SCHOOLS in Bradford will have to do more to show that they are taking "immediate action" to improve standards after an independent report said efforts were moving too slowly.

Professor Andrew Woods, an academic expert, released his report last month into the why Bradford was not making good enough progress in improving educational standards.

Among the concerns raised in the report was the "pace of action" of the various education boards in Bradford and more immediate actions to be put in place.

Now, the Council has revealed how it is taking his recommendations on board - getting tougher on schools that under perform, new training for staff, and setting up "non-negotiable" programmes of improvement.

Prof Woods had made 17 recommendations, and these are now being merged with an ongoing 15-point improvement plan the Council adopted last year.

Since the report, schools will now be told what outcomes are needed, rather than just what actions they should take to improve.

Schools that are judged "inadequate" or to "require improvement" will be required to take part in a programme to make sure they are good by their next inspection.

The Bradford Partnership is a group made up of schools across the district, and as a result of the report, they have now produced five markers of secondary school improvement, which are also "non-negotiable".

They are aspirational ethos, determined leadership, performance management, systematic marking and feedback, and student progress and intervention.

Prof Woods has also been invited to the annual conference of the Bradford Partnership, made up of schools across the district, which is taking place on January 29 and 30.

Councillor Ralph Berry, executive for children's services on the Labour-run Council, said: "The schools are a part of these plans to improve too, it is not just us dropping these changes on them.

"There has been a complete shift in gear, there was a view that new procedures were not being embraced quickly enough.

"There has to be a singular focus on improving. The Council is constantly checking on how schools are doing."

Councillor Malcolm Sykes, chairman of the Council's children's services scrutiny committee who helped create a 15-point plan to improve schools last year.

He suggested that the Woods report recommendations be merged with these 15 points.

Cllr Sykes said: "We wanted to make sure all the different plans of how schools could improve came together. We wanted these points to be acted on much earlier, but it is good that the Council is toughening up on school improvement."

Michael Jameson, strategic director of children's services, said the Council had been working "at a pace" on the recommendations.

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