Why this matters
Educational attainment gives young people greater opportunities for employment or further or higher education. It enables them to participate in society, contributing to their community and the economy. Some vulnerable groups of children and young people may need more support to help them achieve. This may be because of barriers caused by social, environmental or medical reasons.
In Nottinghamshire, overall educational attainment continues to improve each year at a higher rate than the national average. Attainment by those from vulnerable groups is also increasing, but at a slower rate, thus widening the achievement gap between these learners and their peers. We need to work to reduce this gap, while continuing to promote achievement for all.
Needs analysis and performance evidence have identified that our priority is the attainment of children with special educational needs (SEN) and of those who have problems with behaviour or attendance. This work links to the Nottinghamshire Early Intervention and Prevention Strategy [PDF 756KB]
, as resolving issues early is cost effective and promotes better outcomes.
What we will do
Nottinghamshire County Council works in partnership with schools and other providers and agencies to raise the standard of achievement for all children and young people. This includes local partnership working through School, Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships and Joint Access Teams.
Work to reduce the achievement gap has two main strands:
- review and update behaviour and attendance strategies
- implement the review of inclusion services.
The County Council will also continue to develop its relationship with schools, promoting its policy that ‘every school should be a good school’ and improving educational opportunities for all.
The review and update of behaviour and attendance strategies will:
- develop four types of provision for learners with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties: 1) mainstream schools 2) support through partnership working 3) short stay provision 4) specialist provision
- establish clear pathways to provision
- refocus the County Council’s behaviour and attendance service.
The review of inclusion services focuses on pupils with SEN and builds on the work of the Achievement for All (AfA) project. It will
- reshape support services to focus on children with the most complex needs
- develop relationships with partners, such as major providers, and university links to ensure support for schools
- provide core services to schools who are at risk of failing, including data analysis and challenge/support
- enhance SEN and AfA networks enabling schools to support and advise each other.
When we will do this
We will have implemented the behaviour and attendance strategies by September 2011 and completed the review of inclusion services by March 2012.
How this will improve the lives of children, young people and families
Our three key indicators of progress in reducing the achievement gap are:
- attainment in early years foundation stage
- attainment at Key Stage 4
- the achievement gap between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers achieving the expected level at Key Stage 4.
We will use a range of other measures to monitor progress in improving services, including exclusion rates and numbers of pupils in out-of school provision.
For more information
- Nottinghamshire County Council Children, Families and Cultural Services Business Plan
- Achievement for All project at www.nsonline.org.uk
