1 November 2019 weekly update

Dear Colleagues

School Funding Consultation

On Monday 14 October we launched our School Funding consultation which proposes a number of changes to our Local Funding Formula which is used to calculate your annual School budget. This consultation is necessary as the Government has announced additional funding for schools next year and this consultation contains a number of proposals which will affect the amount of funding your school receives next year. The consultation runs for just over 5 weeks and closes on Monday 18 November 2019.

We are encouraging all maintained schools, academies and free schools in the area covered by Kent County Council to respond to this consultation.

The consultation documentation consists of:

1. a word document which provides the background and overview of the consultation as well as explaining each proposal in more detail;
2. an excel school-specific illustration model that allows you to see the impact of different scenarios on your school budget;
3. an online consultation response form.

You can access all of the above documentation online at the KCC website.

We recommend that you read the word document first before looking at the school specific illustration model.

We will be discussing this consultation in further detail at this term’s Headteacher Briefings.

If you have any questions about the consultation, please email your query to schoolfunding@kent.gov.uk.

Autumn Term Headteacher Briefings - November 2019

We would like to formally invite you to attend the Autumn Term Briefings produced in collaboration with KAH in November. We have a full agenda covering a range of key issues including:

• An overview of our School Funding Consultation (which is still live until Monday 18 November)
• Feedback and discussion from Headteachers who have recently gone through the new Ofsted Inspection Framework
• An SEND update on activities and progress to address the Written Statement of Action
• An overview of ‘Classcare’ for schools - GEN² will present this session on the Schools Reactive Maintenance Support Scheme
• The Kent launch of the EEF Implementation Guidance Report - this will be an interactive leadership session led by EEF experts and focuses on how to ensure you, as the school leader, choose and use interventions to maximum effect in your schools. Copies of the report will also be available to those in attendance.*

*This session is a pre-requisite to all who are interested in applying to access funding for the promising projects part of the project (it will be repeated in January for those unable to attend this session). The EEF Implementation Guidance Report is written by Professor Jonathan Sharples, an educationalist, author and academic.

The dates for the briefings are as follows - please note the timings are different from previous briefings:

• Monday 11 November - 8:45am for a 9am start to 12pm - Ashford International Hotel, Simone Weil Avenue, Ashford, Kent TN24 8UX
• Monday 11 November - 1:15pm for a 1:30pm start to 4:30pm - The Spitfire Ground (Canterbury Cricket Ground), St Lawrence, Old Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 3NZ
• Wednesday 13 November - 1:15pm for 1:30pm start to 4:30pm - Oakwood House, Oakwood Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME16 8AE
• Monday 18 November - 8:45am for a 9am start to 12pm - Mercure Brands Hatch, West Kingsdown, Dartford, Kent DA3 8PE

To book a place, please email cypesupportteam@kent.gov.uk confirming your name, school and the session you are able to join. An agenda will be available on the day.

Results update

I am pleased to announce that the provisional results for Key Stage 4 and 5 have been published this month and shows that attainment in Kent schools has increased for the third year running. The average Attainment 8 score per pupil in Kent is 47.2, remaining slightly above the National Average for state funded schools of 46.7.

The proportion of pupils achieving strong passes in both English and mathematics continues to increase and for 2019 is 45.4% compared the national figure of 43.5%. The proportion achieving standard passes follows the same trend with 65.5% achieving both English and mathematics compared to 64.6% nationally.

Unfortunately, the average Progress 8 score remains lower than national at -0.11, with the national measure remaining at -0.03. There are 44 schools who are in line with or have exceeded the national average Progress 8 figure, of these 27 are Grammar schools, 7 are Wide Ability schools, 8 are High schools and 2 are Free schools. Colleagues will be working with these schools to identify areas of good practice to share across the county.

Overall Post 16 results remain similar to previous years, with only A Level outcomes largely in line with national performance. More concerningly, performance at Tech Level and Applied Generals has declined from 2018, despite a national increase in the performance of these subjects. The Average Point Score per entry of Tech levels in Kent is 28.23 compared to 32.36 in 2018 and 32.12 nationally. The Average Point Score per entry of Applied Generals in Kent is 26.50 compared to 27.75 in 2018 and 29.21 nationally.

Matt Dunkley CBE
Corporate Director
Children, Young People and Education