21 st Century Learning Commission IN Salford

1. 21st Century Learning Commission IN Salford

2. Salford’s 21st Century Vision • We want our learners to be successful, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve. • We want our learners to be confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives. • We also want our learners to be responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.

3. Independent Review of our system offer

4. Salford’s Non-Negotiables • Further improve and impact on attainment, progress and well-being outcomes for Salford’s young people. • Supporting our education system to deliver leadership and management at all levels including governance to an outstanding level. • The Local Authority has the responsibility for ensuring schools are challenged and supported to improve, as well as the right to intervene in any school causing concern. • High quality provision in Salford must focus between the phases so that Salford young people choose to be educated in the city and contribute to its educational, economic and cultural life throughout their lives.

5. National Drivers for Change • The Children’s Plan. • Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009. • The Greater Manchester Challenge are encouraging those schools and local authorities whose results could be better to consider structural solutions. • Solutions which include National Challenge Trust status, hard federation, Academy status or closure.

6. Local Drivers for Change • Government are keen to explore locally driven solutions at City Region and Local Authority scale. • The development of a new Children and Young People’s Trust and neighbourhood delivery. • We have several outstanding schools and many more pushing forward. We can be world class. • We need to attract more young and adult learners to our city and to return to learning • We need a future workforce that is highly skilled and well qualified. • The proposals outlined within the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 will make it vital for Salford schools to work more closely in partnership with each other. • Delivering the Pupil and Parent Guarantees will require schools to work in deeper partnership with other schools and across wider children’s services in order to offer more by working together than any one partner could alone and to provide better value for money.

7. 21st Century Learning Commissioners Daryl Agnew Until December 2008, Daryl Agnew was a Children’s Services Advisor with the Department for Children, Schools and Families. She has been a HMI, a registered inspector with OfSTED, and deputy director of a local education authority. She began her teaching career as an English and drama teacher at a Sheffield comprehensive school. She is full time Director of Navigate’s consultancy services.

8. 21st Century Learning Commissioners Hazel Harding CBE DL Started her career as a journalist. Leader of Lancashire County Council from 2001. Chaired the Cabinet which is the Executive of the Council. During her time as Leader the Council achieved first “Good” and then “excellent” and “Four Star” status in successive performance assessments, Lancashire was regarded as one of the best performing local authorities in the country. Lancashire at this time was in the first phase of Building Schools for the Future, initially as a reserve but quickly moved to become one of the leading authorities. Hazel was the vice chair of the North West Regional Assembly Board (NMRA). Since its reorganisation and the formation of the Executive Board, the NWRA has become much more focussed and brings together major decision makers from local authorities and partner organisations from across the region. Other National work includes chair of the Safer Communities Board of the LGA, five years membership of the Lancashire Learning and Skills Council, having previously been member of both of the regional Further Education Funding Council and Lawtec, Chair of the Lancashire Economic Partnership Forum. Also previously chaired the Board of East Lancashire Partnership and Blackburn Cathedral Council.

9. 21st Century Learning Commissioners Mel Woodcock Mel Woodcock has spent his career in education, the vast majority of that time as a senior manager in schools. In his 15 years in headship he led two challenging schools. The second he took out of special measures and stayed to develop into a large specialist arts college. Mel was involved in the Urban Leadership programme at an early stage and is an accredited urban leader and assessor. He also worked with Institute of Education on action research into the challenges of urban education across the age ranges. Since leaving headship and moving into consultancy, he has worked on a wide variety of projects with a number of schools and local authorities, the National College of School Leadership (NCSL) and with the London Challenge. Mel has advised the 14 to 19 reforms in a number of authorities and has been instrumental in supporting a number of primary schools move from special measures. He maintains a close awareness of issues in schools through his work as a SIP.

10. Suggested key questions • Test and develop the concept of Partnership. • The need for schools to actively contribute to wider social and economic regeneration. Link any recommendations to areas of good practice. • Ongoing review of SEN provision within the authority. • How might any future proposals be resourced? • Identify relevant international, national, regional and local examples of good practice that support the Commission’s work. • What level of change stakeholders in education in Salford would support? • The contribution of such proposals to the pledges of Salford City Council.

11. Areas of general discussion • State the part played by you or your organisation in the educational life in Salford. • What are the strengths in Salford’s educational provision? • What are the most important educational problems and challenges facing Salford? • What are your ideas for solutions for some of the problems and potential improvements?

12. Areas of general discussion • Have you any ideas of how Salford schools might better serve the whole community? • What are your views on the suitability of the existing location and pattern of provision for the challenges of the 21st Century? • Do you think there are aspects of the culture in Salford which work against higher standards of achievement and participation in education? If yes, what do you think might be done to change this? • What are your aspirations for the future?

13. Areas of Specific Discussion • In some parts of the City, significant numbers of children transfer at 11 years of age to schools outside Salford. What do you think needs to be done to counter-act this? • Changes in the birth rate mean that again, in some parts of the City, there is a significant problem of surplus places or shortages. What in your view should be done about this? Have you any specific proposals? • What ideas do you have for raising levels of engagement and participation in education post-14? • With respect to any education partnerships with which you are involved, how do you think these could be made to contribute more effectively to raising achievement in Salford?

14. Timescales