Agenda item

Neil Marlow, the Chief Executive and Director of Education and Learning, presented the achievement data from the 2021-2022 academic year for Barnet schools.

Recent Ofsted inspections revealed that one school which had previously required improvement, was given a good rating.

Another school was given an inadequate rating due to safeguarding concerns in relation to some processes and record keeping. Measures have already been put into place such as a Local Authority statement of action, a new Designated Safeguarding Lead, a new Safeguarding Governor as well as the implementation of a new digital system for record keeping.

It was noted that a meeting held with parents of the affected school proved to be very positive and parents were confident that their children were safe. The main concern from parents related to potential forced academisation.

In terms of attainment and progress, positive results were noted in Key Stages (KS) 2,4 and 5. Action plans are in place to improve Early Years and Phonics, and aspects of Key Stage 1 to improve our rankings compared to other Local Authorities. Attainment in Reading, Writing and Mathematics combined by KS2 pupils ranked Barnet 8^th best LA in the country (10^th for disadvantaged pupils). In terms of Attainment 8 in Secondary, Barnet ranked 3^rd  in the country (9^th for disadvantaged pupils) Progress in primary and secondary schools was also very strong.

Areas of priorities were being reviewed by the School Standards Partnership Board as detailed in the report.

It was noted that disadvantaged students were doing much better in comparison to national and that the gaps between disadvantaged pupils in Barnet and non-disadvantaged nationally were smaller than national gaps at each Key Stage.

In response to Members, the academy school which has recently been judged as requiring improvement was in relation to inconsistency of areas within its Curriculum.

Further work was needed with independent schools in Barnet many of which required improvement or were inadequate. Although Independent schools did not receive the same monitoring and support, the Council would be involved where there were safeguarding concerns.

Members were pleased to see that mental health was listed as one of the priorities as raised by young people and requested that Officers provide updates on how the mental health priority develops to the Youth Assembly. Neil Marlow said that regular updates were being reported to relevant partnership boards but offered officer attendance at Youth Assembly to provide an update if required.

Members raised the issue of Black children making less progress. It was noted that ‘Black’ comprised of a wide ethnic code including African, Black Caribbean and mixed White and Black Caribbean groups who were underperforming in Barnet compared to White British pupils. Conferences of best practice have taken place to understand reasons why that particular group of pupils were disengaging in schools. The School Improvement team also analysed data to highlight both progress and challenges for particular groups of pupils.

However, wider involvement was needed to understand why particular children were being excluded from school and society in general.

It was noted that a newly accredited Phonics scheme introduced by the Government and implemented in most schools in Barnet may have caused a dip in Phonics results. However, positive results were expected following a year of implementation.

RESOLVED that the Children, Education and Safeguarding Committee note the validated results for school performance in Barnet for the academic year 2021/22 as set out in Appendix A: Summary of Educational Standards in Barnet, 2021/22