Management Information Sheet

This week's publication of a letter from Ofsted to Lisa Christensen summarises the results of the focused inspection of 28 Norfolk schools in March and confirms that there are important areas for development in the way that school improvement takes place locally.

Since early in the year, plans have been developed between Headteachers, Governors, the Local Authority (LA) and others for a renewed approach to the way in which the LA supports and challenges schools to undertake their own improvement. On 8 April, Norfolk's Cabinet approved this new strategy known as 'A Good School for Every Norfolk Learner'.

A Good School for Every Norfolk Learner

Norfolk County Council is determined that robust and effective support and challenge is provided for all of the schools attended by Norfolk children and young people. This reflects the LA's role as 'champion for all children and families'. It also chimes with current practice amongst Local Authorities where a sharp focus in being given to securing educational standards, to ensuring the availability of a school place for every child and to safeguarding the more vulnerable.

To this end, a wide range of strategic partnerships - with Headteachers, Governors and their associations, with our Teaching Schools, with Academy sponsors, with Ofsted and school inspectors, with other Local Authorities, with teacher unions - are being developed in order to establish the context within which Norfolk education will improve.

Norfolk County Council concurs with Ofsted's chief inspector in asserting that a good school place for every child must be the shared aspiration of all partners in the education system. The Council's policy - developed with its partners on the Service Improvement Board - on support and challenge for school improvement is set out in 'A Good School for Every Norfolk Learner' that was approved by Norfolk County Council's Cabinet on 8 April 2013.

This note provides an overview of our approach and a signpost to companion documents that will provide greater detail in due course.

MI Sheets will be issued on 24 May and 7 June with full information and this will also be discussed at Termly Headteacher Meetings on 6, 11 and 12 June.

Current context

Ofsted gradings for Norfolk schools were as follows (September 2012).

		Outstanding	Good	% Good or better	Requires Improvement	Inadequate	% Less than Good
Secondary	England	26%	40%	66%	30%	3%	33%
	East of England	23%	39%	62%	33%	4%	37%
	Norfolk	15% (7)	32% (14)	47% (21)	43% (19)	11% (5)	54% (24)
Primary	England	18%	51%	69%	29%	2%	31%
	East of England	17%	49%	66%	31%	3%	34%
	Norfolk	10% (36)	50% (180)	60% (216)	38% (136)	2% (7)	40% 143

Next Steps

Norfolk County Council's renewed approach to supporting and challenging schools to improve is described in the cabinet paper of 8 April 2013. This gives a high level indication of how the LA will play its role especially during the period to Autumn 2015, by which time we intend to see the proportion of good or better Norfolk schools being at least in line with the proportion nationally.

A particular commitment of the County Council is to provide a new means for the large number of schools that 'require improvement' to be supported and challenged as they move towards becoming at least 'good'. This programme, to be directed through NIEAS and provided by the broadest possible range of strategic partners, is known as 'Norfolk to Good and Great' (N2GG)

Six pamphlets will provide greater detail on approaches to supporting and challenging school improvement. These are:

Towards Good Achievement for All describes how we monitor and assess the risk of each Norfolk school not providing a good education.

Intervention for Excellence gives the detail on how we undertake intervention activity with schools regarded by Ofsted or the LA as 'schools causing concern'. It explains how we use statutory powers of intervention as well as more informal means. It includes detail on how we work with all kinds of schools - LA maintained, Academies, Free Schools - that fall beneath minimum expectations.

Partnership for Improvement explains our critical role as convener of partnerships as we seek to champion the educational needs of all Norfolk children. It outlines our work with schools as they seek to improve through structural solutions.

Norfolk to Good and Great describes this new programme and its work in drawing together relevant resources in bearing down upon those schools that 'require improvement'.

Excellent Services for Schools illustrates the services that support teaching and learning, leadership and management in schools through traded activity.

Enterprising Commissioning highlights the ways in which the County Council's promotion of an enterprising Norfolk culture has a bearing on school improvement in the broadest sense.

Ofsted Focused Inspection, March 2013

During March, a concentrated phase of Ofsted inspections took place in Norfolk. This was triggered by Norfolk schools' relatively poor showing in the proportion of schools judged to be good or better. Part of the focus was on perceptions of the coherence of the education system and on the extent to which the Local Authority plays its role in drawing the system together. A letter from Sean Harford, the Regional Director of Ofsted, summarises some of the key perceptions. These included areas for development:

• Develop a clear strategy for school improvement
• Communicate this to all schools and partners and ensure they understand this
• The LA should intervene earlier and more robustly, where possible making better use of current good or better school leaders from the outset

The revised approach contained in 'A Good School for Every Norfolk Learner' has the potential to address the areas for development contained in Ofsted's letter. The clear explanation and communication of this will unfold over the next few weeks. We all need to see the impact following rapidly behind.

Conclusion

Norfolk County Council and its partners recognise that school standards in Norfolk are not good enough. We seek to accelerate improvement as a matter of urgency and wish to capitalise on the range of expertise that can make this happen. We are keen to clarify roles, responsibilities and accountabilities. The responsibility of schools for their own improvement needs to be understood alongside the LA's role as champion of all children and, as such, its role in intervening (including removing certain delegated authority) if circumstances require this.

We look forward to working with a broad range of existing and new partners as we make rapid progress.