Agenda item

Report ED15132

The Committee considered a report providing an update on the performance of schools across the Borough and the academisation of schools.

There were 95 Local Authority Maintained and academy primary, secondary and special schools in the Borough (excluding free schools and Pupil Referral Units) of which 81% were rated as ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’.  73% of Bromley schools were now academies, which included 94% of secondary schools and 72% of primary schools.  A further 9% of Bromley schools were in progress to converting to academy status and 4% were exploring conversion.  Nine primary schools and three special schools were not actively exploring conversion.

A number of Ofsted inspections had taken place during 2015.  Langley Park Boys School continued to be rated ‘Outstanding’.  Bromley Road Primary School, St George’s CE Primary School, Harris Primary Academy Crystal Palace, and Ravenswood School had seen an increase in their rating to ‘Good’, the Highway Primary School continued to be rated ‘Good’, and Biggin Hill Primary School had seen an increase in its rating to ‘Requires Improvement’.  Red Hill Primary School, Green Street Green Primary School and Raglan Primary School had seen a decrease in their rating to ‘Requires Improvement’, Burwood Special School continued to be rated as ‘Requires Improvement, and Gray’s Farm Primary Academy had seen a decrease in its rating to ‘Inadequate’. 

Indicative results for Key Stages 4 and 5 for the 2014/15 academic year had been released. 

At Key Stage 4, any comparison of results would need to be treated with caution following two major reforms which had impacted the 2013/14 results, however the provisional results for 2014/15 showed a rise in the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C grades from 66% in 2013/14 to 68% in 2014/15.  Bromley remained well above the national average of 56% for 2014/15 and was placed 7^th nationally for this measure.  The provisional percentage of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate had reduced slightly from 35% in 2013/14 to 34% in 2014/15, which was above the national average of 24% for 2014/15.  At the end of Key Stage 4, there was a requirement for schools to show how much progress had made from the end of Key Stage 2 for English and Mathematics with expected progress for pupils achieving a Level 4 at the end of Key Stage 2 being a C grade at the end of Key Stage 4.  In Bromley, 78% of pupils had made expected progress in English and 77% in mathematics against national comparators of, respectively, 70% and 67%, and Bromley was placed 9^th nationally for English and 8^th nationally for Mathematics for this measure.  The gap in performance between pupils eligible for free school meals against other pupils was 27 percentage points, which was a reduction from 29 percentage points for 2013/14, with 46% of pupils eligible for free school meals achieving 5 or more A*-C grades against 73% of other pupils.

The provisional Key Stage 5 results for the 2014/15 academic year showed a drop in the percentage of pupils achieving 3 A*-E grades from 86% in 2013/14 to 80% in 2014/15, although the percentage gaining 3 A*-C grades had increased slightly from 10.4% in 2013/14 to 10.6% in 2014/15, and the average grade remained at C+.  Bromley remained above the national average of 77% of pupils achieving 3 A*-E grades and 10.2% of pupils gaining 3 A*-C grades, and had also performed above the national average grade of C.

In response to a question from a Member, the Director: Education confirmed that of those schools whose rating had reduced following a recent Ofsted inspection, one had been a Local Authority Maintained school and three had been academies.  The Local Authority provided support to Local Authority Maintained schools where improvement was identified as being required, and proactive support was also being given to support ‘Good’ Local Authority Maintained schools to maintain the quality of provision where appropriate.  The Local Authority did not have responsibility for providing school improvement support to academies.

In considering the report, the Chairman noted that a meeting of the School Improvement Panel would be held on 28^th January 2016 and that he would be acting as Chairman.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.