New strategy to help Northamptonshire children succeed
A major strategy has been developed to ensure Northamptonshire's children and young people develop the skills to build a successful life in the 21st century.
Northamptonshire County Council's school improvement plan is designed to reduce the number of schools ranked as inadequate by Ofsted, a figure which is currently above the national average.
The strategy includes the introduction of new School Improvement Partners, which will work with schools to raise standards, identify problems early and recommend they are put into one of four categories to indicate how well they are doing and where they need to improve.
The county council cabinet member for education, Councillor Joan Kirkbride, said: "We're particularly concerned about our schools which are getting poor Ofsted inspections.
"We have been praised for the work we do to support schools when they're in this position, but that position is not good for the staff, parents or pupils.
"This strategy is designed to make sure we get into schools much earlier to identify problems sooner and work with schools to overcome them before Ofsted inspections."
The county council's intervention powers range from setting up task groups to monitor and improve standards through to closing schools as a final resort. Councillor Kirkbride has stressed no schools are facing imminent closure.
The latest figures, obtained by the Chronicle & Echo, reveal a disproportionate number of the 277 county schools which have been inspected under Ofsted's new framework only have satisfactory or inadequate grades for the quality of their teaching and learning, compared with national findings.
A total of 232 county primary schools were inspected, but only five per cent were rated excellent, compared with a national average of 11 per cent.
Nine per cent of secondary schools were rated excellent, compared with eight per cent nationally, and nine per cent of special schools were given the top grade, compared with 18 per cent across the country.
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