Agenda and minutes

County Councillors Ellard, Hennessy and Rigby replaced County Councillors Dad, Molineux and Smith respectively.

Apologies were received from John Withington.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: The minutes from the meetings held on 6 December 2018 be confirmed and as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair welcomed Audrey Swann, Headteacher for Children Looked After and Challenging Groups; and Steve Belbin, Interim Director of Education and Skills to the meeting.

The report presented provided details on the attainment of all looked after children (CLA) which was collated at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 for primary pupils, and the end of Key Stage 4 for secondary pupils.

It was reported that in Key Stage 1 and 2 the focus of assessment was reading, writing and maths. There was a reduction in the percentage of children achieving expected standards Key Stage 1 and was expected to be closer to the national average than in 2016/2017. Regarding Key Stage 2, there was an increase in the percentage of children achieving the expected standard. This was hoped to be above the national average.

Members were advised that in terms of Key Stage 4, the attainment measures were based on Attainment 8 scores related to grades achieved in 8 GCSE examinations. There was an increase in the average Attainment 8 score, which was above the national average.

Regarding the data and statistics, Members requested that figures showing number of pupils and numbers of CLA who had changed schools during the year should be included along with attendance data next time the report would be presented to the committee. It was noted that these figures would be included in the Annual Report.

In relation to the Home Reading Scheme, a question was raised of how the team worked with its colleagues in Social Care and who did the home reading. Members were informed that the person reading with the children was the carer and this was the purpose of the scheme as it would help with bonding. The team worked with the schools to identify the young people and then develop a personal education plan. Regarding Lancashire Looked After Children in neighbouring authorities, LCC had a liaison officer in place to work with these authorities.

The committee was advised that each CLA child had a Personal Education Plan (PEP). The PEPs were being reviewed and hopefully the new designed PEPs would be ready for April and trialled in the summer term.

Resolved: That;

  i.  The information on the attainment outcomes for 2017/18 and the work undertaken to address any issues and sustain improvement be noted.

  ii.  A Bite Size Briefing be organised once the validated data is made available.

The report presented provided detail of standards in Lancashire schools, together with a summary of judgements by Ofsted.

It was reported that overall standards of achievement were judged to be good, with known areas for improvement.

Members enquired about how schools with good practice were supporting other schools in the county to help with the key priority areas. Members were advised that one example of good practice was the Technical Vocabulary Project which was happening in Secondary Schools. This looked at the use of vocabulary in different subjects. Other priorities were early language development, communication and reading.

Standards of attainment at Foundation Stage had risen marginally in 2018 but was not matched by the national average which had risen much more. Consequently results were below the national average although Lancashire was above the North West average.

The committee was informed that overall Lancashire schools did well and were closely monitored and supported as they came up to Ofsted inspections. There was an Early Years Team to support schools. In addition, all primary schools had an advisor who worked with the Early Years Team and the Headteachers.

Members enquired how Lancashire schools were performing in relation to attendances. They were informed that attendances in Lancashire schools were currently above the national average although attendances did fluctuate in different year groups.

Regarding what impact the children of asylum seekers, refugees and the armed forces had on the figures, the committee was informed that LCC had a service which supported this. Children from the armed forces had a significant impact on results as there was a large turnover of these children as many of them moved during term times. This would lead to low results. The committee was informed that there was a Ministry of Defence Education Support Fund available every year to mitigate this effect.

Resolved: That the standards of achievement by Lancashire children be noted.

The work plan for the Education Scrutiny Committee for the 2018/19 municipal year was presented to the Committee. The topics included were identified at the work planning workshop held on 10 July 2018.

The committee requested a future briefing on the new Ofsted framework. The dates of governors' chairs forums was also requested.

Resolved: That;

  i.  The report and work plan presented be noted.

  ii.  A briefing on the new Ofsted framework be arranged.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee is due to be held at 10.30am on the Tuesday 26 March 2019 in Cabinet Room 'C' at County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Education Scrutiny Committee is due to be held on Tuesday 26 March at 10.30am, Cabinet Room C, County Hall, Preston.