Agenda item

County Councillor Mathew Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People was not able to attend this meeting owing to another commitment and the report was therefore presented on his behalf by Bob Stott and Jonathan Hewitt.

The report explained that, at its meeting on 16 July 2013, the Education Scrutiny Committee had resolved to establish a task group to explore the issues on the Educational Attainment of Pupils eligible for Free School Meals and begin to identify possible actions. The report of the Task Group was presented to the Education Scrutiny Committee on 15 July 2014 with a number of recommendations.

The report now presented provided evidence of the good work that was being carried out by schools across Lancashire to raise the achievement of pupils eligible for Free School Meals and a number of examples of good practice were cited. The good progress made in the Early Years and the Primary phase was recognised. It was, however, a concern that the performance of pupils eligible for Free School Meals in Lancashire at the end of Key Stage 4 remained below the national average for this group of pupils and well below those from more advantaged backgrounds.

The Cabinet Member had asked that his thanks be passed to the Education Scrutiny Committee for their report on this important issue and his response to the individual recommendations was set out in the report now presented.

Members raised a number of comments and questions and the main points arising from the discussion are summarised below:

·  A question was raised about vulnerable children, not in the care of Lancashire County Council, but in the care of outside bodies resident within Lancashire; it was suggested that, because of a failure within social services, those children sometimes find their transition from primary school to secondary school is not confirmed which causes the child unease. It was explained that there was now a national protocol to ensure that the receiving authority was formally notified about such placements including information about the individual's particular needs. Additionally each local authority was to publish basic information about local services and key contacts. Advance notification would also help give an improved transition from primary to high school. Members were asked to report any specific examples of concern.

·  In response to a question about work ongoing with district councils to help ensure that as many children as possible benefit from the Pupil Premium Grant, it was explained that it was a very complex picture; the county council was working with districts to identify families and to ensure that they were aware that they could claim. Schools themselves were using some innovative ideas to get information to families.

Resolved: That,

  i.  Officers be thanked for the report;

  ii.  The report be noted; and

  iii.  A further update report be provided in twelve months, to include:

·  information about progress with schools where there are community or locality barriers to achievement,

·  information about progress regarding the longer term objectives in response to the Task Group's recommendations; and

·  Achievements for this cohort of students.