Out
of the frying pan....
With
an almost surreptitious slight of hand Somerset County Council have
appointed another Interim Director of Children's Services. As the
council hope the failures and arrogance of Peter Lewis fade into the
past they have quietly appointed another non-runner.
Rosemary
Collinson is now their chosen Interim Director. As yet there has
been no fanfare from the Council's publicity department, no official
announcement, yet those of us who watch these things closely have
noticed that the Association of Directors of Children's Services have
updated their Somerset entry with her details.
http://www.adcs.org.uk/contacts/dcs.html
within the past few days.
So
can families and children now breathe a sigh of relief that Somerset
County Council have finally appointed a capable and exemplary
candidate to this crucial post, someone who will lead the service out
of inadequacy, failure, unprofessionalism and at time illegality?
No is the simple answer.
Let's
take a look at this appointment who is going to be receiving hefty
sums (albeit probably no where near Mr Lewis' obscene salary) from
the tax payers of Somerset. Ms. Collinson has a track record that is
sure to leave many people scrtaching their heads in disbelief. She
has come from being Interim Director at Walsall – another Ofsted
failing council. In 2013 she was tasked with turning around a
failing service. How did she do, well a few quotes from the July 2014
Ofsted Inspection of failing schools should give us an indication of
the value for money she brings.
Letter
to Ms. Collinson from Ofsted:
“This
inspection was carried out in your local authority due to concerns
regarding the achievement of pupils in primary and nursery schools,
as well as the low proportion of pupils attending schools that are
good or better.
The
local authority arrangements for supporting school improvement are
ineffective.
Summary
findings
Too
few pupils in Walsall attend a good or better school. The local
authority agrees that this is not acceptable.
The
proportion of pupils attending inadequate schools is too high and the
number of schools causing concern is not reducing.
The
proportion of pupils achieving average levels of attainment at the
end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is too low and is not improving
quickly enough.
The
proportion of pupils making expected progress across Key Stages 2 is
below average. Progress across Key Stages 3 and 4 is well below
average.
Achievement
for too many sixth form students is inadequate.
Although
the senior officers and elected members share an ambitious vision for
all schools in Walsall, their strategy for improvement is not being
realised because:
-
the delivery plans to implement the strategy are not fit for purpose
-
the local authority does not know its schools well enough. As a
result, it does not act quickly enough to effect improvement.
-
The impact of the improvement work of local authority officers is
inconsistent.
-
Weak leadership in too many maintained schools has not been
challenged quickly enough.
-
The local authority does not have a clear plan to improve leadership
and governance.
-
plans to co-ordinate high quality and effective school-to-school
support have not been realised.
Provision
for children in Walsall’s nursery schools is outstanding. It is
good or better in all special schools.
Areas
for improvement
To
improve achievement and ensure that all pupils in Walsall attend a
good or better school, the local authority should:
ensure
that there is a clear strategy to develop future leaders and
intervene quickly where leadership, including governance, is weak
urgently
improve plans to deliver the local authority’s improvement
strategy. This should include clear and measureable criteria that can
be used to regularly and rigorously check progress
ensure
that the local authority has a clear and up-to-date picture of the
performance of all schools in order to act quickly to secure
improvement and stem decline
strengthen
the implementation of the local authority’s categorisation of
schools to ensure that the support and challenge provided are
proportionate to need
ensure
that there are robust systems in place to check and improve the
quality of the school improvement work of local authority officers
implement
plans to promote and facilitate effective school-to-school support
and signpost high-quality services that schools can commission or
broker.
Corporate
leadership and strategic planning (ie
Ms. Collinsons responsibility)
The
local authority fails to engage with all schools. For instance, a
significant minority of schools do not share their most recent
achievement data with the local authority. This severely undermines
the local authority’s ability to bring about improvements.
Strategic
planning to achieve the local authority’s ambition is not robust.
It is not clear how the progress of its work to improve schools will
be measured. The journey from the current position to the eventual
goal is not planned carefully enough. Plans focus on systems,
procedures and initiatives but not on robust, practical measures that
will deliver for children and young people.”
The
local authority has appropriate systems to hold senior officers to
account, but the lack of improvement milestones hampers its ability
to check that initiatives are on track to deliver local authority
targets.
The
effectiveness of plans for the implementation of Raising the
Participation Age and to prepare for the future landscape are not
replicated elsewhere.
Senior
officers and elected members are ambitious and committed to securing
improvements in Walsall. They recognise that recent initiatives have
not delivered better outcomes for young people.
The
implementation of the improvement strategy is at an early stage.
Several appointments to the school improvement service are recent and
some are interim. Staffing volatility is a factor in hindering better
progress. School leaders know and understand the strategy. They agree
that its priorities are appropriate and
ambitious.
So,
Somerset County Council have appointed a candidate who has a track
record of failure at the corporate, strategic level. However, we
cannot excuse this as a one-off, that actions had been implemented
and were slowly having a positive effect. Ms Collinson it appears is
no stranger to controversy around her ability and leadership. She
joined Medway Council in 1998 and became its Director in 2006. There
she drew serious criticisms over the introduction of a school
selection examination known as the Medway Test. Worse though, she
appeared to watch over the areas education with something akin to
Nero, as the number of Medway Primary Schools being judged inadequate
rose considerably whilst also carrying out Academy conversions that
lead to the resignations of Head teachers and other senior staff.
Further she was accused by the local MP of misleading the Council's
cabinet with regard to the closure of two primary schools. There was
also a petition by the people of Medway demanding her resignation.
Either
Somerset County Council, or perhaps even the government have placed
another candidate; into a prime position at Somerset County Council,
that has a dubious track record. Are the people of Somerset being
taken for mugs? Are the powers that be at Somerset County Council
capable of making a well researched, suitable and successful
appointment? It took the author just a few minutes of research to
identify that the new Interim Director, like Peter Lewis, has a
catalogue of failures behind them and yet Somerset County Council's
chief executive, Patrick Flaherty and cabinet member for children and
families – Francis Nicholson appear to have failed to carry out any
due diligence as to the calibre of the appointee.
Only
time will tell as to the effectiveness of this appointment, but
children and families in Somerset do not have time – they need
someone now who will stop the rot, who will check the illegalities,
failures and un-professional conduct of those in Children's Services
– without someone at the helm capable of that the children and
families of Somerset will continue to suffer at the hands of a
department that has shown corruption, neglect and an arrogance beyond
belief. This appointment looks unlikely of fulfilling the remit of
improvement, neither does it look like she will carry the confidence
of the people of Somerset.
Ultimately
the question must be: Why do people with such a poor record of
ability and suitability continue to be appointed beyond their
capability, at vast expense? Ms Collinson has literally picked up a
poisoned chalice at Somerset – families fighting back were
partially responsible for the departure of Mr Lewis and their fight
not only continues, but will be expanding rapidly. Somerset County
Council's appointment has moved then out of the frying pan and most
certainly into the fire.
