{"id":54984,"date":"2015-03-11T10:24:25","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T10:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=8c6b7a86d44c04858ec6bdfff57379cb"},"modified":"2015-03-11T10:24:25","modified_gmt":"2015-03-11T10:24:25","slug":"press-release-only-50-chance-of-good-secondary-education-for-swindon-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=54984","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Only 50% chance of good secondary education for Swindon children"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following an inspection of Swindon Borough Council\u2019s school improvement arrangements, Ofsted has today (11 March 2015) published its findings.<\/p>\n

Inspectors found the council\u2019s school improvement support in schools was disjointed. Not all stakeholders understood their role and responsibilities for helping schools to get better. As a result, pupils\u2019 GCSE attainment was low and thousands of secondary school children were attending schools that were less than good. <\/p>\n

Bradley Simmons, Ofsted\u2019s Director for the South West, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very concerning that children in Swindon only have a 50% chance of going to a good secondary school. This is compounded by the fact that there are no outstanding secondary schools or academies to help to share effective practice across the borough. As a result, nearly 6,000 pupils are attending a secondary school that is not yet good.<\/p>\n

\u201cSwindon\u2019s primary schools are faring better and the council\u2019s good work with academies and local employers has seen an increase in students completing their education and training, beyond the age of 16. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, more needs to be done to close the attainment gap for disadvantaged children, both at primary and secondary, as well as ensuring the brightest pupils are supported and challenged to achieve the best GCSE results.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the poor performance of the council\u2019s schools and the disjointed school improvement support, Ofsted will carry out a further inspection of the local authority to evaluate its progress in addressing the areas that need urgent improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inspection took place between 1 and 5 December 2014. The findings were based on discussions with Swindon Borough Council, maintained schools and academies, early years and post-16 education providers, outcomes from the focused inspections of a number of schools and academies, and responses from a telephone survey of schools and academies.<\/p>\n

Areas the local authority needs to improve include:<\/p>\n