{"id":58037,"date":"2015-06-17T10:00:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T10:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ade4cfd8e3d112ddcd67b06ab7d7e2c3"},"modified":"2015-06-17T10:00:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T10:00:07","slug":"press-release-9500-children-in-medway-are-going-to-a-primary-school-that-is-not-yet-good-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=58037","title":{"rendered":"Press release: 9,500 children in Medway are going to a primary school that is not yet good"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ofsted has today published its local authority school improvement inspection of Medway<\/a>, carried out in March. Inspectors found the local authority\u2019s work with weaker primary schools had not driven improvement quickly enough. And, while there were signs of improvement, pupils\u2019 achievements, rates of progress and the proportion of schools judged good or outstanding remain in the lowest 10% of all local authorities nationally.<\/p>\n

The inspection also found that not enough had been done to narrow the achievement gaps between disadvantaged and other pupils across primary, secondary and post-16 education. Arrangements to hold schools to account for their use of pupil premium had not secured good enough outcomes for disadvantaged pupils or those looked after.<\/p>\n

However, the appointment of an interim assistant director for school effectiveness and inclusion in May 2014 is starting to have impact. Historical weaknesses have been tackled and more effective collaboration between successful school leaders, teaching alliances and National and Local Leaders of Education has been developed. Expertise from outside Medway is increasingly being introduced to drive improvement in weaker schools.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the findings, Ofsted Director for the South East, Sir Robin Bosher, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome the recent school improvement work, which has started to show early benefits in the number of schools judged good or better in Ofsted inspections. However, much of this is too recent to see its full impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge the council to use the information, resources and the powers they have at hand to effectively target, support and challenge schools to rapidly improve. The longer a child spends at an underperforming school the more likely their chance to fulfil their potential diminishes. <\/p>\n

\u201cOfsted will continue to monitor Medway council\u2019s arrangements for school improvement and will likely re-inspect it within the next two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ofsted also found that the local authority had not made enough use of its statutory powers to challenge weaker leadership in primary schools, nor has it tackled the unacceptable variations in students\u2019 achievement, attendance and fixed-term exclusion rates in secondary schools. In addition, the council has not made effective representations to the Regional Schools Commissioner where it has concerns regarding academies; 16 out of the 17 secondary schools in Medway are academies.<\/p>\n

However, the council\u2019s early years\u2019 work stood out as a strength. Targeted work has increased the number of children in early years achieving a good level of development, from well below average to above average. Likewise, the proportion of secondary and special schools judged good or outstanding is above that found nationally.<\/p>\n

Areas for improvement include:<\/p>\n