Schools Forum Draft Minutes of the meeting held on 26th September 2019 – 4.00pm to 6.00pm Hall, The Whitmore Suite, Prince Charles Avenue, Orsett RM16 3HS In Attendance:

Primary Academies Headteacher – Kenningtons Ms J Sawtell-Haynes Headteacher – Abbotts Primary Mrs L James Principal – Woodside Academy Mr E Caines – Vice Chair Headteacher – Giffards Primary Mrs N Haslam-Davis CEO - Catalyst Academies Trust Mr T Parfett Executive Head - East Primary & Nursery Mrs L Coates

Primary Maintained Schools Headteacher – Primary Miss N Shadbolt

Secondary Academies CEO – Osborne Co-operative Academy Trust Mr P Griffiths – Chair CEO - South West Community Education Trust Mr S Munday CEO – ORTU Federation Ltd Dr S Asong Governor – Hathaway Academy Mr S Sweeting

Secondary Maintained Schools Headteacher - Grays Convent Mrs P Johnson

Special Maintained Schools Headteacher – Treetops School Mr J Brewer

Special Academy Headteacher-Beacon Hill Academy Ms S Hewitt

Non School Members 0-11 Representative Ms A Jones 11-19 Representative Dr J Revill Diocese of Brentwood Mrs M Shepherd Diocese of Chelmsford Miss S Jones

Also in Attendance: Mr Roger Harris - Interim Director, Children’s Services Ms Michele Lucas - Assistant Director, Education Skills Mr Malcolm Taylor - Strategic Lead – Specialist Provision/PEP Mr David May - Strategic Lead - DSG and Schools Ms Sarah Williams - Educational Specialist, Service Manager Miss Teresa Lydon - Minute taker

Page 1 of 7 1. Welcome from the Chair

The Chair welcomed the Forum to the meeting.

2. Apologies for Absence:

Apologies for absence were received from Ms N Graham, Ms S Williams and Mrs A Winstone.

3. Agreement of Agenda, Time-Guide and Notification of Any Other Business

i) No items changed.

ii) The Forum agreed the agenda and time guide.

iii) The Forum agreed that no items are to be added under Any Other Business.

4. Schools’ Forum Memberships

M Lucas spoke about the outline proposals for the elections of Schools’ Forum members from September 2019. She advised that the Local Authority (LA) proposed that membership renewal is undertaken using all available infrastructure meetings including TASS and TPHA to vote for representatives. This would be a phased process over 9 months. It was agreed that numbers would remain the same incorporating a representative governor for primary and secondary.

L Coates asked if they did not attend either of these groups could they still be nominated – that would be something for both TASS and TPHA to consider when nominations were received.

E Caines spoke about CEOs of Academies and how they would be allocated against either a primary or secondary school. The Chair spoke about the methodology on how they get representation from CEOs and governors. N Shadbolt commented that representation for primary was currently 6 but in the new membership this would reduce to 5. M Lucas confirmed that this does not change the overall number but they need to add a governor.

A Jones reminded the Forum that they had spoken about having representation around Early Years. The Chair agreed that there needs to be more representation from Early Years. E Caines felt that it was not necessary to have a Headteacher and Governor representing the same school. J Sawtell-Haynes felt that for this Forum, The Olive Academy should read as Alternative Provision. She also commented that they need to look at primary Alternative Provision. M Taylor commented that primary Alternative Provision was different as they were resources bases as part of a primary school. L Coates commented that although part of Primary school they were funded differently. The Chair felt that Children not in Education should have voice. He feels they needed someone to represent Page 2 of 7 these children. J Sawtell-Haynes asked if the Special Schools always had two representatives. S Hewitt commented that historically there was one representative but as they are funded differently, they now have two representatives.

The Chair recommended the membership of the Schools Forum should be reviewed annually.

AGREED

i) All members agreed that the current members are renewed following a voting process which takes place gradually over the next 9 months.

Note: – The Chair recommended that the memberships are reviewed annually. All members agreed.

5. High Needs Block – Commissioning Intentions and Service Partnership Agreement for School Resource Provision

D May advised that the ESFA have yet to release guidance and timeframe for the LA to confirm its High Needs Block commissioning numbers for 2020/21. He also advised that a review of commissioning numbers had been undertaken for 2019/20. The LA will provide a further report on commissioning intentions for 2020/21 at the Schools Forum meeting to be held 21st November 2019.

D May went through the report sent out to all members which sets out the current resources provision. This report sets out a plan to formalise in a standard format, agreements between the Council and the Schools and Trusts the package of provision in the mainstream schools providing Special Resources Provision (SRP). It was noted that nursery resources bases at Primary and Stanford-le-Hope Primary should have been included in the list of Resource Provision under 4.1, as shown in Table 1 in section 5. M Taylor also commented that the type of provision offered needs to be updated for the next meeting, specifically at Lansdowne Primary and Thameside Primary.

M Taylor went through the commissioned numbers agreed at each provision for 2019/20. E Caines asked how many more places would be available at Treetops School. M Taylor replied that there would be 8 more primary places. M Taylor also commented that this term some pupils may transfer across to the Treetops Free School. There is immense pressure across Primary and Secondary schools. M Taylor went through the attached draft Service Partnership Agreement for Schools Resource Provision. It sets out the commissioning arrangements. The process will include a serious of meetings with the Resource Bases around the content of the draft plans. P Johnson spoke about the admissions process when children came from another Country and did not have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). M Taylor advised that at the mainstream resources there is the flexibility in having discussions to place them there while looking for a specialist provision. He also commented that there are

Page 3 of 7 also children coming from other authorities i.e. Newham who do not have EHCPs as well. P Johnson feels that this should be formalised.

AGREED

a) The Forum noted the contents of the paper. b) Members agreed the draft partnership agreement. c) Members agreed the consultation period for the draft agreement would be 26th Sept 2019 to 7th November 2019

6. Dedicated Schools Grant 2020/21

Mr May introduced the report and discussed the key announcements that have been released to date: • Additional investment of over £14 billion to be made, between 2020/21 and 2022/23. • The funding includes in 2020/21, £700 million extra for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and £66 million extra in Early years spending. • The teachers’ pay grant and teachers’ pension grant will both continue to be paid separately from the NFF in 2020/21. • Local Authorities will continue to determine local formulae in 2020/21. Council agreed that in 2020/21 the NFF would be introduced in full. This will be helped and supported by the additional funding to be received.

At this stage only headline information is available and the full impact of DSG changes in 2020/21 will not be known until the detail is received.

In order to keep the schools forum and schools up to date with changes the following Schools’ Forum and Briefing sessions will be held:

• Schools Forum Meeting - 21st November 2019 • Schools Briefings - 25th November 2019 – Orsett Hall (1:00 – 3:00) • Schools Forum Meeting - 16th January 2020 • Schools Briefings - 23rd January 2020 – Orsett Hall (9:00 – 11:00) • Headteacher Briefings – 29th January 2020 – Orsett Hall

A Jones asked if the figures will include Early Years. D May commented that they will engage in a consultation process once he has more information.

The Chair asked if this meant the Minimum Funding Agreement has moved from a minus to a plus for all schools. D May commented this is the case. D May also commented that they need to look at different options to protect all schools.

D May went through the Schools and High Needs Funding 2020/21 section of the report. He commented that on receipt of all detailed information Officers would consider the impact options available and prepare the following report and/or

Page 4 of 7 presentation for discussion at the Schools Forum meeting to be held 21st November 2019:

 Thurrock Provisional DSG allocation 202/21  Thurrock Local Funding Formula 2020/21  High Needs Block 2020/21 and beyond.

AGREED:

a) Schools’ Forum approved the approach to 20/21 as outline in section 5 of the report b) Schools’ Forum also agreed to change date of January meeting to 16th January.

7. Academies & Free Schools Update

M Lucas commented that they have had approval for Thames Park to open in temporary accommodation near South Essex College in Grays. The permanent accommodation will be sited near Palmers College. M Lucas remarked that this was very positive news. This school is due to open in 2020. M Lucas commented that feasibility is back for Academy and this will hopefully now move forward. She also advised that Reach2 are currently looking at sites in and around Aveley for a new Primary School.

AGREED

a) The forum noted the contents of the report.

8. Permanent Exclusions

M Lucas commented that the paper was just for information. She advised that feedback included having a differential between costs for Primary and Secondary has been incorporated within the final report. M Lucas also commented that charges would be pro rata depending on the time of year the child was permanently excluded. She advised that the funding arrangements would be reviewed again in March 2020.

AGREED

(a) The Forum agreed to the changes in the mechanism to calculate exclusion charges/allocations for all mainstream schools and use this mechanism to form an agreement with all academies. (b) The Forum accepted that the changes to be applied from Sept 2019 for the changing/allocation mechanism for permanent school exclusions.

9. Schools’ Forum Forward Plan 2019/20

The next meeting will now be held on 21st November 2019

Page 5 of 7 Action: The following to be added to the next agenda: 1. Academies and Free Schools update 2. Childcare Sufficiency 3. DSG 2020/21 4. Growth Fund

AGREED

(a) The Forum noted the contents of the report. The chair asked that all members attend the next meeting.

12. Minutes of the previous meeting held on 27th June 2019

M Lucas commented that Permanent exclusions should be item No 7 instead of Item 6. Health also changed to start with a capital on page 4.

E Caines asked why Climate change had not been on the agenda. M Lucas agreed to take this back. The Chair advised that the meeting of all Heads may be the place to look into this. R Harris commented that they need to make sure they have an officer present to discuss this. They also need a Local Planning Officer present. This needs to be put on a future agenda during this year.

AGREED

(a) The Forum noted the change to the minutes (b) M Lucas to include Climate change in a future agenda

13. Matters arising

S Asong remarked on Brexit. She advised that it would be useful to benchmark what preparation is being put in place and the affects it may have on the schools. The Chair commented that The Osborne Trust have looked at recruiting staff from abroad and the potential points system for the EU. S Asong enquired about staff that were employed from abroad. The Chair commented that they have started to get paperwork together for them to become residents. R Harris commented there is significant amount of resources being put into this. R Harris also commented about the concerns relating to fuel. He advised that the LA have a Resilience Forum setup. In the longer term they are looking at the re-settlement scheme. The immediate concerns are around congestion and the Port at . The Purfleet area is one of their major concerns. The Chair thanked all the members for attending.

14. Any Other Business

There was no other business. 15. Date of next meeting

Page 6 of 7 Meeting Date Time Venue 21st November 2019 9am Orsett Hall, Room to TBA

Page 7 of 7