Achievement at Key Stage 2 Scrutiny Review 10/11
Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission
Primary schools in Hackney have to work extra hard to overcome additional challenges including higher than average levels of: pupil mobility; free school meals; English as an additional language; and persistent absenteeism.
The Commission recognised the improvement in recent years of results at Key Stage 2 in Hackney but was still concerned by the disparity in results between different schools and the number that still achieve below the national average. The Commission saw and heard of many examples of good practice in schools in the borough that are overcoming these challenges and achieving outstanding results for their pupils, however this is not the case in all primary schools in Hackney. Therefore as part of this review we looked at ways that schools can work together to share best practice and how they can provide support to each other, especially in light of the reduced role of the local authority envisioned in the Education White Paper and subsequent Education Bill.
The key questions we aimed to answer in this review were:
- Do we know why children in Hackney perform below national levels at Key Stage 2?
- Are lessons being learned from the best performing schools and shared and embedded in the approaches and practices of under-performing schools in Hackney?
- Are the Learning Trust and the local authority preparing sufficiently to support schools given the changes to the education system contained within the Education White Paper and the subsequent Education Bill?
Good teaching and leadership are the most important factors in improving a primary school and giving Hackney's children the support they need to achieve at Key Stage 2. The Commission's recommendations were aimed at areas that support and contribute to good teaching and leadership in primary schools and have an impact on the achievement of children at Key Stage 2, such as sharing teaching expertise between schools, strong governing bodies, parental engagement, pupil feedback on lessons and teaching, and effective extended schools provision. The Commission was impressed by examples of good practice in schools in the borough and aimed to share some of the examples they thought it would be beneficial to introduce in other schools, such as 'parents and carers come to school' week and ways of involving pupils in providing effective feedback on lessons.
Evidence for this review was collected over a period of four months. At its formal meetings the Commission heard from the Learning Trust, members of the Learning Trust Board, local headteachers, a School Improvement Partner, an Executive Headteacher of a local primary school federation and supplementary school providers. The Commission also attended a meeting of Hackney School Governors Association to hear their views about achievement at Key Stage 2 and their role in school improvement.
Commission Members visited four primary schools in the borough during this review, including one that is part of a primary school federation. As part of the visits the Commission Members spoke in depth to the headteachers, as well as being given tours of the schools, observing lessons, and speaking to other staff and some of the pupils at the schools.
The Commission's final report
The Commission's final report was approved in June 2011.
The Commission made 7 recommendations that were aimed at areas that support and contribute to good teaching and leadership in primary schools and have an impact on the achievement of children at Key Stage 2.
- Scrutiny report: Achievement at Key Stage 2 (PDF)
- Appendix Four: Percentage of pupils achieving Level 4+ in English and Maths by school from 2006 to 201o (PDF)
- Appendix Five: Percentage of pupils achieving Level 5+ in English and maths in 2010 by pupil characteristics (PDF)
Response from the Cabinet Member
Cllr Krishna (Cabinet Member for Children's Services) responded to the recommendations, noting that "As this report shows, we will continue to build on the good work and practice already happening in many of our schools, in order to better ensure that all our students across the whole borough have the access to the quality of education at Key Stage 2 that they deserve". They accepted all recommendations.
What has happened as a result of the review?
In December 2011 the Commission received a 6-month update on the implementation of the recommendations from the Deputy Director for Learning and Standards at the Learning Trust.
Page updated: 2 Mar 2012
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