Navigate helps Leicester City Council improve

Hard work to raise educational standards in Leicester has recently paid off as the Department for Children, Schools & Families revoked the Improvement Notice issued to Leicester City Council in June 2008.

Navigate has been supporting Leicester City Council since February 2008, and this news has come as a relief and reflects a great deal of hard work by everyone involved, from the schools, governors, partners, city council staff and the Navigate team.

In a letter to the city council leader Ross Willmott, the Secretary of State acknowledged the significant progress made in Leicester over the past 18 months highlighting that there has been improvement on a number of fronts, in particular capacity-building, performance management and leadership, as well as within the council’s school improvement service – all areas where the Navigate team, led by our Development Associate Jenny Vickers, are proud to have been providing support to the local authority team.

Navigate works collaboratively, building strong relationships with local authority teams and school leaders to meet the challenges needed to transform education and children’s services. With a team which includes former local authority senior officers, project managers and school leaders, backed by a network of high quality associates, we provide top level capacity to the meet the challenges of the rapidly changing agenda.

Part of our work in Leicester over the past two years has included working closely with the city council to deliver the Local Authority Improvement Programme, “Transforming Leicester’s Learning” which includes specific action plans for Early Years and Foundation Stage provision, as well as for raising achievement at all key stages. The impact of our work is being measured in a number of ways.  A key headline measure is the number of schools in an Ofsted category, which has been reduced from 23 primary schools to just five.  As well as a measurable improvement in KS2 standards in English and mathematics, there has also been an improvement in the scores given by Ofsted in relation to leadership/management, standards attained and the quality of teaching and learning.

In 2008, Key Stage 2 maths improved by 4% and English by 5%. There was a 50% reduction in the number of schools below the floor target in English and maths. Overall results at GCSE 5+ A*-C grades also improved by 5%, and by 3% including English and maths.

The team contributed to further city-wide improvements in 2009, with improvement across every stage from Foundation Stage to KS4. Achievement at 5 A* to C (including English and maths) increased by 4% whilst overall attainment at GCSE increased by 8%.

Navigate is also currently providing a range of specialist secondary support to Leicester City Council. This has included the provision of interim management at Head of Service level, SIP management level, and National Challenge management level.

In addition to interim management, Navigate is also providing specialist consultants to lead interventions across a whole range of priority areas at KS3/4. This includes work on curriculum development, academies and transforming learning, science, English, One to One Tuition, 14-19 and Machinery of Government.   

Building on this success, Navigate’s work in Leicester has been extended to include the:

• development and implementation of a school leadership succession plan for Leicester to take account of the city’s future workforce profile;
• design and implementation of a bespoke school leadership induction programme for newly appointed leaders in Leicester; and
• development and roll out of a recruitment marketing strategy for Leicester targeted at future primary school leaders for the city.

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For more information on Navigate’s improvement partnership work with local authorities, contact Jo Fish on 0844 800 5300 or email jo.fish@navigategroup.co.uk