1. Schools Causing Concern – DfE Statutory Guidance
Purpose of this item is not to strike fear into you before heading off. Mood music from the DfE indicates we should not expect any primary legislation on education for the foreseeable future. The present powers for intervention in schools are likely to remain in place for some time – today is just a quick reminder.
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2. Schools ‘eligible for intervention’
S5 judgement – ‘inadequate’
Statutory duty on SoS to make an academy order
Failure to comply with a warning notice from LA or SoS/RSC
Below ‘coasting school’ thresholds
Some discretion as to the intervention to which the school will be subject
The Education and Adoption Act 2016:
1) Placed a duty on the SoS to make an academy order;
2) Expanded the definition of EFI to include a new category of ‘coasting schools’.
Whilst a school in any of these categories will be considered ‘eligible for intervention’ there are differences in the scope of the intervention that will be made depending on the category a school is in.
Warning notice might be issued because of:
Results below floor standards
Breakdown in leadership or governance
Safety of pupils is threatened
RSCs powers of intervention always take precedence over those of the LA.
Whilst the ‘Coasting School’ Regulations prescribing the definitions does not apply to academies these thresholds have been made to apply to academies by retroactive changes to their funding agreements. In addition the statutory guidance
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3. Education and Adoption Act 2016
S5 judgement – ‘inadequate’
No timescale in legislation for the making of an academy order
It is possible for the SoS to revoke an academy order
Grounds for revocation were originally intended to be highly exceptional.
A quarter of schools to whom this would apply were still without a sponsor 12 months after the academy order was issued. An example of the shift in emphasis at the DfE away from an approached based purely on structural change.
Statutory guidance now says that if the academy that was judged inadequate was previously a ‘standalone’ academy, this will generally mean it will join a multi-academy trust (MAT). MATs are the preferred structure.
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4. Memorandum of Understanding Between DfE and the C of E
Where Diocesan MATs have the capacity they will in the vast majority of cases be the new sponsor
Requires close collaboration between DBE’s and RSCs
DBEs judgement as to whether arrangements would preserve a school’s religious character
The guidance requires the protection of the ethos of schools with a religious character, and RSCs will ensure that their intervention arrangements will safeguard the religious character and ethos of the school, working closely with the relevant religious body.
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5. ‘Coasting School’ Definition – KS2
Must be below the following thresholds in each of the last three consecutive years:
2015
Below 85% lvl4 combined (RWM)
Below national median percentage of pupils achieved expected progress in all of English reading, English writing and mathematics
2016 and 2017
Below 85% expected std. combined (RWM)
Average progress made by pupils was less than -2.5 in English reading, -2.5 in mathematics or -3.5 in English writing
Pick out red text showing changes for 2016/17.
Very few schools are exempted from the ‘coasting definition’:
KS2 - <11 pupils
KS4 - <6 pupils
Floor standards still operate (but not for infant schools) and could lead to a school becoming ‘EFI’ through a warning notice.
In 2017, a school will be above the floor if:
• at least 65% of pupils meet the expected standard in English reading, English writing and mathematics; OR
• the school achieves sufficient progress scores in all three subjects. At least -5 in English reading, -5 in mathematics and -7 in English writing.
To be above the floor, the school needs to meet either the attainment or all of the progress element.
In limited circumstances, schools may request that a pupil be omitted from performance measures, for example, if pupils have recently arrived from overseas.
For 2017, there are also a number of circumstances where a pupil’s results are not included in the progress measures, but are included in the attainment measure as ‘not meeting’ the expected standard. These include:
• pupils who are working at the standard of the tests, but who have no test data in English reading or mathematics, for example, due to absences
Where pupils have moved schools between key stage 1 and key stage 2, we will retrieve their key stage 1 data and include them in the progress calculation for their current school.
Where pupils have no key stage 1 data, their results will not be included in the school’s progress measures, but will be included in the attainment measures.
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6. ‘Coasting School’ Definition – KS4
Must be below the following thresholds in each of the last three consecutive years:
2015
Fewer than 60% of children achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs including English and mathematics
Below the median percentage of pupils making expected progress in English and mathematics
2016 and 2017
Progress 8 score below -0.25
By 2018 there will be three years’ worth of Progress 8 data and so the ‘coasting’ definition will not have an attainment component (unlike for Primary schools).
Floor standard is a Progress 8 score of -0.5
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7. SDBE - Developing Church of England Education
‘Coasting Schools’ (2016)
KS2 – 479 schools (3.5% of total)
KS4 – 327 schools (10.7% of total)
These numbers will likely increase for both 2017 and 2018, beyond which they will stabilise.
2017 data has not yet been released but we expect the numbers to be significantly higher this year, and increase even more quickly in 2018 (especially in primary schools) This is because at primary level in 2014 and 2015 schools had to be below the progress thresholds in all three subjects; in addition the 85% combined threshold was not revised when pupils first took the more demanding revised assessments in From 2016 onwards schools need only be below the threshold for progress in one subject (alongside being below the 85% combined threshold), so as the more lenient 2014 and 2015 data is over time replaced with the changes from 2016 it will be easier for schools to be classified as ‘coasting’.
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8. Scale/type of Intervention
RSC will with support and advice of their Headteacher Board decide either that the school:
Has met the coasting definition but is in fact supporting pupils well, and therefore no action is required;
Has a sufficient plan and sufficient capacity to improve, and therefore no action is required;
Will need additional support and challenge in order to improve. The RSC will decide whether it will be necessary to intervene to bring that about.
Schools classed as ‘coasting’ will be written to formally by the RSC upon publication of the relevant performance tables (December for Primary Schools and January for Secondary Schools). The RSC will set out in the notification letter what the school can expect to happen next, including the likely timescales.
In the notification letter the RSC will likely ask to see the school’s plan for improvement. They may wish to meet school leaders, governor or trustees.
RSCs will consider school performance data and contextual factors in coming to a decision. (Pupil characterists / cohort size / change in leadership / mobility of pupils / attendance)
As of October this year no ‘coasting schools’ had been forced to convert to academy status.
51% of ‘coasting schools’ have been told by their RSC that no further action is warranted. 49% needed some extra support.
We have examples of ‘coasting schools’ who remained good during their S8 inspection. Therefore it will not automatically guarantee an R.I judgement.
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