Agenda and minutes

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2015.

Updates

Page 5 – Support to Multi-Lingual Families – the Chair requested a written update on the outstanding actions related to supplementary schools and supporting learning English language skills for parents.

ACTION: Richard Stanley

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sue Fennimore (who was attending CSERS PAC scheduled for the same time) and Nadia Taylor.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee. 

Dennis Charman declared a non-pecuniary interest as a Governor of Melcome Primary School. Philippa O’Driscoll declared a non-pecuniary interest as the Chair of Governors at St. Augustine's Catholic Primary School.

To invite questions from members of the public present.

Members of the public with more complex issues are invited to submit their questions in advance in order to allow a more substantive answer to be given. Questions can be sent to the contact officer shown on the front page of the agenda.

There were no public questions during this item.

Andrew Christie presented the report that provided an overview of recent developments of relevance to the Committee and took questions from Members.

Operation Makesafe

Andrew Christie noted that training was being developed for Council staff in areas such as environmental health and licensing enforcement. The police would also deliver training and support to businesses through their Safer Neighbourhood Teams. There will be a formal launch and roll-out of the programme in the borough in October. Members requested an update on the launch outside of the meeting.

ACTION: Andrew Christie

Provisional Exam Results 2015

Members asked if the results breakdown could include national benchmarking. Officers responded that a more detailed report would come to the Committee with benchmarking and next year would include the Progress 8 performance measure.

Summer Activities for Young People

Members noted that the offer was very good but the start and end times of activities varied considerably. If activities did not cover a full day they were not suitable for the majority of working parents.

Children and Families Act Implementation

Members had concerns about the eligibility criteria for Education, Health, and Care plans in light of the fact that 136 requests for assessment were received but only 76 plans were issued in the last academic year. Officers responded that they would provide more guidance on the information needed from parents.

ACTION: Ian Heggs

Councillor Sue Macmillan, Cabinet Member for Children and Education, provided an overview of recent developments of relevance to the Committee and took questions from Members.

Since the previous meeting of the Committee, Councillor Macmillan had undertaken a number of visits to schools, children’s centres, and FE colleges. Councillor Macmillan had also attended a workshop on the Focus on Practice initiative and suggested the Committee should consider the initiative at a future meeting.

ACTION: David Abbott

The SEN school transport service had been reconfigured with input from the Travel Care and Support working party and performance was being carefully monitored.

Councillor Macmillan had also visited Kidzania and was working with them to develop a careers programme for primary schools.

This report covers lessons learned from the Department for Education 8-6 Extended Nurseries Pilot in London that tested whether an extended, more flexible early education offer could be delivered in school nurseries, providing additional local placements for two, three and four year olds between 8am and 6pm.

Mike Potter introduced Diane Dixon from the Family and Childcare Trust who led the extended nurseries pilot in the region. Also in attendance were Michele Barratt (Head of Vanessa Nursery School and Cathnor Park Children’s Centre) and Nikki Pieniek-Jones (Strategic Improvement Leader at Colville Primary School) who took part in the pilot.

Diane Dixon informed members that the pilot tested whether an extended, more flexible early education offer could be delivered in school nurseries, providing additional local placements for two, three, and four year olds between the hours of 8am and 6pm.

The pilot covered 21 schools across 8 boroughs. The first steps for schools was to conduct a demand survey of local parents (not just parents of that school). They also tested whether the current arrangements available to parents met their needs. It was clear that there was significant demand for a longer day. For parents, organising childcare is often a challenge and they have to rely on a patchwork of provision (from professional care to family support) that can change day-to-day. That fragmentation  was not ideal for the parents or the children. Surveys showed that parents wanted to keep their children in the schools but they didn’t want them to be in ‘education’ before and after the normal school day. Diane Dixon believed it was important to deliver the foundation stage but in a sensitive way that was not overly intensive for children.

A key pillar of the pilot was to support schools in looking at making their provision financially sustainable. Tools were developed with schools to enable them to produce clear financial modelling. A number of the schools found that going through that process was illuminating and in some cases highlighted serious cases of under-utilisation.

Michele Barratt noted that Vanessa Nursery found it very useful to go through business planning and financial modelling. As schools were already paying for general costs (buildings, energy etc.) they had an advantage over other providers. They also looked at using a sliding scale for payment to partially subsidise lower income families and vulnerable children. She also noted that, while parents did not want to change established childcare arrangements, if care was provided at the Nursery in the first instance (through the 15 hours of free care) then it was likely they would continue using that provision.

Nikki Pieniek-Jones informed members that Colville Primary School were very keen to take part in the pilot. There was significant demand from parents and from January the school had opened after-school provision so the pilot just added flexibility in addition to what was already offered. Reception and nursery had been placed together to focus on early years content. Financial planning had been difficult at first but the costings showed that there was budget available for an extra staff member to support the nursery. Overall the pilot had been very successful.

Members asked how extended provision in schools would affect childminders.

Diane Dixon responded that the Small Business and Enterprise Act allowed childminders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

This report provides an overview of issues facing teachers in the borough which reflect national trends and concerns in relation to their workloads and the impact they have on recruitment and retention.

Richard Stanley and Dave Rogers presented the report that provided an overview of the issues facing teachers in the borough and national trends and concerns in relation to their workloads and the impact that has on recruitment and retention.

There had been a national response on this issue from Ofsted, titled ‘Mythbusters’ that aimed to clarify what was expected from an Ofsted inspection. The Secretary of State for Education also acknowledged concerns in this area and highlighted a number of actions that schools could take to mitigate problems.

Ultimately it was the school leader and the Governors who determined the  expectations around what teachers should be delivering. The Council can influence through partnership groups and promoting the value of doing regular surveys on work-life balance and the importance of acting on those findings. The Council also promoted the Healthy Schools initiative.

Feedback was gathered from unions on the report and there was a sense

that the national guidance had not been properly promoted within schools.

Dave Rogers noted that the schools HR team had built up strong working relationships with both schools and unions and they provided access to occupational health services, counselling, and promoted early intervention of managers to resolve issues of stress before they became a major issue.

Members asked if significant numbers of teachers had left local authority schools for Academies and if Academies treated staff any differently. Officers responded that movement data was not available as Academies did not have to publish turnover figures but unions reported that there was no significant movement in either direction. Teachers tended to either move school for a promotion or leave the profession entirely.

A Member who worked as a teacher noted that his school had lost six members of staff that had not been replaced, the work was simply spread to other staff.

Ian Heggs informed the Committee that a strategy on workload had been produced to take to Headteachers and he would feedback to a future meeting.

ACTION: Ian Heggs

Members asked how the Council supported individual teachers. Officers responded that a comprehensive training programme was provided in the NQT year that included organisation and managing of workloads. A framework of training was also available that focused on other key stages of a teacher’s career that went all the way up to senior leadership.

Members asked if all schools were required to have wellbeing policies to support staff. Officers responded that they were but some were less formal than others, it was largely at the discretion of the school.

Philippa O’Driscoll noted that at St. Augustine's had a cross-cutting curriculum that encouraged teachers of different age groups to interacted and reduced isolation.

Members asked if teachers could do some form of job-sharing. Officers responded that due to the nature of the job there were constraints but if schools continued to struggle with recruitment they would have to offer more flexible packages to attract the right staff.

Dennis Charman noted that the pressure on school accountability had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report describes the role of the Independent Visitor’s Scheme and other support services aimed at supporting the transition of Care Leavers to independence.

Steve Miley presented the report that described the role of the independent visitor’s scheme along with other support services aimed at supporting the transition of Care Leavers to independence.

Members were informed that independent visitors were only used in a minority of cases and that the service wanted the majority of young people in care to have their foster carer fulfil that role. It was an important service for those that used it though, giving young people a sense of self-worth that someone took an interest in them. Officers did want to expand the service slightly by recruiting more volunteers, particularly younger men.

Members asked how the service was promoted to young people. Steve Miley responded that it would be discussed with their social worker.

Members asked what steps had been taken to recruit more volunteers. Steve Miley responded that recruitment was in progress but it had been delayed due to problems with managed services.

The Chair noted that officers should explore publicising recruitment through social media and other online channels to attract younger people to the service.

RESOLVED

That the Committee reviewed and commented on the report.

(1)    The Committee is asked to give consideration to its work programme for the current municipal year.

(2)    Members of the Committee to feedback on any visits to schools that have been taken in respect of recent Ofsted Inspections.

The Chair requested that the following items were added to the work programme:

·         Summer holiday childcare provision (including SEN).

·         An update on 8-6 extended nurseries for summer 2016.

·         An update on SEN provision.

·         The schools performance report in January should include information on Progress 8 and include national benchmarking.

The Chair requested that the next meeting of the Committee took place at Queensmill School so parents and teachers could attend for the SEN passenger transport item. It was also suggested that the headteacher could give an update on the work that the school has done around SEN.

The next meeting is scheduled for 23 November 2015.

The next meeting of the Committee was scheduled for 23 November 2015.