Items
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County Councillor Ged Mirfin replaced County
Councillor Keith Iddon for this meeting only.
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1. |
Apologies
Minutes:
Apologies were received from County Councillor
John Potter, and Daniel Ballard, Roman Catholic Schools.
It was also noted that County Councillor
Matthew Salter had permanently replaced County Councillor Andrew
Gardiner on the committee.
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2. |
Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests
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.
Minutes:
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3. |
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 25 January 2023 PDF 403 KB
To be confirmed and signed by the Chair.
Minutes:
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4. |
Quarter 1 Report Education Strategy PDF 267 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed County
Councillor Jayne Rear, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills and
Aby Hardy, Head of Education Improvement to the meeting.
The report provided a summary
of the work that took place during Quarter 1 of the Education
Strategy which was agreed by Cabinet in 2022, including the work
undertaken on the five Key priorities of the strategy; Increase
take up and outcomes in early years settings; Further reduce
exclusions; Address rising numbers of EHE (Elective Home
Education); Improve outcomes for vulnerable children; and Increase
number of children in EET (Employment, Education and
Training).
A presentation was given to the
committee, a copy of which is attached to the minutes.
Comments and queries were
raised by the committee as follows:
- It was clarified that
the data provided included academy data as well as data on
maintained schools, it was noted that academies were open to
sharing their data.
- The number of pupil
exclusions and the reasons behind them were a concern for the
committee. It was noted that several schools were already working
on a trauma-informed strategy as part of the long-term plan to deal
with the rise in exclusions, and it was thought that social and
communicational problems that had risen during the pandemic were a
contributing factor in the surge in exclusions.
- In reference to
children returning to schools from Pupil Referral Units, it was
noted this was only likely to be one or two per school. It was
recognised that schools had acted after noticing an increase in
complex behaviours that may not have been seen previously,
including hiring additional staff, hiring a school counsellor, and
providing additional training to the current staff.
- The committee raised
concerns about the availability of spaces in Pupil Referral Units
and it was noted that Lancashire had the highest number of pupils
in Pupil Referral Units than anywhere else in the country, and that
while a few Pupil Referral Units had requested an expansion to
increase their capacity, the emphasis was on adopting a
preventative approach to keep pupils from entering units rather
than simply expanding them.
- Concerns were raised
about schools communicating they were not sure about the support
that was available for behavioural issues from the local authority.
It was recognised that this had not always been clear in the past,
this was being addressed with documented guidance being available,
regular headteacher briefings and the service attending as many
different boards as they could.
- The service was
congratulated on increasing the number of children in nursery
provision. The impact, in terms of resources, on some nurseries
receiving more children than expected was a cause for concern for
the committee. However, the committee was informed that a surge in
the number of children needing a place would be taken into
consideration as part of the sufficiency measures to ensure there
were places available for those children. Although, it was noted
that the number of schools that got more pupils than anticipated
was rather small. The committee also expressed ...
view the full minutes text for item 4.
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5. |
Education Attainment 2022 PDF 419 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The committee considered a
report that provided a summary of the attainment of children and
young people in Lancashire during the 2022 summer exam and
assessment season.
A presentation was also given
to the committee, a copy of which is attached to the
minutes.
Comments and queries were
raised by the committee as follows:
- The committee
requested whether another report with more detailed information on
the various performances might be provided to the committee.
However, it was noted that some data wasn't available, such as the
Key Stage 1 information by locality.
- The committee queried
if there was any correlation between levels of deprivation and
educational achievement and it was noted that the county council
received 5000 changes to in year applications last year, with
approximately 3000 of those applicants being new to the country. It
was highlighted that many children who were new to the country were
attending school without the appropriate language skills available,
which would have had an impact on their exam results.
- The committee asked
as to whether local authorities shared best practice after noting
that the percentiles listed in the report were relatively low in
certain areas. All the data in the report was noted to be new data,
and it was acknowledged that a discussion on best practice with
other authorities was needed.
- Regarding the
Children Looked After figures in the report, it was clarified that
the data related to children who were looked after in Lancashire;
regardless of the type of school they attended or whether they
attended a school outside of Lancashire. They were still considered
to be Lancashire local authority children. Therefore, the figures
in the report may not correlate with the figures shown during the
meeting as the figures were for children that the council had a
responsibility for, but they did not necessarily go to school in
Lancashire.
- The committee
requested that written reports be circulated to members of the
committee providing an update at the end of each quarter, with
officers to be invited back during Quarter 4 (in 6 months' time) to
provide an in person update to the committee on Items 4 and
5.
The Chair thanked the Cabinet
Member and officers for their time and responses to the committee's
questions.
Resolved: That
the following recommendations be shared with the Cabinet Member for
Education and Skills:
- Greater use of data such as breaking
down figures to district and school level for future reports.
Consideration be given to the difference in performance between
high performing, average performing and low performing schools and
what the percentage difference is.
- Consideration be given to the
breakdown of data between different cohorts of children, for
example, girls, boys, children new to England and free school meals
and comparison of this data across the county and districts.
- Sharing of best practice between
schools in different areas of Lancashire and approaching a similar
authority to share best practice and see how things could be done
better.
- Officers to come back to the
committee ...
view the full minutes text for item 5.
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6. |
School Transport Mapping System PDF 230 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Debbie
Ormerod, Access to Education Entitlements Lead Officer, and Nan
Hogg, Admissions and Transport Coordinator to the
meeting.
The committee considered a
report that outlined the implementation of the county councils Home
to School Transport Mapping System.
Comments and queries were
raised by the committee as follows:
- The committee asked
as to what could be done to shorten travel times after concerns
were raised about how long it takes to go to colleges, such as the
distance between Burnley and Blackburn College. However, it was
noted that the colleges had their own procedures for transportation
and that the local authorities did not arrange transportation for
young people attending colleges.
- County Councillor
Anne Cheetham OBE JP declared a Non-Pecuniary Interest as she was a
member of the Independent Transport Appeals Panel.
- A lot of work was
being done, such as attendance at parent evenings, to provide more
information and publicity when parents applied for school spaces,
to give much more targeted information in particular localities
within the county where there had been a lot of transport appeals
due to the lack of any free transport available.
- Concerns about
lighting on some transportation routes was raised, and the
committee was told that the home to school transportation policy
reflected the statutory duties in terms of transportation
entitlement when a route's safety was assessed. Furthermore,
council officers would evaluate the safety of a route if a parent
raised concerns about its safety.
- The committee asked
when QRoutes would be made available online to parents. It was noted that this was still work in progress
and that it was expected to take another six months before it would
be available on the LCC website.
- In regard
to route assessments, it was noted that
the council had been assessing Lancashire's transportation systems
for a long time and in each locality, there was a wealth of data
about the routes that had been assessed, often by officers going
out to take measurements, observing traffic flow, and other things,
which had helped to create a map of Lancashire that showed numerous
blocked routes that had been deemed unsafe, as well as those routes
that had been identified as being safe. If a parent challenged the
safety of a route, then officers would be willing to re-assess that
route. It was highlighted that with the new software, there were
routes being shown as being unsafe and that were now being deemed
to be safe due to different traffic calming measures being put into
place or because speed limits had changed. It was noted that
general assessment of all routes was a big piece of work and
capacity was an issue.
- The committee queried
what could be done to encourage more personal safety, in terms of
crossing the road or using protective equipment while riding a bike
and it was suggested that those concerns be noted and shared with
the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills who would share it with
the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership ...
view the full minutes text for item 6.
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7. |
Work Programme 2022/23 PDF 146 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The committee considered its work programme
for 2022/23, including progress relating to the committee's
previous recommendations.
Resolved: That the Children, Families
and Skills Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2022/23 be noted.
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8. |
Urgent Business
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.
Minutes:
There were no items of Urgent Business.
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9. |
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Children, Families and
Skills Scrutiny Committee will be held on Wednesday 5 April 2023 at
10.30 am in Committee Room C – The Duke of Lancaster Room,
County Hall, Preston.
Minutes:
The next meeting of the Children, Families and
Skills Scrutiny Committee was due to be held on Wednesday 5 April
2023 at 10.30 am at County Hall, Preston.
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