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Denbighshire County Council has continued with the good start made to address the recommendations following the Estyn inspection, with improved leadership and a clearer direction for education services, according to feedback received by Estyn following a monitoring visit in mid May.

The feedback from Estyn states: "Improved leadership by officers is now beginning to make a difference to education service delivery. The authority is now better placed to work with schools and partners to begin to deliver better outcomes for pupils and young people. "

Estyn also stated:
· The local authority has worked well with schools to complete an initial partnership agreement. The arrangements to challenge, support and intervene in schools are clear and agreed
· The authority provides schools with an improved range and quality of school performance data
· School development officers are more focused on outcomes for learners in their work with schools
· Key school improvement projects have moved forward since Estyn's last visit in February
· The authority is well placed to deliver the Foundation Phase from September 2008
· The authority has undertaken good analyses of the leadership development needs of headteachers and other school leaders
· Attendance and exclusion data continue to show a positive picture for the 2007/08 academic year
· Senior management of education services has improved significantly with a greater purpose and clarity to senior officers' work
· Denbighshire is making good progress in addressing capacity issues
· The youth service is working well with other services to develop the range of accredited learning opportunities for young people.

The feedback identified areas where further work is required. Estyn highlighted:
· The authority has not yet fully explored the potential of cluster arrangements to identify local issues that need addressing, find solutions and share best practice
· The local authority needs to work with its partners to ensure that all services understand how the priorities in the Children and Young People Plan will be resourced.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans, also the Lead Member for Education, said: "We welcome the positive feedback received from Estyn and it clearly shows that officers, councillors, headteachers and governors are committed to working together for the benefit of our children and young people.

"We welcome acknowledgement of the progress and the achievements to date. We realise there is still work to be done and we will continue to move forward to achieving the vision of providing a first class education service in Denbighshire”.

The next monitoring visit by Estyn will take place in September.