Management Information Sheet
Target Setting for 2007 - Key Stages 3 and 4; Absence Targets; School Self Evaluation
TO ALL SECONDARY HEADTEACHERS AND CHAIRS OF GOVERNORS
From: Fred Corbett
In the interests of continuous improvement, targets should be ambitious, rather than safe predictions of pupil performance. The Local Authority is required to submit these targets to the DfES. Although the statutory requirement to set and report targets applies only to the targets for 2007, the DfES is encouraging Local Authorities and schools to look further ahead than one year and set a trajectory to 2008.
The White Paper '14-19 Education and Skills' sets out the DfES commitment to see more young people achieve the basics in English and mathematics. To reflect this the DfES is piloting a new performance indicator, showing the proportion of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSEs or equivalent including English and mathematics in the 2005 School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables. As the DfES does not want to pre-empt decisions on the exact indicator to be reported in the Tables from 2006, they have not changed the statutory requirements on schools and Local Authorities this year. However, it is important that we as a Local Authority and you in schools begin to plan now for English and mathematics to be an integral part of the target setting arrangements. Therefore we are recommending and encouraging you to set and report an additional 5 or more A*-C or equivalent target which includes English and mathematics (either GCSE or other level 2 key skills and basic skills regarded as functional equivalents).
We are committed to supporting you, through your RDAs, and by the provision of additional relevant data. Once again this year we will be providing you with customised data to support the target setting process. We have continued working in collaboration with the Fischer Family Trust to provide this data (if you would like more information on the work of the Fischer Family Trust please contact Chris Jackson in the Management Information Centre, 01603 224223). Although the Fischer Trust data for Key Stage 3 is already available, the Key Stage 4 estimates based on Key Stage 3 will not be available yet as they are based on the Summer 2005 results, which are currently being analysed. The Key Stage 4 based on Key Stage 3 estimates will be forwarded to you by the end of October. If, in the meantime, you would like a database containing your Key Stage 4 estimates based on Key Stage 2, together with all your Fischer Family Trust data, please contact Chris Jackson on the above number.
Schools are requested to use the Fischer Trust data and other local and national data to support their own internal data analysis systems to set proposed school targets. Schools will need to submit provisional targets to RDAs by Friday 11th November. This will enable the Local Authority to have an early view of schools' targets and begin the process of aggregation to identify and agree a Local Authority target. The school's proposed targets will then be discussed with the RDA and, if possible, a Governing Body representative, when the RDA visits the school in the second half of the Autumn Term. At this meeting the school will need to agree the final 2007 targets, which must be ratified by the Governors, and submitted to the Local Authority via EsiNet:
http://www.esinet.norfolk.gov.uk/stratinfra/targetsetting05/, by Friday 9th December 2005 at the latest. This will enable us to collate all targets to meet as required the statutory 31st December deadline.
To enable this programme to be carried out effectively we would like to work to the timescales indicated on the attached timetable. This would also involve the setting and submission of statutory absence targets. The RDA will be available to discuss and advise on each of these procedures and, at the end of the process, we will be evaluating the effectiveness of this approach. RDAs will also be encouraging schools to set a trajectory for future progress and to look ahead now to where you might expect to be in 2008. In this task RDAs will both support and challenge schools to justify their trajectory and where they have set a particularly ambitious target, show how they intend to meet this or if an unambitious target has been set how this can be improved.
The Education Act 2005 introduces new inspection arrangements in England from September 2005. The Act provides an outline framework for the new school inspection programme. OFSTED have, over the past months, been developing this outline framework and piloting programmes to test and assess the practical workings of a new inspection system. This has resulted in the development of a new inspection framework, incorporating the Every Child Matters agenda as set out in the 2004 Children's Act, that meets the section 5 requirements of the 2005 Act.
At the heart of this process is the School Self-Review process. We know that most schools have become very effective in self-evaluation. The quality of your self-evaluation is the key to successful inspections and central to co-ordinating your approach to school development and improvement. Therefore we have made supporting you with self-evaluation as one of our highest priorities, again your RDA will be able to help you with advice and further support with this.
Attached to this letter are:
Schools' Target Setting Timetable Secondary Schools - Autumn 2005
Information Sheet 1: Setting Targets - Target Setting for 2007 - Secondary Phase
Information Sheet 2: School Self Review
Setting Targets for 2007 - Secondary Schools
School Absence Target Setting Proforma
School Self Evaluation (SEF) - Secondary Phase Local Authority Proforma - Summative Grades
School Self Evalution / Review - Improving Quality
From: Fred Corbett
Target Setting for 2007 - Key Stages 3 and 4; School Self Evaluation 2005 (Ref MI 165/05)
As you will know, all schools are required to set targets this autumn for the current Y10 students' GCSE results in 2007, and the current Y8 students' Key Stage 3 results in English, Mathematics, Science and ICT (TA) in 2007. Schools are responsible for setting and publishing their own targets for raising pupils' attainment in discussion with the Local Authority. The target setting regulations require schools to set the statutory targets by the end of December 2005 for Summer 2007. We will be working with you to have provisional targets set by Friday 11th November 2005.In the interests of continuous improvement, targets should be ambitious, rather than safe predictions of pupil performance. The Local Authority is required to submit these targets to the DfES. Although the statutory requirement to set and report targets applies only to the targets for 2007, the DfES is encouraging Local Authorities and schools to look further ahead than one year and set a trajectory to 2008.
The White Paper '14-19 Education and Skills' sets out the DfES commitment to see more young people achieve the basics in English and mathematics. To reflect this the DfES is piloting a new performance indicator, showing the proportion of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSEs or equivalent including English and mathematics in the 2005 School and College Achievement and Attainment Tables. As the DfES does not want to pre-empt decisions on the exact indicator to be reported in the Tables from 2006, they have not changed the statutory requirements on schools and Local Authorities this year. However, it is important that we as a Local Authority and you in schools begin to plan now for English and mathematics to be an integral part of the target setting arrangements. Therefore we are recommending and encouraging you to set and report an additional 5 or more A*-C or equivalent target which includes English and mathematics (either GCSE or other level 2 key skills and basic skills regarded as functional equivalents).
We are committed to supporting you, through your RDAs, and by the provision of additional relevant data. Once again this year we will be providing you with customised data to support the target setting process. We have continued working in collaboration with the Fischer Family Trust to provide this data (if you would like more information on the work of the Fischer Family Trust please contact Chris Jackson in the Management Information Centre, 01603 224223). Although the Fischer Trust data for Key Stage 3 is already available, the Key Stage 4 estimates based on Key Stage 3 will not be available yet as they are based on the Summer 2005 results, which are currently being analysed. The Key Stage 4 based on Key Stage 3 estimates will be forwarded to you by the end of October. If, in the meantime, you would like a database containing your Key Stage 4 estimates based on Key Stage 2, together with all your Fischer Family Trust data, please contact Chris Jackson on the above number.
Schools are requested to use the Fischer Trust data and other local and national data to support their own internal data analysis systems to set proposed school targets. Schools will need to submit provisional targets to RDAs by Friday 11th November. This will enable the Local Authority to have an early view of schools' targets and begin the process of aggregation to identify and agree a Local Authority target. The school's proposed targets will then be discussed with the RDA and, if possible, a Governing Body representative, when the RDA visits the school in the second half of the Autumn Term. At this meeting the school will need to agree the final 2007 targets, which must be ratified by the Governors, and submitted to the Local Authority via EsiNet:
http://www.esinet.norfolk.gov.uk/stratinfra/targetsetting05/, by Friday 9th December 2005 at the latest. This will enable us to collate all targets to meet as required the statutory 31st December deadline.
To enable this programme to be carried out effectively we would like to work to the timescales indicated on the attached timetable. This would also involve the setting and submission of statutory absence targets. The RDA will be available to discuss and advise on each of these procedures and, at the end of the process, we will be evaluating the effectiveness of this approach. RDAs will also be encouraging schools to set a trajectory for future progress and to look ahead now to where you might expect to be in 2008. In this task RDAs will both support and challenge schools to justify their trajectory and where they have set a particularly ambitious target, show how they intend to meet this or if an unambitious target has been set how this can be improved.
The Education Act 2005 introduces new inspection arrangements in England from September 2005. The Act provides an outline framework for the new school inspection programme. OFSTED have, over the past months, been developing this outline framework and piloting programmes to test and assess the practical workings of a new inspection system. This has resulted in the development of a new inspection framework, incorporating the Every Child Matters agenda as set out in the 2004 Children's Act, that meets the section 5 requirements of the 2005 Act.
At the heart of this process is the School Self-Review process. We know that most schools have become very effective in self-evaluation. The quality of your self-evaluation is the key to successful inspections and central to co-ordinating your approach to school development and improvement. Therefore we have made supporting you with self-evaluation as one of our highest priorities, again your RDA will be able to help you with advice and further support with this.
Attached to this letter are:
- Target setting Timetable
- Information Sheet 1 - Setting Targets
- Information Sheet 2 - School Self Review
- KS3 and 4 Target Setting Proforma
- School Absence Target Setting Proforma
- School Self-Evaluation (SEF) Proforma
- RDA Autumn Term visit agenda
Schools' Target Setting Timetable Secondary Schools - Autumn 2005
Information Sheet 1: Setting Targets - Target Setting for 2007 - Secondary Phase
Information Sheet 2: School Self Review
Setting Targets for 2007 - Secondary Schools
School Absence Target Setting Proforma
School Self Evaluation (SEF) - Secondary Phase Local Authority Proforma - Summative Grades
School Self Evalution / Review - Improving Quality