£800k+ school improvement programme launched
A major school improvement programme was launched this week aiming to transform education standards on Teesside.
The initiative, spearheaded by former DfE permanent secretary Sir David Bell, is targeting school standards, deprivation gap, recruitment and retention of teachers and 14-19 education.
The programme is jointly funded by four local authorities – Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton – who each contributed £200,000 to the three-year initiative. The councils hope additional funding can be leveraged in to develop the programme further in the future.
Sir David applauded the initiative, called Transforming Tees, saying that ‘Truthfulness, Tenacity & Teamwork’ were the bedrock of the programme.
More than 200 delegates from across education, public and private sectors attended the launch event at Wynyard Hall.
Former HMI Tom Grieveson, who is leading on data and the disadvantage gap work stream, set the context for the programme saying the North East has the lowest base level of development in England.
While 88% of primary school-aged children had the opportunity to attend a Good or Outstanding school, only 56% were able to attend the equivalent at secondary level.
Assessment over a 3 to 4-year period, he said, showed this was reflected in performance with just 2%-5% of low attainers at primary achieving 5 A*-C at KS4 while 37%-46% of middle attainers (those achieving Level 4 at KS2).
The picture for Free School Meals showed the Tees Valley gap at 27-34% compared with 26% nationally and 30% for the North East region as a whole.
A positive in the 2015 data picture was a strong uplift in performance in Stockton with schools achieving a 60% 5 A*-C. At KS2, Redcar & Cleveland is the highest performing local authority.
Delegates at the launch event were engaged in shaping the future direction of the programme.
Two conferences will be held on November 18 & 19 focusing on Pupil Premium. The Government’s National Pupil Premium champion, Sir John Dunford, has been recruited to support this workstream.
SCHOOLS NorthEast comment: Those familiar with the background work carried out for the North East Schools Challenge will recognise strong elements running through the work underpinning Transforming Tees. That’s unsurprising, particularly given that the real dynamo behind getting this significant improvement programme off the starting blocks is Gill Alexander, former DCS at North Tyneside Council and current Chief Executive at Hartlepool Borough Council. Gill is a leading member of the advisory group working on the North East Schools Challenge.
Gill paid tribute to SCHOOLS NorthEast for its work, particularly by our former Director Beccy Earnshaw and outgoing Chairman David Pearmain, in driving efforts to achieve a regionwide Challenge.
Gill also reflected on the barriers that stood in the way of getting a North East Challenge off the ground, not least the seismic change in the education landscape since 2010.
While we, as a schools-led organisation with active partner schools from Berwick to Saltburn, remain committed to supporting school improvement across the entire North East, we are 100% behind Transforming Tees. We hope it will be a catalyst for co-operation and sharing that will have a tangible impact in the Tees Valley and beyond.