Advice on apprenticeships available at York drop-in session

Young people will be able to find out more about apprenticeships, vacancies and alternative routes to higher education at an event on Thursday 11 February.

Advisers will be on hand to speak to young people, parents and carers at the Castlegate Centre between 4pm and 7pm and offer careers advice, including information on apprenticeships.

In York there are currently a wide variety of Apprenticeship vacancies being advertised covering; business and finance, hospitality, lab technicians, construction, creative and cultural, digital marketing and social media, engineering, I.T, health and many more.
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Hob Moor schools may become an “Academy”

The media are reporting that the Hob Moor and Hob Moor Oaks schools may be amalgamated with the controversial Ebor Academy Trust. The Trust recently announced plans for a 410 pupil “creative arts” school on the former Park and Ride site on Moor Lane. Opponent’s feared that a new school would siphon off pupils from other local schools including Woodthorpe, Dringhouses and Hob Moor.

An academy is an independent school funded by the state. An independent appraisal of the trend towards schools becoming academies can be found on the BBC web site

The Hob Moor schools are located in relatively new buildings which were built by the York Council in 2005. They continue to be maintained using private finance Initiative (PFI) funding.

New Hob Moor school been built in 2005

The school has had mixed academic results over the years. The most recent OFSTED report in 2013 rated both schools as “good”.

Becoming an academy would remove the provision of support from the local authority, such as their advisory services, special educational needs (SEN) and disability support services. If a school does not purchase services like these from the local authority, these may well become more expensive for schools to procure since individual academies would not benefit from the same economies of scale as the local authority.

Academies are their own admissions authority and, therefore, set their own admission policies. They are at present required to abide by the admissions code. Whilst academies cannot choose their intake, there is some evidence that academies intakes are not representative of their local community. Academies also have a higher exclusion rate than other types of schools.

Parents can complain to the school. However, academies are not part of the local authority family of schools and, therefore, if parents or neighbours are not satisfied or are unhappy with the outcome, they cannot complain, as they can now, to the local authority or their local Councillor to ask them to intervene.

Academies are not required to have community representatives on their governing bodies (but could choose to do so). The Hob Moor school is an important part of the local community. It includes a “children’s centre”.

Like most school sites there are sometimes complaints from neighbours about activities on the site or related to it..

The absence of a broadly based school governing body would represent a risk for relations with future parents, neighbours and other users of the site.

The school has promised to consult widely on their proposals.

Those consultations should include public meetings, open to the whole community, together with an advisory ballot aimed at giving (at least) every parent a vote.

Cllr Andrew Waller

Local Councillor Andrew Waller (who wasn’t consulted before the school issued their statement of intent) comments,

“we believe that the community is best served by schools which remain in the family of local authority schools with local accountability.

At this stage we know no more about the process of consultation with parents than what was in the newspaper but there is the issue of the need to consult with the wider community who have a stake in the future operation of the school. I believe that the whole community should have a say in the matter (accepting that legally it is simply a vote of the governing body which decides the outcome of this matter)”.

Exam results league tables for York published

Disappointing results at York High

Exam results in York click to access more infromation

Exam results in York click to access more information

The Department for Education has published the results of GCSE exams taken last year. They make grim reading for the York High School where success rates have plunged.

Of course, there may be many reasons for this and parents will be expecting a full explanation from the head teacher and his school governors in due course.

York schools generally performed better than the rest of the UK with 64% of pupils achieving good GCSE results against an a national average of 57%.

From next year, schools in England will be measured on what is known as Progress 8. Progress 8 will replace the five or more good GCSEs, including maths and English, benchmark as the key measure for all secondary schools.

Progress 8 assesses the progress pupils make between Key Stage 2 tests taken at the end of primary school and their performance in a specified mixture of eight subjects at the end of secondary school. Schools will be given a score based on how their pupils have progressed compared to the national average.

This year, schools were given the option to “opt in” for Progress 8 and 327 schools (around 10%) took this up.

Nationally, head teachers have long complained measuring success on the basis of GCSE results alone is unfair as it does not take into account the intake of the school.

But ministers have maintained parents want and need simple and easy-to-digest information about schools.

The difference in achievement by gender is startling, with roughly a fifth fewer boys than girls reaching the end of Key Stage 4 with a good set of GCSEs.

Some 61.8% of girls got five good GCSEs, including English and maths, compared with 52.5% of their male peers.

And fewer boys than girls made at least the expected level of progress – 65.9% of boys opposed to 76.5% of girls.

More girls (29.3%) than boys achieved the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which requires GCSEs in two sciences, a language, history or geography, as well as English and maths. Only 19.5% of boys obtained it.

Overall, 24.3% of pupils achieved the EBacc.

There was also a marked difference between the performance of disadvantaged pupils (those eligible for the pupil premium) and their more advantaged peers, with just 36.7% getting five good GCSEs, including maths and English, compared to 64.7%.

The poorest performing local authority was Knowsley on Merseyside, where 37.4% of pupils met the required standard, compared to the national average of 57.1%.

New primary school “annex” proposed for Southbank

A new £6.2m annex to Scarcroft Primary School for 210 pupils aged 8-11 to be built on the Millthorpe School site, will be considered by City of York Council’s Executive on 28 January 2016.

Proposed Scarcroft school “annex” near Millthorpe school

A consistent rise in demand has led to the need to create additional primary school places in the Southbank area of the city. To future-proof provision against forecast demand over the next ten years and beyond, a new building is proposed to provide 210 additional pupil places.

Scarcroft Primary School currently admits 45 Reception pupils a year and the annex would provide places for up to 75. For the school year beginning 1 September 2017, additional pupil places could be temporarily accommodated within Scarcroft Primary until the additional spaces are created.

The new building proposed on Millthorpe School land will be sited in an area not currently used as play space.

If approved, the project is expected to be completed for 1 September 2018 and the cost will be met from central Government’s basic needs funding.

Other options considered for meeting the demand were:

(a) provide no additional places in the Southbank area

(b) build accommodation for 210 (1 form entry (fe) each year) additional places, as an annex to Scarcroft Primary on the Millthorpe School site

(c) build a 210 (1 form entry) place primary school on the former Terry’s Car Park site at Nun Ings

(d) build a 315 (1.5 form entry) place school on land behind The Grove and The Square off Tadcaster Road

(e) build a 630 (3 form entry) place school at either Bishopthorpe Infant or Archbishop of York CE Junior school sites

Executive will take place on Thursday 28 January at West Offices from 5.30pm and is open to members of the public or is available to watch live online from: www.york.gov.uk/webcasts

NB. Some parents in the area are still embroiled in a battle over proposed “academy” status for local schools. A recent survey of views has apparently revealed that a majority of the parents, of children currently attending the schools, are opposed to the change.

Deadline nears for primary school place admissions

Westfield school

Parents and carers of children starting school this September are reminded to apply for a place before next Friday.

Parents may also apply online at the same time for free school meals for their children, and if eligible, their child’s school will also benefit from additional funding known as the Pupil Premium.

The closing date for applications for children born between 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012, is Friday 15 January 2016. For a place in the reception class at their chosen York state primary school, parents and carers can apply online at www.york.gov.uk/schooladmissions

All details and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at www.york.gov.uk/guideforparents. The guide, updated for 2016 admissions, contains information on school admissions and appeals processes as well as information on admissions statistics, oversubscription criteria and other information for parents and carers. Also online are details for service families and information on fair access.

In addition, all eligible parents and carers are encouraged to apply for free school meals if they receive one or more of the following income-related benefits:

• Income Support
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Child Tax Credit combined with both a household income below £16,190, and not in receipt of any Working Tax Credit
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit.

The Government will give £1,300 every year for each primary school pupil and £965 for each secondary school student eligible for the Pupil Premium as well as a free school meal, should they choose to have one.

This sum, known as the Pupil Premium, is paid to the school whether or not the pupil takes up the school meal and is used to help the pupil do even better with their schoolwork. All applications are treated confidentially and can be made through the school or online at www.york.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals

For further help and information about school places, free school meals and the Pupil Premium contact School Services at West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA, call 01904 551554 or emaileducation@york.gov.uk

£284,000 savings in York education team as 3 face redundancy

The Council has revealed details of a new staff structure in its “learning” team. The restructure is aimed at saving £284,000 a year in staffing costs and has been influenced by the conclusion of some Europe funded projects.

Some voluntary redundancies have already taken place. Three existing staff face compulsory redundancy

The background report says,

“Many of these savings are coming from reduction in management posts, but there will also be some savings in direct service delivery, including reductions in some teaching staff, reductions in employability programmes and provision to support mental health issues.

These reductions are going to have a serious affect on the service’s ability to support individuals seeking work and those who require help with recovering from mental health issues”.

The decision was taken at a “behind closed doors” meeting held on 21st December.

Reports were not made public until after the decision had been published

City’s new centre for primary deaf children officially opens

The Caddell Centre, York’s new centre specialising in teaching primary-school aged deaf children, will be officially opened on 4 December by six deaf pupils.

The centre has been commissioned by City of York Council and will be run by the York Specialist Teaching Team in collaboration with Hempland Primary School where it is based.
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Canon Lee school taken into “special measures” following OFSTED report

A York secondary school has found itself in “special measures” following an independent OFSTED report which has found it to be “inadequate”

The action is without precedent in a City which has always prided itself on having the best schools in the country.

Ofsted report Oct 2015

Both staff and governors are criticised in the report.

Recently a temporary head was appointed to run the school

No response from the York Council has yet been published.

Public invited to consultation on school admissions in York

All admissions authorities in the City of York Council area are consulting parents and carers on new policies and the number of places available for the school year starting in September 2017.

The consultation includes all admissions policies and the planned number of places available at each school in the year of entry to primary, junior, secondary school and sixth forms. The views of parents, carers, schools as well as governors, teachers and other interested parties are being sought before the closing date of 15 December 2015.

The fairness and accessibility of information available, application processes, planned admission numbers, admission policies and oversubscription criteria are all currently being consulted on. All comments will be forwarded to the relevant admissions authority for their consideration before agreeing these arrangements
Following consultation, each admissions authority will formally set its admission arrangements by 28 February 2016. These will be published on each admissions authority’s websites by 15 March 2016 after which date objections can be raised to the Schools Adjudicator.

Three Coordinated Admissions Schemes are being consulted on for entry into all Primary (Reception), Junior (Year 3) and Secondary (Year 7) schools. The consultation also includes policies for York’s Community and Voluntary Controlled schools, as well as the 12 Admissions Policies for Academy and Voluntary Aided schools in the city. All documents offered for consultation are in their draft (pre-determined) form.
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York launches Breathe 2025 campaign to inspire a smokefree generation

City of York Council is urging people and organisations across York to sign up and support Breathe 2025, a new campaign to inspire children to grow up smoke-free and protected from health harms caused by tobacco.

click to view video

While the region has the highest adult smoking prevalence in England (20.1% compared to an England average of 18%), only one in eight 15-year-olds smoke and the proportion of young smokers is dropping.

Within the next decade there could be a generation of children that don’t smoke. .

City of York Council’s Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health Councillor Carol Runciman said: “We want children who have started school this year to be the pioneers of a smokefree generation: today’s five year olds can be smokefree at 15 when they are preparing for their GCSEs and so can all the year groups following them.

“They can be smokefree when they leave school or college and as adults. Breathe 2025 is about how all of us can inspire and help them to make that happen.”
The campaign is being run by a collaboration of partners across Yorkshire and the Humber, including City of York Council and Public Health England.

People and organisations are being asked to show their support by going to the campaign website or Facebook page and signing up to one or more simple, practical actions. This could be pledging to watch and share the Breathe 2025 video, or promising to display a Breathe 2025 poster. There are a range of simple actions to choose from, as individuals or on behalf of an organisation such as a school, GP or local business.

Councillor Runciman continues: “Giving children and young people the best start in life is a priority for City of York Council, parents, family members and many other organisations and communities in York – and not smoking is a great start so please go to the Breathe 2025 website and show your support.”

City of York Council’s Interim Director of Public Health, Sharon Stoltz said: “Evidence suggests that if young people don’t start using tobacco by the age of 26 they will almost certainly never start, so we have a great opportunity here to transform the health of our region and we can do it within the next 10 years.

“It is estimated that smoking in York costs society around £50.1m annually and smoking breaks cost businesses in York £24.2m each year. Around one in two smokers die from a smoking-related illness. If we can prevent young people from smoking that’s not just an investment in their health as individuals, it’s an investment in a healthier future for everyone.”

The Breathe 2025 website is at www.Breathe2025.org.uk

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