Agenda and minutes

There were no Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

a)  To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October, 2015

b)  Matters Arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 8^th October, 2015 were approved.

The Scrutiny Board discussed a number of Matters Arising from the last meeting:

·  Further to Minute 22/15 ‘Quality Assurance – Children’s Placements’ a letter had been sent to the Minister.

·  Further to Minute 23/15 ‘Early Learning for Two Year Old Funding ’ Members noted that a briefing note with further detail would be circulated.

Presentation from President Kennedy School and Community College

Further to Minute 10/15 the Board received a presentation from President Kennedy School regarding their transition project ‘The Bridge’, which provided a holistic approach to learning during the move to Secondary School.  The project put students first and aimed to remove barriers to learning and increase attainment.  The approach included a college structure of learning, teaching mostly in one building and the timetable was themed with literacy also taught as part of topics.

The Board discussed the project with the Head Teacher and the Deputy at the school and had questions for the Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member on aspects of the presentation which included:

·  preparations at Primary Schools

·  support for pupils from non- feeder Primary Schools

·  sharing successes with other schools in Coventry

·  support in Year 8 

The Board thanked the school for their presentation detailing their project and for their hospitality, as the whole meeting had been held at President Kennedy School.

The Board, the Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member for Education were all impressed with the impact the project had on the children’s experiences of transition at school and the school results.

RESOLVED that the Board recommend to the Cabinet Member for Education that officers work in partnership with Head Teachers in the City to identify protocols to disseminate the approach across the City.

Briefing Note of the Executive Director for People

The Board received a briefing note and presentation from the Executive Director of Education regarding achievement of pupils in Coventry, which provided headline data from Early Years to Post 16 education. 

The briefing note detailed:

·  provisional assessment and attainment results and comparison data

·  information about what good development and expected progress means

·  closing the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers

·  post 16 participation and the September Guarantee

·  data for pupils Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)

·  Ofsted 

The presentation detailed:

·  successes and key priorities for each age group

·  school improvement

·  Ofsted inspection

·  Corporate Leadership and strategic planning

·  assessing the quality of support for school improvement

Officers noted the successful recent school improvements in Primary Schools in the City and the current process for ensuring Secondary Schools also improve standards.

The Board questioned the officers and the Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member on aspects of the presentation which included:

·  the slower improvement rate in Foundation Stage

·  the consideration of summer born babies

·  figures for pupils Not engaged in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) and reasons for pupil’s activity being ‘Not Known’

·  Multi- agency working to support the pupils identified as NEET

·  legal responsibility for 16-18 year old pupils participation in Education, Employment or Training

·  Increasing ‘outstanding’ from Ofsted

·  The effect on Key Stage 4 results now that pupils can only be entered for their exam once

Officers noted that Local Authorities were required to encourage, enable and assist with the raised participation of young people and could be held to account.  Young people whose activity was not known could be due to not being able to contact them or refusal to disclose data.  Building on pockets of excellence and sharing outstanding elements was important to improve performance in Coventry schools.  The Board agreed with officers that the right destination for the pupils should be the priority. 

RESOLVED that the Board noted the report and requested officers return with more detail about the models of school improvement 

Briefing Note of the Executive Director for People

Further to Minute 17/15 the Scrutiny Board noted a joint briefing note which detailed progress on the Children’s Services Improvement Plan, reported to the Children’s Services Improvement Board on 2^nd October, 2015 and based on data from August, 2015.

The progress report included an update on the six themes aligned to the Department for Education (DfE) notice and an update from the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board.

Officers updated the Board on progress including:

·  current numbers of Common Assessment Frameworks (CAF’s)

·  the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) review

·  increasing numbers of re-referrals

·  strategy meeting discussions

·  training

·  adoption

·  care proceedings

The Board questioned the Cabinet Member and officers on the following:

·  Barnados interviews for young people missing from care

·  Recruitment of newly qualified social workers and encouraging internal staff into training to reduce the use of Agency Workers

The Cabinet Member for Education reassured the Board that questions would continue to be asked about quality assurance at Improvement Board.

Briefing Note of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Scrutiny Board noted the work programme.

RESOLVED that a report about the use of agency staff to be considered at a future meeting.

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

John Gregg/Yolanda Corden

The Scrutiny Board welcomed John Gregg, the recently appointed Director of Children’s Services and thanked Yolanda Corden, Interim Assistant Director for her support.