Governors’ Conference

John Clarke

July 2014

Talking Points

• The education system in England• Who is accountable to whom and for what?• The big challenge for schools – and for schools in shire counties

and coastal areas in particular• How to meet the challenge.

One small school system

• About 1,300 children in each year group• 42 primary, a variety of aided, controlled and community schools

but 3 converted academies and 2 potentially sponsored academies

• 6 secondary schools of which two sponsored academies, one about to become sponsored, two potentially about to become sponsored

• Each school has its own sixth form and there is also sixth form provision at the FE College.

One small, school system

• A secondary free school, eventually for 120 in each year group opening in September 2014

• A Y10-Y13 studio school for 75 • Each school has its own sixth form and there is also sixth form

provision at the FE College.

Accountabilities

• Ofsted, clearly - but not only• Regional Schools Commissioners• Local Authorities • Directors of School Standards?

Regional Schools Commissioners

• 8, across the country• Chosen by DfE• Oversight of academies both converted and sponsored• Intervention in under-performing academies and sponsoring

trusts• Increasing the number of players in the sponsored sector• No relationship, as yet, with maintained schools – except when

they want to convert to academy status or be pressured into taking a sponsor.

Local Authorities

• 150, across the country• Oversight of maintained schools• Intervention in under-performing maintained schools and

working with the RSC to find sponsors for inadequate schools• Identifying issues affecting a number of schools and working

with them to address those issues• Promoting excellence in education in all schools.

Local Authorities

• About 15% lost since 2010• Another 15% to lose by April 15• Another 10% - 15% by 2017/2018 in all probability• Doing twice as much safeguarding and children in care work

since 2008• Only a certain amount can be saved at the margins and through

efficiencies.

Nevertheless…….

• Ensure a safe and effective social care system• Ensure sufficient capacity to lead, challenge and improve

the school system• Tightly target limited resources• Sustain and co-ordinate early help provision• Sustain high quality sold services• Maximise opportunities for efficiencies and partnerships (Isle of

Wight, Oxfordshire and maybe others – plenty of scope).

Directors of School Standards?

• About 20 across the country covering a number of LAs each• Chosen by local authorities, for 5 years, but independent of

them• Intervention in under-performing schools of all types• Promoting collaboration – an expectation that all schools would

work collaboratively• Allowing schools to move between academy and maintained

status but all schools to have the same freedoms• Inspection of private school improvement providers as well as

LAs.

We may not be sure about who we’re accountable to but we know what we’re accountable for

The attainment of disadvantaged children in secondary schools

• There is a very large difference between local authorities in terms of ‘the gap’

• Authorities in the south east of the country have the largest gaps

• Hampshire is 135th out of 150 local authorities, ranked by the size of the gap. Authorities like Hampshire – large, shire and relatively affluent, struggle most. The gap in London is under 20%, 26% in Southampton; 32% in Surrey and 35% in Hampshire

• It is not possible to discern any effect from the ‘status’ of a school on the attainment of 16 year olds eligible for free school meals in Hampshire.

The relationship between the percentage of FSM students in secondary school and their attainment

The more dynamic and successful school systems across the world are set up with the presumption that all children can learn. In the UK and the USA there is a subliminal but entrenched view that only some children can reach reasonable standards of attainment.

What chances for boys?

Key Stage 1Writing

1 2c 2b 2c 3

Non FSMNon SEN 49% 57% 66% 77% 87%

Non FSMSEN 23% 33% 45% 54% 70%

FSMNon SEN 13% 20% 30% 42% 55%

FSMSEN

7% 9% 10% 21% 38%

The danger of marginal gains – what would Dave say?

“Thanks, Pete”

The effect of various strategies: Sutton Trust Research

Summary of issues in schools

• Many schools don’t know their students well enough• Individual teachers are not at the heart of schools’ efforts• Schools are not sure of what is working and what isn’t• Not enough press for accelerated progress• Not enough teaching the child – ownership, resilience,

perseverance, self-regulation• Poor attendance• Not enough match of curriculum to students• Schools trapped in a closed mindset about what students can

attain; schools plan forward from Y6 instead of back from Y11; expectations are, therefore, too low – probably the biggest difference between typical schools in Hampshire and typical schools in more dynamic systems.

The Double Jeopardy of Poverty

Typical Costs Costs to Low Income

Households

One expensive consumer good £159.99 £405.00

One £500 loan £539.00 £825.00

Annual gas bill £609.70 £673.70

Annual electricity bill £339.30 £368.20

One mobile phone £315.96 £395.44

Home contents insurance £465.85 £618.80

Car insurance £475.48 £571.55

Total £2,905.28 £3,907.19

Poverty Premium £1,001.91

Hidden rulesPoverty Middle Class

Possessions People Things

Money To be used, spent – immediate

To be managed - deferred

Personality Is for entertainment -humour is highly valued

Is for acquisition and stability – achievement is highly valued

Food Quantity Quality

Language Casual register – for survival

Formal register – for negotiation

Humour About people About situations

Driving forces Survival, Entertainment Work, Achievement

Education Valued in the abstract Crucial to success

Summary of issues in schools• Many schools don’t know their students well enough• Individual teachers are not at the heart of schools’ efforts• Schools are not sure of what is working and what isn’t• Not enough press for accelerated progress• Not enough teaching the child – ownership, resilience,

perseverance, self-regulation• Poor attendance• Not enough match of curriculum to students• Schools trapped in a closed mindset about what students can

attain; schools plan forward from Y6 instead of back from Y11; expectations are, therefore, too low – probably the biggest difference between typical schools in Hampshire and typical schools in more dynamic systems.

The most successful school systems

• understand what leads children to attain, achieve and grow into successful adults and organise the schools around those things

• never talk about ‘helping children to realise their potential’ because their potential cannot be known and has to be assumed to be limitless

• don’t talk about ability and are more interested in zero failure than value added – value added is a useful tool but it can trap children in the conditions of their disadvantage

• share their knowledge of how children grow to be successful with the children themselves and their families – if you can’t do something yet it’s because you haven’t practised it enough and/or you need someone to show you what to practise

• understand that earlier interventions have more effect (if every secondary school was outstanding the gap in attainment between rich and poor would only narrow by 20%).

They set out explicitly to…………

• teach how to learn, memorise, plan, review, organise, practise effectively – showing children how to become confident

• teach how to cope with setbacks and how to bounceback • teach how to self regulate their behaviour, how to defer their

gratification, how to ask for help and how to use that help• make these things part of their curriculum not, in some way,

hidden in pedagogy• share what they know about how children succeed with their

parents/carers.

Our data show that it doesn’t matter if you go to school in Britain, Finland, Japan, or anywhere else. Students from a privileged background do well everywhere. What really distinguishes education systems is their capacity to deploy resources where they make most difference. Your effect as a teacher is a lot greater on students who are not privileged than on those who have lots of educational resources.

OECD

Good Teaching?

• My lessons have clear objectives based on a coherent scheme of work

• I am secure and confident in curricular knowledge• Students answer my questions confidently• I ask questions that encourage exploration of the subject matter• I show students how to remember things• I ensure students work together in groups• I’m always available to help students through a learning challenge• I mark work regularly with supportive comments and targets• I display students’ best work on classroom walls• My records show that students make progress• I work hard to get things right.

Better Teaching?

• My students know which learning attributes we are trying to build each lesson

• I show students that I, too, am learning in lessons• I help students to develop strategies for self regulation• I ask questions that help students to explore their learning processes• I help students understand how to learn effectively in groups• I help students to develop strategies to cope with being stuck• My marking poses questions about my students’ progress as

learners • I display work in progress on classroom walls• I chart the development of students’ learning capacities• My students see that I learn from the mistakes I make.