ADCS president warns schools policy could create two-tier system
Neil Puffett
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) president Marion Davis has delivered a devastating critique of the coalition government's schools policy.
Addressing delegates at the association’s annual conference in Manchester, Davis said there is a real danger the government’s education policy will create a two-tier system.
In order to avoid a "fragmented education system", a managed process, brokered by local authorities, should be introduced to allow all schools to become academies once funding arrangements are clear, she added.
"We must avoid creating a two-tier system where children get different opportunities depending on where they live or whether their local school is an academy or not," Davis said. "We know that what parents want is a good, local school that can provide access to a broad curriculum, good-quality teaching and additional support for the most vulnerable children, as and when they need it."
Davis said a significant transfer of schools to academy status could lead to local authorities having a purer commissioning role, managing numbers of school places, admissions and ensuring the quality of provision.
She added that local authorities are best placed to provide the necessary strategic oversight of provision in an area in terms of the number of school places available and the quality of learning children gain in those places.
"I realise such a proposal may not be instantly attractive to all colleagues, but we do need to consider radical alternatives that, in the longer term, will deliver better educational outcomes for all and a narrowing of gaps between groups of children," she said.
She went on to call for an "open and direct" dialogue between the ADCS and government over school reform, the academies programme and the role of local authorities.
"If we don’t make the most of those conversations, it is likely to reduce the chances of a secure, successful and timely implementation of the new government’s policies and risks missing opportunities to harness the ideas and creativity of schools themselves, as well as local authority staff, governors and members," she said. "We want to talk, we want to help achieve those outcomes."
On the issue of safeguarding, Davis warned that government plans to publish serious case reviews in full will not result in learning from tragedies. She added that Ofsted evaluation of serious case reviews does not "add to what we learn and the safety of children".
Calling for a reduction in "regulation and prescriptive practice guidance", Davis said directors of children’s services have all come across contradictory targets, bureaucratic restrictions and silo mentality, in both local and central government.
"There must be an alternative to the centrally prescribed, target-chasing, process-compliant culture."
In order to avoid a "fragmented education system", a managed process, brokered by local authorities, should be introduced to allow all schools to become academies once funding arrangements are clear, she added.
"We must avoid creating a two-tier system where children get different opportunities depending on where they live or whether their local school is an academy or not," Davis said. "We know that what parents want is a good, local school that can provide access to a broad curriculum, good-quality teaching and additional support for the most vulnerable children, as and when they need it."
Davis said a significant transfer of schools to academy status could lead to local authorities having a purer commissioning role, managing numbers of school places, admissions and ensuring the quality of provision.
She added that local authorities are best placed to provide the necessary strategic oversight of provision in an area in terms of the number of school places available and the quality of learning children gain in those places.
"I realise such a proposal may not be instantly attractive to all colleagues, but we do need to consider radical alternatives that, in the longer term, will deliver better educational outcomes for all and a narrowing of gaps between groups of children," she said.
She went on to call for an "open and direct" dialogue between the ADCS and government over school reform, the academies programme and the role of local authorities.
"If we don’t make the most of those conversations, it is likely to reduce the chances of a secure, successful and timely implementation of the new government’s policies and risks missing opportunities to harness the ideas and creativity of schools themselves, as well as local authority staff, governors and members," she said. "We want to talk, we want to help achieve those outcomes."
On the issue of safeguarding, Davis warned that government plans to publish serious case reviews in full will not result in learning from tragedies. She added that Ofsted evaluation of serious case reviews does not "add to what we learn and the safety of children".
Calling for a reduction in "regulation and prescriptive practice guidance", Davis said directors of children’s services have all come across contradictory targets, bureaucratic restrictions and silo mentality, in both local and central government.
"There must be an alternative to the centrally prescribed, target-chasing, process-compliant culture."
