The Panel will be asked to discuss evidence gathering for its current scrutiny topic.
Minutes:
The Chair asked the Panel to consider possible lines of enquiry and
evidence gathering for its current scrutiny topic of School Attendance, with
input from the Director of Education and Partnerships.
In terms of school attendance, the Director stated that there had almost
been a cultural acceptance of high non-attendance but
they were now starting to see a percentage point shift. With that in mind, it was suggested that the
Panel may wish to gather evidence on ‘what was starting to make a positive
difference’.
It was suggested that the Panel may wish to speak to:-
·
The
additional staff funded by the DfE, employed in relation to increasing school
attendance.
·
Barnardos –
working with whole families to improve attendance.
·
A
Primary and a Secondary school.
A Panel Member commented that it was good to hear that attendance had
begun to improve and it was queried whether the improvement was with those
schools who had previously been identified as having significant attendance
issues or whether the improvements were elsewhere. The Director responded that attendance was
more difficult to analyse in secondary schools, however, those with the weakest
attendance tended to be those new to social care within the child protection
arena.
It was felt it would be useful to consider, in both primary and
secondary schools, what each was doing in terms of child protection, SEND,
children in need, children in care.
There was a correlation between attendance and child protection cases,
for example it may be due to domestic violence in the home, therefore, the
child might not go into school the next day.
There tended to be different issues around children with SEND, for
example, the child might not want to or feel able to cope with going to school,
not that the parents could not take them.
In some cases, a child might be too poorly to attend, for example with
Priory Woods where children had significant health needs.
It was queried where the Virtual School fitted within this issue. It was highlighted that the Virtual School
provided wrap-around support to champion the education of the young person in
care. This duty extended into child
protection and children in need – so for all vulnerable children.
The Vulnerable Children Attendance Project (VCAP) monitored and tracked
the attendance of vulnerable children in Middlesbrough by contacting schools
daily to check whether the registered vulnerable children on record were in
attendance. It was suggested that it
might be worthwhile receiving a presentation from the Head of the Virtual
School in relation to the project.
In addition, the PROCLAIM Project (Providing Rich Opportunities for
Children Living Around and in Middlesbrough) was working within some schools to
provide a trauma-informed approach to supporting vulnerable students. For example, a child may be sent home from
school for wearing incorrect uniform, whereas a Proclaim school would not do
this but would engage with the student to find out why it had happened.
In response to a query it was confirmed that the local authority’s
working relationship with Academies had improved significantly
and meetings were held at least three times a year. There had been a previous reluctance to share
data but this had improved.
It was queried whether there was still an issue with exclusions. In response it was stated that whilst
exclusions in Middlesbrough remained high, it had improved. It was acknowledged that this issue went hand
in hand with attendance and it was important to know the reasons leading to an
exclusion.
Panel Members also expressed an interest in gaining parents’ views via
the schools if possible.
The Chair suggested, given the content of the discussion, that he should
meet with the Director of Education and Partnerships to discuss possible agenda
content for the next few meetings and present this information to the Panel at
its next meeting on 8 April 2024.
AGREED as follows:-
1.
That
the discussion be noted.
2.
That the Chair meet with the Director of Education and
Partnerships in terms of planning future meeting content and report back to the
Panel at its next meeting on 8 April 2024.