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Ofsted grades for Northern Powerhouse schools “far too closely linked to APS on entry”, Sir Nick Weller tells North East Heads

The school leader chosen to lead a Government review of school performance in the North has highlighted a worrying correlation between average point scores (APS) and Ofsted outcomes, leaders attending the SCHOOLS NorthEast Annual General Meeting heard.

Sir Nick Weller, head of the Northern Powerhouse schools review, published researched showing the breakdown of all Ofsted judgements and the corresponding APS on intake. The data showed those schools with lower APS were far more likely to be given a Requires Improvement or Inadequate inspection grade.

Sir Nick also told the audience that Northern schools were lagging behind the rest of the country in part due to the region taking a “conservative” approach to Government reforms: “the North needs to respond better to curriculum reform, possibly be less conservative in order to raise standards”. In particular, he felt the Northern region was suffering a lack of Ark or Harris MAT equivalents that could lead on developments around the school day and curriculum innovation.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQpGF_lRXeU]

He added that there are fewer NLEs and LLEs and they are in the “wrong places”, and identified significant areas for concern, particularly around governance, where the Northern region has schools with more “representative” rather than “skills-based” governing bodies. Sir Nick recommended creating more urban Teaching School Alliances and NLEs, focusing academisation more strongly on school improvement and, very significantly for the North East, “breaking down mono-cultural disadvantage”, by focusing very specifically on “moral purpose”.

Quoting IPPR North’s report about Northern schools “Putting education at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse”, Sir Nick mentioned that pupils in the region are at a considerable disadvantage compared to their peers in London, as the North-South divide starts before children reach school age: “Children start off in the worst state in the North and the gap only widens”.

A focus in Sir Nick’s speech in front of a 50-strong audience of Head Teachers was recruitment and retention, and development of leadership. He pointed out the increasing wastage and loss of teaching talent from the profession: “this isn’t worse in the North than across the country, which I found surprising”.

The feedback received from Head Teachers in the audience focused on MATs, transitioning from primary to secondary, governance, partnerships and aspirations.

The strategy devised to improve education in the Northern Powerhouse was given £70m over the span of three and a half years to build capacity and raise standards in the region’s schools. It was announced by former Chancellor George Osborne. Sir Nick said the review of the sector in the Northern region will consider analysis of data on underperformance and possible underlying factors.

The SCHOOLS NorthEast Annual General Meeting took place on Friday 16th September, at the Durham Centre. The AGM provided Head Teachers from across the region with the opportunity to shape the organisation’s priorities and work programme for the coming academic year.

  • Sir Nick Weller will be speaking at the SCHOOLS NorthEast annual Summit at St James’ Park, Newcastle on Thursday, October 13. To book a place, please email info@schoolsnortheast.com

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