Letter - Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning to CEHA Panel re SEF Hearing follow-up questions - 19 July 2024

19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR

Deputy Catherine Curtis

Chair – Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel

Sent by email only 19 July 2024

Dear Chair,

Scrutiny review: Secondary Education Funding

Thank you for your letter of 11th July requesting further information following the public hearing held the day before. Please see below or attached separately, the information and answers as requested.

1. Written details of the year end finances (to include budget / actual spend / variance) for all secondary schools in 2023 and provide the year-to-date figures for 2024.

In general schools are over-spending on non-staffing areas where rising prices over and above inflation have outstripped budget. Service contracts for activities such as cleaning and grounds maintenance which reflect the living wage are particularly affected.

As with previous years, the finance teamwork with the schools during the year to support in bringing schools into budget.

2. Further details about the inclusion support available for students at JCG and Victoria College (VC), and how this is funded by Government.

JCG and VC are put through the same formula for inclusion funding as other secondary schools but receive 47% (their AWPU %). All schools are put through a calculation to determine their inclusion context, which then determines how many staff they require in their "Model School for Inclusion". Both schools are low context. They also receive money for "SEN not RON" and Mental Health Worker at 47%.

Historically the schools have been charged an "occupancy charge" of £210,000 per year per secondary school. This charge has been incrementally removed over the past 3 years, with 2024 being the first year where nothing is being charged. The condition for removing this charge was that the money saved should be put towards inclusion by the schools. Therefore, the amount of budget being given for inclusion is reduced by this amount (so it is not double funded).

They receive funding for the Record of Need pupils at 100%, both Base' and Top up' funding.

All of the above is in addition to what we are obliged to pay under P41/2017.

3. Comparison data of public expenditure on education (since 2019) with other jurisdictions, if possible.

We do not hold any comparison data, apart from that which is within the Independent School Funding Review and the Jersey Classification of the Functions of Government Report 2022.

4. The Funding Formula for Schools appears to be largely built around costs of staffing, please can you confirm what percentage of secondary school budgets are made up of staff costs?

5. How much control does CYPES have over what staff costs are?

The School Funding Formula is an allocation tool, that allocates a "cash limit" to the schools. The Headteachers are then able to use this whole amount to set a budget. There are a few restrictions, for example, budget allocated for staff can be used on one-off non- staff spend, but non-staff budget cannot be spent on staff, due to not using non-staff money to make a long-term commitment.

The Finance Business Partnering team, work with Headteachers throughout the year to ensure that spend is in line with the set budget and understand why there are differences. Any issues are assessed as part of Headteachers performance. Governors have responsibilities for setting budgets and should also be holding Headteachers to task on managing their budgets.

The department of CYPES overall budget setting is determined through the Government Plan process.

Staff costs per se are not determined by CYPES. As the employer, the SEB sets rates of pay for each staff group within our schools.

6. Can you explain how the "non-contact time" element of the secondary school staffing budget works?

It is assumed that, as a base, teachers can only teach a maximum of 21 hours per week. This gives every teacher 10% PPA time. On top of that there is budget for non-contact time.

Non-contact time in the formula is based on needing 1 hour a week not teaching to perform duties for an SA1, 2 hours for SA2 etc. i.e. it assumes that a teacher on a SA1 would have a maximum teaching time of 20 hours. The formula calculates the number of teachers required to cover these additional duties.

7. Are secondary schools provided with funding for facilities that are not linked directly to curriculum learning, for example: libraries / afterschool clubs / other pursuits and student interests? Please provide details, where possible.

Secondary schools are not funded for facilities such as after school or breakfast clubs, these do exist in primary schools. These provisions do not attract any additional formula funding as they should be net nil with income covering the costs.

There are some Teacher facilitated school fixtures run outside of school hours. It is assumed that every pupil attends 1 hour of enrichment in classes of 25 in Key Stage 3 and 4, and 4 hours of enrichment in classes of 25 in Key Stage 5. Secondary schools are offering extra-curricular and enrichment clubs and activities at lunch and after-school, and these are recovering well in number and range post COVID-19 and post ASOSA.

Schools are funded for a number of support staff, as part of that the model school does have funding for a Librarian / Learning Resources Coordinator although Head Teachers have the autonomy to decide how they wish to spend it.

8. The Funding Formula indicates [on page 18] that primary schools have an additional supplementary allowance of £7,000 for supporting Social, Emotional Mental Health and wellbeing needs. Is there an equivalent for secondary schools?

Primary schools receive budget to give supplementary allowance to a teacher to support Mental Health and Wellbeing. Secondary schools receive budget to fund a full time Civil Servant grade 11 post of Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager.

9. Should there be a core / base level of wellbeing funding included in the funding formula?

There is a Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager included in all Secondary schools in the formula. In addition to the funding formula the department is taking forward plans of increased support by the CAHMS service which is focussed on schools.

10. The recently published Participation and Engagement Feedback Report' (in relation to the Children, Young People and Families Plan 2024 -2027) had a section about Spending' in relation to school life. What will the Government do with this feedback from young people and will there be any consideration of it in the next revision of the funding formula for 2025?

The feedback from children and young people has been included in the new Children, Young People and Families Plan. The Children's Outcomes Executive Committee, which a number of Ministers are part of, will oversee the development of this Plan. The voice of children and young people will contribute to the Committee through established routes.

The feedback published in the Participation and Engagement Report on spending is due to be presented to the Council of Ministers and the Executive Leadership Team as part of the Government Plan discussions.  

As part of the Participation Standards, to ensure children and young people are listened to and receive feedback, the CYPES engagement and participation team intend to share with the School Councils how their feedback was received and what difference has been made.

11. Do you think that there should be opportunities for stakeholders, including young people, to consult on the funding formula?

Yes, as part of the engagement and participation work with the school council network, it is clear that students are deeply interested in wider fiscal matters relating to their education and overall wellbeing. This is an area we can further develop through our engagement and participation function established within CYPES.

12. The funding formula provides £200 per secondary school teacher per year for training, plus a centrally held budget for learning and development. Please can you clarify the total of that budget per year? [Separating secondary from primary, if possible]

The Learning & Development budget in the Education Reform Programme totals £1.593m. (This is the original £1.345m allocated in Government Plan 2021 + pay inflation). It is not split between primary and secondary. In addition to this, there is also the £200 per teacher which across the 5 secondary schools on this funding formula totals £49,000.

13. Are you able to confirm what the average cost of secondary school teacher professional development is in Jersey?

We do not collect the costs in this way so cannot calculate this. We pay fees to outside providers and the cost of cover for teachers on training, but it not categorised in a way to be able to work this out.

14. Is the centrally held budget used for continuing professional development for existing teachers, and does it include training on the teacher graduate programme?

The Central ERP Learning & Development fund pays for:

• Early Careers Teachers

• Jersey Graduate Teacher Training Programme

• NASENCo Courses

• Oracy (Voice 21)

• NPQ Leadership

• Masters in Education

• Maths Intervention

• Multilingual learner specific CPD

• In certain cases, supply cover to enable release of staff.

15. Is there a budget for a supply teacher if / when a teacher attends training or development during school time?

A secondary school only gets budget for supply / cover for sickness and for mentoring time etc around ECT / JGTTP, unless there is a specific drive. E.g Anna Freud Centre training (mental health and wellbeing) or Bell Framework training (supporting multilingual learners) when cover is paid for from the CPD budget.

16. In some industries, professionals are required to undertake a certain number of hours of professional development each year, rather than have a specific budget limit to their training and development needs. Could that policy approach be adopted for teachers in Jersey?

Teachers in Jersey are registered with the Department for Education in the UK once they successfully complete their assessment against the Teachers' Standards at the conclusion of their period of Early Career Teacher (ECT) training and development. Our processes are aligned with the UK, as are other professional disciplines working in Jersey. Some of these other professions such as medicine have a defined number of CPD/training days that must be undertaken to maintain professional registration. Whilst CPD is a highly valued component of a teacher's professionalism, it doesn't have a specified number of hours assigned for training. However, all schools have three assigned training days, and a component of each teacher's weekly direct hours for training.

17. Minister, are you aware of how the £200 per teacher compares to other jurisdictions and do you think that the learning and development budget provided for teachers in Jersey is sufficient?

The Independent School Funding Review recommended £1,727 per Teacher. This was at 2019 pay rates so using our pay inflation to get to the equivalent 2024 rate is £2,190. Using Jersey RPI it would be £2,238.

The L&D Budget including inflation is now £1,593k. The funding formula estimates a number of teachers and this number is 868 (including primary, secondary, fee charging, MAL, La Sente & Highlands) has been used to get to a rate per teacher of £1,834

Add the £200 per teacher given to secondary schools in formula and there would be £2,034 available compared to the £2,238 inflated ISFR rate

18. Please can you describe how secondary schools utilise the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) budget, which is stated to be £105,000 for all secondary schools in 2024?

The funding is to give schools the ability to replace assets quickly if broken or end of life, without having to go through the central M&D budgets.

19. Please can you provide a breakdown of how is this allocated between the secondary schools and confirm the rationale for how the funds are split?

Secondary Schools receive the following funding. It is based on £350,000 of Delegated ICT Budget being allocated across all schools. A further £250,000 is held centrally which the schools can access if required.

The £600k (£350k & £250k) has not been inflated since 2014, therefore the amounts given have stayed the same for the past 10 years.

20. The Panel notes that the total budget for ICT in secondary schools has been reduced in the past two years. What is the reason for that reduction?

The ICT budget has not been changed – the same amount has been allocated as in previous years.

This is lifted from page 20 of the Jersey Funding Formula for Schools: Rationale and Calculations 2023 "ICT delegated funding is allocated to each school based on historic spend. A total of £105,000 is distributed to Secondary Schools."

21. How much technology are secondary school students expected to have access to for their schoolwork and are there funds available to help those who may not have access? [If funds are available, are these held centrally or is it school based support?]

Technology has had a growing place in teaching and learning, as it has across society. This trend was accelerated during the Covid 19 pandemic period, when the rapid move to remote learning was considerable aided by technology. That period also highlighted the inequality of access to technology for Jersey's young people and families. This was redressed to some degree by joint working between Government and others, including charities and philanthropists, but the so-called digital divide' remains an issue.

Secondary school teachers have use of technology such as interactive whiteboards to support the teaching of their students. The expectation of access to technology for students to complete school work varies across schools. Some schools have 1:1 devices for all students, either devices provided by their families (under Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD initiatives) or loan devices from the school. Other schools have built up school stocks of iPads, laptops or similar, to ensure access. The DES Report of 2022 carried out an evaluation of how schools made use of technology to develop digital skills. Recommendations were made and these continue to from the focus for 5 key working groups.

22. How does CYPES review the adequacy of its ICT and technology requirements and are these reactive to demand?

ICT support is supported by the M&D department for the Government of Jersey. Both CYPES and M&D recognise that improvements are needed to ensure technology demands are future proofed. This includes improvements required across the IT network and WIFI access.

23. Has any work been done to anticipate the future technology requirements for Education?

Digital literacy courses have become standard in some areas, and it is an area to be rolled out further, ensuring that students can navigate digital environments safely and understand key concepts such as internet safety and data privacy and become digital citizens.

To support future technology requirements, we are upgrading our infrastructure within budget constraints. This includes investing in modern hardware ensuring high-speed internet access and setting up secure and reliable networks. We are also leveraging cloud- based solutions to reduce costs associated with physical storage and maintenance.

With the growing trend towards online assessments, we are reviewing platforms and infrastructure that facilitate secure and efficient online examinations. These platforms include features such as plagiarism detection, remote proctoring, and real-time analytics to monitor student performance. We will be prioritising training for both teachers and students to use these platforms effectively. Additionally, measures are being implemented to ensure all students have equal access to online exams, such as providing devices and internet access to those in need.

Our digital education strategy includes professional development for teachers to enhance their digital skills and adopt new teaching methodologies that leverage technology. We are developing digital content libraries to enable teachers to access a wide range of educational resources.

Innovation remains a key focus, with ongoing exploration of new educational technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and gamification to enhance learning. Pilot programs and small-scale implementations allow us to test the effectiveness of these technologies before wider adoption.

Recognising our limited finances, we are adopting cost-effective measures to implement technology wherever possible, but identify that significant investment is required to support our teachers and learners to be able to effectively use technology both in the immediate and long term.

24. The funding formula provides for a counsellor role for each school (grade 9 at 30 hours per week). For each secondary school please can you clarify if there is a dedicated school counsellor in post, working 30 hours per week, or if there are currently any vacancies?

All secondary schools have counsellors in post providing cover for over 30 hours per week during the academic year. There are no vacancies. Highlands College do not have a counsellor as they use the YES Project counsellors to support.

No primary schools have an official school-based counsellor.

25. If a counsellor is not employed by the school, can the budget be repurposed or is it ringfenced?

Money given for Inclusion, needs to be spent on inclusion and there are a few ringfenced posts within inclusion, but counsellor is not one of them. Who is employed with this money is at the Head teacher's discretion, but they have to address the needs of the child and explain outcomes.

26. The funding formula states that the assumption of class size is 25 students for most subjects and 20 for some practical subjects, how typical are these averages?

The School Admissions policy states that the normal size for each form of entry is 25 with the maximum being 26. Individual class/lesson sizes vary, especially in Key Stage 4 due to options and ability.

The average form size for each secondary school is -

CYPES does not centrally hold data on individual lesson/class sizes however each of the 4 secondary schools have indicated that the assumption of class sizes of 25 students for most subjects and 20 for some practical subjects is typical of the reality within the school.

27. Are there classes that are significantly bigger or smaller than the average of 20 - 25 in secondary schools?

In a very small number of cases there may be a requirement for a practical class size to be significantly less than 20. This is normally limited to subjects such as Hair & Beauty where the subject is taught off site at Highlands College, or in Key Stage 4 where pupils choose certain subject options.

Options and ability sets may also increase class size.

28. Does the minimum class size of 12 students (for options subjects) limit the subjects on offer?

Some schools may be following a minimum class size approach in order to fulfil their financial obligations. School funding includes consideration of optimum class sizes to calculate the required teacher to pupil ratio for employment. There is no statutory minimum class size, and many schools choose to continue to with classes of less than 12 in order to maintain curriculum breadth. Often this will be in a small number of less frequently selected subjects such as music and classics and could be said to be subsidised by the decision to maintain class sizes of 20 – 25 in GCSE and 15-20 at level 3, for more frequently selected subjects such as business studies, psychology and English.

29. What are the objectives of the Jersey Premium (JP) funding?

The objective of JP funding is to support schools to ensure that all children get the very best from their education, regardless of their socio-economic background or barriers to learning. Every pupil has an equal opportunity to access the full curriculum, to receive high-quality teaching tailored to their needs and to perform to the best of their ability.

30. How does the Government assess whether the Jersey Premium funding is achieving those objectives?

Each year, schools are required to produce a Jersey Premium Strategy'. The details both evaluation of impact of the previous year's strategy and plans for the current year.

Evaluations cover:

• The amount of Jersey Premium funding the school has been allocated

• The number and percentage of pupils in receipt of Jersey Premium

• How the school used the Jersey Premium funding

• The impact of the expenditure on pupils

• The impact of the expenditure should include overall data on pupil outcomes by year groups (when there are small numbers of pupils in receipt of Jersey Premium this should be by key stage or whole school)

• The impact of the expenditure should include that of the different approaches to address the identified barriers undertaken and how effective they were.

Strategic plans cover:

• The amount of Jersey Premium funding the school has been allocated

• The number and percentage of pupils in receipt of Jersey Premium

• A summary of the main barriers to educational achievement faced by pupils at the school

• How the school will use the Jersey Premium funding to address these barriers

• The rationale for the approaches undertaken

• How the school will measure the impact of Jersey Premium

• The next review date of the school's Jersey Premium strategy

Each year the school's Senior Adviser will scrutinise the evaluation and strategy documents, the school's self-evaluation form and school improvement plan. These all relate to the provision for pupils eligible for JP, and together with the attainment data for those pupils the Senior Adviser can evaluate the extent to which the school is meeting the objective for JP funding. The attainment of Jersey Premium pupils in relation to their peers is identified in the School Data Report produced by CYPES and published on each school's website. Additionally, on a four-yearly cycle, the school will be reviewed against the Jersey School Review Framework, including an evaluation of the efficacy of provision for those pupils.

31. The Funding Formula for 2024 has set the Jersey Premium rate for secondary school pupils as £1,060. How is that level of funding set each year and is there a link with inflation?

Jersey Premium is a fixed Budget, this means that the rates per child can decrease year on year or increase i.e. if the number of children were to increase significantly the rate would have to go down to stay within the budget available.

To set the rates, across Primary, Secondary and Children Looked After, we look at how many children we have, the amount of budget available and work out how much we can afford. We also compare to UK rates to try to stay with them where possible.

Some of the Jersey Premium budget, c75%, relates to staffing therefore the budget attracts some pay inflation. This is used to increase the rates.

As I mentioned in the hearing, I would prefer that the Jersey Premium budget was changed to Annually Managed Expenditure (AME). AME can flex based on demand to ensure that a fixed level of amount per student is maintained, even if there is a large increase of eligible students. It may be appropriate for all demand-led funding aspects to become AME, i.e. RoN, SEN, Low Prior Attainment etc., as we have not control over the level of demand but do need to maintain a level of per pupil funding to meet objectives.

32. Can you provide some details of how the Jersey Premium funding is spent in secondary schools?

Jersey Premium Strategies detail these plans and are published on each school's website. Some examples include:

• Dedicated member of staff to act as the JP champion - the Closing The Gap (CTG) Coordinator

• The PiXL Club membership to provide best practice and resources for closing the learning gap

• SA post to close learning gaps in Science KS3

• SA post for Vocational Coordinator to work with JP and Non-JP students

• JP dedicated Learning Mentors to work with JP and non-JP students

• Ensure JP students have access to IT provision, especially during times of blended learning

• Full time Teacher of SEMH

• Curriculum Planning Consultant: All Heads of Department receive 1:1 session with curriculum planning consultant to bring renewed schemes of learning and consistency in planning and delivery across the school

• Improving literacy in all subject areas: Purchase of Reading Plus package to benefit all students – providing targeted feedback tailored to the individual student

• Purchase of standardised diagnostic assessments – GL Assessment

• GCSEPod – Digital learning and revision platform available on a range of devices to all students, in all year groups

33. Is there any conformity across schools?

All schools are required to conform to the requirements detailed above. It is the responsibility of School leaders to ensure they are adhering to requirements and held to account on this by Senior Advisers and the Director of Education.

34. Why is there no requirement to tie it to the specific pupils that it is allocated for?

This flexibility allows schools to use the funds in a way that best meets the collective needs of their disadvantaged students. Schools can implement broad strategies, such as additional teaching support, extracurricular activities, or pastoral care, which can benefit multiple students and create an overall supportive learning environment. This approach ensures that resources are used effectively to address various barriers to learning and improve outcomes for disadvantaged students as a group.

35. The Panel understands that there is budget available to headteachers to support families with uniform costs. Is this included in the Funding Formula?

There is no specific budget for uniforms and nothing in the SFF. Jersey Premium is sometimes used to help with uniform cost, that is at the Head Teachers discretion.

36. How is information about financial assistance for uniforms communicated to parents?

Clear information is provided on gov.je here - Help with school duniform costs (gov.je) Additionally, parents can and do speak to school staff members for information.

37. We understand that there is additional funding provided for "low prior attainment" provided through the funding formula. Please can you confirm the objectives of that funding?

This is a more recent initiative to address the risk of children and young people not succeeding at school. Evidence shows that children entering both primary and secondary school with what is assessed as Low prior attainment' risk not making up the gap with their peers unless focused intervention is put in place. Therefore, Low prior attainment (LPA) funding is provided for children in school Years 1, 2 and 3 in primary and Years 7, 8 and 9 in secondary schools based on their outcomes in Reception and Year 6, respectively.

As with Jersey Premium funding, MLL funding and SEND funding, the LPA funding forms part of the funds designed to support schools with higher levels of need in their pupil population, to meet their needs, seeking to adapt teaching and offer interventions to close any gaps and maximise achievement from their individual starting points.

38. The 2024 formula states that secondary schools were allocated £663,000 to support students with low-prior attainment. Can you describe how that funding is used in secondary schools?

As above, the funding contributes to the budget used to employ high quality and well- trained teachers and teaching assistants who are deployed to undertake full class teaching or bespoke interventions and support, reflective of the needs and objective in paragraph 37.

39. How does CYPES review the effectiveness of the additional funding allocated for low prior attainment?

The effectiveness of the provision for all pupils who are eligible for one or more category of high needs funding is a key focus of the Jersey School Review Framework. Ongoing evaluations of this provision are conducted routinely through school self-evaluation throughout and at the end of each year, and through the work of the School Improvement and Advisory Service (SIAS) each year, and then formally and externally through the lens of the published Jersey School Reviews.

40. The 2024 formula states that £134,000 of funding was allocated to support multi- lingual learners in secondary schools. Are you able to provide any further details about the different levels of additional funding and resources provided to the secondary schools in Jersey?

These funds are directly allocated to schools for the Supplementary Allowances, ongoing specialist training and the release of their MLL Lead teachers. These colleagues undertake MLL assessments, interventions and support all class teachers in meeting the needs of eligible pupils and their families.

Further support (centrally funded) is provided to schools through specialist MLL teachers and access to MLL CPD.

41. What would you consider to be the important outcomes of secondary education?

The development of children and young people is the key outcome of all education. Jersey schools have for some time been UNICEF rights respecting schools and a high value has rightly been placed on children's rights. This work has done much to support school improvement across the Island. UNESCO's useful definition (see below) of Curriculum helps to explain the breadth and scope of what our schools should be offering, with a clear focus on development of the whole child or young person:

Curriculum is a systematic and intended packaging of competencies (i.e. knowledge, skills and attitudes that are underpinned by values) that learners should acquire through organised learning experiences both in formal and non-formal settings.

Good curriculum plays an important role in forging life-long learning competencies, as well as social attitudes and skills, such as tolerance and respect, constructive management of diversity, peaceful conflict management, promotion and respect of Human Rights, gender equality, justice and inclusiveness.

At the same time, a school's curriculum contributes to the development of thinking skills and the acquisition of relevant knowledge that learners need to apply in the context of their studies, daily life and careers. Curriculum is also increasingly called upon to support the learner's personal development by contributing to enhancing their self-respect and confidence, motivation and aspirations.'  

42. What metric is there for measuring outcomes from secondary education, in addition to grades or qualifications?

All Government of Jersey schools have a published, external and independently led Jersey School Review. These reflect a three-day review process, led by expert school Inspectors with many years of HMI and Ofsted experience.

These report school outcomes without grades, in line with CYPES policy. Reviews systematically evaluate the quality of the following: achievement; effectiveness of teaching; behaviour personal development and welfare; and leadership and management. Each report identifies areas of strength and specific recommendations for improvement which are monitored and followed up by the SIAS team working with the school leadership team.

43. How long term can CYPES' policy for the future development of secondary education be, and how does that impact funding for education?

CYPES policy is led by Ministerial and professional standard requirements and is closely aligned to UK national approaches in education. The Government Plan process provides a mechanism for continuity in policy and future development, and the democratic handover process post-election enables the department and officers to have the opportunity to outline strategic plans that are progressing and to understand how these plans align to ministerial plans.

44. Do changes in the birth rate influence policy decisions about education and funding for secondary education?

We continually monitor birth and migration numbers and the impact this has on individual schools and the system as a whole. This will involve planning future school capacity in secondary schools as the school population moves through the primary phase of education.

45. Have the findings of the Government's 2020 report on The Big Education Conversation' been used in education policy development?

The insights from the Big Education have been used to inform the following policy developments:  

- Children and Young Peoples (Jersey) Law (2022)

- Children (Convention Rights) (Jersey) Law 2022

- Children Young People and Families Plan 2024/7

- Jersey Schools School Inclusion Charter

- Jersey Young People Participation Standards

- Draft Regulations Independent Advocacy

- Children's Rights Scheme Jersey

46. Minister, does the Government have any plans to update the Education (Jersey) Law 1999 in ways that will impact secondary education?

The Common Strategic Policy 2024/6 was debated and approved by the Assembly in May 2024. The policy priorities outlined do not include any specific reform of secondary school education, but that is not to say that through continuous improvement there may be elements we progress.

Yours sincerely,

Deputy Rob Ward

Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning

D +44 (0)1534 440152 E R. Ward 2@gov.je