We must work together to improve, says lead councillor on education

As we get near to the first anniversary of the return to Bradford Council of many Education Services I hope you will have all seen the positive launch – of the Achievement Strategy – which took place recently.

Raising Educational achievement for all children is a key priority for the Council and its partners, so it has been good to be able to build upon the views and ideas of all who contributed to this ambitious and clear statement of our common vision.

It is unfortunate that from time-to-time there will be those who seek to dismiss or belittle the commitment we have made, so it is vital we are clear and dedicated to getting the very best for each and every child.

The people of Bradford should be proud of the way our schools and the young people in them are responding to the new challenges presented by the ending of the contract with Education Bradford.

For the first half of that contract period performance stalled. It was only in the latter years there were signs of progress.

Building on this and with a change in emphasis from the current Government, to the responsibility for school improvement resting with schools, the Council has worked in very close partnership with head teachers and governors to develop its strategy for improvement.

This looks at the progress made and seeks to build on it, focussing on key issues such as the need to ensure our children do not start their educational career at a disadvantage, that they are able to read with fluency and comprehension by the time they leave the primary phase and that outcomes in English and Maths at the end of the secondary phase are addressed. There are some important points to be aware of so we are not in danger of undervaluing the excellent work in classrooms across the district or of undermining the work of our governors and parents as they support head teachers in the constant drive to raise standards. While not wishing to be complacent, it is worth noting that in the primary phase a greater proportion of our schools are judged by Ofsted to be good or better than nationally. Nationally 54 per cent are either good or outstanding whereas in Bradford this figure is 68 per cent.

In 2011 our results at the end of the primary phase for children who reach Level 4, in both English and Mathematics, in their Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) were three per cent below the average for England. However, the rate of progress our children make matches the national average. Now, while we clearly want to improve further, this demonstrates our schools and their leaders are working hard with our support to help children make the progress we all want.

Our secondary schools have worked together across all types of school to ensure they provide a good quality of education irrespective of the postcode from which the pupils come. They have the collective ambition, as do their primary colleagues, that all our schools will be good or better. Indeed, if the outcomes at GCSE are examined closely you will find Bradford children perform only 0.5 per cent below the national average for reaching the goal of at least 5A* - C GCSEs and Bradford children outperform the national average if we look at the outcomes for all examinations at the end of the Year 11.

We do not perform as well when English and Mathematics are included in the 5 GCSEs and this is, therefore, the focus of the education improvement strategy and a key focus of the work of the Bradford Secondary Partnership. Our task is to continue to work to raise educational standards and to foster the sense that all parts of the educational community, the Council, the head teachers, the teaching and non-teaching staff, the governors, the parents and most importantly the children and young people can make a difference if we all pull in the same direction. This joint leadership with effort and commitment is a key to breaking through to greater success.