Meeting documents

Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub-Committee (DCC)
Thursday 3 January 2008


            Meeting: Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub-Committee (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 1a - 03/01/2008 10:00:00 AM)

                  Item: A7 Quarter 2 2007/08 Performance


         

Report of the Head of Corporate Policy
1. The purpose of this report is to provide an update of quarter 2 performance for the authority’s priorities relevant to our Corporate Aim, Developing Lifelong Learning.

2. To gain maximum impact of performance management intelligence from Performance Plus, the Authority’s performance management system, tolerances and milestones have been set for 2007/08 targets.



3. It should be noted that all examination results reported during quarter 2 relate to 2007 examinations so are provisional and subject to change due to remarks, missing results, queries etc. Therefore, it is anticipated that there will be a slight change to the performance of all examination-related indicators. Final figures will be available during December 2007 and will be reported to the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub-committee of the 31 March 2008.


4. Performance and comments relating to indicators relevant to the Corporate Aim, Developing Lifelong Learning is reported in Appendix A.

TO VIEW APPENDIX A PLEASE REFER TO THE PDF ATTACHMENT OR ALTERNATIVELY REFER
TO HARD COPIES HELD IN CORPORATE SERVICES OR THE COUNTY RECORD OFFICE

An overview of performance is as follows;

Direction of Travel since
year-end 2006/07
Number of measures
% of total
Improved
2054%
Maintained
411%


Deteriorated
1130%
No comparison data (N/a)*
2
5%
Total
37
*Participation in and outcomes from Youth Work: recorded outcomes (BV 221a) and accredited outcomes (BV 221b) are reported cumulatively so no comparative data is available.
Comparison to target
Number of measures
% of total
On target (<10% better)
1335%
Over performance (>10%
better)
719%
Worse than target
1541%
No quarterly milestone (N/a)
2
5%
Total
37
*Participation in and outcomes from Youth Work: recorded outcomes (BV 221a) and accredited outcomes (BV 221b) are reported cumulatively and no quarterly milestones have been set
Comparison to 2007/08 target
Number of measures
% of total
Predicted to be on target at 2007/08 year-end
18/29*
62%
*8 measures do not have a year-end prediction

5. 5 indicators aligned to Developing Lifelong Learning are included in the authority’s priorities for improvement. Of these indicators four were updated during quarter 2. The following table summarises the performance of these indicators.

Achieved target
Did not achieve target
Improved from year-end
 5 or more A*-C GCSEs (BV 38)

Average points at KS4 (LAA C&YP 06a)

 5 or more A*-C GCSEs, including English and Maths (BV 38a)
Deteriorated from year-end
 KS4 mean point score gap for boys and girls (PFI 02c)

Points to Note

· Average mean point score gap for all girls and boys at Key Stage 4 (PFI 2c)
The following actions are being implemented to narrow the gap between boys and girls, a) School Improvement Partners (SIPs) to work with schools, b) conference support to discuss methods of improving boys’ performance, c) curriculum changes to best suit boys’ temperament (PE courses), d) school’s audit to pinpoint areas for improvement, e) professional development days to continue to improve teachers’ work.

· % of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C or equivalent, including English and Maths (BV 38a)
Although the 2007 target was not achieved, performance of this indicator is continuing to improve. Consultants are going into schools helping improve processes (Improving Success programme, KS3-Secondary National Strategy, How to Improve Teaching and Learning, Visits to Specialist Departments). To ‘narrow the gap’ boys’ are being given extra help to improve both their handwriting and their ability to write correctly. Additional funding is being invested, e.g. Booster Funding which is available at the end of primary school (year 6). The Learning Environment is being improved, with a Behavioural, Social and Emotional Strategy. An appropriate climate for learning is being created within classrooms and pupil participation is encouraged at all levels.

6. A summary of all other indicators reported during quarter 2 is shown in the table below,

Achieved target
Did not achieve target
Improved from year-end
 Level 5 in KS2 English (BV 194a)

Half days missed - primary schools (BV 46)

Distance LAC placed from home (PAF C69)

Visits/uses to museums & galleries in person / school groups (BV 170b / c)

Scheduled opening hours of libraries (PLSS 02)

Active borrowers (CPA C04)

Leaving care with at least 1 A*-G GCSE or GNVQ (BV 50)

Level 5 in KS3 ICT (BV 181d)

 Level 5 in KS3 English (BV 181a)

5 or more A*-G GCSEs, including English and Maths (BV 39)

Level 5 in KS3 Science (BV 181c)

Level 4 in KS2 Maths (BV 40)

Level 4 in KS2 English (BV 41)

Early education and childcare - qualified to level 4 or above (BV 222a)

Statements of SEN (BV 43a, b)
Remained static
 Early education and childcare - graduate / postgraduate (BV 222b)

Households within 2 miles of library (PLSS 01)

Libraries with access to internet (PLSS 03)

 PLSS compliance (BV 220)
Deteriorated from year-end
 Library workstations with access to internet (PLSS 04)

% requests for books met (PLSS 05)

Physical visits to libraries (PLSS 06)

Rights of way that are easy to use (BV 178)

 Level 5 in KS3 Maths (BV 181b)

Level 5 in KS2 Maths (BV 194b)

Visits/uses to museums & galleries (BV 170a)

Accredited / recorded outcomes (BV 221a /b)

16-18 year olds NEET (LAA C&YP 10a)
Participation in and outcomes from Youth Work: recorded outcomes (BV 221a) and accredited outcomes (BV 221b) are reported cumulatively so no comparative data or milestones are available.



Areas of concern
(indicators not achieving quarter 2 target with deteriorating performance since 06/07 year-end)

· % of pupils achieving Level 5 in Key Stage 3 test in Mathematics (BV 181b)
Although performance has deteriorated slightly (from 76.9% to 76.2%), it is in line with the national average.

· % of pupils achieving Level 5 in Key Stage 2 test in Mathematics (BV 194b)
Although performance has deteriorated slightly (from 33.62% to 32.9%), it is in line with the national average.


· % of 16-18 year olds Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) (LAA C&YP 10a)
At the 30 September 2007 12.6% of 16-18 year olds were NEET, compared to 18.6% at 30 September 2006.

· Number of visits to / uses of local authority funded or part-funded museums and galleries per 1,000 population (BV170a)
For the purpose of this indicator ‘visits / uses’ includes the number of website hits. During the first quarter of 2007/08, the website for Killhope received 50% less hits than usual. This decrease was due to an inappropriate website no longer accessing the Killhope website. Although, it appears that performance of this indicator has fallen, previous data included hits from the inappropriate website. In addition, visits to Binchester and Killhope have been affected by the poor weather. Killhope Museum took top prize with a Gold Award in the new Sustainable Tourism category of the North East England Tourism Awards 2007.


7. Of those indicators where it has been possible to provide a year-end prediction, 18 (62%) are expected to meet their year-end targets. 11 indicators are not expected to meet their year-end targets. They are;

· BV 038a - % of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C or equivalent, including English and Maths
See paragraph 5 for explanation

· Average mean point score gap for all girls and boys at Key Stage 4 (PFI 02c)
See paragraph 5 for explanation

· % of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-G or equivalent, including English and Maths (BV 39)
Performance of this indicator reached 89.8%, 0.2 percentage points lower than target. This is 2.2 percentage points higher than that achieved during 2006 examination results.

· % of 14 year old pupils achieving level 5 or above in the Key Stage 3 test in English (BV 181a)
Provisional results show that performance has improved during 2007 from 69.19% to 71% and has closed the gap on national average.

· % of 14 year old pupils achieving level 5 or above in the Key Stage 3 test in Maths (BV 181b)
Although performance has deteriorated slightly (from 76.9% to 76.2%), it is in line with the national average.

· % of 14 year old pupils achieving level 5 or above in the Key Stage 3 test in Science (BV 181c)
Provisional results show that performance has improved during 2007 from 71.74% to 72%. Performance is in line with the national average.

· % of 11 year old pupils achieving level 4 or above in the Key Stage 2 test in Maths (BV 40)
Performance of 78.9% puts the authority at the national average.

· % of 11 year old pupils achieving level 4 or above in the Key Stage 2 test in English (BV 41)
An improved performance of 1.6 percentage points places the authority above the national average for this indicator.

· % of 11 year old pupils achieving level 5 in the Key Stage 2 test in Maths (BV 194b)
See paragraph 6 for explanation

· BV 043a - % of proposed statement of Special Educational Need (SEN) issued and prepared within 18 weeks, excluding exceptions
1 child out of 108 had their statement issued outside the 18 weeks time period

· BV 043b - % of proposed statement of Special Educational Need (SEN) issued and prepared within 18 weeks, including exceptions
1 child out of 132 had their statement issued outside the 18 weeks time period


8. It is recommended that Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Sub-Committee Members:
(i) note the contents of this report
(ii) agree to receiving subsequent quarterly performance progress reports

Contact: Debra Kitching Tel: 0191 383 4186



Attachments


 LLL Q2.pdf;
 LLL Scrutiny Q2 0708.pdf