Representatives from schools have been invited to provide further evidence on how CME affects their schools.
Minutes:
At the People Scrutiny Panel meeting on 20 January 2025, Members were of the view that a second invitation should be circulated to schools in the hope that further input from school representatives could be obtained in respect of CME. Headteachers were again contacted via email inviting them to attend the meeting or provide written representation on how CME affected schools, and if there was any specific support or improvements that could be identified.
One school accepted the invitation to attend, but unfortunately provided late apologies to the meeting due to unforeseen circumstances. The school had been offered the opportunity to provide a written statement.
A further school provided the following information:
“At our school, we have a lot
of families that move between authorities and as a school, we sometimes
struggle to get an update on the child/ren and their wellbeing from parents.
We sometimes can’t provide
support to families that need to get their child in to school due to language
barriers and when they have left the area abruptly, not giving school the
opportunity to discuss their options with them.
We feel like 20 days is a long
time and a lot can change in family circumstances during this time and when the
child is in a different authority there is no way of ensuring that they are
safe.”
The Head of Access to Education and Alternative Provision advised on the 20-day timescale noted in the school’s statement and the concerns that the school had with this. The 20-day period was the timescale that children needed to be continually absent from school before schools could refer the issue to the Local Authority (LA). Schools also needed to ensure children remained on their school roll until the 20-days had expired and carry out their own checks on the child up to this point.
After 20-days, Local Authorities could use resources to trace CME including health agencies, housing benefit services and other LAs. LAs would continue to search for CME until they were found in another LA area, or if evidence suggested that they had left the country. The Head of Access to Education and Alternative Provision went on to explain that the 20-day period gave families sufficient flexibility and prevented an unreasonable loss of a school place.
A Member raised a query in respect of working closely with BME families, taking into account preferences for extended holidays. It was noted that schools approached this issue differently, however matters had positively progressed.
A Member noted the concerns of the school and considered that this particular school had a large transient community, with an above average movement of children on and off the school roll. The Member suggested that the school would appreciate discussions with the LA, ahead of the 20-day period of absence to ensure school places were utilised effectively. The Head of Access to Education and Alternative Provision agreed with the Member’s comments and would be willing to discuss this further with the school.
The Chair thanked schools for their involvement in the Panel’s investigation. Members were provided with the initial terms of reference for the investigation to determine whether all had sufficiently been considered. Following a short discussion, it was agreed that the final report could now be drafted.
AGREED that:
1.
A draft final report in respect of the
CME would be prepared.
2.
The information, as presented, was noted.