School improvement 2007 - 2008

The Tower Hamlets Beacon award for School Improvement recognises the fantastic progression in the borough's schools and the achievements of the borough's children and young people.

Tower Hamlets context

Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived areas of the country, with high unemployment, poverty and poor health. 61% of households have an annual income below £9,000 per year and 57% of pupils are entitled to free school meals, compared to an average of 16%. Only 11% of adults have higher education qualifications and our adult population had the lowest literacy rates in the country. 70% of pupils have English as an additional language.

Vision

The unique Tower Hamlets social context is not used as an excuse for under-achievement, but as an impetus to excellence. Educational performance is not compared with local benchmark authorities, but against national standards and expectations.

Tower Hamlets has the highest ambitions for its children and young people. The Tower Hamlets Partnership (LSP) has placed outcomes for children and young people at the centre of its vision. Headteachers and the council work in partnership to achieve their strong shared vision for school improvement, which has pupils at the heart.

Engagement with parents

We have worked hard to encourage the engagement of parents in their children’s education. Our Parents Information Point - an advocacy channel for parents reached 4,000 parents last year and is being further developed.

We have a parental involvement strategy, and we are seeking to further empower parents as they support their children in the challenging transition to adulthood. Our Parents Advice Centre provides guidance at transition points and for parents of children with statements of SEN who are at risk of exclusion. Its success led to the award of Charter Mark to the Centre.

Inclusion

Our vision for Tower Hamlets is that all children will be part of a mainstream environment, and that this environment will promote and foster high achievement for all. The borough has a clear strategy and policy on inclusion which is set out in the strategic plan for the Education service. This approach is further developed through our SEN policy and access strategy.

Partnership

Strong partnerships between local schools, the council and other stakeholders, have led to rapid turnarounds and performance improvement in Tower Hamlets schools. We have been recognised as being one of the most improved authorities for performance at Key Stage 3 and 4 over three years.

Early intervention

Close working relationship builds trust between schools and the council which encourages schools to seek support early in times of crisis, promoting early intervention. Increasingly rare interventions are always made proportionate to risk and taken in partnership with the schools involved.

Knowing our schools

We recognise that it is necessary to maintain high quality data about schools and pupils' performance. The good self-knowledge of our schools is supported by the rich databases that the schools and the authority share on pupils and their achievement, the profile of school information. Our innovative approach to school self-evaluation underpins all our work with schools.

Outcomes

• We are in the top five most improved local authorities over the last four years, able to demonstrate sustained progress, significant added value and excellent prospects for further improvement.
• We were judged in our 2005 APA be ‘delivering well above the minimum requirement' and that our capacity to improve was excellent, making us one of the top four local authorities in the country.
• One school has been recognised by Ofsted as one of the very first schools nationally to achieve a ‘1’ (‘outstanding’) in every judgement.
• In 1999 - 27 of our schools were in special measures or were identified by Ofsted as having serious weaknesses. Today the figure is 3.

Further information

The documents below outline our approach to School Improvement in more detail:

• Children and Young People Plan (pdf 189k)
• Case Study – Primary School With Serious Weaknesses 2002–2005 (pdf 52k)
• Beacon Application Feedback (pdf 59k)
• Partnership Working to Accelerate Improvement Presentation (pdf 129k)

Local authorities or individual schools interested in finding out more about school improvement in Tower Hamlets should contact beacon@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) has more information on the work of all the School Improvement Beacons, and details of upcoming events.