School education Sarah Pollock, Kirsty Whyte
Aims and objectives • The audit aimed to assess how efficiently and effectively councils are using their resources to maximise pupil achievement in schools • 3 main objectives, to examine: • How much councils spend on school education and what they spend it on • How effectively councils are driving forward improvements in pupil achievement • How efficiently councils are using their resources to maximise pupil achievement 2
The attainment gap in Scotland – key facts • 43%: the gap between the highest and lowest performing councils in 2013 in percentage of S4 pupils gaining five at five • 0% - 81%: the gap in 2013 between the lowest and highest performing schools in the country in S4 achieving 5 at 5 • 19 councils: number of councils where the gap between highest and lowest performing schools increased in last decade • 94: Tariff score points gap between pupils from the least and most deprived areas in 2013. Very little change in last five years • 14%: difference in scores between P4 pupils from most and least deprived areas performing well or very well in the SSLN 3
Attainment trends in Eilean Siar 120 1. S4 - English + Maths at level 3 or higher 100 2. S4 - 5 awards at level 3 or higher 3. S4 - 5 awards at level 5 or higher 80 % of pupils achieving 4. S5 - 5 awards at level 5 or higher 5. S5 - 1 award at level 6 or higher 60 6. S5 - 3 awards at level 6 or higher 7. S6 - 1 award at level 6 or higher 40 8. S6 - 3 awards at level 6 or higher 9. S6 - 5 awards at level 6 or higher 20 10. S6 - 1 award at level 7 or higher 0 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 4
Range and spread of performance between schools 5
Attainment vs deprivation 6
Spending on school expenditure – Eilean Siar Scotland averages: £1.1m, 3% £0.5m, £1.0m, 56% Teacher spend 2% 3% £1.1m, 3% 8% Property spend £1.3m, 4% 13% Other employee spend £1.7m, School Transport spend 3% 5% School Meals spend 4% £17.4m, £2.8m, 52% Support services spend 4% 8% Supplies and services 3% £3.2m, spend 10% PFI/PPP spend 4% Repairs, Maintenance £3.4m, 2% and Alterations spend 10% Other 3% 7
How have councils reduced their expenditure Staffing has been a key area of focus. However, not the only focus. Other areas include: • Reducing CPD programmes and training budgets • Increasing music tuition fees/reducing provision • School transport – retendering school contracts, reviewing routes • Property/cleaning facilities management costs • Timetabling efficiency – 33 hour week During the period we reviewed, there was also significant changes to teachers terms and conditions of service which yielded savings 8
Spending and attainment • Looking ahead, spending on school education will continue to come under pressure • Spending more money on education does not guarantee better pupil performance – no correlation from our analysis over the last decade • Councils need to allocate and target their resources effectively. They need to know what works well for them, gather, record, monitor performance. Use the intelligence that is available. • Report identifies a range of commonly understood factors that impact pupil attainment 9
How elected members could be better supported to scrutinise the following areas: Pupil Appropriateness of, Consistency in Knowing what performance and outcomes from performance works between P1-S3 wider achievement between schools activities Clear priorities Specific actions and outcomes in plans Regular performance Information on reporting on Regular outcomes factors affecting pupil Benchmarking data attainment and wider reporting performance achievement 10
Next Steps Attend council committees, to present report findings and engage directly with elected members Data and performance sharing with Education Scotland and individual councils Identifying and scoping potential new education audits arising from our work to date Attendance at education related events to publicise findings from the report and engage with stakeholders Formal impact report will be prepared - Summer 2015 11
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