DfEE Green Paper (22/10/1997) School improvement and target setting

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reports : DFEE Green Paper

1 Policies for excellence

School improvement and target setting

School improvement
16. Excellence in schools set out our proposals for school improvement. LEAs will prepare Education Development Plans (EDPs) showing how they will raise standards in their schools. A group of advisers from the Department's Standards and Effectiveness Unit, working with LEAs, will consider what SEN information should be included in EDPs.

17. Inspection of LEAs by OFSTED, assisted by the Audit Commission, will start in January 1998. These inspections will look at whether LEAs are fulfilling their statutory duties in relation to SEN and the standard of provision made for children with SEN. OFSTED is also improving its procedures for inspecting schools, to increase the consistency and quality of inspection. There will be improved arrangements for vetting teams to inspect special schools, as well as a programme of professional development for inspectors. OFSTED will need to reflect the principles of this Green Paper in any revision of the Framework for the Inspection of Schools.

18. We want to establish the right climate in schools for all children to make the best possible progress. In some areas, years of social and economic deprivation have led to a culture of low expectation. Children from these communities may start at a disadvantage, but they are entitled to high expectations. We are consulting on the establishment of Education Action Zones to raise standards in areas with the highest levels of deprivation and under-achievement.

19. We want equally to challenge low expectations of children with SEN, a relatively high proportion of whom are boys. Some may be capable of achieving high standards across the board; others will show achievement in particular areas. Schools should build on pupils' strengths as well as addressing their needs.

20. Unfortunately, some schools fail to provide the quality of teaching and learning children need if expectations and achievement are to be raised. Of the mainstream schools so far inspected by OFSTED, 2% have been identified as failing. The corresponding figure for special schools is 7%, reflecting a particularly high rate of failure of schools for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. We are concerned about this, and have put in hand a range of measures to ensure the rapid improvement of failing special schools (and of LEA pupil referral units). Our approach will combine pressure and support. Already a number of special schools have been restored to full health, sometimes through the "fresh start" outlined in Excellence in schools. But where a failing special school makes inadequate progress and seems unlikely to improve quickly, we will not hesitate to intervene and, if necessary, direct the LEA to close it.

Target setting
21. From September 1998 all schools, including special schools, will have to set challenging targets for pupil performance. Target setting will help schools and LEAs to focus effort and resources where they will have the greatest impact on raising standards, including the provision made for children with special educational needs.

Case study - Target setting at Marshfield s Special School, Peterborough

Marshfields is a special school for pupils aged 5-18 with moderate learning difficulties. Many pupils also have sensory, physical, communication, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. For the last few years the school has been developing the use of target setting in both educational and social areas of its work. Some examples of the targets Marshfields has set and how far these have been met include:

Target: All students to read at least 33% of 100 identified high frequency words at the end of Key Stage 3 and 50% at the end of Key Stage 4. Evaluation: At the end of Key Stage 3, 72% of all students achieved the target set and at the end of Key Stage 4, 79% of all students did.

Target: Every primary phase student will learn to swim at least 5 metres. Evaluation: By the end of the academic year, 37 out of 46 pupils (81%) achieved this target and over half of all students gained their 25 metres certificate.

Target: All middle phase students will use a cursive handwriting style. Evaluation: By the end of the academic year every middle phase student had attempted a simple cursive handwriting style. 98% of pupils achieved the target but a small minority had insufficient fine motor skills to do so at this time.

22. For many schools, including special schools, target setting will present new challenges. As well as targets for academic performance, schools may need to set other targets which are relevant to children with SEN. These may, for example, relate to:

pupils' behaviour, personal, social or life skills;
numbers of pupils moving on to further education and training; or 1
for some special schools, numbers of children who are successfully re-integrated into mainstream schools.

23. We will help mainstream and special schools to set realistic but challenging targets that are relevant to pupils with SEN, and to compare performance with other schools. Some LEAs are pioneering work in this area, and the Department's Standards and Effectiveness Unit will identify and disseminate this more widely. The DfEE will also fund research on target setting in special schools. OFSTED will make available to inspectors and schools aggregate data for special schools which will contribute to benchmarking and target setting.

QUESTION: What should the DfEE do to encourage and disseminate good practice in target setting for pupils with special educational needs, in both mainstream and special schools?

31/08/2000