Agenda item

To consider a report by the Principal Education Manager (copy enclosed) on the performance of Denbighshire’s schools and provisional level 2 examination results for members’ review.

10.05 a.m. – 10.45 a.m.

[The Head of Education and Children’s Services and officers from GwE had been unable to attend for this item due to a meeting with the Welsh Government and apologies for absence had been submitted on their behalf]

 

The Lead Member for Education, Children’s Services and Public Engagement introduced the Principal Education Manager’s report (previously circulated) on the performance of Denbighshire’s schools and provisional level 2 examination results.  The report included the unverified performance of Denbighshire schools and draft external examinations results at Key Stage 4 together with provision of drafts results against national information and performance.

 

During his introduction and in response to the Committee’s concerns regarding the lack of comparable data in which to scrutinise performance results the Lead Member explained that the information contained in the report complied with national guidance and reflected recent changes in the recording of performance data.  He referred to a joint communication from Welsh Government, the Welsh Local Government Association and Estyn which strongly advised that a broad range of un-aggregated data and information be used when reporting on school performance.  In following that guidance local authorities were not sharing performance data and therefore the report data had been restricted to the information currently available and did not include comparisons with other local education authorities.  In addition, given the new interim KS4 measures as part of the education reform programme in Wales and differences across several indicators (as a result of first entry counting rather than best outcome data) it had not possible to compare 2019 figures with previous performance.  In considering future performance data it was recommended that provisional performance results be considered by the Committee in September 2020 and a comparison with the previous year’s verified results be made in February 2021.

 

In reporting on the headlines messages the Lead Member referred to slight dips but overall consistency.  Both Rhyl High School and Blessed Edward Jones situated in Wales most deprived ward areas had improved on the previous year and reference was made to a recent Schools Standards Monitoring Group (SSMG) meeting at the new Christ the Word school and positive outcomes found in that regard.

 

During his address to the Committee the Principal Education Manager –

 

·         referred to previous discussions with the Committee on the reporting of performance data information and the need to provide scrutiny with as much information as possible to ensure an open and transparent process

·         confirmed the report conformed to national guidance and due to new school performance measures the data was not comparable with previous years

·         referred to the new curriculum with the main indicator of 5 GCSEs and schools were focusing on ensuring improvements in that area together with providing a broad and balanced education for pupils

·         explained the reasoning behind the capped 9 measure that for pupils to have a broad and balanced education GCSEs should be capped to 9 subjects including core subjects English and Maths with greater opportunities for higher scores

·         proposed that in future performance data should include an information sheet and draft examination results in September/October with presentation of the verified results in February together with exclusion and attendance data to provide an overall picture of performance

·         advised that whilst there was no formal comparable data with other local authorities some had seen a general dip whilst Denbighshire had seen a slight improvement – where local authorities published their verified performance results it would be possible to gauge Denbighshire’s performance in comparison

·         reported upon the use of the Free School Meals (FSM) indicator in terms of performance with Denbighshire’s results generally being below the Welsh average and described how schools had performed within their FSM family Groups (benchmark figures of FSM would be provided in February) –

o   Rhyl High School and Blessed Edward Jones had over 30% FSM and Rhyl High had performed well within their group and it would be unfair to compare those schools with others in Denbighshire given the levels of deprivation

o   with regard to the top performing schools Ysgol Brynhyfyrd, St. Brigid’s School and Ysgol Glan Clwyd were in the same FSM Group with Ysgol Glan Clwyd best performing and Ysgol Brynhyfryd showing a slight dip in results.  There was a misperception that St. Brigid’s was a selective school but in reality it was not and the school performed well with a high number of pupils with special educational needs

o   Prestatyn High School had demonstrated the biggest improvement

·         highlighted the Denbighshire Estyn school inspections profile for 2018 with 6 out of 10 schools inspected receiving excellent judgements with no schools judged as unsatisfactory – Ysgol Plas Cefndy was the only Pupil Referral Unit to receive an excellent inspection in Wales which was a major achievement

·         Denbigh High School was in special measures but was making good progress and there had been some improvements in results last summer and improvements in the quality of teaching with intensive support from schools and GwE – the school was likely to come out of special measures in 2020

·         GwE had carried out a review at Ysgol Dinas Bran last summer and again recently and the school was making good progress, and historically had been a good performing school.

 

Whilst accepting the explanation given as to the lack of comparable data, both in terms of comparisons with other local authorities and against previous years data, the Committee still raised concerns in that regard given the need for accountability and some form of statistical data to enable proper scrutiny of performance and to ensure the best education possible for pupils.  Members discussed various aspects of the report with the Lead Member and Principal Education Manager who responded to questions and comments raised as follows –

 

·         explained the impact of first entry counting advising that when entering for examinations more than once the best outcome score could be recorded in previous years but from this year only the first entry score would be recorded

·         confirmed that the frequency and regularity of meetings between the local authority and GwE had not changed and there were specialist advisers available to schools depending on need and confidence in the service provided

·         highlighted the role of GwE as a regional school improvement service commissioned by Denbighshire and five other local authorities to develop and raise standards and provide support for school improvements and Estyn’s role in independently assessing schools and providing judgements in five key areas

·         it was still possible to compare performance against the Welsh average and from next year to compare with previous year’s data to judge performance

·         explained that PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) was a worldwide study evaluating educational systems which was a separate test carried out in a sample of schools for which no revision was required but schools had focused on skills needed for PISA and it was hoped there would be an improvement in those results

·         advised that all pupils were required to take GCSE English Language and an option to take GCSE Literature – previously only one or the other was counted but now there was a separate measure for each; all pupils were required to take GCSE Maths and numeracy was a separate paper

·         explained the purpose of the various boards set up to scrutinise school performance and keep track of progress including the Accelerated Improvement Boards and Local Quality Standards Board and also reported upon a pilot in two Denbighshire schools with a view to developing a new national model

·         to enable schools to develop and introduce the new curriculum Estyn inspections would not be undertaken for twelve months however any schools in difficulty would still be supported during that period

·         it was clarified that GwE did have performance data for all local authorities in North Wales but that information was not being shared between local authorities in order to comply with the Welsh Government directive – it was possible that the directive could be lifted once the new curriculum had been developed and established within schools

·         it would not be realistic to compare this year’s data to previous years given the key differences in the recording of data

·         given the recent categorisation of two Rhyl wards as the most deprived in Wales it was confirmed that Free School Meals data could be used as an aid for comparing against other similarly deprived areas – Rhyl High School performed well against schools within the FSM family group with similar characteristics; Blessed Edward Jones performed substantially below Rhyl High School but compared satisfactorily with others in the family group.  Given the new Christ the Word school there was confidence that there would be further improvement

·         in terms of pupils wellbeing and bullying it was confirmed that Estyn consulted with parents and pupils as part of their inspection process and there were various processes in place to address those areas – it was noted that CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) had been before Partnerships Scrutiny Committee and was a separate issue to the item under consideration

·         reported upon the strong working relationship between Ysgol Gwernant and Ysgol Dinas Bran with the latter school keen to develop the Welsh stream however there was some frustration regarding the take up of Welsh Medium education generally in the area which was as a result of parental preference

·         referred to pupils who were educated other than at schools (EOTAS) and the rights of parents – whilst the situation was monitored by the local authority they had little control in that regard.  Those pupils were included in the performance data but most were unlikely to gain L2+ which demonstrated that those pupils were succeeding but at a lower level than school pupils – further data in that regard could be included in the next report

·         accepted that the full impact of the investment in Rhyl High School and the new Christ the Word School would likely been seen in terms of results as pupils progressed through the school to GCSE level in approximately 5/6 years’ time.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion the Committee –

 

RESOLVED –

 

(a)       to acknowledge the information provided regarding the performance and monitoring of Denbighshire schools;

 

(b)       to receive a report on the verified external examination results in January 2020 to also include school absenteeism and exclusion data, and

 

(c)        to receive further comparative data as it became available in future years with regard to the provisional and verified performance results on an annual basis in September and February respectively.