Setting

Mr Julian Wooster Strategic Director - Children, Families and Learning Portsmouth City Council 3rd Floor, Civic Offices Guildhall Square Portsmouth Hampshire PO1 2BG

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Children’s services annual rating

Ofsted guidance published in May 2009 explained that the annual rating would derive from a new performance profile of the quality of services and outcomes for children and young people in each local area. This profile includes findings from across Ofsted’s inspection and regulation of services and settings for which the council has strategic or operational responsibilities, either alone or in partnership with others, together with data from the relevant Every Child Matters indicators in the new National Indicator Set (NIS).

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Children’s services annual rating

In considering the evidence in the profile to determine the children’s services rating for 2009 it has become clear that the continuing gaps in the data are significant, particularly those relating to aspects of social care and services for Looked After Children. Ofsted has decided therefore to use 2009 as a transitional year easing into the full application of the new system in 2010. As a consequence, although the performance profile remains central to Ofsted’s rating, we have interpreted the performance bands with flexibility and exercised professional judgement with caution.

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Children’s services annual rating

The annual rating derives from a four point scale:

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Children’s services annual rating

4 Performs excellently An organisation that significantly exceeds minimum requirements 3 Performs well An organisation that exceeds minimum requirements 2 Performs adequately An organisation that meets only minimum requirements 1 Performs poorly An organisation that does not meet minimum requirements

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Children’s services annual rating

Within each level there will be differing standards of provision. For example, a rating of ‘performs excellently’ does not mean all aspects of provision are perfect. Similarly, a rating of ‘performs poorly’ does not mean there are no adequate or even good aspects. Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 40 40 40 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 020-7421-6716 Direct F 020-7421-5715 juliet.winstanley@ofsted.gov.uk

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Children’s services rating Performs well (3)

Children’s services in Portsmouth City Council perform well.

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Children’s services rating Performs well (3)

The overall effectiveness of the large majority of inspected services and settings is good or better. Despite this, performance across education and social care is very mixed. For children and young people whose circumstances make them vulnerable, the local authority’s fostering and adoption services and private fostering arrangements are all good. Four of the five special schools are good, as are five of the six children’s homes. The joint area review in 2008 judged services for looked after children as good and safeguarding as adequate. All nursery provision and a large proportion of childcare are good. Childminder settings are satisfactory and below the average elsewhere. The weakest performance however is in the local authority’s schools. The proportion of primary and secondary schools that are good or better is small when compared with the average in similar areas and the country as a whole. While none is inadequate, too many secondary schools are no better

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Children’s services rating Performs well (3)

than satisfactory. In sharp contrast, all post-16 provision is good or better, with an outstanding school sixth form, a good sixth form college and a good general further education college.

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Children’s services rating Performs well (3)

Performance against the large majority of national indicators, including those for staying safe and enjoying and achieving, is in line with or above similar areas. However, the council does not perform well in all areas. Educational outcomes are still not good enough despite recent improvement. While most children make a good start in early years education, standards in primary and secondary school remain low and poorer still for some groups of children and young people whose circumstances make them vulnerable.

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Children’s services rating Performs well (3)

The children’s services rating is provided for the purpose of section 138 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. The rating of local authority children’s services will contribute significantly to the managing performance theme of each local authority’s Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) organisational assessment and therefore to the score for each local authority overall.

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Children’s services rating Performs well (3)

Juliet Winstanley Divisional Manager, CAA

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