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School consultations

Improving outcomes for children in Medway is a priority for the council and is at the heart of our Children and Young People’s Plan. We want Medway to be a place where all children enjoy learning and leave school with the qualifications, personal achievements, skills and motivation to succeed in their adult and working lives.

Increasing children’s achievements is a key priority. In the case of under performing groups of pupils, we aim to narrow the gap between their achievement and that of the Medway and national averages.

In the past, children in Medway have started school at levels significantly below national expectations. More recently, performance at Foundation Stage (under five years old) has been at the national average. On entry to infant education, progress is made in line with the national rate, but standards at Key Stage 1 (KS1) (five to seven years old) remain below the national average for reading, writing and mathematics.

Key Stage 2 (KS2) (seven to 11 years old) results for Medway children have shown steady progress since 2006, although they have not reached the ambitious targets we set and remain below the national average.

Our Early Years Strategy is having a significant impact on achievement in the key areas of communication, language and literacy and on personal, social and emotional development at the Foundation Stage. Our challenge is to translate these gains into improvements at KS1 and KS2. In planning the number and size of schools, the council has established a set of school organisation principles. These are:

  • popular and successful schools will expand wherever possible;
  • published admission numbers will be set in multiples of 30, wherever practicable, to support schools in curriculum planning;
  • legislation prevents five to seven-year-olds being taught in class sizes of more than 30 and replicating this structure throughout then school will assist in class organisation;
  • the future of schools with consistently low standards will be reviewed;
  • the future of schools that are or are at serious risk of becoming unviable will be reviewed;
  • the number of transition points will be reduced wherever possible within the phases of primary and secondary education.

In the primary phase this means creating schools for pupils aged three to 11 and removing transitions for pupils midway through the Foundation Stage and between separate provisions for KS1 and KS2. In the secondary phase this means all schools offering provision for students aged 11 to 19 within a consortium.

You can submit your responses online or by email to paul.clarke@medway.gov.uk.

For more information contact us by telephone: 01634 334013 or by email: childrens.services@medway.gov.uk

Write to: Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR

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