Explanatory Memorandum for:
· The Education (Head Teacher’s Report to Parents and Adult Pupils) (Wales) Regulations 2011
· The Education (Pupil Information) (Wales) Regulations 2011
· The Education (School Information) (Wales) Regulations 2011
· The Education (School Performance and Absence Targets) (Wales) Regulations 2011
· The School Governors’ Annual Reports (Wales) Regulations 2011
· The National Curriculum (Amendments to the Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 Assessment Arrangements) (Wales) Order 2011
This Explanatory Memorandum has been prepared by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and is laid before the National Assembly for Wales in conjunction with the above subordinate legislation and in accordance with Standing Order 27.1.
Minister’s Declaration
In my view, this Explanatory Memorandum gives a fair and reasonable view of the expected impact of the above listed Regulations.
Leighton Andrews
Minister for Education and Skills
Date: ……29 July 2011………………………...
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1. Description
This suite of legislation will implement the Welsh Government's policy on collecting, publishing and sharing information about schools and pupils.
1.1The Education (Head Teacher’s Report to Parents and Adult Pupils) (Wales) Regulations 2011
These Regulations will replace and revoke, in two parts, the Education (Pupil Information) (Wales) Regulations 2004 which currently specify requirements in relation to reporting to parents and adult pupils, and to the maintenance of curricular and educational records and the transfer of information through the Common Transfer System when pupils change schools. It is proposed to divide the Regulations to simplify them and provide greater clarity.
The proposed Regulations will cover reporting to parents only i.e. the reports that parents receive from schools about their child’s progress.
Amendments will:
· require that specified information be reported to parents and adult pupils at least once a year
· require the inclusion of a standard comparative report provided by the Welsh Government with each annual report to parents or adult pupils; and,
· extend statutory reporting requirements to cover pupils in or at the end of the Foundation Phase in line with requirements at other key stages.
1.2The Education (Pupil Information) (Wales) Regulations 2011
These Regulations will replace and revoke, in two parts, the Education (Pupil Information) (Wales) Regulations 2004 which currently specify requirements in relation to reporting to parents and adult pupils, and to the maintenance of curricular and educational records and the transfer of information through the Common Transfer System (CTS) when pupils change schools. The proposed Regulations will set out the information to be maintained in academic and curricular records and the information which must be provided through the CTS to another school when a pupil relocates.
The CTS is a secure electronic system used to transfer a pupil’s record electronically when they move from one school to another. The CTS ensures that pupil information moves electronically when pupils relocate, thus reducing the administrative burden of data collection and increasing the accuracy and continuity of records. It also supports local authorities in meeting their obligations to identify and prevent pupils from going missing from education by facilitating the identification of records where pupils leave one school and do not appear to register at another. The CTS operates on a statutory basis in Wales. It is a service shared with England (although not statutory there), helping to ensure a better flow of information for pupils who may cross the border during their education.
The Regulations specify that a pupil’s record must conform to a standard format and they add references to the Unique Learner Number (ULN). This is a unique identifier which can be allocated to a pupil and helps to distinguish between pupils with the same name. Once allocated, pupils can use their ULN at any stage of their education, even as an adult learner.
Amendments will:
· extend the information to be provided electronically to a following school when a pupil relocates to include the ULN (where available for pupils over 14 year of age); and,
· require that the information is provided in a specified format to help reduce bureaucracy where related to the use of non-standard IT systems.
1.3The Education (School Information) (Wales) Regulations 2011
These Regulations will replace and revoke sections in the Education (School Information) (Wales) Regulations 1999 (as amended).
The current Regulations cover individual school prospectuses and local authority composite prospectuses. A school prospectus provides general information about a school, such as the number of pupils, names of teachers, school policies and rules. It provides parents with information about the school their child attends. A local authority composite prospectus covers the admissions policies for the schools in that authority’s area. It provides parents with information to help them consider which school they would like their child to attend.
Amendments in relation to school prospectuses will:
· require the inclusion of a comparative report of results in end of phase teachers assessment and external examinations (where applicable) provided by the Welsh Government;
· require the prospectus to show the school’s language category e.g. English-medium, dual stream; the number of places available for entry (for secondary schools) and information about the member of staff with responsibility for looked-after children.
· update the information to be included to reflect the requirements of the Welsh Language Education Strategy namely to require governors to publish details of how Welsh is used as the medium of instruction separately for each Key Stage and to provide more information about the language of instruction and any limitations that may limit the parents’ opportunity to choose the language of instruction.
Amendments in relation to composite prospectuses will require additional information to be included namely:
· the school’s language category e.g. English-medium, dual stream
· the local authority’s policy on food and drink in schools
· the local authority’s policy on school uniform
· availability of financial assistance for pupils
· the local authority’s policy on entering pupils for public exams
· the local authority’s policy on special educational needs.
1.4The Education (School Performance and Absence Targets) (Wales) Regulations 2011
These Regulations will replace and revoke the Education (School Performance and Unauthorised Absence Targets) (Wales) Regulations 1999 (as amended).
The Regulations cover how the Welsh Government measures a school’s performance and how a school manages absenteeism amongst pupils. The Regulations need to be amended to update the interpretations to reflect developments since the Regulations first came into force. The amendments clarify the terminology and interpretations, and require schools to provide the information in a succinct form. They also reflect the move towards schools setting their own targets, rather than targets being set by the Welsh Government. This ties in with the School Effectiveness Framework and the emphasis on self-evaluation. Based on the information in its data set, teachers will evaluate their school’s progress and set realistic targets to improve their own performance.
Amendments will:
· clarify the terminology and interpretations specifically in relation to external examinations;
· reduce the number of specified targets by removing the requirement to set targets for gender difference;
· require schools to set a minimum of three targets in addition to those specified that reflect the priorities identified through self evaluation and consideration of core data sets and other comparative information (guidance will highlight that these should reflect national priorities as they apply in relation to the individual school); and,
· establish the right of the local authority to request that a governing body revise a target where the local authority is not satisfied and to set a target for the school where it remains unsatisfied with a revised target.