Have your say on Report Cards for schools

The first stage in the consultation on the School Report Card that I mentioned in a previous blog is now underway. Having looked at this more closely, it would seem that I over-simplified it by saying that schools would receive a grade of A-F and that this would encompass all areas of the school’s provision (attainment, attendance, well-being etc). I would like to urge governors, school leaders, teachers and parents to have a look at the document, which can be downloaded from the DCSF website.

It makes for interesting reading.

Some of the key points are as follows:

• It should involve data that schools already provide.
• It will be instead of the School Profile (which is to be gradually phased out).
• It should be more informative than league tables, but easy for parents to read and understand.
• It will be a basis for discussion with SIPs and will complement, not compete with Ofsted reports.

The current consultation is on which areas the report should focus on and the suggestions are as follows:

• Attainment (from exam results)
• Pupils’ Progress (looking at ‘value added’)
• Wider Outcomes (ECM, well-being, opportunity, enjoyment, prospects of future economic well-being)
• Narrowing Gaps (opportunities given for SEN, low income families, minority groups, looked-after children)
• Pupils’ Opinions
• Parents’ Opinions

Other aspects of the consultation include:

• Whether schools should be given an overall grade.
• Whether information on the context of the school should be given (if, for example, a school is in a very deprived area, should its results compared to similar schools also be given).
• Whether the schools ‘direction of travel’ should be included (standards are improving/declining/much the same).
• Whether how well the school works with it partners should be included.
• Whether the School Profile should be scrapped once the Report Card is in use.

Consultation on this aspect of the report card closes on 3rd March 2009.