Professor Sonia Blandford

What is the Achievement for All programme?

A framework for school improvement which enables a whole school approach to inclusive education.

It focuses on children with SEND but the impact is much wider across the school.

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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Manchester University carried out a full evaluation

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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…with unprecedented results

1.Progress measured in National Curriculum sub-levels 2. Reflects the average across all age groups. Some age groups progressed less quickly than the national average for non-SEN; all progressed faster than the national average for those with SEN

Progress1 in English for pupils with SEND in Year 10

National average for all pupils

Pupils with SEN catching up in English and Maths…

… and huge impact on parental engagement & wider outcomes

Schools reporting “excellent” relationships with parents up from 12% to 48%

Schools reporting “poor” relationships with parents down from 11% to 1.5%

10% drop in persistent absenteeism across pilot schools

Significant reductions in bullying and behavioural problems reported by teachers

Pupils with SEN in pilot schools progressed faster on average than all pupils nationally across English and Maths in all age groups2

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Outcome: Progress in English and Maths (DfE,Nov 2011)

 37% of SEND pupils in Achievement for All pilot schools achieved or exceeded expected levels of progress in English compared to ALL pupils nationally.

ALL pupils with SEND in Achievement for All pilot schools made significantly better progress in English than pupils with SEND nationally.

 42% of SEND pupils in the Achievement for All schools achieved or exceeded expected levels of progress in Maths compared to all pupils nationally.

 ALL pupils with SEND in Achievement for All pilot schools made significantly better progress in Maths than pupils with SEND nationally.

All SEND pupils in the programme made significantly better progress in reading, writing and maths than pupils with SEND nationally

Achievement for All schools are more likely to improve KS2 and KS4 results

In Achievement for All schools:

Pupils with SEN are progressing faster than the national average for all pupilsGreater likelihood of pupils improving at KS2 and KS4 – 75% of Achievement for All schools saw an improvement in their KS4 results compared to 67% of all schools.Fourfold improvement in relationships with parents, with Achievement for All schools reporting “excellent” relationships with parents increased from 12% to 48% in two years

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(DfE, Jan 2012, KS 4 and KS5 exam results for all schools/colleges in England for 2011.)

Outcome: Behaviour and Attendance(DfE, Nov. 2011)

Teachers reported clear improvements in positive relationships with students and reductions in behaviour problems.

There was a 10% drop in persistent absenteeism.

Schools had an increase in positive relationships.

Teachers reported reductions in teacher-reported bullying of pupils with SEND.

Example: School B saw exclusions for pupils with SEND fall from 101 incidents in 2008/9 to 25 incidents in 2010/11

Outcome: Leadership (DfE, Nov. 2011)

School leadership (head teacher) involvement helped drive Achievement for All forward.

Achievement for All shines a light on [critical] areas.

The principles of Achievement for All are embedded in school practice.

100% of schools were involved in evaluating the impact of Achievement for All.

90.2% of head teachers placed Achievement for All within their school improvement plan.

National College – Leadership Matters report, March 2011

Developing school to school partnerships

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Speeding up the pace of improvement: Green Paper informs AfA practice

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Forming a charity: A new partnership

Raising the bar: Expertise from business and education

•Greater autonomy for schools + greater trust in front-line professionals (supported by international evidence)Strengthen accountability framework – everyone can see how the school is performing + schools can learn from better performing schools Strive for higher expectations for all pupilsProportional support through pupil premium-many schools which need to improve serve disadvantaged areasSchool-to-school collaboration eater autonomy for schools + greater trust in front-line professionals (supported

•Greater autonomy for schools + greater trust in front-line professionals (supported by international evidence)Strengthen accountability framework – everyone can see how the school is performing + schools can learn from better performing schools Strive for higher expectations for all pupilsProportional support through pupil premium-many schools which need to improve serve disadvantaged areasSchool-to-school collaboration eater autonomy for schools + greater trust in front-line professionals (supported

Lord Hill on school improvement(National Governors Association School Improvement Conference March 2011)

5 principles underpinning

school improvement

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Achievement for All: 4 elements, an effective improvement framework

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St Martins C of E Junior Infant and Nursery School in Oldham-performance

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Year on year comparison

Achievement for All and School partnership: within the Ofsted Framework

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Achievement for All is not about reinventing the wheel: it is about redeploying resources and rethinking approaches.

Haverstock school reduced the numbers on the SEND register and boosted attainment

Haverstock began their AfA journey in 2009…

Secondary, 1,300 pupils

>50% on SEN register

>60% EAL

>70% ethnic minorities

38% achieving 5A* - C GCSE (inc. English and maths)

AfA has been a whole-school priority in the school since 2009, fundamental to improving practice and supporting staff, especially with regards to SEND

…with impressive results

SEN register has fallen by 11%

5A*-C at GCSE (inc. English and maths) rose to 50% in 2011

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Rewarding Impact: The Achievement for All Quality Scheme

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Quality Standards

Quality Mark

Quality Lead

Processes

• New schools will develop these processes over two years

• Pilot schools will continue to develop processes to support progress in each of the four elements

Outcomes

• Schools can apply for the Quality Mark after two years when outcomes for pupils meet the criteria (Many pilot schools who have already met the criteria are likely to be awarded the Quality Mark during 2011/12.)

Outstanding practice

• Schools will be invited to apply for Quality Lead status when:

– Outcomes meet and exceed the criteria;

– They are willing to support other schools in their locality to develop Achievement for All

Academies / Church of England / NSN

ARK

Directors of Education engaged

Involvement in Free Schools –through NSN

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eater autonomy for schools + greater trust in front-line professionals (supportedeater autonomy for schools + greater trust in front-line professionals (supported

Other partnerships

Central to the mission of Achievement for All 3As is to

work with and support partner organisations who have a similar mission to ours to support pupils in

increasing their aspirations, access and achievement.

DfENational College

PwCJPMorgan

Teach FirstTeaching LeadersFuture Leaders

CDCCommunication TrustICANAutism Trust

Youth Sport Trust

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Other partnerships: supporting the ‘Children’s and young people’s outcomes strategy’ (forthcoming-announced by Secretary of State, Andrew Lansley)

Aims to improve outcomes for children and young people’s health

Will establish a forum to identify health issues that matter most to children and young people

Will bring together people and resources from across the NHS, social care and wider children’s services.

Early intervention-to support children’s educational outcomes

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There are 3 models for Local Authorities to support the national roll out

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2

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Basic

Standard

Advanced

Description Advantages

Provide access to schools, meetings of head teachers and encourage schools to sign up

Many schools likely to take advantage of AfA, driving up outcomes for the LA

Proactively contact all schools, urging them to sign up

Second coaches to AfA to be trained and deployed

More schools likely to take advantage

Excellent CPD opportunities for LA staff

Identify schools most in need of AfA and pay for them to join

Second coaches to AfA to coach these schools

AfA integrated into the LA school improvement service

LA maintains ownership of school improvement delivery, while leveraging AfA resources

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In addition to improved outcomes, AfA saves schools and Local Authorities money in cash terms

Annual costs associated with behaviour and attendance (£ 000's) 10% drop in persistent

absenteeism across pilot schools

Significant reductions in bullying and behavioural problems reported by teachers

Many schools saw reduced exclusions, saving cash for the school and Local Authority1

AfA costs less per school than many interventions associated with behaviour and attendance, per pupil

Pilot schools made significant savings on these interventions

1.Exclusion data was not reported in the evaluation report, however, anecdotal evidence suggests significant drops in the exclusion rate25

Lyng Hall saved nearly £250,000 per year by implementing Achievement for All

Before AfA (2007/8)

After AfA (2011/2)1

1. Costs for entire year based on extrapolation from year to date2. Cost of exclusions to the school calculated by the Headteacher as follows: £5000 one-time cost, plus per-pupil funding for the rest of the pupil’s schooling

Exclusions2

Maintenance

Supply teachers

Recruitment

£81,546

£198,364

£96,327

£25,770

Saving:

£17,371

£141,210

£0

£1,107

£242,319

Savings attributed by the head in whole or in part to AfA, due to improved behaviour and retention and development of staff…

“Many of the challenges that we faced in 2007/8 have actually increased. In 2007/8 the were 15 in-year admissions to the school. This year there have been 55 since September!!!

… it makes [the fee to join Achievement for All] seem like very good value for money!!!!”

Paul Green, head teacher

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For every school, Academy Group or Local Authority, there are at least 10 good reasons to join AfA

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1. There is a high degree of overlap between pupils with SEND and the lowest performing 20% in terms of attainment