To receive a report from James Carrick (AD Education, Schools and Children’s Services) and Clara Seery (Head of Standards & Curriculum, Schools and Children’s Services)

Clara Seery (Head of Standards & Curriculum, Schools and Children’s Services) introduced the report which provided an update on education outcomes across Enfield.  It also provided information on outcomes of statutory assessment at key stages and focused on the key accountability measures for -Early Years. Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 outcomes.

The following was highlighted:

• Concerns that Enfield was shown as achieving low levels at some of the key stages compared with other local authorities.  The Early Years outcomes give Enfield at position 119^th out of 152 authorities. At Key Stage 2 (Year 6) Enfield is at 136^th position out of 152 authorities.
• The low attainment levels may be in some way attributed to the high mobility of people in Enfield. However Clara said other local authorities have similar mobility issues.  Enfield is ranked 51^st out of 152 most deprived boroughs. Key stage 2 results were an improvement on last year but reading attainment level is poor and would need to be focused on.
• We were improving, and improving faster than some authorities however better outcomes are needed at primary levels, so that children are better prepared for secondary school.
• Secondary school levels are better – For Year 8 we are in 39^th position out of 152 authorities and at Key Stage 5 on a range of indicators we are in the top third of authorities.
• Schools have a number of challenges – The retention of high quality teachers for early years pupils is a problem.  Staff often leave the area after a few years when they may wish to buy a property which is cheaper outside of London. Also, because of the high workload a number of teachers are leaving to join an alternative profession. Reductions in budgets are impacting on the support that can be offered in schools and many schools have had to reduce the number of support staff.
• The focus is to improve standards in Key Stage 2 reading and Early years literacy.  The Early Years service is merging with School Standards and support service which will ensure a consistent approach. A successful SSIF (Strategic School Improvement funding) bid will fund an intensive reading programme to support the Key Stage 2 outcomes. The report described further steps to raise these standards and Clara was confident that significant improvements would be seen by 2020.

The following issues were raised by members:

• It was asked how members could provide help with the retention of staff.  It was thought strategies to help meet teachers accommodation needs may help, such as providing shared ownership of homes for key workers.
• Councillor Rye thought the secondary school sector was doing well considering how badly they were doing at primary level.  Reference was made to challenges for children as they are often interested in electronic games, which takes their interest away from reading. Teachers need to be able to focus on how to channel their attention towards this.
• During the Early Years stage –there is a need to focus on cultural change, and to have a balance of fun and formal learning.  Where there are difficulties for some children in understanding the language, it is often helpful to work with families to improve their understanding.

The report was NOTED