Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 July 2020 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

It was confirmed that no public questions had been received.

The minutes relating to the Children, Education and Social Care Portfolio, that had been considered by the Executive Board since the last meeting of this Board, were attached at Appendix 1 for information.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes be noted.

The Board received a report from the Strategic Director – People, which provided the annual update of the educational challenge, position and outcomes for Halton children for 2019-20.

As a note of caution, Members were advised that this year had been an unusual and challenging one due to the impact of Covid-19.  Data was not available this year as many statutory assessments were cancelled nationally and any individual school level data would not be comparable to previous years’ data.  Further, it was commented that due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent response, there had been many changes to educational provision, assessment and examinations during 2020 and the validated national results would not be published this year.

The report provided Members with detailed information in the following areas:

·         Statutory Assessment and Exam Result Key Issues;

·         Educational Challenges for September 2020 onwards;

·         Changes to 2020-2021;

·         The National Tutoring Programme (NTP); and

·         The Catch Up Premium.

Following the presentation Members queried:

How would the National Tutoring Programme work – this was a Government funded sector led initiative to support schools to address the impact of Covid-19 on pupils learning.  An amount of £350m was allocated nationally towards the Programme which would make high quality tuition available to schools and support pupils who had missed out the most as a result of school closures.   The Programme would be led by a collaboration of five charities;  schools would select which programmes they accessed, with many schools across Halton using evidence based programmes from the Education Endowment Foundation.

How would the Catch Up Premium work – this was a further £650m to ensure that schools had the support they needed to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time and was designed to mitigate the effects of the disruption caused by the Pandemic.  It was only available for the 2020-21 academic year but would not be added to schools baselines in calculating future years’ budgets.

Were there any pupils in Halton that were home tutored and did not get any results – there were no instances of this reported in Halton but this would be confirmed.  It was understood that the onus was on the parent to follow through with exams and register at exam centres.

The late results for the Btecs were a concern as well, were any pupils disadvantaged because of this – most students had College places on courses they wanted and there were no reports of anyone being without a place that wanted one.

Were there any decisions made on next year’s exam timetable considering the impact that Covid-19 will have on the cohort of pupils taking these – no announcement had been made to date on this; the Board would be advised of any update.

Was there any indications on when the Ofsted inspections would resume – these inspections were put on hold following the lockdown and many Ofsted staff were redeployed to other areas.  However visits would resume in the Autumn term to schools in special measures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Board received a report from the Strategic Director – People, which informed of the progress against the Ofsted Inspection Action Plan. 

It was reported that Part 1 of the Ofsted Action plan was in progress and an interim duty and assessment team had been established to ensure consistency of response and improve the quality of assessments and initial plans.  It was noted that this additional capacity would support an anticipated increase in referrals when the schools returned full time and would also support social workers with additional capacity to undertake more direct work with children and families. 

Members were also advised that:

·         Audit work had continued to review the response on cases in response to Covid-19 and the revised quality and assurance framework would be implemented as planned by end of September;

·         Eclipse, the new case recording system, was fully implemented from 6 September and a revised practice guidance on assessments had been issued;

·         The development appraisal approach for all staff using the knowledge and skills statements had been piloted and would be launched mid-September – this would inform the workforce strategy and training and development for staff to support improvements and consistency in practice; and

·         A copy of the Osted Inspection Action Plan would be emailed to Members of the Board.

Members queried the capacity to be able to take the Action Plan forward – in response it was commented that some additional capacity would be required going forward, especially considering the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic and its impacts.  Further to Members comments on previous case recording systems such as CAF, it was noted that these would cease as soon as all staff were trained on Eclipse.

Members also received a presentation informing of the steps taken to improve the sufficiency of accommodation options and support for care leavers, as part of improving the sufficiency of placement choice.  It outlined details of the project – to deliver two types of support using one provider, to care leavers in Halton in the Ashley House site. 

            Further to Members questions it was commented that care leavers at the site would have a pathway assessment carried out specific to the individual, so that their emotional and heath needs could be established.  They would also receive life skills training at the site such as budget management, shopping, how to register with a GP and dentist, banking and healthy eating.

RESOLVED:  That the report and presentation be noted.