People and Communities Strategic Schools Forum

Wednesday 19th June 2019 09:30am,

Member Title P – Present S – Substitute A - Apologies ACADEMY REPRESENTATIVES - vote GARY LEWIS Academy CEO, Lighthouse Schools Partnership A CHRIS HILDREW Academy Headteacher, Churchill Academy & Sixth P Form WILLIAM HARDING Academy Governor/Trustee, St Katherines School A – Insprirational Futures Trust MARTIN KERSLAKE Academy representative – Secondary Business A Manager/Chief Operating Officer ADAM MATTHEWS – Academy CEO, Extended Learning Academies P REPRESENTED Network BY HEIDI HUDD SUE ELLIOTT Academy Head Teacher, Worle Village Primary P School - Kaleidoscope STEPHEN WEBBER Academy Headteacher, Learning Trust P

VACANT Academy representative – Primary Governor/Trustee VACANT Academy Governor

MAINTAINED SCHOOLS HEADTEACHERS - vote SARAH HARDING Primary Headteacher Kewstoke P TRACEY TOWLER Special School Headteacher Westhaven School P TONY HILL Acting PRU Principal, Voyage Learning Campus P MAINTAINED SCHOOLS GOVERNORS (PRIMARY) - vote WENDY FARRIER Maintained School Representative – Primary P Governor (Churchill Primary) NON-SCHOOLS MEMBERS – no vote JOHN SIMPSON Independent Community Representative, Chair P CLLR CATHERINE Executive Member for Children and Young Peoples P GIBBONS Services CLLR WENDY GRIGGS Chair of CYP Policy and Scrutiny Panel A

CLAIRE HUDSON Diocese of Bath and Wells P

PAUL TRAUBERMAN Early Years – Rainbow Smiles Nursery A

DR PAUL PHILLIPS OR 14 – 19 – P JAQUI FORD –

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REPRESENTED BY KAREN WORTHINGTON JON REDDIFORD RTPA A

OBSERVERS – no vote MIKE EVANS Special School Governor (Ravenswood School P (CoG)) IAN SCOTT National Education Union P PRESENTING OFFICER PRESENT – no vote RICHARD BLOWS Transformation Programme Manager P WENDY PACKER Vulnerable Learners Service Lead and Virtual School P Headteacher KATHERINE SOKOL Finance Business Partner A COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES (FOR INFORMATION) – no vote SHEILA SMITH Director of People and Communities A BECKI WONG PA to the Principalship A EFION PRICE Assistant Director Children’s Support & A Safeguarding CO-ORDINATOR – no vote EMMA WHITEHEAD Education Funding Manager P CLERK – no vote HANNAH CUSHEN Business Support P

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Item Issue Action

1. Apologies and Declarations of interest (JS) JS welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were noted.

JS welcomed Cllr Gibbons, she advised that the new ‘rainbow’ partnership that makes up the new Council is working well but there are some difficult decisions to be made in the future that will require a new approach.

JS welcomed Ian Scott who is the Regional Officer for NEU. IS advised that he was present to observe the discussions around Item 4 of the minutes of last meeting and he would leave after that item.

WF advised that the conflict of interest registered against her at could be removed as she no longer works there. 2. Minutes of the previous meeting (JS) Approved for accuracy, subject to the following amendments:

• Susan Elliott to be added as present at the last meeting • Chris Hildrew – delete: ‘Chief Operations Officer, Priory Learning Trust’ Insert: ‘Headteacher of Churchill Academy & Sixth Form’

3. Matters arising that are not on the agenda and notification of

AOB (JS)

Matters Arising

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JS advised that the letter he was to write to Lisa Mamnell was not required as the school was approved the day after the meeting was held.

There were no notifications of AOB.

4. Chair’s Business (JS) – Letter from National Education Union

JS advised that Stephen Webber would no longer be representing ‘Small Primaries’ and would now represent Clevedon Learning Trust.

JS advised that he had met with the Diocese of Bath and Wells and as a result Claire Hudson was attending the meeting. CH advised that a representative would attend each meeting but it may not always be her.

IS left the meeting.

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5. Governance (EW) – Review of SSF remit, constitution,

membership, and effectiveness of decision making

JS advised that DfE have been checking the remit and approach of every

Strategic School Forum in the country as some Academies feel they are not

represented. He asked EW to continue with presenting the paper.

EW advised that the North Somerset SSF reviews its membership yearly. The

DfE carry out regular desk-top audits. EW has provided the DfE with a copy of There were this report in response to questions about our SSF. no

objections There were discussions regarding the makeup of the board, EW asked if SW to the and WH were happy to fill the two academy representative vacancies. Both proposals confirmed their acceptance. regarding

SW & WH EW advised that it was assumed that those who were ending their first term of

office would continue for a second term.

EW advised that MK will be retiring in the summer and she would speak to him EW to identify whether his replacement will attend. Action: EW to speak to MK

With regard to Appendix B, Page 1, item 3 – EW advised that it states that

‘Academy representatives should be selected annually by the EEPB’. She

advised that in this case, the two meetings do not currently align. JS advised

that the DfE have agreed the framework, but he suggests that the relationship

between the two meetings is re-addressed to bring them into alignment, which

he will do over the summer. Action: JS to look at alignment of EEPB & SSF JS

EW advised that there is a good mixture of representation covering primaries,

secondaries and with a selection of Teachers/Headteachers/CEO’s/Business

Managers/Chief Finance Officers and Trustees.

JS asked that there will be challenging decisions in the autumn to be made and

he urged the group encourage colleagues to come forward to fill the vacancies.

The SSF approved the following recommendations:

4a. Agree that the membership of the SSF reflects the status of

schools and pupil numbers. The SSF

approved 4b. Agree that the constitution and remit of the SSF as detailed in items 4a, b paragraph 14 and Appendix B is correct. and c

4c. Consider the initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the SSF as detailed in paragraph 15 and Appendix C.

6. Speech and Language Therapists (RB)

RB summarised the paper that was distributed prior to the meeting: there had been several issues around the level of speech and language support by non- therapists, this resulted in a full review last year. The findings of the report were summarised in item 1.9 of the supporting document and he asked the SSF to make a determination.

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There were discussions around the recommendations and it was decided that the current service: • Was not delivering what was required • The quality of the provison was not of a high enough standard • Best value for money was not being achieved

There were concerns that several schools were relying on the the service. TT advised that Westhaven School employed a full time Speech and Language Therapist and they could be made available to other schools.

RB advised that should this be approved there would be a redundancy cost but they would look to redeploy staff in the first instance or TUPE them into NSC existing vacancies.

RB advised that the service is in the process of restructuring and transferring several services to Somerset County Council, which should be in place by September 2019.

The SSF approved the following recommendations:

i) Note the current delivery model for Speech and Language Assistants The SSF ii) Note the gap between the current delivery model and best practice noted and agreed for iii) Decide whether to maintain the service as is, transition to a new service to model or support the option appraisal of officers and speech and end language professionals that the service should end.

Items i) and ii) were noted and for item iii) it was decided that the current service would end.

RB left the meeting.

7. Finance Report (EW):

Both reports were distributed prior to the meeting.

• 2018 – 19 outturn The SSF EW advised that the projected outturn for 2018 – 19 at the March noted the meeting was £2,443,389 and the actual outturn position was £2,375,593 outturn including an in-year overspend of £1,383,121. position

JS asked how it compared to the previous year and EW advised it was

slightly lower.

• 2019 – 20 budget monitor EW advised that spending was currently within budget but the Speech and Language Therapists implications will have an impact. She advised that the reductions on Top-up funding are likely to have an effect as contracts end.in the summer for staff and the reductions start in September.

EW advised that a tool kit has been distributed to schools so that they can compare 2018/19 and 2019/20 funding. Target support that is available will be allocated in October once the census data is available.

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JS clarified that the impact of last years decision will be clear in the autumn.

SH asked if schools are aware that the top-up situation is only interim as she thought some believed this to be policy now.

JS suggested bringing a consultation document to the October meeting with a timetable and incorporating WP’sTop-up funding proposals. EW Action: EW to prepare funding consultation document for October meeting

SE asked what schools can do regarding budget issues and the awaited spending review. EW advised her to contiue to raise it through national bodies.

Cllr Gibbons suggested that she and JS should meet. Cllr Action: Cllr Gibbons & JS Gibbons/JS

It was noted by the SSF:

i) the outturn position of the schools budget 2018-19 Noted by ii) the early monitoring for 2019-12 and the key areas of note the SSF

8. DSG Deficit Recovery Plan (EW) The DSG Deficit Recovery Plan report was distributed prior to the meeting.

EW advised that the plan reflects what has already been agreed by the SSF.

JS asked if the Government could reject it, EW advised that they could, but they have tried to take mitigating steps to avoid this. She advised that a plan for recovery is in place, but this is subject to the budgets for following years.

JS asked the SSF to look at the mitigating factors in Item 2.6. Approved The SSF approved the draft DSG Deficit Recovery Plan. by the SSF

9. Education Inclusion Service Report (WP): The reports distributed prior to the meeting.

• Proposal for Early Intervention Paper

JS advised that as agreed at the last meeting WP brought a paper for

consideration to this meeting to decide the way forward.

WP explained that it shows what is already in existence and the impact

it is having on young people. She advised that savings in travel have

been made because they are able to keep children with complex

needs local.

She advised that it shows the existing provision but would like to

include early intervention work with pupils and families as there is a

real need for family support. There is a real need for early intervention

and positive inclusion work both in the community and in schools. The

report suggests a Family Support Worker and JG6 workers would be

required – enough staff to meet needs. This would require an

investment of approximately £200 – 250,000.

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SH suggested that these costs should be shared with Social Care.

Cllr Gibbons suggested that Citizens Advice could be trained to assist with this, this was considered a good idea.

SH advised that it should be needs driven. JS advised that it will be fully costed.

TT advised that there is a need to look at the quality for the current provision provided and have a clear model.

CH advised that there may be a spike in exclusions due to the lack of Top-up funding, he is keen that this is not used as a sticking plaster.

SE advised that the Primary panel already have 60 children that need support and schools cannot meet the need. SSF to JS summed up, that it was considered in principal, a good idea, but consider at there is a need for the finer detail and clear costings. It was agreed to autumn consider at the autumn meeting. meeting

• Verbal updates on Top-up Funding Review and new and

expanding Schools

WP advised that the second report suggests that it would be more cost

effective to have a small team of re-engagement workers and

alternative providers in an educational setting. She advised that

currently a large amount is being spent on this delivered by external

providers.

WP advised she has costed this based on the first proposal.

JS asked that it is included in the budget consultation and should

include details justifying this requirement. He added that at last year’s

consultation there had been little pressure from outside groups, but he

would expect more this year.

SE invited Cllr Gibbons to the Education Inclusion Panel for Primary

and Secondary.

JS asked for full attendance at the next meeting and for members to

help fill the vacancies so that there will be full representation. JS

agreed to approach Cabot Learning Federation for a representative. JS Action: JS to ask for representative from Cabot Learning

Federation

10. Evaluation of Meeting JS thanked TH for his contribution to SSF as he will be leaving. 6. JS asked for comments to summarise the meeting.

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CH advised that it is difficult to make any decisions without clear budget implications.

TT offered the services of the Westhaven School Speech and Language Therapist at a daily rate to the schools.

11. Date of Next Meeting Wednesday 2nd October 2019 – 09:30am , Valley Road, Clevedon, North Somerset BS21 6AH

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