Submission - Review of the Annual Report and Accounts 2023 CYPES Chief Officer re - 17 June 2024

19-21 Broad Street St Helier

Jersey JE2 3RR

17 June 2024

Dear Deputy Kovacs

RE: Sates Annual Report and Accounts 2023

Thank you for your letter dated 3rd June requesting further information in relation to the Department for Children, Young People, Education & Skills. I have answered each of the questions you posed, below.

1. Can you explain why there was an underspend within the CYPES budget during 2023?  

As of 31st December 2023, the Department closed the financial year with a £253,000 or 0.13% underspend against a budget of £201,608,000. The department managed to net off unmanageable expenditure from parental leave policy changes and unmet efficiency targets by regularisation of growth underspends in Children's Social Care Services.

2. The PAC is pleased to see the expansion of the primary school food programme; however, please can you provide details of any additional costs that have been entailed by using a new supplier?

In 2023 the primary school food programme cost an additional £132,000 to expand the provision. These costs arose from working with a new supplier for the production and delivery of meals for which we saw a high uptake.

3. What  were  the  results  and  outcomes  of  the  School  Improvement  and  Advisory Service works streams in 2023?

 The School Improvement and Advisory Service (SIAS) is a small team of Advisors and external experts who work with other teams to provide challenge, advice, and support to schools and colleges to achieve as highly as possible for their students. The core roles are to:

• ensure school accountability through the Jersey School Review Framework.

• support the appointment, induction and training of all headteachers.

• assist school leaders to identify and gather appropriate evidence to validate the school's self-evaluation using the criteria of the JSRF.

• support school senior leaders to use this evaluation to underpin their annual School Improvement Plan/School Development Plan. (SIP/SDP)

• prioritise central training and support to match areas identified in SDP/SIPs.

• analyse and interpret centrally gathered data on attendance, suspension and part- time  timetables;  pupil  transition  and  destinations;  school  complaints;  notes  of  visits; assessment.

• Manage  the  Jersey  Curriculum  and  support  with  specific  areas  of  school improvement in line with team analysis of priority and individual school needs, including support and training for English, mathematics and languages, Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), Jèrriais Jersey Premium.

• identify effective practice and promoting active collaboration.

• champion high quality provision across the Jersey Curriculum for all groups of learners with a special focus on pupils eligible for Jersey Premium, Multilingual learners (MLL), and pupils with SEND.

• create and updating central policy and curriculum developments.

• promote effective practice in schools for the professional development of teachers.

• deliver on-Island initial teacher training, the Early Career Teachers (ECT) programme and a suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for staff at all levels.

• assist school leaders with the resolution of stakeholder concerns and complaints.

Key work streams in 2023

Following significant work in supporting school opening throughout the Covid pandemic and leading much of the Covid recovery work in education, 2023 saw a change of SIAS leadership and several retirements. The results and outcomes of the School Improvement and Advisory Service works streams in 2023 are summarised as follows:

1. Jersey School Review Framework (JSRF)

The cornerstone of SIAS work is defining the standards by which schools evaluate themselves each year and sets clear criteria to support continual school development. The Framework underpins the independently led external reviews of all maintained schools and colleges every 3-4 years (see Jersey Schools Review Framework (gov.je) ). Led by an independent off-Island inspector (each with several years' experience as one of Her/His Majesty's Inspectors (HMI) in England), each review team also includes local headteachers and Departmental advisers trained for the role.

In 2023 there were 16 Government of Jersey Reviews and 1 independent school inspection. All review reports are published on the government website. The joint Head of SIAS (also an experienced HMI) leads the JSRF cycle, coordinating the recruitment and training of all participants, ensuring a robust quality assurance process is applied.

The analysis of JSRF outcomes inform SIAS annual development plans. The workstreams detailed below are directly linked to school improvement priorities identified through this process, and their quality assurance school visits. A key additional workstream between 2023 and 2024 has been the updating of the framework with good participation by heads and other stakeholders, which is expected to be piloted later this year for a launch in 2025.

2. Teacher training and Early Career Teachers (ECTs)

In response to the increasing challenges evident in teacher recruitment and training across the United Kingdom, which are reflected in Jersey, SIAS has led investment in increased teacher training. Following the introduction of a subject shortage Bursary and an updated paid route into teacher training Jersey saw in increase in teacher training recruitment. In 2023 the Adviser for Teaching and Learning trained 19 new teachers all of whom were subsequently employed in local schools. A further cohort was recruited and will complete this in July 2024, again with a record of strong retention and recruitment in local schools.

SIAS has created a highly effective and recognised Early Career Teacher training programme. This supports newly qualified teachers to embed and build on their initial teacher training as they embark on their first jobs in Jersey schools. In 2023 the Senior Adviser and Adviser supported 73 recently qualified teachers across twenty schools, making a strong contribution to their professional development and to their retention in the profession on Island.

3. Leadership training for schools

SIAS has developed a suite of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) across a number of areas in response to areas of development identified in Reviews and to bolster the retention and development of more experienced teachers, In 2023 the team delivered NPQ leadership qualifications (taking between 9 and 18 months to complete) to 76 teachers and leaders, working in collaboration with colleagues from CEYS and Inclusion for two* of the six programmes listed below:

• NPQH (Headship): 6 delegates

• NPQSL (Senior Leadership) - Cohort 2: 16 delegates

• NPQSL - Cohort 3: 20 delegates

• NPQLT (Lead Teacher): 15 delegates

• NPQEY* (Early Years Lead): 9 delegates

• NPQBL* (Behaviour Lead): 10 delegates

4. Mathematics and English development

The Advisors for English and mathematics, together with lead teachers seconded from schools, maintain a key focus on the quality of learning for pupils in these core subjects. They work primarily with subject leaders to support each school in their practice, offering bespoke training for individual schools and for groups of teachers working collaboratively. This team of Advisors and lead teachers are research informed and reflective, supporting new staff as they develop their expertise and working alongside experienced colleagues as they reflect on how best to adapt their practice to meet the needs of each new cohort of pupils. The impact of Advisor and lead teacher workstreams can be seen in the levels of expertise, collaboration and shared best practice across our schools. The outcomes achieved by pupils in their schools will be impacted by multiple variables; the measurable impact of continued focus and support for core subject teaching by SIAS is quality face to face training by expert and experienced professionals who are valued in our schools.

Additional work streams undertaken or expanded to address impact of COVID-19

In 2023 (initially funded through Covid Recovery monies) the mathematics team focused on developing teacher knowledge in primary schools on pupils' acquisition of early number sense. This work was focused on Nursery and Reception classes and has continued into 2024 as a targeted work stream. Pupil progress within these groups is being tracked, and the early approaches adapted in the light of results. In addition, SIAS purchased a central license for Complete Mathematics Tutor between 2022 and 2024. This online individualised learning programme for pupils in all Government Schools, from Years 1 to 13, was accessed by thousands of pupils across the Island, enabling teachers and individual learners to identify gaps in learning and undertake specific activities to address these.

To support English development, SIAS invested in the teaching of reading using the COVID Recovery funds. The Adviser for English (as a University College of London accredited instructor) trained 13 specialist teachers to deliver the Reading Recovery early intervention programme in primary schools. In 2023 these teachers worked with 145 pupils across 11 town schools.

1. 92% of the target pupils reached age related expectation for reading by the end of the programme.
2. 48% of these pupils were multilingual learners.

The English and mathematics Advisers led on the implementation of the Jersey Tutoring Programme which funded schools to provide small group and 1:1 tuition between 2020 and 2023 for pupils who were identified as needing additional support post Covid. These COVID funded work streams are explained and evaluated in the 2022 and in the 2023 (soon to be published) Covid Recovery Reports'.

5.  Curriculum development and support

1. Jersey Curriculum Council (JCC)

The Senior Advisor for Curriculum leads the organisation of the JCC, established in 1999 under the Education (Jersey) Law. The functions of the JCC are to:

• conduct consultation on the aims, objectives, content, delivery, and assessment of the Jersey Curriculum.

• keep the Jersey Curriculum under review.

• offer independent advice to and undertake research and development on behalf of the Minister in respect of the Jersey Curriculum.

• provide advice on the Jersey Curriculum to teachers, school governors, parents and other persons concerned with the provision of education; and

• disseminate information about the Jersey Curriculum.

In 2023 the Senior Advisor supported the JCC to update policy, guidance documents and resources for schools across the following areas:

1. PSHE/Citizenship.
2. History.
3. Music.
4. Religious education.
5. COP26 Education Pledge.
6. Physical Literacy.

This worked included subject leads and on-Island and off-Island experts, and with a broad range of stakeholders including pupils, the Jersey Youth Parliament, other Government departments and external interest groups, to create and adapt a considerable range of work. The impact of this work in individual schools is analysed through the JSRF. School JSRF reports in both 2023 and 2024 evidence the improved breadth and depth of many school's curriculum offers, when compared to outcomes from earlier Reviews.

2. Arts development for well-being

The Senior Advisor for Curriculum developed an Arts Programme in 2023 to address pupil wellbeing through high quality art teaching in all Jersey primary schools. This work, undertaken in collaboration with Art House Jersey is explained and evaluated in the Covid Recovery report referenced above.

3. States Chambers and citizenship

In support of citizenship education, throughout the academic year from September 2022 to July 2023, SIAS supported and facilitated 41 States Chamber Visits from a total of 30 schools and 1052 pupils. This is an annual funded initiative, and much valued by primary schools.

4. Oracy across the curriculum

Education Reform Funding enabled SIAS to commission a partnership with Voice 21 in 2022. This supports oracy development across the curriculum, teaching pupils to become more effective speakers and listeners, empowering them to find their voice and succeed in school and life. In 2023, the Senior Adviser leading on oracy facilitated more than 50 Voice 21 events in Jersey schools. These were a mixture of whole day courses, staff meetings, evaluation training and centre of excellence training. By the end of 2023, 27 schools and colleges were part of the network with emerging impact seen in the classrooms of both new and experienced teachers. As with the curriculum work above, the positive impact of oracy development is being highlighted in recent JSRF reports.

5. Languages team

i.Multilingual Advisory Service

The Adviser for Languages leads the Multilingual Advisory Service. This team of advisory teachers provide support and coaching for school staff working with the 27% of school pupils across Jersey who are multilingual learners (MLL). In addition, they lead a team of MLL key workers who undertake individual and small group work with pupils who are new to English or in the early acquisition stage of development, as well as supporting learners' normal lessons with their class teachers.

In addition to in-class and pupil level support, in 2023 the team led training and supported:

1. 31 MLL leads in GoJ-funded primary and secondary schools delivering a new curriculum to pupils new to English.
2. Inclusion of 1000 multilingual language books in school libraries.

The impact of MLL and languages development is highlighted in JSRF reports, and is increasingly emerging as an area of growing strength in many schools.

ii.Mathematics for MLL learners

Following the increased focus on developing and identifying best practice for pupils with a multilingual background (currently 24% of all pupils) across 2023 and 2024 the Mathematics Adviser is researching best practice for the learning of languages and mathematics, and how each can support the other, with Oxford Brooks University and a targeted group of schools.

iii.Primary French

SIAS has a small team of specialist French teachers who support the teaching of French in primary schools. In addition to running central training, they deliver the French Experience, a six-week intensive French learning programme where the French teacher works alongside the year 5 class teacher, offering three hours of French a week and support for wider use of French by the class teacher during other lessons during the six weeks. This more immersive approach to teaching French has a strong impact, both on pupil outcomes and on teacher confidence to teach French in years 4-6.

iv.Jèrriais

The Languages team additionally leads a team of specialist Jèrriais teachers who work in schools and the wider community. In the academic year 2022 – 2023 the number of learners accessing Jèrriais grew significantly from 1000 children to now include 2700 learners from across our primary schools and 40 learners in playgroups.

6. Supply teachers

SIAS administers the central Teachers Supply List, interviewing and checking all applicants and ensuring they complete safeguarding and training updates and have their standards of teaching checked at least each year. The team undertake between 30 and 50 interviews a year for new entrants to the register, ensuring that those who undertake absence or training cover for Jersey teachers are suitably trained and experienced.

7. Wider support for teacher recruitment

In 2023 the Joint Head of SIAS, together with two Senior Advisors, undertook significant work to support the recruitment of primary and secondary school teachers after challenges emerged early in the year in attracting appropriate applicants for published vacancies. Working with colleagues they made 15 direct appointments for primary teachers who were then later allocated to schools to fill parental leave and short-term posts that had not attracted local applicants. They also supported the placement of Agency Teachers to support secondary recruitment. In addition, the SIAS team supports CYPES's appointment of Headteachers and schools to appoint Deputy Headteachers. SIAS also runs the Induction for all new Headteachers.

4. What processes are in place to ensure that all staff who are trained in the Children's Social Care practice model are following the guidelines effectively?

All staff receive the Practice Model Handbook as part of their induction into the service. This provides practical guidance on how to embed the practice model into everyday work tasks and is then launched and discussed in the new staff welcome events. There is specific training commissioned that is aligned to the practice model, including restorative practice, children's rights approach and trauma informed training, all of which include an evaluation that records how the individual practitioners will embed this into their practice.

The practice model is effectively our way of working' that is regularly reviewed through quality assurance activity, i.e. case file audits, practice observations, feedback from children and their families and this provides a level of assurance on how the staff are following the guidelines.

In the bi-annual Practice Week in March 2024, the theme was communication, which provided a spotlight' on communication and relationships with children and their families. The activity during this week included focused observations, audits, feedback and training sessions around the relationship-based practice model. For example, audit activity during this week focused on reviewing the use of restorative language in practice and records. The week closed with a feedback session that informed staff what we were doing well and where we needed to improve. this then resulted in focused sessions in April and May around key areas of social work practice that will be tested' in the next series of audits to close the loop.

5. The PAC is pleased to see that permanent staffing within Children's Services has increased in 2023 and reliance on agency staff has decreased. How are you continuing to address the reliance on agency staffing?

In 2024, we have increased the focus on permanent recruitment with recruitment reporting and oversight at weekly Senior Management Team meetings and increased support with permanent recruitment. Improvements have been, and continue to be, made in areas key for successful permanent recruitment. This includes improving attraction channels, recruitment process improvement and candidate experience. These are detailed below:

Attraction Channels:

• Improving job advertisements.

• Review of permanent staff suppliers with ongoing performance management of the supplier list.

• Conversion of agency workers to permanent staff where appropriate.

Recruitment Process Improvement

• Improved applicant tracking.

• Reducing length of time candidates are in process to increase chances of securing best candidates.

• Introduction of weekly permanent recruitment meetings with (senior) managers to maintain momentum and address obstacles.

Candidate Experience

• Increased candidate engagement through recruitment lifecycle.

• Improving interview process and questions to ensure positive experience, good quality appointments and considerations to 'hiring for potential'.

• Improving onboarding and induction both for consistency and candidate experience.

Five permanent Social Worker appointments have already started this year and a further six are going through pre-employment clearances. With further improvements still being made, we hope to see further progress through the rest of this year.

6. What progress has been made to date in relation to the redesign of the offering for young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) and what have been the successes in this area to date?

The support services that recently combined to significantly improve the coordination and delivery of services for NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) young people are listed below with a short outline of how each service contributes. Wider partners include; CAMHS, Back to Work, Adult mental health and JET:

• CYPES informatics team

o Provide accurate data with all stakeholders to identify those without destinations.

• Skills Jersey Careers Team and Mentors

o Provide a contact point for those without a destination who have already left education.

o Help with CV writing, interview skills, finding unadvertised Jobs and work placements.

o Provide access to short training courses to enhance employability, such as First Aid, Behavioural Safety, and Manual Handling or specific skills training for industries like construction (e.g., Working at Height) and hospitality (e.g., Food Hygiene, Barista training).

• Inclusion Team

o Provide pre-emptive engagement, including transitions meetings with all relevant partners, the young person and parents to ensure no young person is overlooked as they transition from education to the workforce.

• Jersey Youth Service

o Provide the DISCOVER! program offering a 12-week program filled with engaging activities to help young people find direction and motivation.

o Provide Achieve programme to support pre-emptive work.

• Highlands College

o Provide courses to support young people to gain new skills and qualifications through alternative courses such as

• Pathways

• Re-engage

• Progression Qualification in various areas, including Care, Hair and Beauty, Construction.

Key successes to date from this coordinated and combined approach are:

• Data sharing agreements with CLS completed to allow a more automised process for destination tracking (lead team Informatics – CYPES)

o This new process allowed for the Total Population Age 16-18 (2022 & 2023 YR11 Leavers) 2077 to be cross referenced with CYPES and CLS data.

o This process will continue quarterly through updated data.

• Unknown' destinations reduced to 95 – from the above 2077 16-18 year olds, 338 young people had unknown destinations prior to initial data tracking. Manual tracking will now begin with Skills Jersey staff reaching out to all 95 to attempt direct contact.

• Pre-emptive identification of young people with no destination prior to leaving year 11 was identified as a key piece of work for the combined provisions group. (lead team Inclusion – CYPES)

o 90 current Year 11 students were identified.

o Initial meetings have been held with 80% of these students and parents/carers. Pupils and families that were unable to attend any of the above will be met by the end of June.

o Skills, JET, BTW & Highlands/Hautlieu were engaged to support the transition meetings to ensure each pupil has a plan in place and key people have been identified to support them.

• Employability & further skills – short courses (lead team Jersey Youth Service)

o Achieve: This year we have been running 4 groups, 2 from Grainville and 2 from Le Rocquier. The current year 11's from both schools have now finished and all achieved a Personal Development Certificate. The year 10 groups are coming to the end of their first year and are all on target to achieve a certificate next year.

o Discover: JYS have been piloting 3 sessions per week (29 April – 24 May) supported by Skills staff.

o Staffing: We have 2 new members of staff joining the team on 15 July. A summer programme will be delivered and from September programmes will be in place for school leavers and any young people 18+ needing support.

• 22 identified NEETs accessing Skills Mentoring support

• 14 students enrolled on Re-engage (lead team Highlands College)

7. The PAC notes that CAMHS referrals for 2020 were 684, however, in 2023 this had increased to 1,350 – how are you mitigating the ongoing increase?

In 2023, the increase in referrals to CAMHS post-pandemic showed no signs of slowing down. The service received a total of 1351 referrals in total in 2023, double the number of 684 referrals received just three years earlier in 2020.

In the same period CAMHS expanded from a staff team FTE of 17 to 70 in 2023. This will increase to 80 in 2024. This was enabled by increased Government plan funding alongside the Children and Young People's Emotional wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy 2022-2025. C Children and Young People's Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy.pdf (gov.je) This additional capacity in staffing, and the commissioning of additional private providers for additional Neurodevelopmental assessments, has helped mitigate the rising demand and ensure prompt access to services.

8. How long were the average waiting times for access to CAMHS services during 2023 and what work was undertaken in order to improve these times?

 CAMHS published an annual report on the Government of Jersey website that describes the key referral statistics and outcomes for 2023 - CAMHS Annual Report for 2023.pdf (gov.je)

Despite this increase in referrals for mental health assessments, the waiting times for initial assessments for non-urgent referrals continues to be within the 36-day target: with initial assessments completed in 2023 being completed on average in 30 days of the referral being received.

Requests for neurodevelopmental assessments increased significantly. In 2023, there were 489 referrals for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) assessments, compared to 51 in 2020 and 310 autism assessment referrals, compared to 80 in 2020. Due to the significant increase in neurodevelopmental referrals, assessments were completed on average within nine months, not as quick as we would like, but significantly better than the majority of UK local authorities who all saw similar large increases in referrals.

The Neurodevelopmental Service, which was launched in 2023, with a dedicated service manager and staff team, added significant pre and post diagnostic support for children, young people and families, with improved multi-agency work with education and other departments to improve the service offer whilst efforts to reduce waiting times continued. At the start of 2023 the service engaged with external partners to provide additional private diagnostic capacity. An addition locum educational psychologist was contracted to support the in-house team, with assessments, then towards the end of the year an additional psychiatrist was contracted to work purely on ADHD assessments.

9. How many CAMHS referrals were passed on to locum or private practitioners during 2023?

In 2023 we contracted the completion of Autism and ADHD diagnostic assessments to three private providers engaged a private educational psychologist to support the CAMHS in house team.

In 2023, one provider completed 88 autism assessments; a second provider completed 82 autism assessments; and a third provider completed 95 ADHD assessments; and the Private Education Psychologist 27 autism assessments.

10. What were the outcomes of the Jersey Care Commission inspection of Children's Social Care, and how are you implementing any recommendations arising from this inspection?

 It is not possible to provide this information prior to the inspection report when it is shared as the findings are confidential until the publication in July 2024. Work is already underway to respond to the areas for improvement identified in the inspection. Further details can be provided after the inspection report is published.

11. What work has been undertaken to understand why the number of children on repeat Child Protection Plans is at a high level? What have been the outcomes of this work to date and how are you identifying improvements in this area?

27.1% of children who have had Child Protection registration in the last year, have previously been subject to Child Protection planning. This compares with 25% reported from our statistical neighbour and is an increase from 26.9% in Jersey in the previous year. The Independent Reviewing Service undertook a dip sample to understand the reasons for this, identify learning and make recommendations for future practice. 15 children who were subject to repeat child protection plans were identified and audits were carried out on the case file.

This resulted in learning for the service, and the development of a Pathway of escalation for consideration of Pre-proceedings or Proceedings when children are presented for a second or subsequent time for a child protection conference.

Family Group conferencing has been strengthened with additional capacity to engage families in developing plans to improve children's outcomes. There has been a significant increase in the uptake of children using the Mind of My Own Ap, ensuring the child's voice is considered within assessment and planning.

Training programme has been developed and delivered to strengthen social work assessment, analysis and professional curiosity. This informs social work planning and direct work sessions with children and families. This is a rolling programme of training events, tools and guidance is available on SharePoint for all staff.

A programme of audit activity is planned throughout the year, that will test that the learning is improving the quality of social work practice.

12. The PAC  notes that early year's services have  regulated over 75 providers and delivered training to over 200 practitioners in 2023. Are these numbers sufficient to address future increases and existing numbers?

In 2023, there were 45 childminders registered with the Childcare and Early Years Service (CEYS), of which 39 were actively working, and all received a regulatory review visit by CEYS officers.

Out of the 28 early years and 72 childhood settings, CEYS prioritised and reviewed 30 of these in 2023; the remaining 70 will be reviewed in 2024. Our regulatory approach is to review all settings at least every two (2) years but also ensure that our quality development officers have annual contact with all early years settings to support the delivery of high quality early years provision. We will look to enable the team to continue to meet this approach as expansion programmes are developed, which may require adding capacity to the service as expansion offers are built and delivered.

We do not anticipate a significant rise in the number of new early years settings opening, thus requiring registration, with the introduction of any extended early years and childcare offer as we believe that eligible children will be able to be accommodated across the existing early years provision. Workforce does remain an issue like it does in many industries but there is much good work underway with all stakeholders to continue the support for recruitment and retention in this sector.

Attendance at training in our opinion has been very positive and this includes both mandatory training and professional development. We follow up at regulatory review visits on how providers are supporting their staff to access CPD and check that their mandatory training is up to date. This is to ensure that all practitioners have been given access to and are able to demonstrate the impact of CPD on their work with children. We feel that the CEYS team is well placed to provide sufficient CPD that is both high quality and accessible to meet the needs of the sector and any future increases. We work closely with the Best Start Partnership which allows us to maximise our offer and work together to co-deliver and offer programmes to the whole of the children's workforce.

We know that over 230 practitioners attended Autism/SEND training for the early years, 59 practitioners studied childcare courses through Highlands College, 292 are Maybo trained, 45 attended Sing and Sign, 294 attended EYFS curriculum and quality development training, 44 attended Fire Safety, 217 attended Jersey Children First, 139 achieved Food Hygiene Level 2, 259 trained in Safeguarding, 52 completed the Introduction to Playwork, 32 attended Forest School and 52 Meynell Games.

We believe that there has been an extensive offer and exceptional take up of both CPD and mandatory training.

13. The PAC notes that the overall trajectory for GCSE results is positive and higher than the UK, however it still sits at 69% achieving a standard pass in English and Mathematics. Whilst this is going in the right direction, what work has been undertaken to continue this increased trajectory going forward?

Attainment in the core subjects is ultimately a reflection of the learning journey of each pupil from Nursery/Reception to Year 11. The School Improvement and Advisory Service (SIAS) team support high quality curriculum development and teaching expertise in the core subjects across all phases of education. (See response to PAC question #3.)

The key driver for success for each pupil in their GCSE English and mathematics outcomes will be their subject teacher and school's approach, supported by their own individual study and revision, and in many case the support of family. Schools lead on the quality assurance and tracking of their individual subject outcomes and the leaders and teachers of English and mathematics are driving this positive trajectory. School leaders are acutely aware of the high profile of core subject outcomes and how they underpin pupil progression to their next stages of education. An analysis of GCSE (as well as non-examination) outcomes for each school compared to pupils' starting points in each school is a key consideration of the Jersey School Review Framework.

Recruitment in English and mathematics

Centrally, SIAS co-ordinates lead teachers, advisers and off-Island experts to support specialist English and mathematics teacher training and support in both primary and secondary schools. CYPES employ a full time Adviser for English and a part time Adviser for Mathematics. In addition to the English and mathematics workstreams detailed earlier, the central team facilitate or offer GCSE training and development for secondary schools in English and mathematics, with schools most commonly selecting 1:1 coaching, staff meeting support, and external walking-talking mock examinations.

14. Does your department track and compare overall education outcome performance against other jurisdictions? Is this, and resulting follow up evaluations of other jurisdictions, something that could enhance further improvements in overall education standards being achieved?

Jersey has a small number of secondary schools, each with distinct entry criteria and cohorts. Our Jersey Curriculum is closely aligned with England's National Curriculum (with a few important adaptations to certain areas reflecting our unique Jersey context, heritage and culture, for example, in the teaching of History).

Jersey has broadened the subjects and examination boards beyond those used published in English school data, including iGCSEs and the opportunities for re-takes in English and mathematics, neither of which are included in English standards measures. Achievement levels in English and mathematics in our non-selective schools have significantly improved over a number of years by schools taking this approach, enabling a greater proportion to access level 3 provision in their further study at sixth form.

With Island-wide cohort sizes of between 900 and 1050 each year, any overall data comparisons with England in terms of percentage of pupils achieving particular subjects, or levels at GCSE or A- Level, needs careful interpretation. With each school only having small cohorts of pupils, any published league tables' of school outcomes on-Island are neither appropriate nor desirable and could impinge on data protection.

In addition, given the impact of different assessment methodologies during the COVID-19 pandemic it is not appropriate to include GCSE or A level results from 2020 or 2021 in any analysis of performance over time, and 2022 outcomes need to be evaluated with caution as this year was still subject to some grade inflation. In England, Ofsted has advised that data from these years should not be explicitly compared to each other, and Jersey has adopted this same position.

Our Jersey Schools Review Framework (JSRF) (see also answer to question 3 above) evaluates the overall educational outcomes for each of our schools. The framework itself and the review reports for each school are published on the Government website.  

CYPES are currently refining and updating the JSRF for the next phase of Reviews which will take place from January 2025. The planned updates underway are incorporating research into how educational outcomes are evaluated by other jurisdictions. Updates to our framework include learning from internal and external analysis of the current JSRF and insight from other jurisdictions (Ofsted in England, Estyn in Wales and the Independent Standards Inspectorate, ISI). This is aiming to bring a greater focus on the quality, consistency and impact of the curriculum in each of Jersey's schools as well as considering public examination and test outcomes.

Comparison to similar schools in other jurisdictions is also being enabled and bought into greater focus through the CYPES's new subscription to Alps at Key Stage 4 from next year as well as a continuing subscription at Key Stage 5. Established for 20 years,  Alps (see their  website) is a respected data analysis tool comparing pupil performance at KS4 and KS5 to full DfE data and UK benchmarks. CYPES's new subscription to Alps Summit' will provide department level assessment of data across schools to support more in-depth Island-wide analysis. Currently our individual schools have subscriptions to Alps Connect offering their leaders a structured analysis at student, subject/set and whole school or college levels.  Schools can measure value added progress for individual students, subjects, departments and the whole school or college, using robust benchmarks based on the full national dataset.  Alps provide data analysis to support the identification of trends over time. School leaders can look at data by gender, ethnicity, disadvantage, ability bands and other custom groups. School level Alps data is a school management and planning tool, it would not be published as it identifies individual pupils.

15. Which departments gave briefings to their respective Minister in relation to their performance across 2023?

CYPES officers provided performance briefings to the then Minister at the end of Quarters 1, 2 and 3 of 2023 (see Service Performance Measures (gov.je) ). The briefing for Q4 would have normally been during the transition period between the last and current governments. Ministers were also provided

a Ministerial Delivery Plan update at the end of Q2 and a Q4 update would normally have been presented during the transition period between the last and current governments.

16. Are there any areas where performance has been affected since the re-prioritisation of the Government Plan?

There have been no areas where performance has been affected since the re-prioritisation and we do not anticipate that this position will change during 2024.

17. Can you please confirm whether you are providing quarterly reports to Ministers in relation to performance/budgets, and in what format do these briefings take place?

Briefings took place to the new Ministers at the beginning of their term of office. Future briefings will take place twice per year which is in line with Government of Jersey's Performance Framework. In addition, Ministers are informed of the Annual Report & Accounts (ARA) and will be briefed twice yearly on the annual Business Plan. The twice-yearly updates will be in the form of a slide deck presented during weekly Ministerial meetings.

Please let me know if you require any further information. Yours sincerely

Robert Sainsbury – Chief Officer

Government of Jersey | Children, Young People, Education and Skills | CYPES