Questions on notice received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.9(b)

Questions and responses attached to this Briefing Note.

Questions on notice received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.9(b)

Questions may be asked of the Lord Mayor, a Member of the City Executive Board or a Chair of a Committee.

The full text of questions must be received by the Head of Law and Governance by no later than 1.00pm on Monday 24November 2014.

Full details of all questions, and written responses where available, will be provided in the briefing note.

Questions were asked of the Board members and Leader and responses given.

Board member for Educational Attainment and Youth Ambition, Councillor Kennedy

1.    From Councillor Gant

Following the presentation of the report by the KRM educational organisation to CEB, will the board member acknowledge that the scheme has failed to deliver councils own published target for improvements at KS2? While we wholeheartedly support councils desire to address a significant problem, will he acknowledge that council should have been more ready to consider combining with the similar, more successful, scheme run by the county? Will he support us in calling for the KRM project not to be continued, and for underspent funds, and any further available funds, to be made available for schemes which genuinely address the real educational needs in the city?

Written response

I am not sure where Cllr Gant is getting his information from but the comprehensive report presented by Dr Jonathan Solity to the Scrutiny Committee set out very impressive gains in educational attainment in the schools which chose to take up this programme funded by the City Council.

Of course KRM is just part of the overall programme designed by and agreed with the schools to meet the ambitious targets for 2016. As it is only January 2015 we do not know whether we shall meet them or not. However, progress is strong as we can see from the recent results for schools across Oxfordshire. The schools which chose to follow the overall educational attainment programme are showing twice as much progress as other schools in Oxfordshire at age 7 and at age 11 the progress is four times as much.  This represents substantial progress towards the 2016 targets, rather than failure.

It was always intended that, as soon as possible, that schools would become self-sufficient in the approaches and techniques advocated in the KRM approach. As such there was no long term commitment to funding the KRM programme.

We are awaiting the results of an evaluation currently being carried out by Professor Deborah McGregor of Oxford Brookes University. She is currently visiting all the target schools. As part of this process she is asking head teachers what support they would find most helpful to assist them in their continuing journey of raising achievement. We are waiting for her report in early March before deciding how to commit the funding for the next two years.

Supplementary question

This programme won’t achieve results if schools do not take part. Would the Board Member agree that without the take up it cannot achieve its stated objectives?

Response

This programme is available only to Oxford City schools. Schools using the programme have greater improvements in achievement at ages 7 and 11 than those across the county as a whole. This shows that attainment can be improved in the city and the programme should be supported.

Board member for Leisure Contract and Community Partnership Grants, Councillor Rowley

2.    From Councillor Thomas

I'm sure the board member is aware of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84