School Profiles Are Not Ready Yet

Mon, May 08, 2006

Source: BBC

Many schools have not completed the profiles parents were promised, to provide better information about their ethos and performance.

Many schools have not completed the profiles parents were promised, to provide better information about their ethos and performance.

The online profiles in England should have been available this term.

They were introduced by last year's Education Act, replacing the annual governors' report to parents.

Information about Ofsted reports and test results is filled in by government officials, while schools have to describe the year's highs and lows.

But the BBC News website has discovered that few profiles have so far been completed.

Some head teachers have reported problems with the passwords they need to access the web-based forms used to compile the profile.

Individual needs

The "warts and all" narrative sections schools have to complete each year from now on are 100 to 200 words long.

They include:

What have been our successes this year?
What are we trying to improve?
How have our results changed over time?
How are we making sure that every child gets teaching to meet their individual needs?
How do we make sure our pupils are healthy, safe and well-supported?
What have we done in response to Ofsted?
What activities are available to pupils?
How are we working with parents and the community?
What have pupils told us about the school, and what have we done as a result?
What do our pupils do after leaving this school?
Once the profiles are complete they will be available to parents at the ParentsCentre website run by the Department for Education and Skills.
A spartan front page requires people to enter a school name - there is no facility to browse lists of schools or search by postcode, for example.

From the initial page of search results (whether successful or not) it is possible to "refine" the search by entering a town, county or postcode and/or say whether the search is for infant, primary, secondary or special schools.

However, this is somewhat hit and miss at present.

"Your search in School Profile for all schools in Birmingham produced 0 results" was a typical return.

A search for "Kent" - England's biggest education authority, with hundreds of primary schools alone - found just six schools.

In the whole of Sheffield, four schools. In Bradford, only two.

Ethos

In the government's Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners, published in 2004, the then education secretary Charles Clarke said all parents and pupils would be able to choose from "more good and excellent schools in their local community".

The "parent guarantee" pledged: "A new School Profile will give better information about a school's performance."

As the Education Bill was published, Mr Clarke promised "school profiles that will give parents a balanced assessment of each school's ethos, characteristics, performance and improvement priorities".

"This will reduce bureaucracy for schools by replacing the annual governors' report and enable parents to make informed decisions based on a more comprehensive picture of school life," he said.

The government is now promising parents a profile for every single pupil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4977360.stm