Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Learning Scrutiny Panel held on 7 December 2020 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

Officers will be in attendance to provide:

·         detailed information on the causes of pupil behaviour problems e.g. unmet educational or other needs;

·         data on the characteristics of excluded pupils (whether permanently or for a fixed period); and

·         case study examples demonstrating how certain factors can impact on behaviour, from a child or young person’s perspective.

At the meeting, the scrutiny panel received further evidence to inform its review of Behaviour, Discipline and Bullying in Schools.

Officers were in attendance to provide:

•       detailed information on the causes of pupil behaviour problems e.g. unmet educational or other needs;

•       data on the characteristics of excluded pupils (whether permanently or for a fixed period); and

•       case study examples demonstrating how certain factors could impact on behaviour, from a child or young person’s perspective.

The Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Specialist Support Services advised that the Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist; the Head of Inclusion, Assessment and Review and the Assessment and Quality Assurance Manager were in attendance to present the information requested by the scrutiny panel. It was explained that the presentation would cover the influences on pupil behaviour, the picture in Middlesbrough, the voice of the child in respect of exclusions, the voice of the child and parents in respect of the assessment centre/alternative provision and links to strategic outcomes.

The Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist advised that the nature of the influences on behaviour were both complex and interactional. Members heard that a range of characteristics may interact with other factors, resulting in the permanent exclusion of a child or young person. The child characteristics that appeared to impact on permanent exclusions included being a boy, having Special Educational Needs (SEN), being looked after by the Local Authority and being involved with social services. However, it was explained that those characteristics, in isolation, did not mean that a child or young person would be at risk of exclusion, exclusion occurred when those characteristics interacted with other factors. Other factors included:

·         Family - family circumstances e.g. living in poverty, levels of deprivation, conflict within the family.

·         Peers - peer groups being poor role models and becoming more influential e.g. displaying antisocial behaviour, drug-taking or criminality.

·         School - the child or young person’s relationship with their school e.g. the philosophy of the school and its leadership style.

·         Community/wider systems - high levels of poverty and unemployment within a population and how communities perceive education.

All of the factors discussed could interact with each other increasing the likelihood of exclusion for the child or young person.

In terms of developmental experiences, for a child with SEN, difficulty with learning could impact over time and school could be perceived as a place where they experienced failure. That could then lead to disaffection and poor behaviour, impacting on the child’s relationship with their school and ultimately resulting in exclusion.

The Head of Inclusion, Assessment and Review advised that the Timpson report, published in 2019, had highlighted the importance of effective behaviour management in schools and the need to understand and respond to individual children’s needs.

Members heard that, in England, for the period 2014/15 to 2018/19, the number of permanent exclusions had dropped in 2015/16. However, generally, permanent exclusions had stayed at a similar rate over the five year period. For the northeast region, permanent exclusion rates had also dropped during  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/30

Education and Covid-19 Recovery

The Executive Director of Children’s Services advised that, as part of the Improvement Plan, a request had been made that Members be kept informed of the progress made in responding to Covid-19.

With the Chair’s agreement, it was planned that updates on education and Covid-19 recovery would be provided at each meeting of the Children and Young People’s Learning Scrutiny Panel.

Members were advised that all schools were open to vulnerable children and children of key workers. The attendance of Middlesbrough’s vulnerable children was monitored. The definition of a vulnerable child was a child who had an assigned social worker. There was a dedicated phone line, which enabled schools to alert the Local Authority when a vulnerable child was missing education. Once notified of a child’s non-attendance, the Local Authority would undertake a risk assessment to determine whether action was required.

When children were not in school, systems were in place to facilitate remote learning. It was advised that school heads were under a tremendous amount of pressure as they were essentially providing leadership for two schools, a remote school and an actual school. The Local Authority held regularly meetings with schools.

In terms of school meals, a voucher system had been launched and those vouchers were redeemable at most supermarkets.

In terms of laptops, schools had been receiving laptops directly from the Department for Education. In respect of sufficiency of laptops, there had been a focus on providing laptops to vulnerable children.

The Director of Education, Prevention and Partnerships advised that with the closure of schools, the quality of remote learning had become critical and gaining access to a digital device was very important. It was advised that Ofsted was conducting inspections in respect of the quality of remote learning packages and the Local Authority was working with school heads across the borough to share best practice.

The Director explained that some children had encountered difficulties with gaining access to a digital device and/or the internet. As a result, the Local Authority had developed a scheme to distribute laptops and the DfE had distributed thousands of laptops across Middlesbrough, focussing on those pupils from disadvantaged families. In addition, schools, private businesses and third sector organisations had also been accessing their budgets and working to provide devices to pupils. The Local Authority aimed to track the distribution of laptops and ensure that schools received the number of laptops they had requested.

The Executive Director of Children’s Services commented that the Local Authority would continue to work collaboratively with schools.

Next Meeting

The Chair explained that the next meeting was scheduled to be held on 22 February, which was the day that the schools were anticipated to return after half term. As there was a requirement for the scrutiny panel to receive evidence from schools, it was proposed that the meeting be rescheduled for the following week on Monday 1 March.

NOTED