The Single Education Plan (Wales) Regulations 2006

Regulation 1

SCHEDULE 1 Regulations Revoked

SI No	Title	Provisions revoked
S.I. 1998/ 644	Local Education Authority (Behaviour Support Plans) Regulations 1998	All
S.I. 2001/ 606 (W.29)	Local Education Authority (Behaviour Support Plans) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2001	All
S.I. 2002/ 1187 (W.135)	Education Development Plans (Wales) Regulations 2002	All
S.I. 2003/ 893 (W.113)	Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) Regulations 2003	Regulations 5, 6 and 7 and the Schedule.
S.I. 2003/ 1732 (W.190)	Education (School Organisation Plans) (Wales) Regulations 2003	All
S.I. 2005/ 434 (W.45)	Education Development Plans (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005	All

Regulation 4

SCHEDULE 2 MATTERS TO BE DEALT WITH IN SINGLE EDUCATION PLANS

PART 1 Introductory

Interpretation

1.  In this Schedule—

“GCSE” (“TGAU”) means a General Certificate of Secondary Education;

“key stage” (“cyfnod allweddol”) is to be construed in accordance with section 103 of the 2002 Act;

“level 4” (“lefel 4”) and “level 5” (“lefel 5”) means levels 4 and 5 respectively of the National Curriculum for Wales level scale as determined by teacher assessment;

“NQF” (“NQF”) means the National Qualifications Framework comprising qualifications accredited jointly by the National Assembly exercising functions formerly vested in the Qualification, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales and the corresponding regulatory authorities for England and Northern Ireland(1), and “level” (“lefel”) (except in relation to “level 4” and “5”, which are defined above) means the level to which a qualification is accredited within the NQF;

“school year” (“blwyddyn ysgol”) means the period of one year beginning on 1 September;

“second key stage pupils” (“disgyblion yr ail gyfnod allweddol”), “third key stage pupils” (“disgyblion y trydydd cyfnod allweddol”), and “fourth key stage pupils” (“disgyblion y pedwerydd cyfnod allweddol”) mean pupils who are in the second, third and fourth key stages respectively;

“special educational needs” (“anghenion addysgol arbennig”) has the meaning given to it by section 312(1) of the 1996 Act; and

“statement of special educational needs” (“datganiad o anghenion addysgol arbennig”) has the meaning given to it by section 324 of the 1996 Act(2).

PART 2 Strategies

2.  A Single Education Plan must include, for the period referred to in regulation 5, the strategies referred to in this Part.

3.  A statement setting out the authority’s strategy for improving the performance of schools maintained by the authority, including their strategies for the following—

(a) support for schools—

(i) whose performance is significantly worse than for other schools in Wales with comparable levels of pupils entitled to free school meals; or

(ii) which have been inspected by a registered inspector, whose inspection report states that in the inspector’s opinion special measures are required to be taken in relation to the school, or the school requires significant improvement, and that the Chief Inspector agrees with that opinion; or

(iii) which have been inspected by a member of the Inspectorate whose inspection report states that in the inspector’s opinion special measures are required to be taken in relation to the school, or the school requires significant improvement;

(b) support for schools in improving pupil transition between the second key stage and third;

(c) support to schools to improve standards of literacy or numeracy, including provision for improving the basic skills of under-attainers;

(d) provision for pupils with learning needs which are significantly greater than those of the majority of their peers;

(e) support for schools which is aimed at keeping pupils in school and reintegrating excluded pupils;

(f) support to schools to develop community focus;

(g) support for linguistic continuity in the Welsh language; and

(h) support to schools to improve pupil attendance.

4.  A statement setting out the authority’s strategy, and the provision they propose to make, whether part time or full time, for pupils who by reason of illness, exclusion, or otherwise are not attending school, and for raising the standards of education of such pupils.

5.  A statement setting out the authority’s strategy for planning school places (including the action they consider is needed to match supply of school places with identified need), taking into account—

(a) any projected reduction or growth in pupil numbers in any part of the authority’s area which would result in a surplus or deficit of available places;

(b) any existing levels of surplus places and incidence of overcrowding;

(c) demand for Welsh medium places;

(d) demand for places at faith schools;

(e) the need to bring all school buildings up to a fit standard for delivery of the National Curriculum for Wales and, where appropriate, to do so in a way which facilitates community use of school premises;

(f) the legal requirements to secure compliance with the statutory limit on infant class sizes prescribed under section 1 of the 1998 Act(3), and the desirability of limiting junior classes to 30 pupils;

(g) the need to secure nursery education (in accordance with requirements imposed by virtue of Regulations under section 118 of the 1998 Act)(4);

(h) their legal responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995(5), or any other legislation, to improve access for disabled pupils and to facilitate access for disabled employees and other users of school premises;

(i) the need to provide post-16 school places; and

(j) the need to provide for pupils with special educational needs in special schools maintained by the authority, or in special units attached to other categories of schools so maintained, or by placement in non-maintained special schools or in independent schools.

6.  A statement setting out how the authority proposes to monitor progress in respect of each of its strategies referred to in this Part.

PART 3 Targets

Targets for attainment, attendance and exclusion

7.—(1) In respect of the school years 2006-07 and 2007-08 the Targets for attainment, attendance and exclusions referred to in sub-paragraphs (2), (3) and (5) below.

(2) The Targets to be set for attainment are—

(a) The percentage of second key stage pupils in schools maintained by the authority achieving level 4 or above in both mathematics and science and either English or Welsh (first language) as assessed by teacher assessment;

(b) The percentage of third key stage pupils in schools maintained by the authority achieving level 5 or above in both mathematics and science and either English or Welsh (first language) as assessed by teacher assessment;

(c) The percentage of fourth key stage pupils in schools maintained by the authority achieving a GCSE grade C or above in both mathematics and science and either English or Welsh (first language);

(d) The percentage of pupils aged 15 in schools maintained by the authority who achieved any grade from A* to C in five or more GCSE examinations, or an equivalent achievement in other examinations at NQF level 2 or in any combination of GCSE or other examinations at NQF level 2;

(e) The average number of points achieved by pupils aged 15 in schools maintained by the authority in examinations of the kind referred to in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the Education (School Information) (Wales) Regulations 1999(6) as calculated in accordance with that paragraph; and

(f) The percentage of pupils leaving full time education without any approved qualification(7).

(3) The Targets to be set for attendance are—

(a) The total attendance rate for primary schools maintained by the authority; and

(b) The total attendance rate for secondary schools maintained by the authority.

(4) In sub-paragraph (3)—

“the total attendance rate” (“cyfanswm cyfradd y presenoldebau”) means the total number of attendances in the school year in relation to which the target is being set expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible attendances in that school year; and

“the total number of possible attendances” (“cyfanswm nifer y presenoldebau posibl”) means the number produced by multiplying the number of day pupils of compulsory school age registered at, as the case may be, primary schools or secondary schools maintained by the authority in the school year in relation to which the target is being set by the number of school sessions in that school year.

(5) The Targets to be set for exclusions are—

(a) for both the primary and secondary sectors, the percentage of school days lost due to fixed-term exclusions and the average length of fixed-term exclusions in days; and

(b) for secondary schools, the rate of permanent exclusions per 1000 pupils.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (2), references to pupils aged 15 are to pupils who were aged 15 on the 31 August immediately prior to the beginning of the school year in respect of which the target is set.

Regulation 4

SCHEDULE 3 Supporting Information

A Single Education Plan must be accompanied by an Annex containing the following information—

(a) the number of primary and secondary pupils in the authority’s area for the school year 2005-06, and the projected number of such pupils for the following five school years;

(b) the number of pupils on roll at each school maintained by the authority (including nursery schools and special schools) in the school year 2005-06 compared to its capacity, and the projected number on roll for the following five school years;

(c) demand for Welsh medium provision in schools maintained by the authority as compared with available places for the school year 2005-06 and the following five school years;

(d) demand for provision in faith schools maintained by the authority as compared with available places for the school year 2005-06 and the following five school years;

(e) in relation to the 2005-06 school year—

(i) the number of nursery places in schools maintained by the authority;

(ii) the number of such places funded by the authority in non-maintained settings; and

(iii) separately in relation to the information specified in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) the number of places in—

• Welsh-medium schools or settings, and

• English-medium schools or settings,

and, in each case, the projected number of places for the school years 2006-07 and 2007-08; and

(f) in relation to the 2005-06 school year the total number of places in the following settings—

(i) special schools maintained by the authority, and

(ii) special units attached to other categories of schools so maintained,

with a breakdown, according to each type of special educational need catered for in each of those two types of settings, and (for each such setting and separately for each type of special educational need catered for in each such setting) a further breakdown according to whether—

(i) the provision is day provision only,

(ii) termly boarding provision is available,

(iii) 52 week boarding provision is available, or

(iv) the provision is Welsh or English medium.

(1)

For the Transfer of Functions to the National Assembly see the Qualification, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales (Transfer of Functions to the National Assembly for Wales and Abolition Order 2005, S.I. 2005/3239 (W.244). The corresponding regulatory authorities are the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (England) and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (Northern Ireland). Qualifications are listed by category and level. The framework may be accessed on www.qca.org.uk.

(2)

Section 324 has been amended by section 9 of the Special Needs and Disability Act 2001 (c. 10), and section 140 and Schedule 30 to the 1998 Act, and section 215 and Schedule 21 to the 2002 Act.

(3)

The Education (Infant Class Sizes) (Wales) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1943) specifies the infant class size limits to ordinarily be 30.

(4)

See the Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) Regulations 2003, S.I. 2003/893, (W.113) as amended by Education (Nursery Education and Early Years Development and Childcare Plans) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 S.I. 2005/1813, (W. 143).

(5)

1995 c. 50.

(6)

S.I. 1999/1812, as amended by S.I. 2004/1736 (W.179).

(7)

An approved qualification is a qualification approved under section 99 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, for the purposes of section 96 of that Act.