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Promise to make Liverpool
the best to grow up in
AN ambitious pledge to make education
in Liverpool the best in the UK is being launched on Friday, 15 September 2017. The
Liverpool Promise brings together Schools, students, the Mayor of Liverpool and
the City Council, cultural organisations, businesses and others who support
education to make commitments to each other and the students and families of
Liverpool.
The aim is to create the best School system in the UK, where children and young
people have the best start, are ready to learn, ready for School, ready for work
and ready for life; and are healthy, happy and safe from harm.
It includes strengthening Schools links with universities and businesses and
getting children involved in 5 cultural events at every key stage of their
School life. "Priorities include improving attendance at School and recruiting the best
teachers and School staff whilst retaining the excellent staff we already have
in the City through high quality professional development and training."
said Liverpool City Council.
Success will be measured by:-
► Increasing the percentage of children reaching
a good level of development by the time they start School.
► Improving reading, writing and maths faster than the national average.
► Getting more students into further/higher education, employment, training or
an apprenticeship.
The launch of the Liverpool Promise follows work led by Stephen Twigg MP to look
at the challenges facing the education system in Liverpool that drew on
consultation work by Steve Munby, Chief Executive of the Education Development
Trust and Sir Tim Brighouse, a former Schools Commissioner of London widely
credited with transforming education standards in the capital.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said:- "The Liverpool Promise brings
together everyone involved in giving young people the best start in life and
preparing them for the future. This is important for those individuals and their
chances of fulfilling their potential, but it is also important for the future
of the City and our vision of a strong sustainable economy.
We have good Schools and good teacher doing amazing things, but we need to keep
a focus on improving standards and exam results, and this year's provisional
GCSE and A level results are encouraging. We can't afford to stand still and we
must be ambitious, celebrate the inspiring achievements of our young people and
guarantee the education opportunities they deserve.
We will do more to develop aspirations, link Schools with businesses to prepare
them for work and give them careers, with a focus on sectors where we know there
will be growth in Liverpool in the future."
Assistant Mayor and Cabinet member for Schools and Education, Councillor Nick
Small, added:- "We want to concentrate very much on making sure that we
have an education system in Liverpool that does not just teach children, but
also enriches their lives, meaning they leave Schools with the skills that
employers want and need."
Governance of the Liverpool Promise will come from the Liverpool Promise
Steering Group chaired by Director of Children's Services, Colette O'Brien, and
a Challenge Group chaired by Stephen Twigg MP. Stephen Twigg said:-
"Giving our children and young people the best possible start in life has to be
the biggest priority for us all and it has been great to see the range of
partners already coming out to support the Liverpool Promise.
We have an unprecedented opportunity here to bring together lots of different
people and organisations, all who share a passion and commitment to help
Liverpool's children and young people be the very best that they can be. I am
looking forward to continuing my work to support and challenge our education
system and also to making promises of my own. I will be encouraging others, be
they parents, grandparents, colleagues, businesses and others, to think about
how they can get involved in the Liverpool Promise and the types of promises
that they can make."
A group of Young Advisors from Liverpool Schools will
be leading a piece of work to:-
► Actively engage young people who have low attendance and/or those who have not
been involved in consultation activity of this nature in the past.
► Encourage young people to be in School and promote the importance of
School.
► Promote positive collaboration between teachers and students.
► Share information with young people across the City.
► Be positive role models.
Joe Griffin, 1 of the Young Advisors, said:- "I am a Liverpool
Safeguarding Children's Board Young Advisor and I will be involved in the
Liverpool Promise because as a young person myself, I want to be involved in
shaping my own future and the futures of other young people across the City.
I think it is very important to improve student-teacher relationships within
Schools as I believe that if students have a good relationship with their
teachers, it can improve attendance which can in turn improve attainment and
this is something that I think is very important."
The following organisations are already signed up to
Liverpool Promise:-
► Association of Liverpool Special School Headteachers.
► Liverpool Association of Secondary Headteachers.
► Liverpool Primary Headteachers' Association.
► Liverpool Learning Partnership.
► School Improvement Liverpool.
► Mayor's Office and Liverpool City Council.
► Liverpool Cultural Education Partnership.
► Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group.
► Young Advisors.
See the promises being made so far:-
LiverpoolPromise.Org.UK.
Key Facts:-
► Provisional 2017 data shows that Liverpool is above the national average for
GCSE grade 4 or higher in English and maths.
► In 2017, the percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard at Key Stage
Two increased from 46% to 56%; but Liverpool remains 3rdfrom bottom of the 8
big 'core' Cities.
► In 2016, 89% of primary Schools were judged good or outstanding, just short of
the national average of 90%.
► In 2016, 55% of secondary Schools were judged good or outstanding, compared to
78% nationally.
► In 2016, Liverpool was ranked 147 out of 151 local authorities using the key
measure of Progress 8 at GCSE.
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