Purpose

Proposed
decision
 
a)   
ADOPT the draft Education Strategy “Raising
ambition, enabling curiosity, building resilience. A Strategy for
the Future of Education in Kent 2025-2030”;
 
b)   
DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of
Children, Young People and Education to make non-substantial
revisions as appropriate during the lifetime of the strategy where
changes do not require additional governance; and
 
c)   
DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of
Children, Young People and Education to take relevant actions,
including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering
into required contract or other legal agreements, as necessary to
implement the objectives of the strategy.
 
Reason for the
decision
 
-     
Raising Ambition. Enabling Curiosity. Building Resilience. A
Strategy for the Future of Education in Kent, 2025-2030 has been
developed in response to the Government’s drive for a
self-improving, school-led system. This has resulted in a reduction
in the responsibilities of local authorities and a change in
funding. As the system evolves, there is a growing understanding of
the need for sector-wide collaboration to ensure that no child is
left behind. The previous overarching strategy for education was
Vision and Priorities for Improvement, 2018-2021.
 
-     
The Local Authority (LA) is in a unique position of
having an overview of the whole education system, an accountability
for aspects of the system and a responsibility to act as an
advocate for individual children and families. Whilst the specific
statutory responsibilities for school improvement have reduced, the
responsibility for supporting a healthy and equitable education
system remains, for example, through duties related to
commissioning of places, admissions and fair access. KCC officers
and Members are committed to supporting an education system that
provides good opportunities for all, and so work started on
co-constructing this wider education strategy with the sector to
provide an overarching context for our focused work on school
improvement, however that is subsequently delivered in line with
KCC Constitution and Policy.
 
-     
The purpose of the strategy is to create cohesion
with many stakeholders around a vision for all parts of the sector
from early years to post-16 across many stakeholders, and to
proactively respond to our local and sector specific context and
challenges. The strategy is built around our statutory duties and
aligns our work with the national direction of travel. It also
responds to the voices of our children, young people, parents,
carers and educational professionals.
 
Background
 
-     
Kent educational mission is to: Collaboratively develop and support
an effective, evidence-informed system of strong leaders and staff
grounded in clear moral purpose to respond to the local needs and
aspirations of Kent children and parents. Place children and young
people at the centre of all education, by ensuring they are heard,
included and supported to be ambitious, curious and resilient
individuals who are well prepared for their future and empowered to
achieve.
 
-     
KCC has a wide range of statutory duties it needs to meet in
education. These are a priority, and we need to consider and plan
for how these are fulfilled. These can be summarised as a
responsibility to:
 
-     
Ensure a sufficient supply of good education places, including
early education and childcare, and sufficient local provision for
pupils with special educational needs
 
-     
Co-ordinate admissions and fair access
 
-     
Commission home to school transport appropriately and efficiently
(according to the law and KCC policies) to promote independence for
young people
 
-     
In respect of meeting the legal requirements of the Children and
Families Act (2014), we have a broader responsibility to:
 
-     
Champion the needs of vulnerable children and young people, their
families and carers, so there is an inclusive learning system which
gives them the opportunity to succeed.
 
-     
A responsibility to ensure a strategic coherence that enables
schools and settings to develop purposeful partnerships that
improve the quality of teaching and learning outcomes for children
and young people
 
-     
Collaborate with partners to build the capacity for sector-led
school improvement.
 
-     
A key local concern is improving the system approach to SEND
inclusion, following two inspections (2019 and 2022) which
identified significant areas of weakness within the SEND area
(Health, Education and Care Services) and that there needed to be a
more consistent approach to SEND inclusion across all education
providers. This strategy supports greater clarity on the agreed
expectations of all schools and other providers with regard to
universal provision, targeted support and specialist education
provision. Further guidance on this SEND Continuum of Needs and
Provision is currently under development.
 
Options (other
options considered but discarded)

 
-     
Do nothing, that is to continue without a strategy
that reflects the current operating environment and how the present
and future challenges could be addressed by KCC and the stakeholder
community.
 
How the proposed
decision supports the
Framing Kent's Future - Our
Council Strategy 2022-2026
 
-     
The proposed decision supports the Priority 1:
Levelling Up Kent ‘Our commitment is to maintain
KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver
accessible, high quality education provision for all
families’. 
 
How the proposed
decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026:

Securing Kents Future - Budget
Recovery Strategy.pdf
 
-     
The proposed decision is in compliance with and
supports the ‘Securing Kent’s Future - Budget Recovery
Strategy’ relating to the Council prioritising its Best Value
statutory responsibility and ensure that the Best Value duty is
adhered in strategic and operational decisions, including advice to
executive and non-executive Members. All Members, when discharging
their respective roles within the council, whether executive or
non-executive, should also prioritise Best Value
considerations.
 
It also in line with Securing
Kent’s Future strategic Objective 3: policy choices and scope
of the Council’s ambitions. Meaning that ‘we must
review statutory services and the extent to which they are
appropriately meeting need and supporting outcomes, and where
necessary reshape that spend so it frees up resources for other
services, including discretionary services’

Decision

As the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills
I agree to:
 
(a) ADOPT the draft Education
Strategy “Raising Ambition, Enabling Curiosity, Building
Resilience. A Strategy for the Future of Education in Kent
2025-2030”;
 
(b) DELEGATE authority to the Corporate
Director of Children, Young People and Education to make
non-substantialrevisions as appropriate
during the lifetime of the strategy where changes do not require
additional governance; and        
 
(c) DELEGATE authority to the Corporate
Director of Children, Young People and Education to
take relevant actions, including but not
limited to finalising the terms of, and entering into
required contract or other legal agreements,
as necessary to implement the objectives of the strategy.