Issue - meetings

To receive and consider a report containing the Education Update.

The Education Update report was presented by Sal Thirlway.  He explained that the report outlined the work being undertaken to continue to provide for the children’s educational needs.  It covered attendance, the ongoing development of the Borough Education Partnership, an update on the white and green educational papers and implications for Children’s Services.

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

·           Councillor Chadwick asked if children with a sick note or with covid who were not at school were counted in the number of those absent;

·           Sal Thirlway explained that the government had changed its coding system to allow for covid related attendance recording.  However, this was no longer in existence, the 93% attendance mentioned in the report was for all pupils on schools rolls;

·           Councillor Chadwick asked for clarification in the 1.2 section of the report as to whether the guidance published by the government was statutory or non-statutory;

·           Sal Thirlway explained that this was non-statutory guidance that the local authority had to follow, it was a quirk of the law;

·           Councillor Rowland explained that some overseas families with children in schools had not been able to see their relatives for a couple of years due to covid.  They were choosing to take their children out of school and pay the fine as this was cheaper than the cost of travelling during the school holidays.  She asked how many fines had been issued in Wokingham schools because of this issue;

·           Sal Thirlway explained that the local authority held the information on the number of fixed term penalties related to school attendance.  There was support to schools in relation to improving school attendance.  However, the level of fixed term penalty notices was set by the government, and some families felt that it was more cost effective to take their children out of school for their holidays;

·           Councillor Helliar-Symonds was of the opinion that this law did not tackle the issue of children with intermittent absences, which was originally its intention;

·           The Chairman asked what the implication for the services was of the new statutory obligations;

·           Sal Thirlway explained that resource implications on the school attendance team were likely.  Options around meeting the capacity challenge were being explored;

·           Councillor Helliar-Symonds commended on the Wokingham Education Partnership, she believed that it was a great idea.  She recommended that the group looking at the sufficiency of school places in the borough considered also the issue of travelling to school;

·           Councillor Howe explained that when schools became academies, there was a disassociation of the local authority from schools.  However, the schools and the local authority were still bound by their responsibilities in relation to SEND and school admissions.  The responsibility for the education of children in the borough still remained with the local authority, but there was not a mechanism to share resources and to work strategically together.  The Borough Education Partnership (BEP) was created in an effort to bring together schools and the local authority to jointly formulate strategies;

·           Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9