Agenda item

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 Malvern asked if there was a provision for governors’ participation in the BEP;

·           Councillor Howe explained that the primary and secondary schools federation, the senior officers and the Executive Member for Children’s Services were part of BEP, this was aimed at headteachers and not governors, in an effort to keep the focus of the meetings;

·           Sal Thirlway sated that governors would be regularly informed of the discussions at the BEP in other strategic meetings.

The Chairman wished to formally express the Committee’s gratitude to the work being undertaken by the BEP, and that this be passed on to the partnership.  He also thanked Councillor Howe for the background information and to Officers for their work in setting it up.

The Chairman asked for more information in relation to the Fair Access Protocol (FAP).  Sal Thirlway explained that the FAP existed to support the placement of children who had either left their previous educational setting or who had moved into the area mid-year and needed to be placed in a school.  Schools signed up to the FAP and were supportive of the policy.  BEP had been involved in the creation and development of the FAP.  FAP had already met twice since the implementation of the new FAP policy and placed around 40 pupils.

The Chairman asked for timescales in relation to the re-structuring and re-organisation of the leadership team.  Sal Thirlway stated that the aim was to achieve a more effective leadership structure.  He explained that currently the large scope of ‘Learning Achievement and Partnerships’ limited his capacity to engage in strategic thinking and discussions.  The aim was to rationalise the leadership function without loss of service delivery.  This was an operational change which did not require Executive approval.

Sal Thirlway explained that there were two phases of work in this re-organisation, and he welcomed the Committee’s input.

Helen Watson confirmed that the aim was to have a structure that was fit for purpose, in line with the new requirements of the white and green papers.  BEP was aware that this work was underway.

Councillor Chadwick was interested to know what were the IT issues mentioned in the report.  Sal Thirlway explained that, for example, in the case of recording the number of EHCPs, an investment was needed for a recording system.  Also, school admissions needed a better IT system for data collection.

The Chairman asked how reliant on WBC’s IT system Children’s Services were, and he also asked if the proposed changes would require changes in other areas of the Council.

Sal Thirlway stated that the white and green papers would impact other areas of the Council, IT infrastructure being one of them.

Members asked to be kept informed of further iterations in the development of the re-organisation.  Officers agreed with this proposal.

RESOLVED That:

1)     The report be noted; and

2)     The Committee would be kept informed on the development of the re-organisation.