Agenda item

Audrey Swann, Education Improvement Service, LCC

To receive an update from the Head of the Virtual school on the Education, Employment and Training Strategy and wider attainment for Lancashire's children looked after of all ages.

Audrey Swann, Education Improvement Service, Lancashire County Council provided the Board with an update on education for Lancashire children in care and care leavers.  The Board received information that had been collated over a 12-month period, following two years where very little statutory data had been produced due to the pandemic, with the exception of GCSEs.

A presentation was given to the Board and is appended to these minutes.  Further detailed comparator attainment information can be found in the presentation for:

Early Years (including Reception)

This figure fell from 2018-19 46.7% to 39.6% in 2021-22.  It was noted that this was reflected nationally and is due to the impact of the pandemic.  Work is ongoing within this age group to see what else can be done to improve the good level of development outcomes.  There is a small increase in pupil premium that is due to be provided for children in nurseries, however, it is a very small amount of £400 over a year, compared to children in Reception and above who receive a higher amount.  There is an area of work happening with Children's Social Care, which is around increasing the number of looked after children who are attending nursery on a regular basis which also helps them to be better prepared when starting school.  There is also a named member of the team that specifically works and leads on early years who is working closely with providers and carers in terms of training.

Primary: Key Stage 1

One of the first assessments that is carried out is the Phonics Test which is at the end of Year 1.  Figures for 2021-22 had increased to 70.7% from 57.4% in 2020-2021 however there is still a gap between children looked after and those who are not looked after, however, despite the pandemic, those figures have increased.

At the end of Key Stage 1, reading, writing and maths combined for 2021-2022 was 22.4% which was a decrease from 2018-19 where it was 39.2% where the measure is "working at expected level".

A home reading scheme is provided for Key Stages 1 and 2 children looked after and there is also a tutorial on how to help children read at home and this will be provided to each carer and parent and can be found on the Virtual School website The Virtual School - Lancashire County Council.  A pilot will commence shortly with parents and carers face to face, to do some work on how to develop their young person in developing reading and writing skills. 

The Board noted that all early year's children up to five years of age receive a free book every month as part of the Dolly Parton Scheme that Lancashire County Council has signed up to.

Primary: Key Stage 2

The Board noted that data for Key Stage 2 had also improved for reading (2018-19 - 43% compared to 2021-22 – 62.8%) and writing (2018-19 45.6% compared to 2021-22 – 50.6%).  Maths has shown a slight decrease of 1% since 2018-19 to 51.2%, however, combined figures for reading, writing and maths showed an overall increase from 2018-19 - 31.1% to 2021-22 – 39.6%.

The Board were informed that following discussions with colleagues, one of the reasons that figures could have improved following the Pandemic was that learning from home may not have been as much of a challenge to those in Key Stage 2 as it was for those in Key Stage 1 and that this progress needs to be maintained and continues to improve.

Secondary: Key Stage 4

The Board were informed that there was currently no GCSE data for 2022 as the Data Team were still collating this information and this will be shared with the Board when available.  It was noted that there were 171 young people eligible for GCSEs in 2022.

Data for Attainment 8 (average over eight GCSEs) which included two years where GCSE results were teacher assessed, had shown an increase of 6.5% since 2018-19 to 23.1% in 2020-21.  Grade 4+ in English had Maths had also increased by 10.4% to 26.1% in 2020-21 and 5+ had increased by 4% from 2018-19 and the increases were higher than Lancashire's statistical neighbours.  The Board were informed however, that there is still a big gap between children looked after and other young people and work is ongoing to improve attainment figures.

Post 16 Children in Care (Years 12 and 13)

The Board noted that these young people have to be in some form of education, employment or training after they leave school in Year 11 and were informed of what the Service have been doing over the last few years with Children's Social Care colleagues in ensuring that a young person has a plan in place before they leave school.  All Years 10 and 11 looked after children in Lancashire have a named Employment Support Officer who goes into the school on a regular basis and meets individually with each young person at least once a term to discuss career information, advice and guidance about getting work experience places and forming plans with them.  Figures show that since July 2020 the Intended Destinations have increased from 80% in July 2020 to 96% in July 2022.  Young people are monitored three times a year at college in October, January and June and in June 2021, 79.9% of young people were still in some form of education, employment and training and in June 2022 this had increased to 84.8%.

The Board noted that apprenticeship opportunities had reduced during the pandemic and work was underway now to increase those openings again, however the vast majority of young people in Years 12 and 13 attend further education.

For the first time this year, data was available for Intended Destinations for the end of Year 13/Key Stage 5 for what young people were planning to do when they finish Year 13.  Currently there are 57 young people attending University, which also includes those that commenced prior to 2022.

Care Leavers

It was noted that there were still too many young people post 18 who were not in education, employment or training and that this is a priority for the service.  In March 2020 there were 45% of young people in education, employment and training and in March 2022 there were 52%, however the Board noted that this figure fluctuates on a daily basis.  Support for young people is key to raising the % of young people in education, employment and training, particularly around illness (including mental health) and disabilities.

The Employment Support Team at Lancashire County Council works really closely with the Virtual School and individual young people up to the age of 25 years helping them to gain employment or training and there is a pre-employment online course that young people can undertake to help build their confidence and move forwards.  The number of young people that were supported into employment by the Employment Support Team increased in 2021-22 to 103 from 82 the previous year.  Relationships were continuing to be built with district councils and other employers, both big and small, to provide more opportunities for young people.

Following the presentation, the following issues/points were raised:

·  If there is any support that the Virtual School Team requires, to please contact members of the Board.

·  It is vital that the Board are sighted on this data regularly (at least annually) and challenge the Service where necessary.

·  Every single child is tracked individually every term within the school on a RAG rated system and asked about progress, wellbeing and attendance is done in real-time.

·  Work is also ongoing with Children's Social Care on Life Story Work and a conference is going to be held for schools so they can understand what Life Story Work is, why it is important and how they need to contribute to it.

·  A template for schools who have children looked after, previously children looked after, children in need or child protection pupils is provided for school's designated teachers in order for them to complete an annual report for Governors, however, it is not mandatory, albeit good practice and members of the Board were encouraged if they are in these settings to promote this.

Resolved:  That the Corporate Parenting Board:

i)  Noted the update.

ii)  Agreed to receive the final GCSE results when available from Audrey Swann, Virtual School, Lancashire County Council.

iii)  Agreed to receive the Annual Report 2022 which will be circulated by Sam Gorton, Democratic Services, Lancashire County Council.