Buckinghamshire Education Strategy 2022 to 2027

This priority supports the ambition that all children should be able to access high quality education in their school regardless of where they live. This priority also supports the intention of levelling up through the widespread availability of good school places provides the opportunity for children and young people to achieve irrespective of their location.

We need to:

• ensure there are sufficient high-quality school places to meet demand through continuous monitoring and review of population projections
• work proactively in partnership with schools, particularly where there needs to be re-organisation or change to existing provision to meet need
• increase provision locally for our more complex young people, particularly with regards to alternative educational provision and post-16 education
• ensure accurate and coordinated school place allocations are completed according to the national timelines for primary or secondary allocation
• ensure that there is sufficient early years education through strategic planning and support to the local childcare market
• support the development and long-term sustainability of early education and childcare provision, and where there is clear evidence of need, develop new and extended quality provision within the sector

Wherever possible The Virtual School insist on looked after children attending good or outstanding schools. This is the advice we give to all foster carers and social care colleagues.

Where a child comes into care and attends a school that's rated as 'requires improvement' or 'inadequate' we will monitor and review the situation each half term. If a child has strong relationships with peers and adults and progress is being made, we do not encourage a school move.

There are rare occasions where the local good or outstanding schools are not the best fit for our looked after children. This can be for a variety of personal reasons. Providing there are no safeguarding areas of concern, the virtual school and social work team will work closely with the school leadership and local virtual school to monitor the child’s education and wellbeing.

We'll measure the success of this priority by the:

• total number of school and early years places available in comparison to number of places in demand
• increase in the number of specialist school places in the county - refer to the SEND Education Sufficiency Strategy

This priority supports the intentions that:

• through excellent teachers and teaching, all children will have access to a range of learning opportunities in a high-quality curriculum. This means they can develop lifelong skills - a key component of the levelling up or closing the gap agenda
• through targeted support and improved levels of attendance and behaviour, pupils should be enabled to realise their potential

The ambitions of the Education Strategy are in keeping with the ‘Start Well’ priorities set out by our Health and Wellbeing Board's Joint Health and Wellbeing Plan, which emphasise the importance of every child having the best start in life so they can achieve their potential. In turn, this will contribute to addressing the attainment gap and differential achievement that underpins the inequality that the levelling up agenda has identified.

We need to:

• provide the best start for all our young learners by ensuring there is sufficient high-quality nursery and childcare provision available for parents and carers to access
• ensure high parental take up of early years government-funded places for eligible 2, 3 and 4 year olds
• continue to build upon the Early Years’ Side-by-Side partnership improvement journey across all sectors of early years education, to facilitate a culture of collective responsibility, inclusion and collaboration across sectors
• work with families to support the most vulnerable children into early years provision - refer to the Early Help Partnership Strategy 2022 (PDF, 3.5 MB) and the Buckinghamshire Family Information Service
• work with safeguarding partners including Ofsted and the Department for Education to monitor proactively and take action to ensure providers remain compliant and keep children safe in their early years and childcare placement
• work with primary and secondary schools and other educational settings to promote high standards of education, the development of key life skills (such as resilience and independence) and improve the quality and availability of careers education provision to help young people assess their future choices and make decisions
• support the development of a wider range of pathways (academic and vocational) that will enable school leavers to progress their learning and secure positive labour market outcomes

We'll measure the success of this priority by:

• increase in percentage of eligible 2, 3 and 4 year olds taking up early years government-funded places
• increase in percentage of children from disadvantaged backgrounds taking up the fully funded places for 2 year olds
• percentage of early years settings that are Ofsted rated as good or outstanding
• the Progress 8 measure for Buckinghamshire is above 0 (the national average is 0)
• increasing the percentage of pupils achieving 5 grade 4s at GCSE
• decrease the percentage of pupils that become NEET (not in education, employment or training)
• all secondary mainstream and specialist schools and secondary Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) achieve all 8 Gatsby benchmarks by 2025

This priority supports the ambition that every child should receive excellent teaching.

Teacher training and further professional development is key to making this ambition happen, along with the need to have high standards of curriculum provision, attendance and behaviour. The sharing of best practice, resources and expertise through collaborative working between schools will help to drive up standards.

This priority will directly impact the outcomes of children and young people by aiming to reduce differential achievement between vulnerable pupils and their peers, as well as ensuring the safety and health and wellbeing of children.

We need to:

• continue to address narrowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils and their peers
• continue to develop the 'side-by-side' model of school improvement, so as to develop expertise within the school community to drive up standards
• work in partnership with schools to embed an aspirational climate through high standards of curriculum, behaviour and attendance, so that all pupils of all abilities are encouraged to achieve their very best
• increase the support for school leaders and governors to ensure national and local priorities are addressed, with a focus on closing the attainment gap and supporting a culture of safeguarding. This will be achieved through the development of traded services to ensure the continuity of support for schools beyond statutory functions
• continue to build and develop collaborative networks through engaging school leaders and governors to develop a self-sustaining, system-led model
• ensure that schools who are at risk of falling into an Ofsted 'requires improvement' or 'inadequate' category are proactively supported to avoid this outcome
• work with our partners to continue the development and provision of high-quality teacher training within Buckinghamshire

We'll measure the success of this priority by the:

• percentage of schools are Ofsted rated as good or outstanding
• percentage of children and young people attending a good or outstanding school
• reduction in the attainment gap of disadvantaged pupils in comparison to their peers
• number of trainee teachers who successfully secure their teaching qualification per year

This priority aims to ensure that no child should be left behind. Through their initial teacher training and professional development, teachers will result in a highly skilled workforce with the expertise that will enable pupils to realise their best.

High-quality classroom teaching with targeted support will help any child who falls behind to progress by ensuring his or her specific learning needs are met.

A stronger and fairer school system will ensure the sharing of best practice, resources and expertise to enable all children who need additional support to succeed. This will allow us to further close the attainment gap between the disadvantaged and their peers and reduce inequalities within communities.

By focusing on the offer of a wider range or ‘menu’ of alternative education provision to support children and meet their needs, this priority also supports the key intent of the government’s SEND and Alternative Education Green Paper (March 2022) which sets out a vision for a single, national SEND and alternative provision system with new national standards.

We need to:

• share best practice and ensure the effective sharing of information between key partners so that every child or young person’s need or situation is accounted for and supported
• continue to work with schools and settings to address the attainment gap for our most vulnerable children and young people
• proactively increase support for children at risk of permanent exclusion or suspension
• widen the offer of alternative or targeted provision to meet individual need so no child is left behind
• effectively identify, track and support our ‘hidden children’ - cohorts of children and young people who are more likely to fall through gaps in provision and therefore have increased vulnerability (the numbers of which are likely to increase due to the after-effects of the pandemic)
• create and deploy a new team of inclusion advisors to help schools operate more inclusively
• work with parents and carers to fulfil their role and responsibilities to support their children in education - refer to the Early Help Partnership Strategy 2022 (PDF, 3.5 MB) and the Buckinghamshire Family Information Service
• co-produce with families (wherever possible) to drive forward improvements in service delivery

We'll measure the success of this priority by:

• rate of permanent exclusions at both primary and secondary level continue to remain low
• rate of fixed term suspensions at both primary and secondary level decrease
• maintain high levels of school attendance, especially for the most vulnerable cohort of pupils
• reduction in the number of exclusions and suspensions for pupils with SEND
• reduction in the attainment gap of disadvantaged pupils in comparison to their peers (see Priority 3)
• to ensure that there are sufficient alternative education places that schools and services can utilise in order to meet a diversity of needs amongst children and young people in Buckinghamshire

This priority acknowledges the necessity of a high-quality extra-curricular activity programme for children and the requirement for all schools to operate in a calm, orderly, safe and supportive way. These are all essential elements for supporting the health and wellbeing of children and young people. It may also include the need for targeted support through individual tutoring and other forms of additional provision, so that children can thrive and be nurtured in a positive learning environment.

This priority is also a central element of the Buckinghamshire Health and Well Being Plan, which aims to ensure that all children have the right environment and opportunity to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles and that they are safe and protected.

We need to:

• ensure that schools and early years settings can access training and support to address particular behaviours that are becoming evident in pupils as a result of the pandemic
• ensure there is appropriate advice, guidance and assistance available to support the wellbeing of teachers and childcare professionals in Buckinghamshire
• ensure early identification and proactive intervention for pupils with behaviours resulting from anxieties that have emerged
• develop a recruitment and retention plan to ensure there are sufficient excellent staff in schools and settings to support pupils and young learners to achieve their best
• deliver key initiatives such as the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme and ensure outdoor education and other extra-curricular activities are promoted to vulnerable groups of pupils to support emotional health and wellbeing

We'll measure the success of this priority by the:

• increase in the take up of eligible children of places provided through the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme during school holidays
• support from our School Improvement Team to help reduce the vacancy rate amongst school leaders in Buckinghamshire