Issue - meetings

That the 2014 Education Outcomes, as set out in the submitted report, be noted.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure that Cabinet is fully informed of the latest education outcomes.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Children and Education Select Committee]

The Cabinet Member for Schools and Learning said that she was pleased to present this report, which was an overview of the educational attainment of children and young people in early years, primary, secondary, post 16 and special school phases for the academic year ending in the summer of 2014.

She highlighted that Surrey was ranked 17^th out of 150 local authorities for the proportion of pupils that achieved 5 or more good GCSEs with English and Mathematics and that the achievement of disadvantaged pupils also continued to improve. She also said that as at the end of January 2015, the proportion of schools that were good or better is now 85%.

She drew attention to the strengths of each key stage, their key priorities and also that trend graphs had been included within the report, illustrating a good trajectory for Surrey at all levels. A key to those graphs was set out in paragraph 14 of the report.

In relation to Key Stage 4, she said that two major reforms had been implemented by the Department of Education, which had affected the calculation of this data in 2014, and in addition, there had been three further changes which applied in 2013/14 so caution should be taken when comparing this key stage with previous years.

She also highlighted the ‘No child left behind project’ and confirmed that the performance of disadvantaged pupils in Surrey had improved across the primary key stages this year and that this work continued to be a priority for the County.

Finally, she publically thanked Maria Dawes, Head of School Effectiveness at Babcock 4S, and her team, for their work in supporting the School Improvement Strategy across Surrey’s statefunded schools, and in particular those schools who were supported through the Focused Support Schools Strategy.

Both the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Schools and Leaning also thanked Headteachers, Governors and teachers in Surrey state funded schools for their work in ensuring that the young people of Surrey had the best start in life.

Other Members made the following points:

·         The report was commended and members of the public should be encouraged to read it because the improvements made against a background of savings were impressive

·         The challenge of providing thousands of additional school places

·         In Surrey, schools work together well with the Local Authority

·         The importance of being aspirational for Looked After Children who are among the most disadvantaged children in the County

RESOLVED:

That the 2014 Education Outcomes, as set out in the submitted report, be noted.

Reasons for Decision:

To ensure that Cabinet is fully informed of the latest education outcomes.