It’s no secret that Labour has inherited a school system in a mess. We’re stuck between a highly regulated, quasi-competitive market and a collaborative model underpinned by a sense of moral purpose.
This doesn’t leave us in a good position to meet challenges, let alone crises. Yet we face our worst-ever recruitment, retention and pupil attendance, a SEND system spiralling out of control, one-third of pupils failing to achieve the required GCSE standards, and too many school buildings that are not fit for purpose (some literally crumbling).
Numerous initiatives have been proposed, but what is missing is clarity about how these challenges can be met. A new kind of middle tier is needed.
Leading figures like Sir Jon Coles and Sam Freedman have argued that there’s a need for much greater devolution to localities. They echo Labour’s argument that combined authorities (CAs) rather than central government are best placed to tackle crises in housing, skills and regeneration.
A new middle tier would include three kinds of localities: the local school community, areas covered by local authorities and school-led partnerships, and the sub-regional CAs.
They all qualify as localities as they are close enough to the areas to know their particular challenges and opportunities; to call on a sense of identity and local loyalties; to develop and implement joined-up strategies to improve cost effectiveness; and to strengthen accountability.
Currently, existing or proposed CAs cover 70 per cent of the country, and Labour is committed to achieving 100 per cent.
Greater Manchester is advocating a new MBacc 14-19 programme combining traditional GCSEs with vocational subjects that link directly to the skills needed in the region. There’s a strong argument that the government’s curriculum review should leave space for regional choices reflecting local needs.
The new north east CA has taken a broader view, working closely with its seven LAs and investing £4.8m per year in school improvement and child poverty prevention programmes.
A collaborative middle tier is possibly the only way of tackling system fragmentation
Great capacity is locked up in MATs, and this could be used to mutual advantage supporting school improvement, professional development and procurement under a more collaborative model.
Meanwhile, two recent reports on tackling the SEND crisis – one from the Local Government Association and County Councils Network and one from the Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives – both identify system fragmentation as a key source of the problems. Both stress the importance of joining up local commissioning and working.
The LocalEd 2025 Project working with four LAs over the last two years on tackling persistent absence has reached similar conclusions. Pioneering work by two school partnerships on school report cards is drawing on parents’ views to provide local information. Their views should be a factor in any model Labour moves to adopt.
Establishing a robust, collaborative middle tier is possibly the only way of tackling the costly system fragmentation without engaging in another expensive cycle of restructuring. Leading educational jurisdictions that score higher in PISA on attainment and equity such as Ontario, Estonia and Finland are another prompt as these operate through localities.
What we need first and foremost, therefore, is a reassessment of what decision-making powers should lie with central government and what could be better devolved and brought together at the local level.
Two steps could be taken now.
First, the government could achieve much by simply stating that it approves, incentivises and engages in the development of strategic partnerships set up by LAs and school-led partnerships, supported by CAs and specifically targeting SEND and persistent absence.
It should also stipulate that academy trusts are expected to collaborate in such local partnerships.
Second, recognising that local partnerships vary greatly, ministers should set up an arms-length body to support them, share good practices, monitor and challenge.
The approach should be robust, but avoid previous over-prescriptive, top-down models: more London Challenge than National Strategies. Our experience with eight LAs is that this can be done relatively cheaply through teamwork and open communication.
It is entirely possible to develop accountability using success criteria for local strategic partnerships covering key priorities, such as inclusion and wider school improvement.
Starting with a pilot of the most advanced partnerships would help pave the way. My recent report explores these considerations further.
Read ‘Educating for the future: Developing new locality models for English schools’ here
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