Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting of the Children and Young People’s Learning Scrutiny Panel held on 21 March 2022 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

Representatives from Discovery Primary Academy and Ayresome Primary School will be in attendance to provide information on how schools work with the Local Authority to identify and support children with SEND.

The Headteacher of Discovery Primary Academy and the Deputy Headteacher of Ayresome Primary School were in attendance to provide the scrutiny panel with information on how schools worked with the Local Authority to identify and support children with SEND.

The Headteacher advised that Discovery Primary Academy:

·         was a special school for children with severe learning and associated complex needs;

·         had an increasing cohort of children who were on the autistic spectrum;

·         was part of Tees Valley Education Trust;

·         was a free school;

·         opened in 2018 with 36 children;

·         currently had 89 children on roll;

·         had 110 (+) pupils accepted for the September intake;

·         provided provision for 3 to 11 year olds;

·         had been approved to provide secondary provision from September 2022, which would initially be offered to Year 7 pupils;

·         had 55% of pupils in the 10% most deprived decile; and

·         had 60% of pupils accessing Free School Meals (FSM).

In terms of accessing provision at Discovery Primary Academy, the following procedure was followed:

·         The school received a referral from the Local Authority:

o    once paperwork had been received, a high-level assessment of need would be undertaken;

o    conversations took place between the school and the Local Authority’s SEND case officers to ensure delivery of the correct placement;

o    a series of observations and discussions with multi-agency professionals would take place; and

o    visits would be undertaken whereby school staff would visit the child in their home and the child and his/her parents would have the opportunity to visit the school setting.

·         If it was determined that Discovery was best placed to meet the needs of that child, the child would be offered a place at the school. If the parents/carers decided to accept the place, then funding would be explored and agreed with the SEND case officers to ensure delivery of effective support to meet the needs of the child.

·         In terms of transition, the school worked with the Local Authority to ensure transport was arranged to enable the child to get to and from the setting. The school had a rapid transition procedure or a staggered approach. The rapid procedure provided access to the placement at the earliest stage and the staggered approach enabled the child to adjust to the new setting gradually. The school worked closely with the family to determine the best approach for a child.

·         If a child’s needs changed, further assessments were commissioned. The school continued to liaise with other professionals and adapted provision accordingly, ensuring that the school and the Local Authority continued to be responsive to the child’s needs.

At Discovery, the primary need of children was severe learning difficulties (and associated needs) and there was an increasing number of pupils on the autistic spectrum, the school therefore offered:

·         high staffing ratios;

·         a personalised learning approach;

·         integrated therapies, delivered alongside the curriculum;

·         outdoor play and learning;

·         high expectations for all;

·         a communication immersion environment;

·         staff skilled in working with pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) and associated needs;

·         an environment that was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/55

Following the scrutiny panel’s 2021 review of Behaviour, Discipline and Bullying in Schools, it had been agreed that a comprehensive report on exclusions would be submitted to the scrutiny panel on a 6 monthly basis. Officers will be in attendance to present this data.

Following the scrutiny panel’s 2021 review of Behaviour, Discipline and Bullying in Schools, it had been agreed that a comprehensive report on exclusions would be submitted to the scrutiny panel on a 6 monthly basis.

The Council’s Head of Access to Education and Alternative Provision was in attendance at the meeting to present data on permanent exclusions, fixed-term exclusions, reasons for exclusions and information on how the Council was increasing the level of challenge and support.

Members were advised that the report provided a snapshot of data. It was explained that numbers of exclusions changed on a daily and/or weekly basis.

In terms of permanent exclusions, from September 2021 to March 2022:

·         no primary-aged pupils had been permanently excluded;

·         in Year 7, 8 pupils had been permanently excluded;

·         in Year 8, 10 pupils had been permanently excluded (13 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 3 were subsequently withdrawn);

·         in Year 9, 8 pupils had been permanently excluded (13 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 5 were subsequently withdrawn);

·         in Year 10, 16 pupils had been permanently excluded (17 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 1 was subsequently withdrawn); and

·         in Year 11, 6 pupils had been permanently excluded (7 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 1 was subsequently withdrawn).

The reasons for a permanent exclusions being instigated and then subsequently withdraw included a change in circumstances, an alternate solution being identified and/or enhanced support being offered to the school.

Historically, the majority of exclusions took place in the Year 10 cohort. However, it was commented that it was unusual to have such high levels of permanent exclusions in Year 7 and Year 8 cohorts. It was advised that the high rates in those two year groups could be due to the impact of the pandemic on the transition into secondary education.

In terms of the schools imposing permanent exclusions, the following information was outlined:

·         at Outwood Ormesby, 7 pupils had been permanently excluded (13 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 6 were subsequently withdrawn);

·         at Outwood Riverside, 4 pupils had been permanently excluded;

·         at Outwood Acklam, 9 pupils had been permanently excluded (11 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 2 were subsequently withdrawn);

·         at Trinity Catholic College, 13 pupils had been permanently excluded;

·         at Unity City Academy, 4 pupils had been permanently excluded (5 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 1 was subsequently withdrawn);

·         at Kings Academy, 4 pupils had been permanently excluded;

·         at Acklam Grange, 4 pupils had been permanently excluded; and

·         at Macmillan Academy, 3 pupils had been permanently excluded (4 permanent exclusions had initially been instigated and then 1 was subsequently withdrawn).

It was commented that the data for the period of September 2021 to March 2022 demonstrated that Trinity Catholic College had the highest rate of permanent exclusions, and Macmillan Academy had the lowest rate.

In terms of the reasons for the 48 permanent exclusions, the following information was outlined:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/56

The Executive Director of Children’s Services will provide a verbal update.

The Executive Director of Children’s Services advised that, for schools, the period of Covid-19 recovery had ended and it was very much business as usual.

A discussion ensued regarding the need for future reporting. Members were in agreement that it would be beneficial for the scrutiny panel to receive information on staffing levels and pupil absences up until the end of the current academic year.

NOTED

The Chair will present a verbal update on the matters that were considered at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 23 March 2022.

The Chair advised that at the last meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, held on 23 March 2022, the Board had considered:

·        the Executive Forward Work Programme;

·        an update from the Executive Member for Environment, Finance and

Governance;

·        an update from the Chief Executive;

·        updates from the Scrutiny Chairs; and

·        an update on town centre developments.

NOTED