Issue details

Proposed decision

a)    ADOPT the draft Education Strategy “Raising ambition, enabling curiosity, building resilience. A Strategy for the Future of Education in Kent 2025-2030”;

b)    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education to make non-substantial revisions as appropriate during the lifetime of the strategy where changes do not require additional governance; and

c)    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education to take relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contract or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the objectives of the strategy.

Reason for the decision

-      Raising Ambition. Enabling Curiosity. Building Resilience. A Strategy for the Future of Education in Kent, 2025-2030 has been developed in response to the Government’s drive for a self-improving, school-led system. This has resulted in a reduction in the responsibilities of local authorities and a change in funding. As the system evolves, there is a growing understanding of the need for sector-wide collaboration to ensure that no child is left behind. The previous overarching strategy for education was Vision and Priorities for Improvement, 2018-2021.

-      The Local Authority (LA) is in a unique position of having an overview of the whole education system, an accountability for aspects of the system and a responsibility to act as an advocate for individual children and families. Whilst the specific statutory responsibilities for school improvement have reduced, the responsibility for supporting a healthy and equitable education system remains, for example, through duties related to commissioning of places, admissions and fair access. KCC officers and Members are committed to supporting an education system that provides good opportunities for all, and so work started on co-constructing this wider education strategy with the sector to provide an overarching context for our focused work on school improvement, however that is subsequently delivered in line with KCC Constitution and Policy.

-      The purpose of the strategy is to create cohesion with many stakeholders around a vision for all parts of the sector from early years to post-16 across many stakeholders, and to proactively respond to our local and sector specific context and challenges. The strategy is built around our statutory duties and aligns our work with the national direction of travel. It also responds to the voices of our children, young people, parents, carers and educational professionals.

Background

-      Kent educational mission is to: Collaboratively develop and support an effective, evidence-informed system of strong leaders and staff grounded in clear moral purpose to respond to the local needs and aspirations of Kent children and parents. Place children and young people at the centre of all education, by ensuring they are heard, included and supported to be ambitious, curious and resilient individuals who are well prepared for their future and empowered to achieve.

-      KCC has a wide range of statutory duties it needs to meet in education. These are a priority, and we need to consider and plan for how these are fulfilled. These can be summarised as a responsibility to:

-      Ensure a sufficient supply of good education places, including early education and childcare, and sufficient local provision for pupils with special educational needs

-      Co-ordinate admissions and fair access

-      Commission home to school transport appropriately and efficiently (according to the law and KCC policies) to promote independence for young people

-      In respect of meeting the legal requirements of the Children and Families Act (2014), we have a broader responsibility to:

-      Champion the needs of vulnerable children and young people, their families and carers, so there is an inclusive learning system which gives them the opportunity to succeed.

-      A responsibility to ensure a strategic coherence that enables schools and settings to develop purposeful partnerships that improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes for children and young people

-      Collaborate with partners to build the capacity for sector-led school improvement.

-      A key local concern is improving the system approach to SEND inclusion, following two inspections (2019 and 2022) which identified significant areas of weakness within the SEND area (Health, Education and Care Services) and that there needed to be a more consistent approach to SEND inclusion across all education providers. This strategy supports greater clarity on the agreed expectations of all schools and other providers with regard to universal provision, targeted support and specialist education provision. Further guidance on this SEND Continuum of Needs and Provision is currently under development.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

-      Do nothing, that is to continue without a strategy that reflects the current operating environment and how the present and future challenges could be addressed by KCC and the stakeholder community.

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

-      The proposed decision supports the Priority 1: Levelling Up Kent ‘Our commitment is to maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for all families’. 

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026: Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

-      The proposed decision is in compliance with and supports the ‘Securing Kent’s Future - Budget Recovery Strategy’ relating to the Council prioritising its Best Value statutory responsibility and ensure that the Best Value duty is adhered in strategic and operational decisions, including advice to executive and non-executive Members. All Members, when discharging their respective roles within the council, whether executive or non-executive, should also prioritise Best Value considerations.

It also in line with Securing Kent’s Future strategic Objective 3: policy choices and scope of the Council’s ambitions. Meaning that ‘we must review statutory services and the extent to which they are appropriately meeting need and supporting outcomes, and where necessary reshape that spend so it frees up resources for other services, including discretionary services’