Management Information Sheet

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back! I do hope you had a really good summer break - for many of us it will have been the first opportunity in a long time to properly switch off, rest or to travel. The start of a new academic year always brings new opportunities, hopes and the excitement of welcoming new students into schools, early years and post 16 settings.

We hope that 2022/23 will be a year without the disruption we have experienced over the last two years. Yet, the new term also brings some new challenges for leading schools and institutions in Norfolk.

The national issues experienced by schools and providers are relatively prominent in the media - budgeting for increased energy costs and expected staff pay increases; recruitment and retention; and managing a wide range and reportedly increased level of need. Of course, these issues in the education system sit within the wider context of the cost-of-living crisis, that will undoubtably affect children and young people in our schools and institutions.

There are also some local challenges we will need to address collectively. Despite the brilliant effort and support that schools and institutions have provided to children and families through the pandemic, the early indications on outcomes don't make easy reading for some age groups.

There are many schools celebrating some great results. Unfortunately, the outcomes for our county suggest that overall children in Norfolk have fallen behind national benchmarks in some key areas. Some outcomes in the primary phase are now further adrift from national averages than before the pandemic. Given the monumental collective effort during the last two years, that's sobering. Alongside the academic outcomes, we also have a similar picture for both inclusion and for SEND. The latest published data suggests that whilst exclusion reduced slightly nationally, they increased to the same degree in Norfolk. The EHCP population in our schools has grown overall since the SEND reforms. However, the number attending mainstream schools has remained fairly static, whereas the number attending special schools and AP has risen by 48% in the same period.

Some of you will recall that we have been in a similar situation previously, where key indicators suggested we were trailing national benchmarks. We also know that our collective efforts paid off and education was much improved as a result. We'll need to take time to understand the data better and will then seek to offer a more tailored programme of support.

Within the next couple of weeks, you will hear from Sara Tough, our Executive Director for Children's Services. Sara will set out some of the priorities and how we would like to work with you on these in her message. She will also outline our plans to increase the investment in some of our own programmes on early help & prevention and on SEND.

We will also update the information about who is who and how to best get hold of the right person within the LA. I am pleased to share with you that following Sebastian Gasse's departure next week, Sam Fletcher will lead the Education Strategy and Infrastructure Service.

We know you will be focused on getting both staff and children/young people off to a good start and we will keep our contact with schools and providers to a minimum in the first few weeks, as we always try to do.

Hope you have a great start to the new academic year!

Yours

Chris