Education’s getting better – City schools still have a long way to go

Attainment among Oxfordshire children at Key Stage One (5-7 year olds) has improved, statistics released by Government have shown.

The Oxford city statistics

Schools purely within the city of Oxford have also made some improvements at Key Stage One Level 2+. However, the city still lies close to the bottom of national league tables.

  • In reading, Oxford had been 2nd from the bottom with 78 per cent reaching the required standards. In 2012 this rose to 83 per cent and a ranking of 12th from bottom.
  • In writing, Oxford had been bottom of the national league tables in 2011 with 72 per cent reaching the required standards. In 2012 this has risen to 77 per cent with Oxford 5th from bottom.       
  • In Maths, Oxford was 4th from bottom of the national league table in 2011 with 86 per cent reaching the required standards. In 2012 the figure was also 86 per cent but Oxford had risen to 5th from bottom.

How is assessment conducted? Key Stage One assessment is conducted via teacher assessment within schools. Key Stage Two (7-11 year olds) assessment is conducted via tests that are marked external to schools. Key State Two results were announced earlier in September and showed big improvements on 2011 figures.

Windmill School – should it expand?

An open meeting will be held at the school at 7pm on 20th September 2012.

This will be YOUR opportunity to ask questions and give your views on the proposals from Oxfordshire  County Council:

We are planning to increase the school to three forms of entry, with an admission number of 90 on a permanent basis. The formal admission number for 2013 has already been published at 60, but if this proposal is approved the school will admit 90 children in 2013. The school’s admission number can only now formally change from September 2014.
If it is decided to permanently change the admission number to 90, there will be a need for more classrooms to be built. A detailed feasibility study has begun, which looks carefully at the school’s site and buildings to see how these additional classrooms and supporting spaces could best be provided.
We think that this is a very popular and successful school at the heart of its community, which should expand to meet local demand. We want to know your views about whether you are happy to see the school grow.

If you can’t get to the meeting, but you want to send in your comments as part of the formal consultation, you can do this by clicking on the County’s online consultation page here.

The full document is available here.

Alternatively you can write a letter to : Diane Cameron, School Organisation & Planning, Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, FREEPOST or email a response to Windmill2012-manager@myconsultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk

Summer Schools for Disadvantaged Children in Oxfordshire

The £50m summer schools fund announced by Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg last September is now open for applications. It is designed to help up to 100,000 of the most disadvantaged pupils with the transition from primary to secondary school. In Oxfordshire, there around 8,591 children eligible for this fund.

Head teachers will be able to design and run summer schools, targeting pupils who will benefit the most. The funding could be used for activities such as:

  • Transitional activities to help familiarise pupils with their new environment. Activities could include meeting teachers, having a tour of the school or learning more about their new curriculum.
  • Additional intensive support in English and mathematics to enable pupils who need it to make progress in these key areas before they start the secondary curriculum, both as catch up and preparation for the new term.
  • Wider enrichment activities such as arts, music and sports activities, trips to theatres and museums, visits to local higher education institutions and employers etc.

Ofsted research shows performance can take a significant dip when pupils transfer from primary to secondary schools, especially among those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

From today, secondary schools can sign up for £500 for every disadvantaged pupil taking part in a two-week summer school. The money applies to all pupils transferring in to Year 7 who are on Free School Meals or have been in care for six months or more.

The Government has allocated £1.25 billion additional funding in 2012/13 for disadvantaged children through the Pupil Premium, and has pledged to increase this to £2.5 billion by 2014-15.

New Brookes courses for GreenSquare tenants

Oxford Brookes has teamed up with Oxford & Cherwell Valley College and
the Workers Education Association to sign an agreement with Green Square to develop and run a series of courses for their residents.

The scheme aims to involve more residents in planning and to
create opportunities to build their personal and community development
skills. The soon to be constructed social/affordable housing at the Manor Ground will be managed by Green Square.

Pupil premium figures for our constituency

Today the Government released the final Pupil Premium figures for every English local authority, constituency and school. Everyschool this year will receive an extra £488 for each child on free school meals they have on their roll. 

Schools in Oxford East are getting an extra £1,247,000 from the Pupil Premium to improve the education of the most disadvantaged children. You can find out what each school in our council area is getting by clicking here.

The Pupil Premium is a policy we devised and campaigned for, and put at the heart of our Coalition negotiations. Now it is more than good policy, it is a reality making a difference to schools in our area. It goes directly into classrooms and will benefit all pupils.

It is also a milestone in breaking the link between poverty and achievement.

Liberal Democrats have always believed that education is the engine of social mobility, now we are making it happen.

Date and venue set for next Ward meeting!

Following the last very popular Ward Focus meeting, we have arranged another on

Tuesday 16 August

at Headington School

from 6.00-8.00 pm (formal meeting starts at 6.30)

There will be timed items as before so you can come and go as you please.  The agenda is as follows:

6.00-6.30   Surgery time & informal chat with councillors
6.30-7.10   Open debate, current planning applications, reports from Central and North Headington Residents’ Association & from Headington School
7.10-7.30   Tell us how we should spend our ward budgets!
7.30-7.50   Old Headington conservation area – what next?
7.50-8.00   Your ideas about issues to be covered next time
8.00-9.00   Close. Ruth and David will be in the pub afterwards if you want to bend their ears further!

There will be invited speakers from Headington School, CNHRA and Oxford City Council to let you know what’s going on, and to respond to your issues.

As always, we are looking forward to hearing YOUR views about the area in which you live.

We are grateful to Headington School for providing this venue.

Summer of a Lifetime – for 16 year olds

The County Council is running a National Citizen Service pilot programme in Oxfordshire over the summer for 16-year-olds post-GCSE. The programme is called Summer of a Lifetime and has agreed to recruit 60 young people for this exciting and challenging opportunity. The free 6 week programme, starting on 21 July, includes:

a week away in Wales, the New Forest or Dorset doing  things like archery, rock climbing, canoeing and team building
a Summer Festival week at Hill End outdoor education centre exploring the theme of 21st Century Community, creating a street party and inviting members of their own communities to come along
a week planning their social action projects in teams of 15 in the four areas: Oxford, Witney, Banbury and Abingdon
undertaking their 30 hour community action projects in the final three weeks
a final celebration and graduation event on 2 September.

Applicants must be 16 by 31 August 2011. Click here for details.

For more information, contact Shelley Maxfield, National Citizen Service Co-ordinator by email (shelley.maxfield@oxfordshire.gov.uk), telephone (01865 256 644) or mobile phone (07775 407 557).