Norfolk County Council, as Local Education Authority, is committed to the principle that every child in the county is entitled to an education which allows them to make the most of their potential. We believe that schools and LEAs can achieve this by working together in a constructive partnership.

The second Education Development Plan (EDP2) details how we will continue to raise achievement for Norfolk schoolchildren and promote learning for life. It has now been approved by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. They have said that this is a good plan.

Its content reflects the major school improvement priorities for the Norfolk County Council Education Department in partnership with Norfolk schools. The priorities come from a detailed review of how the Education Service is currently performing, including the messages from Ofsted inspections of schools. The plan was developed after a wide consultation and is designed to make sure that Norfolk schools are well placed to contribute fully to the priorities set nationally as well as reflecting our own local needs and aspirations.

At the heart of the success of our education service are well-qualified, motivated and committed teachers and staff who support them. They achieve remarkable successes for our young people and we have placed them firmly at the heart of EDP 2.

The plan has seven sections to it and is accompanied by five annexes. The sections cover;-

• how the priorities have grown from County Council and LEA goals and objectives (sections 1, 2 and 5)
• how the priorities sit within the LEA’s approach to school improvement (section 3)
• the overall achievement targets the priorities seek to reach (section 4)
• a detailed analysis of the LEA’s performance that led to the priorities we identified (section 5)
• the rationale for each priority (section 6)
• what we want each priority to achieve, the purpose, targets and expected outcomes for each priority (section 7)

There are 5 annexes that support the plan;

• Annex 1 contains detailed information on performance targets for the first year of the plan including the targets set by each school during the target setting process completed in December 2001,
• Annex 2 contains detailed action plans for each priority,
• Annex 3 contains the summary information on the resources allocated to support the plan,
• Annex 4 contains a description of the consultation process that led to identifying the priorities for the plan,
• Annex 5 sets out the approach we will take to monitoring and evaluating the plan over the next five years.

This is a short summary of the Plan – for a full copy PUT IN ESINET ACCESS ADDRESS

The eight EDP2 priorities that make up the Norfolk school improvement programme were constructed around:

• an evaluation of the first Education Development Plan 1999-2002 (EDP1) and a detailed review of the LEA and schools during that period
• careful analysis of the national agenda for raising standards, including the 2001 Education Bill.
• existing plans for the two local Education Action Zones and the Learning and Skills Council
• the corporate objectives of Norfolk County Council

The future supply of suitably qualified teachers was the most frequently mentioned barrier to future school improvement in the EDP consultation. We must make a concerted effort to keep the good teachers and support staff we are lucky enough to have and make sure that all the staff have opportunities to develop professionally in their job so that people make a positive choice to stay in our schools.

High quality learning is the key to raising attainment and there is much to be proud of in the county’s schools. We need to celebrate our success and share and spread good practice across Norfolk schools.

While the majority of our schools are well led and managed the quality of leadership and management of too many Norfolk schools was a concern at the beginning of the first EDP in 1999. Since then, there has been significant improvement in this key area. The self-review process is an important focal point for that improvement, providing a useful common agenda for open dialogue between school managers, governors and LEA.

Norfolk has the second largest number of small schools of all LEAs and among the highest percentage of pupils attending small schools. We are committed to becoming a lead authority in the way small schools are supported to make their full contribution to raising standards of achievement in the county.

We recognise the excellent work done by many Norfolk school governors over the years and remain committed to giving them the best training and support, while at the same time working to enhance the effectiveness of governing bodies.

Overall performance in Norfolk schools at Key Stages 1 and 2 has improved significantly over the last four years and Norfolk continues to be one of the most improved LEAs in terms of overall standards but our results are still just below those of our statistical neighbours.

The foundation stage in Norfolk includes both the maintained and the non-maintained sectors and there is therefore a need to further develop partnership working to ensure high quality provision for all preschool children.

This priority forms Norfolk’s response to the national agenda, as set out in the government’s strategy for secondary education and takes into account changes being introduced through the Education Bill 2001.

Last year saw the setting up of the Learning and Skills Council. The priorities in the EDP match, wherever possible, the LSC’s strategic objectives and we will work together to develop post 16 learning.

LEA monitoring and intervention are key to this priority and we have built up considerable expertise in this field. We will target adviser and officer time to maximise support for schools causing concern but the detailed work to set up sustainable and rigorous approaches to teacher supply, effective school leadership and national strategies, such as literacy and numeracy, are also of key importance.

The above five areas will get particular attention over the next five years, to link key aspects of our approach to social inclusion and partnership work with other organisations including the Education Action Zones, the Excellence Cluster in Norwich and collaborative projects with neighbouring LEAs such as Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

We are committed to ensuring that the needs of individual children and groups of learners are met and have identified particular groups of learners who would benefit from additional support. The real measure of the education system’s success is how much it offers opportunity for all pupils. We need to entwine our social inclusion and school improvement strategies, to develop inclusion within the context of school improvement.

Underpinning these priorities is the desire to make a difference for Norfolk learners, developing a ‘we can all do it’ culture around ‘the development dozen’:

Particular attention will be given to these key strategies and approaches that will weave through each of the priorities to help bring about further improvement in the education young people receive in Norfolk’s 450 plus schools.

1. Support for continuing to improve literacy

2. Support for continuing to improve numeracy

3. Support for continuing to improve Information and Communications

Technology

4.Promotingcreativity in all aspects of schooling

5. Widening participation in physical activity

6. Making sure young people attend school regularly

7. Developing the physical and emotional environment for learning

8. Developing educated citizens

9. Helping all learners understanding the environment

10.Developingcritical thinking, helping all our young people to be better

learners.

11.Developing positive attitudes to learning

12.Making sure that all learners are as fully included in learning as

possible.

The LEA can reasonably expect schools to:

• pursue improvement through the key process of self review
• engage in rigorous target setting, built on available data on pupil performance constantly strive for the highest standards possible
• promote the inclusion of all pupils
• work in partnership with each other and the LEA and other agencies to meet the needs of all of Norfolk ‘s young people

Schools can reasonably expect the LEA to:

• provide leadership, sustainable structures, appropriate funding and high quality support for their improvement activities
• represent the needs of Norfolk schools with national government and its agencies
• forge partnerships with other organisations where this can aid the raising of standards of achievement
• provide effective and coordinated support for their work in addressing the needs of the most vulnerable children
• provide understandable data on school performance and ensure a thorough understanding of the context in which it operates
• exercise its duty to challenge and, where necessary, intervene

The EDP re-asserts our school improvement principles the first being that t is within the individual school, through the achievements and progress of each individual child, that school improvement is achieved. Therefore, every local school should be a good school.

More than bumping up scores, this second Education Development Plan is about high aspirations, high performance and high participation for education in Norfolk.

We hope all schools will continue to use the EDP as a reference for their own School Improvement and Development Plans and work with the LEA as partners in achieving the ambitions our EDP has for all learners in Norfolk.