The Director of SEND and Education submitted a
report to update the Commission on the overall education
performance of children in the city and gave a presentation using
the slides attached with the agenda.
The Assistant City Mayor for Education introduced
the report and observed that the education outcomes were not
because teachers were not putting in the effort but were rather
indicative of the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the
progress of children’s education.
The Director of SEND and Education also urged the
Commission to be mindful of the fact that the report was largely a
place performance, for which the local authority had minimal
control.
The Programme Manager (Business Change) for SEND and
Education proceeded to present the report. Key points highlighted
included:
- The
report compared how education outcomes have changed between 2019
and the post-pandemic period.
- The
report showed the performance of about 56,100 children in
Leicester’s publicly funded primary, secondary, and Special
schools, across different groupings, including heritage, gender,
eligibility for school meals, English as a first or additional
language.
- There
had been a significant reduction in the roles and responsibilities
of local authorities in the direct management of schools. However,
they continued to have responsibilities for school
improvement.
- Asian
Children, English as Additional Language (EAL) children and
children with free school meals in Leicester did better than their
national peers in the early years’ foundation stage.
Comparatively, children of mixed heritage, white heritage, and
those receiving SEN support performed significantly
worse.
- School
readiness was influenced by factors that included parents not
reading to children at home and a lack of parental and community
support.
- Children in Leicester who were eligible for Free School Meals
performed better than their peers nationally at all key stages.
This underscored the effect of deprivation on education
outcomes.
- Children who started at a lower point, such as those with an
EHCP, tended not to catch up in outcomes compared to their national
peers.
- Areas
where Leicester closed the gap and recorded performance
improvements compared to previous years were
spotlighted.
- Attention was drawn to the performance of children at the key
stages 1, 2, and 4 and it was shown that Leicester had not made the
recovery from the pandemic as quickly as nationally.
- Next
steps were also discussed as stated in the report.
The Commission was invited to ask questions and make
comments. Key points included:
- In
response to a proposal for cross-referencing between groups
locally, it was stated that the report focused on areas that had
been previously agreed upon. However, further work could be done on
the report to draw out specific data as required.
- On why
children of white heritage are underperforming as stated in the
report, it was explained that lots of factors are responsible and
ultimately, there will be children from different demographics
doing well, and some not doing well.
- On
what could be done to improve the ready-for-school index, it was
proposed that the same be viewed in a wider context i.e., the
children’s ability to exercise a level of independence as
opposed to focusing on the ability to read and write only. It was
suggested that some sort of campaign may help disseminate this
information to parents, nurseries, and preschools.
- On
whether there was a projected timeline for bringing education
performance to the pre-pandemic level, it was explained that the
variability of factors and subjectivity of experiences make it
difficult to predict a firm timeline. It was however noted that
schools had improvement plans in place. It was suggested that a
previous report which highlighted high-performing schools and what
they were doing right can be revisited.
- On
what could be done to support children in the classes preceding
GSCE (i.e., Years 9 and 10), it was stated that schools were making
efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on GSCE performance.
However, there was a likelihood that the impact could be throughout
the educational career of a child.
- On
whether there was a national plan for tackling the challenges
identified in the report, it was noted that whilst there was not
currently one in place, there was a likelihood that a plan could
emerge in a few years.
AGREED
1)
That the report be noted.
2)
That comments made by members of this commission to
be taken into account by the lead officers.
3)
To further review of the data presented for other
areas of focus, locally, particularly on the impact of deprivation
on the performance of children of white heritage.
4)
To invite the Regional Director from DfEA to give a
presentation on what the Trusts are doing.
5)
To monitor the emergence of a national
plan.