Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair and members of the Board extended their best wishes and congratulations to Councillor Ann Lucas on the news that she will be the Deputy Lord Mayor during the 2019/20 municipal year.

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Board considered a briefing note which provided an overview of the number of permanent exclusions that had been implemented by Coventry Schools over the last three academic years and the post exclusion process leading to either an alternative school offer or alternative provision.

The rules governing exclusions from schools, academies and pupil referral units in England, were set out in s52 of the Education Act 2002, underpinned by Statutory Guidance “Exclusions from maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units – A guide for those with legal responsibilities in relation to exclusion” (September 2012, updated September 2017). In summary, the guidance states that the head teacher of a publicly funded school may exclude a pupil from the school for a fixed period or permanently and this was explained in the briefing note together with data for the last three years on primary and secondary exclusions and alternative provision. 

The briefing note also set out data on supported transfers.  The Coventry Supported Transfer Protocol was implemented in November 2017 with the aim of reducing the amount of permanent exclusions and enabling pupils to remain in or, in the case of pupils from the Coventry Extended Learning Centre (CELC), return to mainstream education. This process required full co-operation from all parties involved and recognised that early intervention and support can bring longer-term benefits of maintaining school placements. As of December 2018, pupils from the CELC were discussed by the Fair Access Panel.

There had been 47 Supported Transfers in the current academic year (2018/19) of pupils into Coventry secondary schools. Of these 47 Supported Transfers, 5 have been successful, with these pupils now on the permanent roll of their receiving school, and 21 are ongoing Supported Transfers, with the pupils still on their first 12 week placement.  However since April 2018, there have been a total of 61 supported transfers if this new system had not been implemented, almost all of these would have been seen as excluded pupils.

Members questioned officers on aspects including their concerns in respect of the increased number of exclusions.  Officers explained a change in how figures were now required to be reported and that some strategies were now starting to have a significant impact on reducing exclusions.  However in light of the recent publication of a paper from the Children’s Commissioner entitled ‘Keeping Kids Safe – improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation’, the Board agreed that a task group be established to examine the report and make recommendations for consideration by the Cabinet Member.  The Board suggested that this group should include officers from Public Health and relevant external partners.

RESOLVED that the Board:

1)  Note the report.

2)  Agree that a Member Task Group be established to examine the Children’s Commissioner Paper entitled ‘Keeping Kids safe – improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation’ and report their recommendations to the Board and then the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills.

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Board considered a briefing note which provided an update on the impact of Education Services following the implementation of a phase on re-design in September 2017.

The redesign was undertaken with the aim of delivering a fit-for-purpose service that met the current needs of children, families and schools.  The full partnership consultation process led to the co-design of a new delivery model. Some historic activities were ceased, new functions established and the overall structure realigned to secure maximum efficiency and effectiveness. The new model was commended by the Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee. As a consequence of the service redesign £3m savings was released.

The revised model was implemented in September 2017.  Ongoing review and development had seen further investment in the traded service to meet growing demand and enhanced provision to secure emerging gaps e.g. the establishment of an Inclusion and Attendance Team within the Education Entitlement Service.

Members questioned officers on the briefing note in respect of their thoughts on the summary of responses and noting that overall it was a positive report.  The Board noted that there were a number of measures in place to ensure continuous improvement and review including:

·  Ongoing dialogue with schools with a focus on performance

·  An annual local authority survey of schools covering all services

·  Education and skills division focus groups for staff who were not managers

·  Network meetings for services managers to share good practice and challenges

·  Monitoring of performance management including the establishment of an education performance dashboard.

In respect of performance monitoring and the establishment of an education performance dashboard, it was agreed that this be circulated to members before it is implemented.

RESOLVED that the Board note the report and receive the draft education performance dashboard for their comments before its implementation.

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (People)

The Board considered a briefing note which provided an update on:

·  Ofsted profile

·  Early Years Foundation Stage

·  Phonics and Key Stage 1

·  Key Stage 2

·  Key Stage 4

·  16-19 attainment

·  Post-16 participation in education, employment and training

Data was provided on the following vulnerable groups:

·  Disadvantaged pupils

·  Pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

·  Pupils receiving Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support

·  White British Disadvantaged Boys

·  Children Looked After (CLA)

The board noted that in 2018 there were some notable improvements:

·  Upward trend for EYFS and Year 1 phonics

·  Improvement in KS2 results, specifically attainment

·  Upward trend and improvements at a faster rate than national for almost all KS4 indicators

·  Coventry NEET rate below (better than) national

The Board questioned officers on aspects of the report and sought to understand reasons for the ‘below national’ trend in the secondary phase.  The Board noted a number of factors for this trend including exclusions and higher rates of SEND, however it was reported that they were working on an improvement trajectory which was ongoing and consistent over time to improve outcomes for all pupils to bring attainment in line with or above the national average. 

RESOLVED that the Board note the content of the briefing note.

Briefing Note of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Board noted the Work Programme and agreed the following updates:

·  SEND self-evaluation form to be considered at the meeting on 21 March 2019

·  CAHMS to be considered at the meeting on 4 April 2019.

Any other items of business which the Chair decides to take as matters of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no other items of business.