Achievement for All

Professor Sonia Blandford, CEO and Brian Lamb OBE, Chair of Trustees

David McNaught National Achievement Lead, North

10 May 2012

‘It’s fantastic to see that Achievement for All has had such impressive results. This shows just what can be achieved for children with SEND, with strong school leadership, innovative thinking and close working with families’

Sarah Teather, Children’s Minister

For Learners with SEN, theLamb Inquiry (DCSF, 2009) said:

• Change the culture in schools for children with SEN

• There should be a relentless drive to improve outcomes for all children

• Bring parents into contact with schools to discuss their children, their interests and their targets.

Manchester University carried out a full evaluation of the pilot…

Overview of the evaluation

28,000 pupils involvedQuantitative information studied, including pupil attainment and progress in English and Maths, absenteeism data, behaviour reportsQualitative information drawn from extensive interviews with school leaders, teachers, parents and students

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National Evaluation November 2011

• The pilot was successful in narrowing the attainment gap between SEND and non-SEND children.

• Pupils in AfA schools improving faster than national average with all pupils (KS4 2011)

• 37 per cent of children achieved or exceeded expected levels of progress for all pupils nationally in English.

• 42 per cent of children achieved or exceeded expected levels of progress for all pupils nationally in maths.

• Improvements in attendance with a decrease of just over 10 per cent in persistent absenteeism.

National EvaluationNovember 2011

• Behaviour of pupils improved, with reductions in teacher-reported bullying and behaviour problems.

• Awareness and focus on SEND improved – with more personalised teaching and learning.

• There was better engagement with parents and teachers – with schools reported excellent relationships with parents rising from 12 per cent to 48 per cent.

• 90 per cent of schools have put Achievement for All in the school plan, and nearly all said they will continue with regular conversations with parents.

5 Key outcomes of Achievement for All

All children being more confident learners and having a positive attitude towards their education

Accelerated rates of progress relative to starting points, improved attainment and overall achievement for pupils in the target groups

Parents/carers being more engaged in their children’s learning, having increased confidence in the education system and better relationships with their child’s school;

And

5 Key outcomes of Achievement for All

Teachers have a wider range of successful learning and teaching approaches and are confident they are meeting the needs of all their pupils.

School leaders are confident that all staff share their commitment to improving outcomes for all pupils. They know there are several staff in the school working, with the Achievement Coach in partnership with their own School Champion, to deliver the framework.

Achievement for All (AfA) was piloted in 454 schools in 10 Local Authorities over 2 years

LAs in the pilotRedcar & ClevelandSheffieldOldhamNottinghamCoventryGloucestershireEssexCamdenBexleyEast Sussex

454 schools: primary, secondary, PRUs and special

Project leads worked with schools to implement school-specific strategies

Funded by DfE, delivered in partnership with AfA team and National College

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Aims

• Increase progress of children in schools with SEND

• Improve engagement of their parents with the school

• Improve wider outcomes of children with SEND

3 Elements

• Assessment, tracking and interventions

• Structured conversations with parents

• Provision for developing wider outcomes

Achievement for All

4 Elements of Achievement for All Framework

• Element 1: Leadership of Achievement for All- to ensure schools maintain a sharp focus on the achievement, access and aspirations of the 20% of vulnerable, special educational needs and disabled learners.

• Element 2: High quality teaching and learning- leading to improved progress for all pupils (assessment and target setting).

• Element 3: Structured conversations with parents/carers – to improve parents’/carers’ engagement with school and their involvement in their child’s learning and achievement.

• Element 4: Wider outcomes – to support the participation, enjoyment and achievement of children in all elements of school life.

Effective inclusive leadership

• Strong vision for pupils• Strong values • Embedding of Achievement for All in all

classrooms• Professional development • Focus on access/achievement/ aspirations

School clusters/networksBenefits

• Opportunity to talk to and find out what other AfA leads have done

• Outside agencies coming in to talk to and work with schools

• Early Support Programme• Sharing of good practice• Signposting• Project Ability, LLEs, NLEs and Teaching Schools

networks

Achievement for All: Looking to the future

• Success of AfA pilot framework resulted in Department for Education extending it to all schools in England

• To align it with SEND green paper (DfE, 2011)

• Quality Mark and Quality Lead Status

Queen’s Speech• In the Queen’s speech to parliament yesterday

she said: • ‘My government will propose measures to

improve provision for disabled children and children with special educational needs’

• Details of what the Queen was referring: These measures will be in the children and families bill, which will implement measures as set out in a special needs green paper last year.

Where are we now?

• Over 750 schools have joined the Achievement for All programme

• Over 800 head teachers, senior educational leaders and LA senior leaders have applied to join the charity – Achievement for All 3As - as Regional Leads or Achievement Coaches

• 8 of the pilot leads continue to lead the national roll out of the programme

What it looks like in school?

• Achievement Coach• School Champion• 18 school visits across a 36 week year• 3 core training elements

Whole school introductionNeeds AnalysisStructured Conversation

• Future actions guided by the Needs Analysis

Individual pupil progress continues to improve …..

• Maths and English- as high as 5 APS gains (2 NC levels +) in the first term

Other areas of improvement

• Attendance- average 2% increase across schools

• Exclusions- average reduction by 2 pupils across schools

Key Partners

• Department for Education• National College• Ofsted• Asdan• Youth Sport Trust• Council for Disabled Children• PwC

Its relevance to the new Ofsted framework……….

When evaluating the achievement of pupils, inspectors must consider………

•How well disabled pupils and those who have SEN have achieved since joining the school

•How well gaps are narrowing between the performance of different groups of pupils in the school and compared to all pupils nationally

•How well pupils make progress relative to their starting points

And…………When evaluating the quality of teaching and learning, inspectors must consider………..

•The quality of teaching and other support provided for pupils with a range of aptitudes and needs, including disabled pupils and those who have SEN, so that their learning improves

Behaviour and safety of pupils……..

•Pupils’ attitudes to learning•Pupil attendance•Pupils’ behaviour towards, and respect for, other young people and adults

And………..

When evaluating the quality of leadership and management, inspectors must consider…….•Whether the school’s leadership demonstrates an ambitious vision for the school and high expectations for what every pupil and teacher can achieveOverall effectiveness•The extent to which the education provided by the school meets the needs of the range of pupils at the school, and in particular, the needs of disabled pupils and those who have SEN

Achievement for All

• Consortium models/Individual schools• Coaching models• Any questions?• What next?

Recycling Costs

Cost of programme per school per 500

pupils£3,000

Money returned from backfill @£200 p/d

£1,800 per school

Cost of programmePer school

£1,200

Recycling Costs

LA Cost of 20 schools (500 pupils)

£60,000

Money returned from backfill @£200 p/d

£36,000

Cost of programme to LA

£24,000

In a nutshell…………….• ‘I think Achievement for

All has enabled us to focus on narrowing the gap for the pupils rather than just supporting pupils…… I think it has actually taken our good practice, challenged it and made us take that step a bit further’ (Teacher LA I)

Website

www.afa3as.org.uk