School improvements 'a main priority'
The county's new director of children's services has placed school improvement as one of his main priorities.
Paul Burnett, who was appointed six weeks ago, said he wanted to raise the level of support in schools in the special measures or notices to improve category.
He said: "There are a number of schools which are in the causes for concern category and it is certainly an area which we need to look at.
"It will give me the opportunity to evaluate the performance of the authority and look at the important strategies that need to be recognised and sustained in the right areas.
"The key is deploying intervention where it is most needed in order for the measures to be successful.
"We have already started a review of the support and we will be making some announcement about its progress in the new year."
Other targets outlined by Mr Burnett include improving health and reducing inequality and reducing re-offending rates.
Mr Burnett, a former teacher at Campion School, Bugbrooke, replaces Andrew Sortwell, who left earlier this year. Mr Burnett left Greenwich Council – a London metropolitan borough authority with no schools in special measures – to return to the Northamptonshire authority.
Mr Burnett said he was not surprised by OFSTED'S findings on the schools.
He said: "Before I joined Northamptonshire County Council I was aware of the issues with schools in the causes for concern category. I had done my research.
"The increase of schools in this (causes of concern) category is not a issue solely in Northamptonshire but it is happening in other parts of the country."
Mr Burnett also stressed that schools struggling to cope with extra influx of foreign pupils should not be overly worried about the extra numbers impacting their OFSTED inspection.
He said:"I certainly think that there is an increase in the diversity of the pupil population and it's all about improving the chances for those children to access the curriculum by ensuring the support is in the right place.
"For children whose first language is not English, they have to adapt to different culture and different system of education. The key thing OFSTED will be looking at is how schools support these children. They will be looking at it positively."
lei.chan@northantsnews.co.uk
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