. There are dependencies both to and from
the actions identified in this strategy and in others; there are
also some duplicated actions and actions sitting within this
strategy which will also contribute to the achievement of other
outcomes and vice versa. This Strategy should therefore be read in
conjunction with those created for the other outcomes. The key
links are described below.
Slide 8
Links to other outcomes (2/3) 8. People in Essex live in safe
communities and are protected from harm Level of crime in Essex,
Number of children subject to protection plans, Number of children
in care, Rate of anti-social behaviour in Essex, Number of people
killed or seriously injured on Essex roads, Percentage of residents
who feel that Essex roads are safe, Hospital admissions caused by
injuries to children and young people, Hospital admissions caused
by injuries to adults, Incidents of domestic abuse, Percentage of
residents who feel safe Schools and other education institutions
have an important role to play in respect of safeguarding children
and young people both by contributing to the early identification
of problems and seeking / providing appropriate early help
solutions for these and through the engagement of schools with
other agencies when there are more serious concerns appropriately
identifying and reporting issues and participating in child
protection core groups etc. The important role of schools in
identifying and monitoring domestic violence in households has been
increasingly recognised in national and local serious case reviews.
Education institutions also have a role to play in educating young
people in respect of risk taking behaviours and reducing instances
of this and also about safe and respectful relationships. The
levels of working age adults in employment will have an impact on
levels of crime and the perception of residents of their safety
within communities. Sustainable economic growth for Essex
communities and businesses Job growth in a) key locations and b)
key sectors, Percentage of working age people in employment, Median
earnings, Number of bus and / or community transport journeys,
Increased connectivity and journey time reliability on priority
route network, Coverage of superfast broadband services, Supply of
fit for purpose business premises, Sustainable business start-up
rates, Percentage of Essex businesses who think they can recruit
suitable people, Business rates growth, Housing growth in key
locations The achievement of children within our education system
and the work we can do with adults to improve skills levels has a
key impact on the ability of our economy to prosper as a result of
the availability of a skilled and work-ready workforce. It is vital
that we foster the development of links between businesses and
educational institutions at all levels to ensure that provision
meets the needs of business and enables them to fill skills gaps.
Education has a key role in encouraging residents to achieve
sustainable and better paid jobs and in facilitating them into
these. Businesses need to be involved in developing new education
provision both at the further / higher end and in terms of academy
sponsorship. The link between this indicator and that related to
economic growth is of principal importance and activity across the
two should be read in this context. An important shared theme
across them is the promotion of high aspiration. This strategy is
essentially about ensuring that Essex residents have high
aspirations and ambitions about what they want to achieve in life
and that these aspirations and ambitions are developed on the basis
of an informed consideration of potential options. The development
of this through the actions in the education strategy will underpin
the successful achievement of indicators related to economic
growth. Specific stand alone activity related to aspiration is also
required under economic growth strategy for example that linked to
encouraging residents to have the ambition to start their own
businesses and encouraging those already with businesses to further
grow them. It is also important that the economic growth strategy
delivers the jobs and diversity of employment opportunities for
residents with ambitions to be in employment, and particularly in
high skilled employment, for residents to move into. Aspiration and
ambition across either strategy cannot be raised by Essex County
Council operating in isolation and will involve us influencing the
actions of a range of other stakeholders and partners so that they
share in this and align their own strategic intentions and
allocation of resources with ours. Further consideration is
required about how this activity can best be coordinated and used
to maximum effect.
Slide 9
Links to other outcomes (3/3) 9 People in Essex experience a
high quality and sustainable environment Residual waste volumes,
Cost of energy to households, Preventable flooding incidents, Level
of pollution, Condition of roads and footways, Access to valuable
open spaces, Perception of the quality of the environment in Essexs
cities, town and villages Engagement in education and lifelong
learning can have an important contribution to enabling people to
enhance their independence; this applies both to residents who may
experience issues impacting on their independence in adult life and
to children and young people with special educational needs and
disabilities. Activity to increase the independence of adults of
working age who wish to seek employment and are able to work will
have an important contribution to indicators in this and other
strategies about working age adults in employment and NEET. It is
recognised that whereas the indicator related to volunteering sits
within the education and lifelong learning outcome, volunteers will
have a key contribution in supporting people to be independent and
their role in respect of this will be further developed via
activity initiated in response to the Who Will Care? Commission.
Engagement in volunteering promotes peoples health and wellbeing
and can also help them retain and regain their independence, often
acting as a pathway to employment. Lack of independence can be an
important barrier preventing both children and young people and
adults in engaging in education and so it is recognised that
helping people to address this can have an important contribution
to improving rates of participation and the outcomes from this. The
engagement of learners and volunteers with the environment has a
number of potential benefits particularly when targeted towards key
target groups. There are good links between Essex outdoor
facilities and schools and the incorporation of the outdoors into
curriculum has the potential to enrich this and provide children
with experiences which they may not access normally. There is
potential for the Council to further influence schools in respect
of their use of these facilities by promoting the resources that
are available and encouraging new thinking about how to access them
in terms of costs of transport etc. There are also a number of
programmes aimed at engaging NEETs in environmental projects and
further utilisation and development of these should be considered
as part of the development of the provision available for NEET
young people. There are also strong links between the environment
and volunteering with many environment projects relying on the
input of volunteers further consideration could be given
corporately to how volunteers could be directed towards such
projects and the use of volunteers considered during the
commissioning process for them. People in Essex can live
independently and exercise control Proportion of people who live
independently, Percentage of people who regain or increase their
level of independence following hospital admissions, Access to end
of life care in their preferred placement of choice, Number of
children and adults who receive social care support, Number of
people with personal budgets
Slide 10
Rates of volunteering: Throughout the course of the development
of these strategies it has been identified that there are some
indicators which, although they are situated under one particular
outcome, are relevant to all. One such indicator is rates of
volunteering. This is appropriately situated under the Education
and Lifelong Learning outcome due to volunteering being identified
as an activity in which people engage which contributes to their
lifelong learning; there are also important links between
volunteering and employment as volunteering has the potential to
increase skills levels and can be used as a pathway to work.
Volunteering is however an important tool in the achievement of
many of the other outcomes and the use and value of volunteers and
the development of civil society has already been considered and is
being further so under work related to Community Budgets and the
Who Will Care commission. These are primarily related to outcomes
on safe communities and living independently. The activity outlined
in this strategy should not therefore by taken to represent the
totality of the organisations commissioning intentions in this area
and are primarily representative of volunteering activity which is
more explicitly geared towards young people, those requiring to
enhance their skills level s and those seeking to volunteer to
contribute to their lifelong learning. There are some actions
related to the engagement of Essex County Council employees in
volunteering which are included here as a result of the potential
of this activity to contribute to their learning and development
and also some other corporate actions which are not explicitly
related to this outcome and which have the potential to contribute
in a cross cutting manner against all seven outcomes. Similar cross
cutting activity has also been identified in respect of housing,
poverty and safeguarding. Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012
The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 became law in 2012 and
has been applicable from January 2013. The Act places a duty on
public bodies to consider social value in commissioning and
procurement activity and applies to the provision of services, the
provision of services together with the purchase or hire of goods,
or the carrying out of works. The Act states that the authority
must consider: a) how what is proposed to be procured might improve
the economic, social and environmental well-being of the relevant
area, and b)how, in conducting the process of procurement, it might
act with a view to securing that improvement It also requires that
local authorities must consider whether to undertake consultation
in making these decisions and in essence outlines an expectation
that there should be consultation with stakeholders to better
understand social value and improve service specifications. This is
a cross cutting theme in that it should be applied to commissioning
decisions made in respect of all of the strategic intentions
outlined in this strategy. It however also has specific relevance
to indicator 8) rates of volunteering, as it encourages
commissioners to consider when commissioning / establishing new
services the potential there is in communities to deliver these
themselves either through the voluntary or community sector or
through other forms of civic actions, both utilising the skills of
volunteers. Commissioners can clearly influence the development of
the VCS, civic society and volunteering through the commissioning
decisions they make and this may well be to the benefit of the area
in focus. Cross cutting indicators and themes (1/2) 10
Slide 11
Early intervention and prevention: This is a key theme running
throughout all seven strategies and specifically applies to a
number of aspects of the Education and Lifelong Learning Strategy.
Early Intervention is about ensuring access to early help for
people at the place and point of need with the purpose of
preventing escalation, and about targeted early activity for
particular groups and individuals. Early can mean either or both:
early in life and early in the development of a problem.
Interventions can be universal or targeted. Adopting the principle
of early intervention in all that we do will ensure that all people
born, growing up and living in Essex will be supported to have the
best start in life and develop, live, work and age well. For people
it: Delivers improved outcomes; Builds resilience, capacity and
independence; Prevents problems developing ; Protects people who
are at risk from developing problems; Reduces the severity of
problems that have already emerged; Avoids recurrence of problems
For our system it: Reduces social cost Reduces financial burden
Targets help and activity where most effective Early intervention
should be an explicit consideration in all commissioning decisions.
The successful achievement of many aspects of this strategy is
dependent on effective universal and targeted activity in early
years, and the successful achievement of indicators in other
strategies, particularly economic growth, are dependent on
effective actions being taken to address problems while children
are still in education which may impact on their future health and
wellbeing and productivity. There are explicit links with activity
outlined in respect of children with special educational needs and
disabilities and also other vulnerable groups, including actions
linked to safeguarding. An explicit reasoning behind many of the
actions outlined in respect of the improvement of data systems and
functions, for example regarding school performance, is to enable
better early identification of arising problems so that these can
be tackled prior to their escalation and them needing more costly
interventions at a later stage. Achieving effective early
intervention should over the long term assist the Council with
closing its identified funding gap. Cross cutting indicators and
themes (2/2) 11
Slide 12
GroupAgreed indicators (and groups) A1) Percentage of children
attending a good school ** Common to A and B 2) Percentage of
children achieving at school ** (measured at Foundation, KS2 and
KS4) 3) Rates of literacy and numeracy at all ages 4) Percentage of
young people aged 16-19 not in education, employment & training
** B 5) Percentage of adults participating in lifelong learning 6)
Percentage of working age people in employment 7) Percentage of
people participating in further education/higher
education/vocational learning C8) Rates of volunteering Indicators
12 These indicators are those through which progress will be
tracked towards the achievement of the outcome. These indicators do
not seek to measure the effectiveness of particular services,
programmes or agencies. Rather, they seek to quantify the key
changes the Council should expect to see as the outcome is
achieved. All indicators have been selected based on the extent to
which they a) say something of central importance about the
outcome, b) are common sense and communicate with a broad range of
audiences, and c) are based on data that is accurate, reliable,
consistent and available on a regular and timely basis.
Slide 13
No.IndicatorThe curve 1Percentage of children attending a good
school Increase the percentage of schools rated good and
outstanding Increase the percentage of children attending a good
and outstanding school Aim for 100% schools judged good or
outstanding and 100% of children attending a good or outstanding
school by 2018. Increase the percentage of new places commissioned
in good or outstanding schools from 77% in 2012 towards a target of
100% in 2018 2Percentage of children achieving at school measured
at Foundation, KS2 and KS4, including analysis of the gap for
Children in Care To improve performance so that Essex is in the top
quartile compared to other local authorities by 2018 (for
Foundation, KS2 and KS4) 3Rates of literacy and numeracy at all
ages Increase in skills levels of Essex residents compared to
England averages 4Percentage of young people not in employment,
education or training Maintain the positive reduction in NEET
figures in accordance with identified service targets Maintain and
continue to improve low levels of unknown figures Increase the
numbers of young people accessing good quality youth services
5Percentage of adults participating in lifelong learning Increase
the overall percentage of residents engaged in lifelong learning.
6Percentage of working age people in employment Increase the number
of residents in employment against baseline position 7Percentage of
people participating in further education/higher
education/vocational learning Increase levels of participation
against baseline position Increase in skills levels of Essex
residents compared to England averages 8Rates of volunteering
Increase the number of people who state that they regularly
volunteer against baseline position Increase the numbers of young
people engaged in positive activities For all indicators attention
will be paid to disparities in outcomes between different
geographical areas and equality and diversity / vulnerable groups.
In all cases actions will aim to improve the performance of the
lowest attaining areas / groups by raising their performance
towards the level of the highest. The curve we wish to turn 13 For
all indicators a desired performance curve has been identified. In
many case there is not sufficient data or easily analysable data to
enable us to adequate plot predicted future performance against a
desired curve and therefore at this stage this has only be plotted
for indicator 1. Where required this has been identified as an
issue with an associated action against each relevant indicator.
The ability to do this is also impacted by changes to definitions
and frameworks meaning there is a lack of comparable historical
data this is a particular issue in respect of school
attainment.
Slide 14
The work outlined in this Strategy will be lead by Education
and Lifelong Learning Commissioners sitting within the People
Commissioning Directorate. The key areas of responsibility within
the remit of these commissioners are: providing leadership to the
education and skills sector in Essex and commissioning work to:
drive up standards in under performing schools, improve access to
education and educational outcomes for all children and young
people and adults (particularly those vulnerable to educational and
social exclusion) and improve the likelihood of employment. This
includes: commissioning sufficient high quality early years and
childcare provision ensuring high quality school places
commissioning support, advice and professional development for
headteachers and school staff commissioning school governor
recruitment and training commissioning 14-19 curriculum development
and progression routes post-16, including apprenticeships
commissioning attendance and behaviour services, including
provision for young people not attending school commissioning
support for children and young people with statements of special or
additional educational need commissioning infrastructure for
maintained schools facilitating community-led youth services
commissioning adult and community learning Commissioning and
influence: The key organisations through which education and
lifelong learning are delivered to residents are: early years
settings, schools (including academies and free schools), further
and higher education institutions and vocational training
providers. There is limited direct delivery by Essex County Council
and the relationship between the Council and these organisations is
mainly one of a commissioning and influence. This is reflected in
the actions selected for this strategy. Our relationships are
stronger and more direct within the early years and schools sector
than they are with other providers (for example further and higher
education institutions and vocational trainers) however even here
and particularly in relation to schools the nature of our impact is
changing due to the increased autonomy within the sector. Overall
this impacts our ability to influence the development of provision
and also to track outcomes particularly for some indicators. A key
priority area for influence based on the importance of getting
things right in this sector to enable positive progress against
other indicators and also due to the amounts of funding involved is
the spending of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) by schools (as
agreed at the Schools Forum). Actions in this strategy are written
in the context of the totality of spend across the partnership and
are in particular predicated on our ability to influence where and
how this money is spent in support of our strategic actions. It is
also important that Essex uses its power to influence at a national
level informed by the intentions of this commissioning strategy for
example in respect of the current DfE consultation on the Education
Services Grant (ESG) (see national legislative and policy context
slides). More detailed information about our role in respect of
different providers is included on the next two slides and in the
slides related to partners and partnerships. Transformation: Essex
County Council has been undergoing a process of transformation to
embed a commissioner / provider split into the way it is organised
and operates. This process has yet to be fully embedded in the area
of Education and Lifelong Learning and as a consequence there are
some areas of the service where commissioners also still have
responsibility of the provision of services. Further reorganisation
and restructuring activity will continue to be rolled out through
the course of this Strategy and is referred to where appropriate in
the outlined actions. A number of core statutory responsibilities
held by the Council relate to education, particularly those related
to school planning, provision and admissions. For these areas
although there is technically scope for delivery through other
means there are unlikely to be significant overall benefits from
this and therefore some aspects of direct provision are always
likely to remain. Essex structural context (1/3) 14
Slide 15
Essex structural context (2/3) 15 Schools and academies: In
Essex there are: 459 primary schools, 77 secondary schools, 17
special schools. The range of educational provision for children
and young people is now both broad and complex in terms of the
number of providers involved and also their roles. An increasing
number of these schools are academies, particularly at secondary
level and now increasingly at primary; the presumption in law is
that all new schools will now either be academies or free schools.
Essex County Council does not have a preferred model of school
organisation and leadership and believes the key driver in decision
making in respect of this should be the model which is most likely
to lead to sustained improvement in outcomes. It is an advocate of
academisation when this is an appropriate choice for the school and
has a role in advising and supporting schools wishing to become an
academy however it supports the free choice of schools in this
process. With the introduction of greater autonomy in the education
landscape the role and responsibilities of local authorities in
terms of school places has changed. Its role now centres around
four key functions: as a champion of children, families and
communities, as a commissioner and enabler of effective
commissioning, as a facilitator of partnerships, and as the
maintaining authority for community schools. Essex County Council
no longer provides school places but instead commissions them from
a range of providers including schools, academy trusts and sponsors
of academy chains. The County Council does however retain a
statutory responsibility to ensure there are sufficient school
places available every year, that there is diversity across the
school system and that parental preference is maximised. In its
strategic role, the County Council must ensure there is a response
to changes in demand over time by securing the increase or removal
of capacity, this can be achieved in a number of ways, including:
commissioning new schools, extending existing schools, reducing
places at existing schools, promoting the reorganisation of
schools, and reviewing priority admission areas. Whilst the County
Council has moved to be a commissioner of school places, it still
has parallel responsibilities as a provider in respect of a number
of community and voluntary controlled schools. Independent Schools:
There are 50 independent schools in Essex. The local authority does
not have any formal role in respect of independent schools and is
not responsible for their results. Essex does however have a
general duty towards all Essex children and young people including
those in independent schools and would seek to influence providers
were there were concerns. Essex recognises the skills and expertise
that exists in this sector and is encouraging of the engagement of
independent schools in informal and formal school partnerships,
federations etc and potentially as academy sponsors. Particularly
in respect of provision for children and young people with Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities the local authority may also
commission places within independent schools (both inside and
outside of Essex) as suited to the needs of the individual.
Generally in the context of the reducing funding envelop for this
strategy the intention would however be to seek to develop
provision in Essex maintained schools and academies to meet
specific needs and encourage early identification and response to
problems to prevent them reaching a level where a child may need to
have a specialist place in an independent provider commissioned
(see for example actions in indicator 2 re provision for children
displaying sexualised behaviour). Further Education is nationally
funded by the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) which is an executive
agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Funding is provided to colleges, private training organisations and
employers. The government aims through its funding decisions to
make sure that further education provides the skilled workforce
employers need and helps individuals reach their full potential.
This includes funding provision in the following areas:
traineeships for young people not in education, employment and
training (NEET), apprenticeships and careers guidance. In Essex we
are working to develop the breadth of opportunity and access for
all young people to remain engaged in some form of learning up to
the age of 18 through the countys Employability & Skills Unit
which works with schools, colleges and independent training
providers to achieve this. Our specific duties in this area are to:
promote effective participation in education or training to young
people for whom we are responsible; ensure that sufficient places
are available to meet the reasonable needs of all young people, and
to encourage them to participate; make available to young people
support that will encourage, enable or assist them to
participate
Slide 16
Higher Education is nationally funded and delivered by
independent institutions. The distribution of funding is overseen
by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The role of
this organisation also includes monitoring that universities and
colleges are financially healthy, that their courses are good
quality, and that everyone with the potential to enter higher
education has a fair chance to do so. The Governments intention is
generally to ensure that more public funding for teaching is routed
through the student loan system and less through HEFCE, with the
HEFCE taking on more of a regulatory role. The increasing use of
modular course structures means that higher education
qualifications are now more flexible than ever and can be tailored
to meet the needs of the individual and their employer (if
appropriate), or transferred between institutions. This has the
potential of attracting additional people to consider engagement.
Special Educational Needs Provision: The Local Authority has a
critical role as champion for vulnerable children and young people.
It will ensure that that all Children and Young People with SEND
have a full range of support and opportunities available to them
and are provided with opportunities to maximise their life chances,
goals and aspirations. Our strategic priorities in this area have
been identified in the 2014-19 Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities Strategy. Essex continually reviews its portfolio of
specialist SEN providers to ensure it meets the needs of current
and projected SEN populations. Specialist SEN Provision is a term
used to describe discrete school based provision made available to
support pupils with statements of special educational needs. In
Essex this provision consists of Special Schools and Additionally
Resourced (Enhanced) Provisions attached to mainstream schools.
Essex is seeking to commission an increased amount and spectrum of
specialist provision and to consider possible delivery options,
taking account of all potential consequences and risks associated
with increasing specialist SEN provision and the availability of
capital and revenue resources. The strategic direction is: To
maintain and develop special school provision in Essex, maximising
the expertise available in Essexs specialist providers to deliver
advice and guidance. To increase specialist provision
proportionally across the four quadrants of Essex in response to
predicted demand for places. To establish additional enhanced
provision and outreach support for pupils of mainstream ability
with low incidence high level needs e.g. those with ASD Autistic
Spectrum Disorders. To ensure Essex has a continuum of alternative
educational provision for young people with additional educational
needs. Essex Education Services (ESS) is an Essex County Council in
house delivery vehicle for school improvement services which trades
with schools both inside and outside of Essex. The service offer
includes: education consultancy, finance support, governor
services, education HR, the School Library Service, Target Tracker
and professional development. The services offered are strongly
evidence and researched based, grounded in a detailed understanding
of what is required for schools to be effective. The service has a
clear business plan to 2015/16 and beyond which includes the
development of new products and the growth of the customer base in
terms of numbers of customers and income generated. The role of
Essex Education Services moving forward will be considered as a key
element of the work outlined in this strategy to transform how
services to and for schools are provided. As a service provider EES
sits outside of the Education and Lifelong Learning commissioning
function of the Council and under the Deputy Chief Executive. Adult
Community Learning (ACL) There are a number of providers within the
market who provide adult community learning and with whom we need
to work to contribute to outcomes against indicators related to
this. In addition there is some direct provision of Adult Community
Learning by Essex County Council which is primarily funded by
grants (including those from the Skills Funding Agency). Activity
is currently underway to review the way in which ACL is delivered
by Essex and to identify any cost savings. Essex structural context
(3/3) 16
Slide 17
Making Schools and Colleges more accountable and giving them
more control over their budgets Creating a fairer and more equal
society Helping to reduce poverty and increase social justice
Giving all children a healthy start in life Raising the achievement
of disadvantaged children Getting more people playing sport
Improving the quality of teaching and leadership Improving the
adoption system and services for Looked After Children Reforming
qualifications and the curriculum to better prepare pupils for life
after school Improving the quality of further education and skills
training Increasing options and provision for children with special
educational needs Improving the quality and range of education and
childcare from birth to 5 years Making the construction and
maintenance of school buildings more cost effective Supporting
vibrant and sustainable arts and culture Making the family justice
system more effective Supporting social workers to provide help and
protection to children Making inspections of schools, colleges and
childrens services more effective Increasing opportunities for
young people and helping them achieve their potential Improving
behaviour and attendance in schools Improving education for pupils
outside of mainstream schools Increasing the number of academies
and free schools to create a better and more diverse school system
National legislative and policy context (1/2) 17 The current policy
programme of the Department for Education which is reflected in and
influences this Strategy is made up of the following policies.
Policies with particular relevance to actions within this Strategy
are highlighted in blue:
Slide 18
There have been significant legislative and policy changes in
recent years which have influenced the role and responsibilities of
the Council and how we need to work. These include: National
legislative and policy context (2/2)18 Policy developmentKey
strategy links Academisation and free schools ; development of
regional schools commissioners 1 and 2 Special Educational Needs
reforms1 and 2 Raising of participation age / new 16-19 study
programmes 3,4,7 Children in Care Virtual Headteacher1 and 2
Reforms to National Curriculum and Assessment2 Reductions in
funding for further and higher education3,5,7 Teachers Performance
Related Pay1 and 2 Savings to the Education Services Grant for
2015-161 and 2 A full detailed analysis of these changes and their
implications for this strategy can be found in this slide:
Slide 19
Delivering change within our financial envelope (1/4) 19 The
Council has budgets for Education, Training and Life Long Learning
activities within the Councils revenue budget and the ring-fenced
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). Funding for schools comes primarily
through the (DSG) the DfE provides the Local Authority with the
total DSG budget which has been made up from 3 blocks- as outlined
below. Decisions made on the allocation of the DSG are made via the
Schools Forum and the Local Authority acts to influence the
spending of the DSG through this organisation. The 2015/16
allocation of DSG from the Department of Education (DfE) will not
be known until December 2015. Schools Block (2014/15 791.244m) This
is basic school funding based on pupil numbers plus additional
funding for a series of factors such as deprivation and English as
a second language Early Years (2014/15 59.048m) This block funds
the provision of places for children at private, voluntary or
independent settings across the County High Needs (2014/15 116.846)
This block contains funding based on SEN pupil numbers, it also
funds special schools, pupil referral Units and other enhanced
provisions 2014/2015 Financial position In 2014/15, the total
Schools DSG budget amounts to 968.9m, of which 455.5m is budget for
primary schools and 397.9m to secondary schools. Of the total
amount, 375.8m is allocated out to the Academy Schools in Essex.
The majority of the reminder of budget is provided directly to
maintained schools with the exception of some budgets (totalling
70.1m), that Schools Forum agrees to retain centrally. The material
budgets relating to this Outcome are listed in the adjacent
table:
Slide 20
Delivering change within our financial envelope (2/4) 20 Essex
Education Services The MTRS has stretching targets built for Essex
Education Services (EES). It is expected to deliver a surplus of
1.6m in 2014/15, 2.2m in 2015/16 and 3.4m in 2016/17. This strategy
refers to opportunities where surpluses generated by EES may be
hypothecated to funding school improvement. Any such proposal needs
to be seen in the context that this would increase the Councils
funding gap if existing target surpluses built into the MTRS were
then used as additional school improvement spend. Any surpluses
generated over these target surpluses are not currently ring fenced
and therefore a decision would be needed as to whether this is used
to fund school improvement services, help bridge the Councils
funding gap, or used to support other priorities that the Council
has. Budget area2014/152015/16 (DRAFT) Employability and
Skills3.6m3.4m Planning and Admissions (inc Home to School
Transport Budgets) 27.6m28.1m Special Educational Need
Services5.3m5.4m Standards and Excellence1.1m2.0m Director budget
(inc additional school improvement services in 2014/15)
(6.3)m(1.9m) Adult Community Learning13.9m14.4m Cultural
Development & Archive Service1.4m1.2m Youth Services3.4m2.6m
Total50.0m55.2m There are also a series of Council and grant funded
budgets that support Education, Training and Lifelong Learning
activities attributable to this outcome. The budget amounts for
2014/15 are summarised in the adjacent table: These budgets are
part funded by grant. In particular, Adult Community Learning
budget is supported by a Skills Funding Agency grant and learner
income of 14.8m and the variety of services to and for schools is
supported by the Education Services Grant, which is estimated to be
15.3m in 2014/15, falling to 11.6m in 2015/16 as a result of an
announced 20% cut in funding by Government.
Slide 21
Therefore the 2015/16 budget has been aligned against agreed
activities. If the Commissioning Strategy has actions that will
deliver new ways of providing services, then this will need to be
contained within the existing budget. This would mean that existing
activities may have to stop or dramatically reduced. The Councils
Medium Term Resource Strategy currently has a funding gap of
approximately 30m in 2016/17 and it is expected that commissioning
outcome strategies will identify ways in which this gap can be
closed. The actions highlighted within this strategy need to be
seen within this context and further work will need to be
undertaken to prioritise actions so as to ensure that a reduced
funding envelope is used most effectively to deliver the best
possible outcomes. Whilst the DSG is driven by Government and
therefore future budget allocations are to a degree unknown, the
table identifies the impact of reduced funding on the non-DSG
budget if there were expenditure reductions of 10% or 20%.
Areas15/16 DRAFT Budget as per MTRS (m) 15/16 budget with 10%
reduction (m) 15/16 budget with 20% reduction m) Employability and
Skills 3.4 3.12.2 Planning and Admissions (inc Home to School
Transport budgets) 28.1 25.222.5 Special Educational Need Services
5.4 4.94.3 Standards and Excellence 2.0 1.81.6 Director budget (inc
additional school improvement services (1.9) (2.1)(2.3) Adult
Community Learning 14.4 13.011.5 Cultural Development & Archive
Service 1.2 1.11.0 Youth Service 2.6 2.32.1 Total Budget
2015/1655.2m49.7m44.1m Delivering change within our financial
envelope (3/4) 21 Therefore, to reflect these potential budget
reductions, the strategy needs to not only further define and
prioritise the scale of the actions in the plan, it must also be
further developed to identify as to what areas of existing work can
be de-commissioned or reduced in a way in that minimises impact on
outcomes. Both reviewing options to partially or fully decommission
services as well as looking at new ways of delivering successful
outcomes will require innovative solutions and new ways of working.
This expenditure analysis only includes contribution for these
outcomes from the Council. It does not include the other funding
that comes into Essex to other providers that the Strategy
highlights are crucial in ensuring that the Council works with in
order to maximise the success of the outcomes.
Slide 22
Delivering change within our financial envelope (4/4) 22 The
capital programme for the Strategy is 138.5m. The majority of the
capital programme focuses on providing additional school places,
with 2,200 planned for 2014/15. There is also investment for the
introduction of the new government policy on infant schools meals
and an additional 1.0m for youth centre improvements. Following the
recent consultation, it has highlighted importance of the Service
to residents and young people. This investment will enable
improvements at youth centres to facilitate the provision of
services, and increase access of these facilities to Community
Groups. Part of this investment will provide small grants to
Community Groups to undertake minor capital works to improve
capacity at other facilities. Investment in maintaining and
improving the Councils school assets is also incorporated in this
programme. Scheme 2014/15 000 2015/16 000 2016/17 000
Schools39,11350,49225,272 Youth Centres1,00000 Infant Free School
Meals2,72700 Maintenance Programme6,500 6,931
Total49,34056,99232,203
Slide 23
Key existing and related Essex policies, plans and strategies
(1/1) 23 Strategy / PlanExplanationLinks to indicators The Lifelong
Learning Strategy 2013 A Strategy setting out the pathway for
seamless access to learning opportunities through statutory and
community provision.Cross -cutting The Special Educational Needs
and Disabilities Strategy 2014-19 A Strategy for improving the
outcomes and raising aspirations of our children and young people
aged 0-25 years with Special Educational Needs and Disability
(SEND), focusing both on education and the role of other services
in delivering the ambition. Cross-cutting / 1 and 2 The Educational
Estates Strategy This is a cross cutting strategy aimed at
capturing the demands on the educational estate over the next
twenty years and putting forward proposals to meet this demand and
leverage maximum value. The EES is supported by two further
components the Alternative Funding Strategy (getting more capital)
and the Procurement, Specification and Delivery Report - aimed at
getting more for the capital we have got. 1 and 2 The School
Attendance Priorities Plan Strategic document setting out key
priorities and proposed actions in relation to school attendance.1
and 2 Whole Essex Budgets skills reform proposals A proposition to
address the fact that young people in Essex are not choosing
vocational education and skills courses that give them the best
chance of a high value, sustainable and progressive career in Essex
nor delivers Essex employers with the people they need to drive up
local economic growth. This is both a standalone document and part
of the strategic approach to driving up local economic growth
contained in the Deal for Growth for Essex. 4,6,7 The Economic Plan
for Essex The EU Investment Plan The South East Local Enterprise
Partnership Strategic Economic Plan See detail in Economic Growth
Strategy3,4,6,7 Early Years and Childcare Vision, Core Purpose and
Service Delivery, 2013 A series of service priorities for children
aged 0-5 across the County with emphasis on a balance between
universal provision, access to high quality childcare and services
targeted at the most vulnerable families. 1 and 2 Building an
Active Essex: A Strategic Plan for Sport and Physical Activity in
Greater Essex 2012-2017 This document outlines the six priority
aims of Active Essex and their associated outcomes which will
underpin all of its work with key partners. The aims, which reflect
the shared priorities with our partners, are fundamental to
developing sport and physical activity across Essex. The Priority
Aims are to: Deliver a London 2012 Games Legacy; Increase
Participation in Sport and Physical Activity; Encourage Healthy and
Active Lifestyles; Develop Sporting Pathways; Encourage Lifelong
Learning and Skills Development; Building Networks and Partnerships
for Sport, Physical Activity and Healthy Lifestyles 1, 2 and 8
Commissioning School Places in Essex annual five year Plan Document
compiled on an annual basis by the County Council in its role as a
commissioner of school places. Including: current organisation of
school places, existing capacities and number of pupils attending
schools; the size of existing school sites and opportunities for
further expansion, forecasts of future pupil numbers, and how any
increases might be accommodated, or surpluses addressed. 1 and 2
Effective Support for Children and Families in Essex 2013 Key
guidance document on integrated working in respect of children and
families. Introduces the conceptual windscreen model for developing
a shared understanding across all practitioners and managers,
children and families, about how we will respond to the
requirements of children and young people across four levels of
need. 1 and 2 There are a number of existing strategies and plans
which address the indicators identified for this outcome. This
strategy does not override or replace these strategies but should
in the main part identify key activities from them which will
contribute to turning the specifically identified curves. On
completion of the commissioning strategy and in accordance with
agreed review schedules the content of the existing strategies will
be further aligned to the commissioning strategy to ensure they
reflect the change strategic operating model while continuing to
act key drivers for change of identified need. Key existing
strategies / plans which should be read alongside this document are
as follows:
Slide 24
Service user / customer views (1/1) 24 Views of Children and
Young People The Schools Health Education Unit Survey (SHEU) survey
is a wellbeing survey commissioned by the Involvement of Children,
Young People and Parents Team within Essex County Council and
delivered by the Schools Health Education Unit in order to collect
robust information about children and young peoples lifestyles. The
survey is now in its eighth year and the findings are used to
inform Essex's annual needs assessment for childrens services and
the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment by identifying baseline data
and informing targets, service evaluation and improvement. Key
findings, relevant to the indicators considered in this
Commissioning Strategy are as follows: 75% of primary pupils say
they enjoy school but significantly fewer secondary pupils (60%)
say this, although the proportions have generally risen over the
last six years. 4% of primary and 8% of secondary pupils say they
never enjoy school. While 67% of primary pupils always try their
best at school, just 38% of secondary pupils say the same: however,
just 1% of all pupils say they never try their best. When asked
what might help them to do better in school, 59% of primary and 72%
of secondary pupils want more fun/interesting lessons, followed by
more help from teachers and a quieter or better behaved class. 30%
of primary and 16% of secondary school pupils want less bullying.
22% of primary and 14% of secondary pupils say that they did not
need any more help to do their best. When asked what they hope to
do when they leave school, 56% of secondary pupils say they hope to
go to university, 17% want to get a job and 12.5% do not know what
they hope to do. The proportion wanting to go to university fell
significantly in 2011 but has now risen back to previous levels,
with a mirroring fall in those wanting to get a job. These findings
are particularly relevant to planning actions under indicators 1
and 2 (children attending good schools and achieving at school),
indicator 4 (NEET) and indicator 7 (participation in further /
higher education and vocational training). Lifelong Learning
Consultation A consultation was carried out in relation to the
Lifelong Learning Strategy (2013-2018) in November and December
2012. with the feedback reported in January 2013. Key highlights
are as follows: 476 people accessed the survey, but only 156
completed at least some of the survey (33%) People were asked if
they agreed with Essexs vision for lifelong learning: We will
harness Essexs entrepreneurial spirit to involve all residents in
lifelong learning. We will help all residents to realise their
ambitions by supporting a world class education and skills system
and build lifelong learning into everything we do and 92.3% of
respondents agreed. People were asked if they agreed with the five
priorities of the strategy: (Ensure every child achieves a good
level of development in early years; Ensure every child can go to a
good or outstanding school; Lead the UK in education and skills
attainment; Ensure education and skills provision are driven by the
needs of employers; Enable all residents to learn throughout their
lives) and 89.8% stated that they did. Although the sample is small
these findings indicated a general positivity by Essex residents
towards the idea of lifelong learning and the importance of the
Council investing in this. Further analysis of these findings will
help inform actions against indicator 5, particularly identifying
why people who may identify benefits in lifelong learning may be
prevented from participating. The Council is committed to improving
engagement with stakeholders and in particular parents about
education and attainment in Essex and actions to do this will be
considered through work related to the development of a
communications strategy outlined in indicators 1 and 2.
Slide 25
Our partners and our relationship with them (1/1) 25 A full
overview of the partners with whom we need to work to implement
this strategy, their roles and responsibilities and how we engage
with them is included on the embedded slide. This also includes an
overview of key partnership forums.
Slide 26
1) Percentage of children attending a good school strategic
analysis and insight (1/1) 26 Developing aspirations and ambitions
at an early age is vital and attendance at a good school is
considered crucial to this. Our actions are focused on both on
increasing the percentages of good and outstanding schools and the
percentages of children attending these schools. The Ofsted Annual
Report (Dec 12) indicated significant regional variation in quality
of education in the UK with the East of England being the area of
most significant concern; this is a particular issue for primary
education. Overall in Essex there has been a positive trend in
respect of the numbers of schools being graded good and outstanding
from 2009 with the percentage of schools increasing from 66-71% and
the percentage of pupils in these schools increasing from 67-71%.
Further improvement is however required and there are some
localised and specific areas of concern to be tackled (for example
secondary education in Basildon). Primary education is generally of
greater concern than is secondary. There has currently been a much
lower rate of academisation at primary level than there has at
secondary; in some circumstances academisation has been shown to be
a driver of improvement; further work is required to identify where
this is the case and to further promote academisation at primary
level where this might be appropriate. Across all provider types
(Nursery, Primary, Secondary, PRU and Special) there is clear
evidence of a smaller percentage of children attending good or
outstanding schools in the most deprived areas. The Standards and
Excellence service have clear processes and protocols to RAG rate
all underperforming schools, enabling a clear prioritisation of
intervention and support to be established and appropriate
commissioning for support undertaken. Support is prioritised for
schools requiring improvement and in a category; however these are
supplemented by visits to good and outstanding schools to enable
more collaborative working and sharing of good practice.
Commissioned support, including that provided by Essex Education
services, is being targeted at leadership and management, as that
is shown to have the greatest impact on school performance.
Leadership and management of schools includes governance, which has
a high potential impact on school performance. At present
governance is not generally acting as the driver for improvement
across that system that it should be and there are opportunities to
improve the quality, focused and strategic nature of governing
bodies. Governance is a key improvement priority. Alongside this
Active Essex are providing targeted support for sport in schools.
This is supporting leadership and management and also classroom
delivery within Physical Education aiming to ensure high standards
of Physical Literacy. In the period 2010 2012, 77% of new primary
school places commissioned have been at good or outstanding schools
More detailed analysis and insight can be accessed in the below
slide:
Slide 27
1) Percentage of children attending a good school the curve we
wish to turn 27 Source: OFSTED from 31st August 2013 (end of
academic year data) NB: performance will be impacted by changes to
the Ofsted framework during this time period Increase the
percentage of schools rated good or outstanding Increase the
percentage of children attending a good or outstanding school To
aim for 100% schools judged good outstanding and 100% of children
attending a good or outstanding school by 2018. To increase the
percentage of new places commissioned in good or outstanding
schools from 77% in 2012 towards a target of 100% in 2018
Slide 28
1) Percentage of children attending a good school Issues (1/2)
28 NoIssueStrategic action 1aThere is not enough good and
outstanding leadership in the system at all levels particularly at
primary.Develop leadership in schools at all levels to improve
quality of teaching and learning (5) Robustly tackle poor
performance (4) 1bGovernance is not ambitious enough to raise
expectations on the progress and attainment that all children in
Essex can achieve; specifically it is not sufficiently focused on
improving the performance of groups where there is a gap governors
are not currently acting as a strong enough driver for improvement.
1cWe are not ambitious enough in respect of the standards we expect
all schools to attain our activities are by necessity of the
available resources targeted towards schools which require
improvement and below. Insufficient attention is given to ensuring
that schools judged as good maintain this status and are driven to
become outstanding Establish and promote a demanding vision and
expectations (3) Ensure the availability of appropriate and
targeted support for vulnerable groups (6) 1dLocal stakeholders do
not hold strong ambitions for improvements in their local areas or
accept responsibility for bringing these about all partners in a
local area need to contribute to ensuring that all children in that
area receive the best possible education. We have not robustly
communicated a vision which articulates this as an expectation;
consequently we do not have enough partnership support and schools
do not accept a collective responsibility for locality educational
outcomes. Successful implementation of local improvement activities
needs to be underpinned by this. 1eImprovement activity is
insufficiently localised and targeted there are a diversity of
issues within the Essex localities which need to be responded to
with locally devised and individualised strategies led by local
partners rather than with the previously commonly used top down
uniform interventions. Transform internal systems and operating
models (1) 1fOur interventions are not sufficiently driven by data
and are too reactive we do not have an outstanding data function
which enables us to identify and predict local issues, trends,
hotspots etc early and to respond proactively. We do not always
effectively share data with internal and external partners
resulting in incomplete understanding ; this does not always place
us in a good position to select the appropriate intervention.
Slide 29
NoIssueStrategic action 1gThe Council has a changed operating
model and reduced resources for school support we do not have the
resources to continue to work with schools in the way we always
have done. Schools do not yet fully understand our changed
commissioning role and the expectations we have about them driving
their own improvements. More funding is now devolved to schools
rather than coming to the LA this is not always used to maximum
effect and we need to influence this. Transform internal systems
and operating models (1) 1hWe are not yet obtaining maximum
benefits from the potential of school to school support as a result
of our reduced resources and changed operating model we need to
find different and more effective ways of working with schools. We
are not yet fully utilising the potential of collaboration and
partnership within the system, there is insufficiently developed
local systems leadership at all levels and not enough embedded and
successful groups and federations. Facilitate and promote the
development of school to school support (2) 1iToo many schools with
good features are not providing good provision for children and
young people with SEND or are failing in respect of attendance this
will act as a limiting judgement in respect of future Ofsted
inspections and means that we are not ensuring that all children
are accessing high quality education Develop leadership in schools
at all levels to improve quality of teaching and learning (5)
Robustly tackle poor performance (4) Ensure the availability of
appropriate and targeted support for vulnerable groups (6) 1jIn
some areas of the county, particularly those with high levels of
residential growth, or with greater socio-economic challenges there
are or are predicted to be insufficient places available in good
quality schools or insufficient good quality schools to expand we
are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient school places
available in the right areas of need and that places are
decommissioned when no longer needed. Decisions made in respect of
school organisation and planning have the ability to develop and
support the quality of education being provided, to commission new
good provision, and the numbers of children attending good schools.
The information provided informs the planning and delivery of the
Capital Programme in relation to schools. (See Economic Growth
Strategy) Commission and decommission school places to meet need
and as a driver for improvement in the quality of provision (7) 1)
Percentage of children attending a good school Issues (2/2) 29
Slide 30
1) Percentage of children attending a good school - Strategic
Actions (1/5) 30 2. Robustly tackle under performance Clare Kershaw
**** Desired impact Take robust action to challenge and address
poor school performance and illegal practice including issuing of
warning notices, imposition of IEBs and use of Executive Heads ECC
provided Minimal cost input Accounted for in MTRS Poor performing
schools and professionals are removed from the system Robust
strategies and systems are established to support the development
of good performance Resources within the system are utilised to
maximum effect in improving performance Implement a robust activity
for schools requiring improvement to support a sustainable move to
good and beyond within an appropriate and agreed timescale
Commissioning Additional costs to be identified Monitor the impact
of the academy programme to establish a clear position on the
benefits, where and how academisation is likely to have the biggest
impact and to identify required actions when academisation does not
improve performance in the manner expected Influencing BAU activity
Develop the available range of partners, external agencies and high
performing schools, teaching schools etc who can assist with school
improvement, including through acting as academy sponsors
Commissioning Link to TSU Business Case Transforming support to and
for schools Encourage academy conversion for the purposes of school
improvement in appropriate circumstances particularly at primary
level and for inadequate schools Influencing This would require a
greater reduction in services provided by ESG, and increase
pressure to transform service s to and for schools Ensure that we
obtain maximum learning from schools making improvement journeys
and other local authorities who are performing well in this area
and that this learning is widely shared Influencing Ensure the
effective implementation of performance management policies within
schools to address performance issues by providing quality assured
and evidenced based support and training to schools and governors
Commissioning Ensure activity to target under performing schools is
informed by a comprehensive range of factors including levels of
absenteeism and performance of vulnerable groups ECC Provided Costs
of transforming data systems accounted for in MTRS however not
sustainable unless savings achieved from reforming support to and
for schools 1. Transform the delivery of services to and for
schools ** Lead Commissioner: Tim CoulsonDesired impact Design and
implement a new model for Essex Education comprising core statutory
functions, commissioners and a delivery arm focused on the
provision of evidence based, quality assured and customised support
to schools in Essex and outside. Work with schools to implement
this model ensuring they are engaged in the development of this new
service offer and the expectations on them about new ways of
working. Maximise on the potential of this model to generate income
to support future service development in the context of the reduced
Education Services Grant. (See ESG and ESS business case)
Commissioning Ambition to deliver savings of between 3.5 and 4.5 m
currently not built in to MTRS see ESG business case. Further
opportunities for savings will be identified as a result of
activity and options outlined in ESG business case. Savings to core
team spend potentially possible in longer term if sustained and
positive performance against indicator is achieved. Essex Education
develops a sustainable model within a reduced resource envelop New
ways of working with schools are identified which enable continued,
sustainable improvement without significant LA intervention We
develop an attractive service offer which is understood by schools
and has a high level of take up in Essex and elsewhere The LA has
an outstanding data function which drives improvement The data
function ensures that the need for LA intervention can be
identified at an early stage and issues addressed prior to being
picked up in external inspections Commission a new data system for
education to enable more sophisticated and geographically based
analysis of performance and early identification of trends and
issues, include in these considerations the use of data held by
EES. Use the improved information to underpin a more proactive
approach to school support and to act as a more effective driver
for improvement. Commissioning Develop the data function Potential
costs of up to 1mn not built into MTRS. Costs to be factored
against current systems spend. A business case is in preparation.
Ensure the establishment of a revised working relationship between
Standards and Excellence teams and Essex Education Services
structured around the commissioning of services based on required
outcomes. Commissioning Approximately 750k spend pa from Standards
and Excellence to EES. Level of spend should be impacted by
activities to encourage greater self sufficiency in schools and
more money coming direct to school for commissioning their own
support. Outcomes based commissioning may prove more cost
effective.
Slide 31
1) Percentage of children attending a good school - Strategic
Actions (2/5) 31 3. Establish and promote a demanding vision and
expectations ** Lead Commissioner: Clare Kershaw Desired impact
Develop and implement a communications strategy which outlines the
following: a clear vision for Essex of high ambition and
expectation where excellence is expected as standard and all
children and young people, of all abilities, receive the best
education possible; the responsibilities of partners for and the
commitment expected from them to: high achievement for all children
with no exceptions and ensuring our performance in terms of the gap
between the best and worst is in line with the best performing
areas nationally; the expected outcomes for children of all
abilities, across all phases and settings regardless of background
and what we expect excellent education to look like; the impact
that parents and carers can have on the quality and impact of their
childrens education and how they can best support this Influencing
Minimal cost input Support required from: STC Strategy and
Communications All stakeholders accept responsibility for school
improvement and educational achievement for all Improvement is not
solely reliant on the role of the LA There is greater recognition
that the most valuable resources in respect of school improvement
are within schools themselves 2. Facilitate and promote the
development of school to school support Lead Commissioner: Clare
Kershaw Desired impact Encourage the development of a full range of
school partnership arrangements focused on raising standards
including informal groupings and federations; where possible
encourage the engagement of early years settings and providers
within these. Influencing Up to 4.5mn savings identified in TSU ESG
Business Case implementing new models of support to and for schools
Methods are established to drive sustainable change using resources
within the system in place of LA intervention Systems are
established which embed an acceptance of local responsibility for
all childrens outcomes Opportunities are given to high quality
leaders to further develop by taking on wider responsibilities
across schools
Slide 32
1) Percentage of children attending a good school - Strategic
Actions (3/5) 32 4. Robustly tackle under performance ** Lead
Commissioner: Clare Kershaw Desired impact Take robust action to
challenge and address poor school performance and illegal practice
including issuing of warning notices, imposition of IEBs and use of
Executive Heads ECC provided Minimal cost input Accounted for in
MTRS Poor performing schools and professionals are removed from the
system Robust strategies and systems are established to support the
development of good performance Resources within the system are
utilised to maximum effect in improving performance Implement a
robust activity for schools requiring improvement to support a
sustainable move to good and beyond within an appropriate and
agreed timescale Commissioning Additional costs to be identified
Monitor the impact of the academy programme to establish a clear
position on the benefits, where and how academisation is likely to
have the biggest impact and to identify required actions when
academisation does not improve performance in the manner expected
Influencing Develop the available range of partners, external
agencies and high performing schools, teaching schools etc who can
assist with school improvement, including through acting as academy
sponsors (link to action 1 transforming services to and for
schools) Commissioning Link to ESG/ESS Business Case Transforming
support to and for schools Encourage academy conversion for the
purposes of school improvement in appropriate circumstances
particularly at primary level and for inadequate schools
Influencing Will impact on resources coming into local authority -
responsibilities of LA to academies may need to be revisited.
Ensure that we obtain maximum learning from schools making
improvement journeys and other local authorities who are performing
well in this area and that this learning is widely shared
Influencing Ensure the effective implementation of performance
management policies within schools to address performance issues by
providing quality assured and evidenced based support and training
to schools and governors Commissioning Ensure activity to target
under performing schools is informed by a comprehensive range of
factors including levels of absenteeism and performance of
vulnerable groups ECC Provided Costs of transforming data systems
accounted for in MTRS however not sustainable unless savings
achieved from reforming support to and for schools (see action 1)
Undertake robust structural intervention strategies to reorganise
or close underperforming provision - see also action 6
Commissioning
Slide 33
5. Develop leadership in schools at all levels to improve
quality of teaching and learning Lead Commissioner: Clare Kershaw
Desired impact Establish the Essex Primary Leadership Academy to
make active use of the School Improvement Fund and deliver a range
of interventions focused on improving leadership, growing future
leaders and attracting talent to Essex Commissioning 1mn additional
funding in 14/15 budget. Quality of teaching and learning is
improved through the development of leadership capacity and
capability throughout the whole system Improvements are sustainable
as they are locally driven and well embedded Good quality leaders
are bought into the system to replace those removed under action 2
Implement a programme to improve school governance including
measures to enable experienced governors to support the development
and improvement of governors in other schools Commissioning
Establish a peer to peer model of support based around the use of
local excellence boards (as per models established by the Tendring
Locality Board Educational Improvement Group, Harlow Educational
Partnership and Basildon Excellence Panel) to support improving
standards in worst performing areas see also action 2 Commissioning
Influencing Link to TSU ESG/ESS Business Case Transforming support
to and for schools (identified savings) Identify and maximise the
potential contribution from existing outstanding leaders who are
able to work with others in the role of Executive Head, sponsors
etc Commissioning Influencing Ensure that we understand our local
labour market for teachers and leaders, the talent which is
available to us and the best strategies, including financial, to
attract talent to Essex; undertake action to develop this market
where possible Influencing Ensure the impact of improved leadership
at headteacher level is reflected throughout all levels of
leadership and management within a school including middle managers
and SENCOs Commissioning Influencing 1) Percentage of children
attending a good school - Strategic Actions (4/5) 33
Slide 34
7. Commission and decommission school places to meet need and
as a driver for improvement in the quality of provision Lead
Commissioner: Graham Ranby Desired impact Ensure that school
organisation and planning is appropriately informed by an
understanding of the needs of different areas both in terms of the
numbers of places which are available and specific needs to
improvement; ensure the potential of existing good school and
school groupings and federations is utilised when commissioning new
places for example promoting the establishment of academy trusts
Commissioning Non-DSG funded but in budget. Scope for consideration
of potential new delivery models with associated savings.
Sufficient places are available for the children who need them The
development of new places builds on existing good quality in the
system where possible Additional opportunities for quality
education can be provided to children who would not otherwise have
been able to access this Underperformance is robustly tackled and
removed from the system An effective schools admissions service is
in place providing effective support to both schools and parents
Commission additional places within identified good and outstanding
primary schools in areas of comparative disadvantage to provide
high quality nursery education with the aim of improving attainment
and development in early years for identified groups of children
Commissioning Undertake structural interventions to remove
underperforming schools.Commissioning Commission a school
admissions serviceCommissioning 6. Ensure the availability of
appropriate and targeted support for vulnerable groups ** Lead
Commissioner: Annemarie Blackshaw Desired impact Fully implement
measures outlined for priority 1 of the SEND Strategy to ensure
that all children and young people with SEND can access a good or
outstanding school, either specialist or mainstream Commissioning
Funding pressure created by this to be accounted for Quality
education is available for all Performance is improved for
vulnerable groups Quality of provision for vulnerable groups does
not act as a limiting factor in schools being judged as good or
outstanding Ensure that best practice examples of identifi