Report to: Lead Member for Education and Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disability
Date: 25 July 2024
By: Director of Children’s Services
Title of report: Excellence for All Vision 2024 - 2030
Purpose of report: To inform the Lead Member of the work done to update the Excellence for All vision which underpins the work of the Education Division.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Lead Member is recommended to approve the content and authorise the publication of the new Excellence for All vision 2024 – 2030
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1 Background
1.1 Excellence for All 2024 – 2030 (“the Vision”) (Appendix 1) sets out the future strategic development of the Council’s Education Division (“the Division”) and the work of our partners.
1.2 Previous iterations of Excellence for All have covered a 2-year period. It was identified by the local authority, and the Primary, Secondary and Joint boards in the 2021 consultation process that future versions should cover a longer period and set a longer-term vision for the education system in East Sussex. This will allow the local authority to set more ambitious goals and to provide greater flex in our programmes of work for shifts in national policy.
1.3 The Vision has been developed through a targeted consultation process and will provide schools, settings and colleges with a clear and timely message about the local authority’s areas of focus. It will also reaffirm the local authority’s role in education as champion for children and young people, especially the most vulnerable.
1.4 The Vision drives the work of the Division and is the basis for its yearly Performance Improvement Plan. It also underpins the work done on wider Council strategic documentation like the Children’s Services Department Portfolio Plan.
2.1 The Division has undertaken a targeted consultation process order to ensure that the Vision reflects the views of partners and stakeholders. This includes key input from the Joint Board, which is made up of members from the Primary and Secondary boards and is a key part of our education governance arrangements.
2.2 The consultation process provided the Division with detailed feedback and critical analysis about the proposals for 2024-2030. This has been embedded into the Vision. Throughout the process, partners have made clear that they invite this longer-term strategy work, focusing on ambitions for the future rather than operational procedures.
2.3 The Vision is centred around a collective statement: that ‘by 2030 all children and young people in East Sussex will be a part of an excellent, inclusive, and equitable education system. This system will foster a meaningful sense of belonging from Early Years all the way to post-16 provision'. Partners have agreed that it is critical that this central statement is clear, concise, and simple.
2.4 The Vision articulates how the Division sees multi-agency working developing and evolving over the next six years. It has clarified the aim to ensure that families, children, and young people feel held and supported by the Division and schools, settings and colleges.
2.5 The vision includes a section on the ongoing commitment to co-production, which is already utilised in many areas of the Division’s work. The longer lifespan of this document will allow the Division to assess its impact over a longer period.
2.6 The Vision includes a commitment to ensure the document remains live and relevant. This includes working with partners to develop a process so that progress can be measured against the ambitions set out in the Vision. The voices of young people will be central to this.
3 Conclusion and reasons for recommendations
3.1 The Lead Member is asked to approve the content and authorise the publication of the Excellence for All Vision 2024 - 2030. The Vision has already been seen by external partners and senior management in the Division. The Vision will be published in September 2024 and shared with partners and stakeholders.
3.2 The Vision represents the key ambitions that the Council and its partners share for education in East Sussex over the next 6 years. It has been developed through a thorough analysis of current educational performance data and a consultation process. The renewed Vision will provide schools, setting and colleges with a clear and timely message about the ways in which the Division will support them.
CAROLYN FAIR
Director of Children’s Services
Contact Officer: Elizabeth Funge
Tel. No: 01273 336879
Email: Elizabeth.Funge@eastsussex.gov.uk
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
None.