Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Children and Young People's Learning Scrutiny Panel meeting, held on 9 November 2020, were submitted and approved as a correct record.

Officers will be in attendance to provide:

•       Detailed information on the new Inclusion, Assessment and Review Service and the 'Team Around the School' approach.

•       Examples of the cases dealt with by the service and the outcomes achieved.

•       Information on the feedback received from schools on the new model and preliminary data on its impact (data will also be requested at a later date).

Officers were in attendance, at the meeting, to provide the scrutiny panel with:

·         detailed information on the new Inclusion, Assessment and Review Service and the 'Team Around the School' approach;

·         examples of the cases dealt with by the service and the outcomes achieved; and

·         information on the feedback received from schools on the new model and preliminary data on its impact.

The Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Specialist Support Services provided details in respect of newly developed Inclusion, Assessment and Review Service and the 'Team Around the School' approach. The model had been developed in July 2020 and was implemented in schools in September 2020. The purpose of the model was to support behaviour management and greater inclusion in schools.

Members were advised that the new model had been established to tackle the high number of exclusions, the pressures on local placements in terms of Alternative Provision (AP), the increasing numbers of children and young people with Education Health Care Plans (EHCP), the increasing number of requests for Education Health Care Assessments (EHCA) and significant pressures on the Council’s High Needs Budget. It was clarified that the High Needs Budget was funding that the Local Authority received to support those children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Children’s Services had used feedback from schools, young people and families to help inform the development of the model. Data was also analysed to develop the model, including the number of exclusions in each school, the number of children and young people with an EHCP in each school, the number of requests for EHCA from each school and the number of requests for Matrix Funding from each school. By undertaking that work it had been ascertained that although there had been a high number of exclusions in some schools, those schools had not requested Matrix Funding. In addition, some schools had made a high number of requests for EHCA, however, following the assessment it had been determined that an EHCP was not required. It was therefore identified that schools would benefit from receiving training on the support available for children and young people with SEND and the statutory process.

The scrutiny panel was advised that previously there had been an Alternative Provision Service and a SEND Assessment Service. The Alternative Provision Service had supported children and young people who had been at risk of exclusion, or had been excluded, by finding suitable alternative placements. The SEND Assessment Service had been responsible for undertaking all the statutory assessments. Those two services had now been replaced by one service - the Inclusion, Assessment and Review Service. The management of the service was the responsibility of the newly appointed Head of Inclusion, Assessment and Review Service and three additional Inclusion Officers had also been appointed to provide support and assistance to schools. In addition, the capacity of the Educational Psychology Team had been increased, to provide enhanced support to the secondary school sector.

Members were advised that the 'Team Around the School'  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/25

The Scrutiny Panel will be asked to consider, discuss and agree the terms of reference for the review.

The Democratic Services Officer advised that following the last meeting of the scrutiny panel, held on 9 November, the draft terms of reference had been circulated to Members for comment.

Members were invited to consider, discuss and agree the finalised terms of reference that had been proposed for the review, which had been circulated with the agenda pack.

The Executive Director of Children’s Services commented on the importance of highlighting the views and opinions of children and young people throughout the review.

A discussion ensued and Members were in agreement that a specific statement should be included alongside the terms of reference, which highlights the scrutiny panel’s intention to obtain the views and opinions of children and young people throughout the review.

In response to a Member’s query regarding ways of accessing the views of children and young people, the Director of Education, Prevention and Partnerships advised that particularly in respect of supporting those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), the Local Authority had established effective ways of capturing the voice of the child or young person, including accessing user groups. The Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Specialist Support Services added that the Local Authority had a Lead Participation Officer whose role involved capturing the views of children and young people via one-to-one meetings, small group meetings and conferences etc. The scrutiny panel was advised that feedback from children and young people would also be accessed when conducting a full review of the new model in July 2021. It was commented that the information obtained as part of the review would be reported back to the scrutiny panel.

The Head of Access to Education and Alternative Provision advised that approximately a year ago, a review of the Alternative Provision Service had been undertaken. As part of that review, work had been undertaken to obtain the views and opinions of children and young people, questions were planned and group discussions were arranged. It was commented that the feedback obtained from those discussions had been really useful and helpful. The importance of asking supplementary questions, following the initial responses of children and young people, was conveyed. It was added that once the conversations began to flow, the feedback received provided valuable insights.

The Democratic Services Officer advised that in 2018 the scrutiny panel had undertaken a review entitled 'Listening to the Voice of the Child', therefore, a copy of the report would be circulated to panel members.

Members commented that seeking the views of school councils could provide an opportunity to gain the views of the whole student population. The Director of Education, Prevention and Partnerships advised that school councils could be approached with a series of questions. The Executive Director of Children’s Services commented that the Member of Youth Parliament could provide assistance with the scrutiny panel’s investigation by engaging with pupils and seeking feedback.

AGREED:

1.    That, throughout the investigation of the topic, the scrutiny panel endeavour to seek the views and opinions of children and young people.

2.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/26

The Chair will present a verbal update on the matters that were considered at the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 20 November and 3 December 2020.

The Chair advised that on 20 November 2020, the Overview and Scrutiny Board had considered:

·         The Call In on Future Accommodation.

On 3 December, the Board had considered:

·         the Executive Forward Work Programme;

·         Middlesbrough Council's Response to COVID-19;

·         an Executive Member Update from the Executive Member for Environment (including information on the pot hole initiative, fly tipping, junk jobs and the Green Strategy) ; and

·         updates from the scrutiny chairs.

NOTED