The council share this latest news. Ed
The Isle of Wight Council has outlined an ambitious but realistic vision for education on the Island.
The Delivering Educational Excellence Strategic Plan for School Improvement aims to deliver all schools rated as good by OFSTED and at least 25 per cent as outstanding over the current term of the council.
The plan sets out four key focus areas that will drive the strategy for school improvement on the Island:
- Ensuring that all schools are good or better;
- Building on the improvements in standards;
- Ensuring schools are good for all children;
- Leading a cohesive system for children based on effective partnership working.
Commitment to work closely with all schools
Cabinet councillor for Children’s services, Cllr Chris Whitehouse, said:
“The Isle of Wight Council is pledged to improve the education of all pupils on the Island. We expect that every pupil will have access to a place in a good or better school by 2020/21. More than that, we are committed to driving up standards, step by step, for all pupils whatever their background or starting point.
“The past few weeks have already seen evidence of improving standards on our Island, with Niton primary school and Northwood Academy primary school all moving from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’, in their recent OFSTED rating last month (May).
“This strategic plan sets out the actions and underlines our commitment to working closely with all schools on the Island, irrespective of status and governance arrangements, to support their pursuit of high standards. This entails building strong partnerships with a diverse range of stakeholders, organisations, sponsors, businesses and further education institutions who share our ambitions for our pupils.”
The four key focus areas are aimed at improving further the quality of education in Isle of Wight Schools, with every child having access to a place in a “good” or “better” OFSTED rated school by 2020/21.
Key strategic objectives
There are four key strategic objectives that will drive the strategy for school improvement:
- Ensuring that all schools are good or better
Isle of Wight Council will provide appropriate challenge and support to all schools, irrespective of status and governance, to strengthen their performance, improve professional learning opportunities and play our part in strengthening recruitment and tackling financial challenges. - Building on the improvements in standards
Isle of Wight Council will maintain a keen focus on schools’ drive to improve the standards achieved by all their pupils. The council will ensure that there are opportunities for sharing and developing excellent practice in the teaching of mathematics. The council will facilitate the development of stronger transition arrangements between the primary and secondary phases. - Ensuring schools are good for all children
Isle of Wight Council will challenge and support schools to do more for children with lower attainment on entry to education, or who fall behind their peers. An excellent Island schools’ system needs to deliver for all children, irrespective of their start in life or barriers to learning and participation. The council will continue our work in highlighting effective practices, working with a wide range of partners to develop expertise in each school. - Leading a cohesive system for children based on effective partnership working
The leadership needed to transform life chances for all our children resides in schools, colleges, partner organisations, employers and our communities themselves. The council intends to play our part in brokering the appropriate partnerships and collaborations to realise this potential and offset possible fragmentation and distraction. We will offer strategic leadership so that the Island’s education system is a source of pride to all.
For each objective above, the strategic plan sets out a rationale and identifies the strategies that will be used over the next two years to realise the council’s educational ambition.
The draft strategic plan is due to go before Policy and Scrutiny Committee for Children’s Services on 29 June.
