Call for joined up strategy as school trust boss calls out 'really poor state' of education in Central Bedfordshire
A plea from a schools trust leader for a joined up education strategy in Central Bedfordshire by the end of this year has received support from a council motion.
Chief executive officer of the Pyramid Schools Trust Steve Kelly described education in Central Bedfordshire as being “in a really poor state”.
He told a full Central Bedfordshire Council meeting: “We’re consistently among the worst performing authorities in England statistically.
“For years we’ve acknowledged this, but meaningful change remains elusive,” he explained. “We’ve seen countless false starts and initiatives, yet our children continue to be failed.
“That’s why a group of education leaders wrote recently to the chief executive and council leader raising concerns, while offering concrete solutions and our support.
“We believe the only way to break this cycle is through true collaboration between the local authority, schools, the Department for Education (DfE) and trusts.
“We need a joined up education strategy addressing school system reorganisation, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and home to school transport.
“We ask this council to direct officers to urgently form a working group with school representation and present such a strategy by the end of 2025.”
Independent Leighton Linslade West councillor Steve Owen replied: “Central Bedfordshire is accused of not having plans and not having leadership.
“It has some very competent leaders in the director of children’s services and her senior staff. Between them, myself and the executive we currently have a whole raft of important plans linked to school education.
“There’s the schools organisational plan, which attempts to find a solution to the long-awaited three- to two-tier transition, and to introduce more SEND places in the area.
“We announced 50 new SEND places initially at Dunstable, before eventually being provided at Pulloxhill. We’ve taken action on safeguarding and approved a new paper on education other than at school (EOTAS).
“There’s a current report on home to school transport to be considered scrutiny and the executive. We’re not in a position tonight to abandon or endorse it.
“We’ve taken to children’s scrutiny a set of key performance indicators, which are quite light, and a difficult paper on school performance. This one has been around the neck of the portfolio holder for 14 years.
“We’ve failed to put it right. The situation is getting worse and, by the look of it, next year will be worse than this one. It’s time to turn that round,” added the executive member for children’s services councillor Owen.
“We’ll take a corrective action plan to scrutiny in the autumn and reverse this problem, which is so affecting our children’s ability to get college and university places, and employment.
“It’s our job to have dialogue with all head teachers, not just the 30 behind the letter. I don’t want to divert the energies and expertise of the concerned leaders to help turn round the under performance referred to in Mr Kelly’s proposal.”
A motion was passed later in the meeting from Conservative Cranfield and Marston Moretaine councillor Sue Clark asking the executive “to consider forming an advisory working group to develop a coherent effective strategy for education in Central Bedfordshire”.