Issue - meetings

To receive and consider the Diversity and Equality at Schools report.

Sal Thirlway presented the Diversity and Equality at Schools report which was set out in agenda pages 25-46.

Some of the points made by Sal Thirlway are listed below:

·           The School Improvement Service, as part of Learning Achievement and Partnerships commenced a programme with schools to respond to the issue of racial equity in schools which arouse following the death of George Floyd in May 2020 and other related incidents at the time;

·           The programme started in the 2020 summer term, engaging with schools and developing a work plan in partnership with schools;

·           Three key areas of focus were identified:

·           Learning – to understand the issues and improve awareness

·           Outcomes for pupils, staff and parents – to achieve positive change

·           Workforce – to promote a diverse workforce

·           The report contained the results of a Racial Equity Survey, to which 32 schools had responded.  This data was being used to shape the proposals;

·           This was the start of a journey hoping to achieve racial equity in schools.

During the discussion of the item the following comments were made:

·         Councillor Croy stated that the Committee had requested a review of how racism incidents are measured in schools in the Borough, in recognition of the fact that currently there is no way to compare and evaluate the situation because schools do not use the same report format and standards.  In his opinion the report was valuable but it did not address the issue of reporting racial incidents.  He was concerned that he could no longer find the reporting page in the internet; (subsequently Councillor Croy found the relevant page https://wsh.wokingham.gov.uk/learning-and-teaching/mea/equality-act-2010/racist-incidents/ );

·         Sal Thirlway apologised that the report had not addressed the issue of reporting racial incidents in schools. However, he stated that schools were no longer obliged to report such incidents to the local authority, therefore the local authority was not able to compel schools to report back to the Council;

·         Sal Thirlway stated that it was hoped that this programme would build relationships with schools and encourage them to share their data with the local authority.  He also stated that the ambition was to have a consistent approach across the Borough;

·         In response to a question Sal Thirlway stated that 32 responses was an average level of response to a survey, especially in the context of the pandemic;

·         In response to a question Sal Thirlway stated that he was not aware of formal national standards for reporting racial incidents, there were guidelines;

·         Councillor Mickleburgh asked if other factors such as social-economic status, housing and family structure were going to be included for monitoring, along with ethnicity.  Sal Thirlway confirmed that the intention was to include other factors that influenced children’s lives;

·         Councillor Mickleburgh asked for a breakdown in the data relating to exclusions, such as gender and age; he also asked if there were examples of good practice in tackling this issues that the local authority could learn from.  Sal Thirlway agreed to provide this information to the Committee via email;

·         Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61