Public Document Pack
NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
Date: Thursday, 25 July 2019
Time: 10.00 am (pre-meeting for all Committee members from 09:30am)
Place: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham
Councillors are requested to attend the above meeting to transact the following business
Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources
Governance Officer: Zena West Direct Dial: 0115 8764305
1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
3 APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR
4 MINUTES 3 - 10 Minutes of the meeting held 19 March 2019, for confirmation
5 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 11 - 12 TERMS OF REFERENCE Report of the Head of Legal and Governance
6 TAKE-UP OF EARLY YEARS FUNDING 13 - 16 Report of the Head of Legal and Governance
7 SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS AND THE TIMPSON REVIEW 17 - 20 Report of the Head of Legal and Governance
8 WORK PROGRAMME, CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE'S 21 - 24 SCRUTINY Report of the Head of Legal and Governance
9 FUTURE MEETING DATES 26 September 2019 28 November 2019 30 January 2020 26 March 2020
IF YOU NEED ANY ADVICE ON DECLARING AN INTEREST IN ANY ITEM ON THE AGENDA, PLEASE CONTACT THE GOVERNANCE OFFICER SHOWN ABOVE, IF POSSIBLE BEFORE THE DAY OF THE MEETING
CITIZENS ATTENDING MEETINGS ARE ASKED TO ARRIVE AT LEAST 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE START OF THE MEETING TO BE ISSUED WITH VISITOR BADGES
CITIZENS ARE ADVISED THAT THIS MEETING MAY BE RECORDED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. ANY RECORDING OR REPORTING ON THIS MEETING SHOULD TAKE PLACE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNCIL’S POLICY ON RECORDING AND REPORTING ON PUBLIC MEETINGS, WHICH IS AVAILABLE AT WWW.NOTTINGHAMCITY.GOV.UK. INDIVIDUALS INTENDING TO RECORD THE MEETING ARE ASKED TO NOTIFY THE GOVERNANCE OFFICER SHOWN ABOVE IN ADVANCE. Agenda Item 4
NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
MINUTES of the meeting held at Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG on 19 March 2019 from 11.00 am - 12.42 pm
Membership Present Absent Councillor Glyn Jenkins (Vice Chair) Councillor Sue Johnson Councillor Jim Armstrong Councillor Azad Choudhry Councillor Patience Uloma Ifediora Councillor Chris Tansley Councillor Brian Parbutt Councillor Georgia Power
Colleagues, partners and others in attendance:
Julia Bramble - Service Manager for Early Help Services Phillip Cantwell - Director of Education, Creative Education Trust John Dexter - Education Director John Edwards - Regional Schools Commissioner, East Midlands James Lavender - Governance Officer Nick Lee - Director of Education Services Peter McConnichie - Inclusion Strategy Coordinator Councillor David Mellen - Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years Alison Michalska - Corporate Director for Children and Adults Michelle Strong - Principal, Bulwell Academy Zena West - Senior Governance Officer
36 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Councillor Sue Johnson Councillor Chris Tansley
In the absence of Councillor Sue Johnson, the meeting was chaired by Councillor Glyn Jenkins.
37 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None
38 MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2019 were confirmed as a true record and were signed by the Chair.
Page 3 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - 19.03.19 39 REGIONAL SCHOOLS COMMISSIONER
John Edwards, the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) for the East Midlands and the Humber, introduced a report on his role in contributing towards achieving the City’s ambitions for having all schools rated as good or excellent.
The following points were highlighted:
(a) the RSC works in schools and academies across 17 Local Authorities in the East Midlands;
(b) RSCs are senior civil service positions which were introduced to ensure appropriate oversight of academies in the UK;
(c) they work with academies and free schools that are underperforming and aim to pair them with a successful Multi-Academy Trust (MAT);
(d) they take decisions on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education regarding underperforming schools and academies, but only when a school or academy has received an inadequate Ofsted report;
(e) each commissioner is supported by a Headteacher Board made up of headteachers and sector leader (4 elected and 3 appointed) who advise them on decisions taken on behalf of the Secretary of State;
(f) RSCs work with various education partners, such as Local Authorities, Diocese and Ofsted;
(g) there are around 1300 academies in the East Midlands and the Humber. Approximately 950 of them voluntarily converted to academies or started as academies, and approximately 350 were brought into the structures. 48% of schools in the East Midlands are academies now. A third of these academies are rated good or excellent in the East Midlands;
(h) 92.5% of converted academies are rated good or excellent. 58% of the sponsored academies are good or excellent. There are 4 single academy trusts in the city (2 primaries, 1 secondary and 1 alternative provision);
(i) some trusts have a wide spread across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire;
(j) the RSC for the East Midlands is currently supporting academies and schools with the open consultation on Ofsted education inspection framework, with particular focus being on the curriculum and educational experience;
(k) RSCs work closely with the Education Funds Agency, who work with trusts to secure their finances and make sure their governance is secure. They also support the development of favourable learning and teaching environments;
(l) RSCs also support the Early Career Framework which promotes teacher training and long-term careers in education;
Page 4 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - 19.03.19
(m)they also encourage and support best practice in MATs.
The Committee’s questions were responded to as follows:
(n) permanent exclusions have been a significant concern for schools in Nottingham, but they declined slightly in 2016/17 (the data for 2017/18 is not available yet). There are concerns on the impact of permanent exclusions on wider education services;
(o) there is support for headteachers from the government to exclude pupils if warranted, although headteachers have various legal requirements to meet before they can proceed with an exclusion;
(p) former Children’s Minister and MP Edward Timpson has been hired by the government to review how schools use exclusions, what kind of children get excluded and find best practice for reducing exclusions;
(q) spikes in exclusions come from new exclusion policies. Data gathered on exclusions has shown that as schools reach into difficult times; exclusions go up. When improvements begin; exclusions peak, then decline;
(r) the characteristics identified in addressing underperformance in schools and academies are as follows: outstanding leadership; clear expectations and freedom for principals to make key decisions; staff retention; a clear vision for the school/academy/MAT; affordable curriculum; behaviour expectations; leadership dedication and drive; working with local community partners.
(s) the main mechanism used by the Department of Education and Local Authorities for creating new schools is the Free School Presumption Route. Each local authority receives basic need funding for identifying an area in need of a new school, and then a MAT or another sponsor builds the school. NCC weren’t successful in previous applications for building new schools. They have made land available, but there isn’t the money in the Council’s budget to build new schools.
RESOLVED to thank the Regional Schools’ Commissioner for the East Midlands and the Humber for presenting his report and to note the information.
40 CREATIVE EDUCATION TRUST (BULWELL ACADEMY AND ELLIS GUILFORD)
Phillip Cantwell, Director of Education at the Creative Education Trust, and Michelle Strong, Principal of Bulwell Academy, updated the Committee on the progress and improvement journeys of Bulwell Academy and Ellis Guilford.
Page 5 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - 19.03.19 The following points were noted:
(a) since the Creative Education Trust was founded in 2011, there has been slow but steady growth from the 2 founding academies to 17 academies in 2019;
(b) most schools in the Trust are secondary schools, with many taken on board by the Trust when they were given Grade 4 (Inadequate) ratings by Ofsted;
(c) the Trust has schools in Coventry, Great Yarmouth, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, Nottingham, Rugeley, Stoke-On-Trent and Tamworth;
(d) Bulwell Academy was taken on board by CET in 2018, when it was Grade 2 (Good). Improvements have since taken place, but there has been uneven progress;
(e) Michelle Strong was hired as Principal of Bulwell Academy after her impressive work at Caister Academy in Great Yarmouth, where she took the school from a Grade 4 to a Grade 2 Ofsted ranking in the space of two years;
(f) when the Trust took on Bulwell Academy, they found deep seated underachievement, poor attendance, poor behaviour, safeguarding issues and mental health/wellbeing concerns;
(g) the Trust has addressed these problems by improving the curriculum, the quality of teaching and learning, introducing new lessons times, promoting the importance of education and aspiration and undergoing three restructures in management, teaching and support staff; all the while making an effort to keep the improvement of children’s education ongoing.
The Committee’s questions were responded to as follows:
(h) the Trust has only taken on existing schools as they don’t have the time or resources to build new schools;
(i) the Trust takes the view that inclusivity in schools is achieved by excellent academic standards.
RESOLVED to thank the Director of Education at the Creative Education Trust and the Principal of Bulwell Academy for their update and to note the contents.
41 SCHOOL PLACE PLANNING
Nick Lee, Director of Education Services at Nottingham City Council, delivered a presentation on the Council’s progress in ensuring the supply of sufficient school places for secondary education.
The following points were highlighted:
(a) £40 million was made available for additional school places because of a significant increase in demand since September 2017;
Page 6 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - 19.03.19 (b) extra capacity has been negotiated with 5 city academies;
(c) there is still capacity at 3 city schools; Nottingham Academy, Djanogly City Academy and Farnborough Academy. Late applicants still need to be placed;
(d) 8 new forms of entry are still required to meet increased secondary growth with Year 7 demand peaking in 2022;
(e) additional demand can arise from increased pressure on county schools and the number of new housing developments within the city;
(f) ensuring that the supply of school places meets demand remains a statutory duty of Local Authorities as per the Education Act 1996, even though they are no longer able to open new schools;
(g) there is a need to promote parental choice with access to good and excellent schools close to their homes;
(h) the Council needs to increase capacity to popular and successful schools, primarily through support to schools with developing proposals, funding bids, free school applications and consultation/stakeholder management;
(i) the goal is to increase the percentage of first and second preferences which has decreased from 92% in 2018 to 86% in 2019. Although, the actual number of first preference offers has remained consistent with last year, due to the additional capacity negotiated in collaboration with academies;
(j) there is the challenging context of a fragmented education system, especially with relying on direct bids from MATS to deliver the required capacity;
(k) there is insufficient Capital/Basic Need Grant for the Council to deliver all the required secondary capacity;
(l) the Free School Presumption route is dependent on availability of sites and sufficient Basic Need funding to build a new school, which the Council doesn’t currently have;
(m)the demand for high quality and diverse provision is growing in areas of need;
(n) there is a lack of available sites for new schools and existing schools are often unable to expand due to constrained sites;
(o) children of all school ages continue to move in to Nottingham, with an increasing number of multi-sibling families;
(p) 11 new forms of entry have been negotiated with Nottingham Emmanuel School, Nottingham Girls Academy and Nottingham Free School, for September 2019, adding a further 62 places.
Page 7 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - 19.03.19 The Committee’s questions were responded to as follows:
(q) the Council is trying to acquire a site in Nottingham for use in the Free School Presumption route;
(r) more needs to be done to identify areas which need prioritising to ensure that parents don’t send their children to schools outside of their locality, for example, parents in Bestwood sending their children to be educated in Arnold;
(s) the Archway Learning Trust has submitted a direct bid to the Department of Education for acquiring provisions for more places.
RESOLVED to thank the Director of Education Services for delivering his presentation to the Committee and to note its contents.
42 HOLIDAY HUNGER
Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years, and Julia Bramble, Service Manager for Early Help Services at Nottingham City Council, updated the Committee on the work they are involved with in trying to tackle ‘holiday hunger’ ahead of summer 2019.
The following points were highlighted:
(a) over a long summer holiday, families who would otherwise use breakfast clubs and qualify for free school meals lose these vital services;
(b) with working parents spending more money on childcare over the summer holidays, finances can be stretched and some parents may go without food to feed their children, and/or provide cheap, but not nutritious, food;
(c) in 2018, Nottingham City Council gathered together organisations for a Fairshare pilot scheme to buy up food from supermarkets and make packed lunches for families to eat over the summer. Over 3 weeks, 2160 packed lunches were made. School catering staff volunteered their services to make the lunches and were joined by volunteers across Nottingham to deliver these lunches to families in need of them;
(d) Dovecote Primary School in Clifton provided a hot lunch for 133 people on a family fun day in August;
(e) mosques and gurdwara’s often provide food throughout the holidays for those struggling with holiday hunger well;
(f) £2 million was provided by the Government for the Holiday Activities and Food programme;
(g) Streetgames approached the Council to put a consortium bid in to develop a Summer Programme for 2019. £9 million for 9 regions is available from the Department for Education. Nottingham City Catering services are included as
Page 8 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - 19.03.19 well as national and local volunteer organisations. After putting in the bid, the funding allocations will be announced in the last week of March;
(h) if successful, the size of the project will be much larger than in 2018. It will include youth sites, leisure centres, community centres and public parks. There will also be training considerations for catering.
The Committee’s questions were responded to as follows:
(i) £3,263.95 was spend on the Fairshare pilot, with the biggest costs being one- off expenses such as purchasing fridges;
(j) government and independent reports detail holiday hunger from the testimonies of teaching staff and pupils across the UK;
(k) the Council aims to get £1 million of the £9 million available from the Department for Education, but if the Council’s bid is unsuccessful, a smaller volunteer-run project will be delivered in 2019 instead.
RESOLVED to thank the Portfolio Holder for Early Intervention and Early Years and the Service Manager for Early Help Services for their update and to note the contents.
43 WORK PROGRAMME 2019/20
Zena West, Senior Governance Officer, presented a number of items suitable for consideration during the 2019-20 municipal year at Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee, including: Early Years and Childcare Funding; Independent Inquiry into child sexual exploitation; Special Education Needs and Disabilities; The Timpson Report into school exclusions; OFSTED inspection for Children’s Services; Access to Further Education; Adoption Services.
RESOLVED to:
(1) consider the following items at the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee for June: Review of the Regional Adoption Agency; OFSTED inspection of Children’s Services;
(2) consider the following items at the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee for July: Take up of entitlement to early years childcare funding; School Exclusions (including Timpson review).
Page 9 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 5
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 25 JULY 2019 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE REPORT OF HEAD OF LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE
1 Purpose
1.1 To ensure all members of Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee are aware of the terms of reference for the Committee, and the implications for the operation of the Committee during the year.
2 Action required
2.1 To note the terms of reference for the Committee, as approved at Council on 20 May 2019.
3 Background information
3.1 On 20 May 2019 Council established the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee and agreed its terms of reference.
4 List of attached information
4.1 None.
5 Background papers, other than published works or those disclosing exempt or confidential information
5.1 None.
6 Published documents referred to in compiling this report
6.1 The City Council’s Constitution – https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/your- council/about-the-council/nottingham-city-councils-constitution/
6.2 Report to Council, 20 May 2019 – Appointments, Remits and First Meetings of Committees and Joint Bodies 2019/20 (appendix 1) - https://committee.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=155&MId=7830
7 Wards affected
7.1 All
8 Contact information
8.1 Zena West, Senior Governance Officer [email protected] 0115 876 4305
Page 11 This page is intentionally left blank Agenda Item 6
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 25 JULY 2019 TAKE-UP OF EARLY YEARS FUNDING REPORT OF HEAD OF LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE
1 Purpose
1.1 To inform Councillors of the current picture surrounding take-up of early years funding in Nottingham, particularly in comparison to our statistical neighbours.
2 Action required
2.1 To review levels of take-up of early years funding, and make recommendations for improvement or further scrutiny if appropriate.
3 Background information
3.1 All 3 and 4 years olds are entitled to 570 hours per year of free childcare, with some 2 year olds also entitled to 570 hours, and some 3 and 4 year olds entitled to a total of 1140 hours. There are no national targets for the take-up of this provision, however central and local government are keen to encourage participation due to its many benefits to children and parents.
3.2 Catherine Smith, Early Years Programme Director, and Naomi Skelton, Early Learning Specialist, will be attending to update the Committee, answer questions, and take forward any recommendations.
4 List of attached information
4.1 Information on the take-up of early years funding in Nottingham from Children’s Services.
5 Background papers, other than published works or those disclosing exempt or confidential information
5.1 None.
6 Published documents referred to in compiling this report
6.1 None.
7 Wards affected
7.1 All.
Page 13
8 Contact information
8.1 Zena West, Senior Governance Officer [email protected] 0115 876 4305
Page 14 Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee Briefing Paper 17th June 2019
Title of paper: Take up of Early Years funding
Report author(s) and contact Catherine Smith - Early Years Programmes Manager details: 8764548 Background
All 3 to 4-year-olds in England are entitled to 570 hours per year of free early years provision (universal entitlement). This is usually taken as 15 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. Some 3 to 4-year-olds are eligible for 1140 hours per years or 30 hours per week (extended entitlement) and some 2-year-olds are eligible for 570 hours of free provision.
Eligibility criteria and further information: 2-year-old free entitlement 3 and 4-year-old universal entitlement 3 and 4-year-old extended entitlement
There are no National targets for the take-up of early years funded provision. Due to the benefits to children and the social mobility of families, through access to affordable childcare, the Government and Local Authorities (LA) are keen to maximise participation.
The Childcare Act’s 2006 and 2016 places duties on LA’s to secure early years provision free of charge and provide information, advice and assistance to parents and prospective parents. The mechanisms for executing these duties and thus supporting the take-up of early years funded provision span LA service areas and beyond. Nottingham City Council dispenses these duties as follows:
The Early Years Team are responsible for the administration of early years funding to the private, voluntary and independent sectors; are responsible for the sufficiency of early years and childcare places to ensure every child can access their funding entitlements if they choose to do so. The Families Information Service are responsible for providing information and advice to parents; checking parents eligibility for certain aspects of funding, signposting to accessible early years provision. Early Help are responsible for providing targeted support in communities to raise participation such as promotional work and advice for families, linking with providers, supporting transitions with onsite providers and co-ordinating the contacts to potential eligible families (DWP List). Analysis and Insight are responsible for providing accurate termly reports on participation to inform parental engagement strategies.
The LA has collaborated for some time with external stakeholders to enrich our parental engagement strategies. These include Health services, schools and other early years settings, Nottingham City Homes, Social Care, NCVS, SSBC and Job Centre Plus. We hold periodic Stakeholder events to bring everyone together to update, share successes etc. Family Mentors, who are commissioned as part of the SSBC programme, have direct contact with families and actively encourage participation as do CityCare through their Child Development Review programme.
Participation of early years funded places are measured according to the nature of the entitlement: 3 and 4-year-old universal entitlement = take-up measured against all children within the age range living in the city 2-year-old funding = take-up measured against the number of potentially eligible families appearing on the DWP bi- monthly release 3 and 4 year olds extended entitlement = take-up measured against the number of validated codes
Current position
% Take-up Funding entitlement Nottingham city Statistical neighbours National 2 year-olds 74% 65% 68% 3&4 year-olds universal 90% 92% 94% 3&4 year-olds extended 84% 90% 90%
Page 15 Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee Briefing Paper 17th June 2019
Strengths and key drivers Quality of early years provision in Nottingham
Currently 98% of childcare setting are graded by Ofsted as good or outstanding.
The LA Early Years team provide general and targeted support to early years settings and schools through a Provider Support Framework, networking and comprehensive CPD training plans. These strategies provide information, guidance and challenge to providers in order to improve the quality of experiences for children.
Relationship with Ofsted
The LA Early Years team meet with Ofsted each term to discuss current issues affecting the early years sector. There are elements of collaborative working with regards to Ofsted specific provider briefings and targeted intervention for settings causing concern.
Sufficiency of early years provision in Nottingham
In order to understand the early years market in Nottingham City, the LA undertakes a bi-annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessment (CSA) and subsequent scorecard. Every three years this is extended to a full Childcare Sufficiency Audit including a comprehensive parental needs survey. The findings from these assessments are published publicly and any gaps in sufficiency are addressed through a CSA Action Plan and Market Management approach. 2018 CSA reports there are sufficient quality early years places across the city.
Parental engagement
The LA has established effective partnerships to encourage take-up of the early years free entitlements. Internally the Early Years team, Early Help, Families Information Service and Analysis and Insight work closely together to analyse and use available data to target interventions. Externally, Health, Job Centre Plus, NCVS, Nottingham City Homes, childcare providers and Small Steps Big Changes are engaged with the Local Authority to work collectively to support and encourage parents to access their entitlements.
The LA are currently collecting and compiling data to produce a 100% reach profile for the 2-year-old free entitlement. This will demonstrate how the LA has engaged with potentially eligible families and why some parents choose not to engage and where.
Risks and barriers The LA continues to improve systems for collecting and reporting on participation to ensure accurate returns. To support this aim, the LA are working on a project to centralise all early years funding claims through one system. This will ensure data will arrive, be cleansed and stored in one place avoiding duplicate or missing records. The success of this project relies on both up front and ongoing Capita technical costs.
Some schools admit children the term they turn three and offer more than 15 hours 3 and 4-year-old provision without accessing early years entitlement funding. Without checking children’s eligibility or claiming for these children correctly, these children are not counted towards the city’s participation percentages. It is hoped that the project above will prevent this from happening in the future.
LA capacity continues to reduce particularly within services working directly with families, for example the Families Information Service. Front line non-statutory services are at risk of future cuts due to financial pressures of the council. This inhibits the vital ‘outreach’ activity needed to engage with some of our more vulnerable families.
Nationally, Early Years provision are experiencing financial and operational difficulties. Minimum wage, pension contributions and Government funding allocations are placing financial strains on businesses. Recruiting quality early years practitioners is also an issue placing further strain on operations. The LA will maintain a close eye on the early years market through the CSA and day to day provider support programmes.
Page 16 Agenda Item 7
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 25 JULY 2019 SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS AND THE TIMPSON REVIEW REPORT OF HEAD OF LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE
1 Purpose
1.1 To review Nottingham’s exclusion rates, and steps in place to attempt to reduce exclusions, and to consider the recommendations of the Timpson Review of Exclusions.
2 Action required
2.1 Councillors are asked to:
(a) review information on exclusions, and if appropriate, make recommendations for improvement or further scrutiny;
(b) consider the recommendations of the Timpson review of exclusions.
3 Background information
3.1 Nottingham has higher rates of permanent and fixed term exclusions than the England average, the regional average, and the average of our statistical neighbours.
3.2 Local Authorities have very little power to influence exclusion rates at Academies. The “low exclusion model” has been rolled out to some Nottingham academised secondary schools, but some have not signed up to this model and continue to exclude a large number of pupils.
3.3 In May 2019, the Timpson Review of Exclusions was published, in May 2019, and highlighted variation in exclusions practice across different schools, local authorities and certain groups of children. The report made 30 recommendations to government, which have been accepted in principle pending consultation later this year.
3.4 Michael Wilsher, Inclusion Officer, and Peter McConnochie, Head of Access to Learning, will be attending to present the information, answer the Committees questions, and take forward any recommendations.
4 List of attached information
4.1 Information from Children’s Services on exclusions in Nottingham and the Timpson Review on Exclusions.
Page 17
5 Background papers, other than published works or those disclosing exempt or confidential information
5.1 None.
6 Published documents referred to in compiling this report
6.1 The Timpson Review of Exclusions: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/edward-timpson-publishes- landmark-exclusions-review
7 Wards affected
7.1 All.
8 Contact information
8.1 Zena West, Senior Governance Officer [email protected] 0115 876 4305
Page 18 Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee Briefing Paper 25th July 2019
Title of paper: School Exclusions including Timpson Review
Report author(s) and contact Michael Wilsher, [email protected] details: Peter McConnochie, [email protected] Background Nottingham has historically high levels of exclusion. Currently Nottingham is twice as high as its region and England for permanent exclusion rate and Nottingham is a third higher than its region and England for fixed exclusion rates. This position has changed little over time. Permanent Exclusions - Rate per 100 (Contextual data) 0.25
0.21 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20
0.15 0.15 0.15
0.13
0.10 0.09 0.08 0.07 0.05 Nottingham Statistical Neighbours East Midlands England 0.00 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19
Current position Nottingham’s volume of permanent exclusions has dropped since 2016/17, however the outturn for 2018/19 is forecast to be similar to that recorded in 2017/18 Accumulative Permanent Exclusions (All ages) 140 127 120 105 100 99 97 80 90
60
40
20
0 Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 Forecast
Page 19 Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee Briefing Paper 25th July 2019
The majority of the city’s permanent exclusions happen at secondary schools, Bulwell Academy and Farnborough Academy in particular. Farnborough has recorded a consistently high rate of permanent exclusions over the last 6 years. On average, 7 out of every 10 pupils with a permanent exclusion is a boy. On average, 4 out of every 10 pupils with a permanent exclusion is in receipt of SEN Support, although this proportion is decreasing over time. On average, 8 out of every 10 pupils with a permanent exclusion is of secondary school age. 4 reason groups (Persistently Disruptive, Physical Assault Adult, Verbal Abuse Adult and Physical Assault Pupil) make up 80% of all permanent exclusions. Strengths and key drivers to reduce exclusion Short to Medium Term: 1. Review of the Inclusion Model and further school support 2. Establish an Exclusion Data Dashboard and regular analysis of exclusions 3. Create an internal Exclusion Escalation Procedure 4. Review SLA with Denewood/Unity and investigate intervention placements 5. Link with initiatives with the Education Improvement Board, MAT CEO’s and the RSC 6. Improve data sharing with schools, the local authority and region, including analysis 7. Continued development of Fair Access and Managed Move processes 8. Further development of Routes2Inclusion at Secondary stage and trial of Intensive Support Team (IST) 9. Update schools about new processes and proposals for September 2019
Long Term: 1. Implementation of legislation and recommendations of the Timpson Report 2. Review and establish strong governors training for exclusions and new processes 3. City wide policy around behaviour and non-negotiable exclusions leading to intervention Risks and barriers A number of risk factors need to be taken into account as work to support lower rates of exclusions continues. This includes: 1. The rising cost of Alternative Provision for children permanently excluded 2. Capacity issues in the AP market and Learning Centres 3. Further MAT changes and academisation 4. Independence of schools and academies 5. Availability and future funding for support and early help 6. Instability in central government and uncertainty around legislative change following the Timpson review
Timpson Review The Timpson review of school exclusion was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Education in March 2018 to review school exclusions, to explore how head teachers use exclusion practice and why some groups are disproportionally excluded. It was subsequently widened to include a focus on ‘off-rolling’ of pupils from schools. The review was published on the 7th May 2019 and the recommendations focus around expanding school responsibility, increasing the role of the Local Authority as a partner and facilitator of local forums, the development and oversight of in school units and Alternative Provision and tackling off rolling in partnership with Ofsted. The Education Directorate in Nottingham has begun to review the implication of the recommendations with schools and academies locally.
Page 20 Agenda Item 8
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 25 JULY 2019 WORK PROGRAMME 2018/19 REPORT OF HEAD OF LEGAL AND GOVERNANCE
1. Purpose
1.1 To consider the Committee’s work programme for 2019/20.
2. Action required
2.1 To discuss the work programme for the remainder of the municipal year and make any necessary amendments.
3. Background information
3.1 The purpose of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee is to provide robust scrutiny of issues and services relevant to the wellbeing and safeguarding of children and young people, in light of recommendations from the Council’s Ofsted Inspection April 2014, and the Jay and Casey Reports (Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham);
3.2 The Committee is responsible for setting and managing its own work programme.
3.3 In setting the work programme, the Committee should aim for an outcome-focused work programme that has clear priorities and a clear link to its roles and responsibilities.
3.4 The work programme needs to be flexible so that issues which arise as the year progresses can be considered appropriately.
3.5 Where there are a number of potential items that could be scrutinised in a given year, consideration of what represents the highest priority or area of risk will assist with work programme planning.
3.6 Changes and / or additions to the work programme will need to take account of the resources available to the Committee.
4. List of attached information
4.1 Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee 2019/20 Work Programme
5. Background papers, other than published works or those disclosing exempt or confidential information
5.1 None
Page 21
6. Published documents referred to in compiling this report
6.1 None.
7. Wards affected
7.1 All
8. Contact information
8.1 Zena West, Senior Governance Officer. [email protected] 01158764305
Page 22
Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee 2019/20 Work Programme
DATE ITEMS CONTACT Chair (Councillor Appointment of Vice-Chair (VERBAL) Carole McCulloch) Take up of entitlement to early years 16 July 2019 childcare funding School Exclusions (including Timpson
review) Review of the Regional Adoption Agency 17 September OFSTED inspection of Children’s 2019 Services 19 November TBC 2019
Page 23 Page 21 January TBC 2020 17 March 2020 TBC
DATE ITEMS CONTACT Unscheduled Access to Further Education Performance of the Virtual School / Virtual Unscheduled Head provision for children in care and those previously in care Educational support for traveller Unscheduled communities Independent Inquiry into child sexual Unscheduled exploitation Unscheduled Special Education Needs and Disabilities
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