Agenda and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda. A list of general personal interests previously declared are attached.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda, in addition to the list of general personal interests circulated with the agenda.

There were no additional declarations of interest.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 7 January 2009.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 January 2009 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Committee’s remit can do so. Anyone who wishes to register or requires further information is requested to contact the Democracy Officer on the contact details listed at the foot of this agenda. The deadline for registering is Monday 23^rd  February 2009 at 5.00pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report provides Members with an update on the implementation of recommendations made as a result of three previously completed scrutiny reviews:

·        Inclusion in York Schools

·        Post 16 Inclusion

·        School Governors

Members considered updates on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the following previously completed scrutiny reviews:

School Governors

Members agreed to sign off Recommendation 3 but leave Recommendations 1 & 2 until such time as further information could be provided i.e. on  the School Governor one-stop-shop to target local businesses, and until the information Guide was available to view.

Post 16 Inclusion

Having considered the updated information provided, Members agreed to sign off Recommendation 10 but to leave the remaining on until further information could be provided

In regard to Recommendation 4, it was noted that the 2005 goalposts had changed and these needed to be updated.  Members recognised there were a number of obstacles to finding work placement for young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties, including the insufficient availability of pre-entry places, the lack of information about what happens to those people who did not find places, and difficulties with regard to diploma and pre-entry level 1 provision. Members also queried the take-up and provision at Archbishop Holgate School.

Inclusion in York Schools

It was noted that the information provided on SEN (Special Educational Needs) code staff training only listed the training events held and did not identify the number of attendees at each event so it was difficult to analyse.  It was suggested that ideally one governor from each governing body should go on Emotional Behaviour Difficulties (EBD) training.

RESOLVED:

(i)                 That Recommendation 3 of the review on School Governors be signed off as fully implemented.

(ii)               That Recommendation 10 on the review of Post 16 Inclusion be signed off as fully implemented.

(iii)             That in respect of the review on Inclusion in York Schools, further information be provided on the low take-up by school governors of SEN code staff training.

REASON:      To raise awareness of those recommendations, which still have to be implemented.

This report provides an update on the current Extended Schools Review.

Those Members who attended, provided feedback on their visit to the two After School Clubs at Westfield School, including information on cost, access to and use of school resources, staffing, numbers and age range of children accessing both provisions and the relationship with parents, the school and each other. 

Officers from Extended Services agreed that the comments from the Members who had visited the services reflected their picture of the provision, and the Scrutiny Officer agreed to feed the detailed information in the draft final report.

In regard to the parents survey, Members thanked officers for their thorough analysis of the results and noted:

·               that Fulford Primary was in fact St. Oswald’s

·               of those parents not using childcare or out of school activities, the highest number, though not the majority of respondents, gave cost as a reason 

·               the At home/Prefer to do it myself and Use friends/Family support categories could be seen together as one reason

·               the lack of childcare was reported by 19% of respondents as a reason for preventing parents going to work. It was noted that support might be needed to make this work with some element of cluster provision.

·               some activities required payment for specialist teachers, whereas other courses/activities may have been subsidised.

·               some activities might only be deliverable on a cluster provision basis. The Chair commented that if funding could be provided at one school under clustering that this could help subsidise activities at another school with fewer resources.

·               in regard to those parents who perhaps could not afford to take advantage of the provision, Officers stated that new funding of £80,000, though small for the York area, would be made available in a pilot for 2009/10 with funding from 1 April 2009 for pupils in receipt of free school meals. However, this funding might not go beyond 2011.

Officers confirmed that the household income data matched CIS, and that the average costs per week were taken from the survey responses.

Members requested the Assistant Director of Partnership & Early Intervention attend the next meeting to talk about the above, and provide information on ESRA, the Disadvantaged Pathfinder and what could be done to help schools focus (although it was noted that funds had already been allocated to schools for the next financial year).

Members considered the information on Extended Services, provided by New Earswick Primary School, Elvington Church of England Primary School and Scarcroft School, and instructed the Scrutiny Officer to write and thank the schools on behalf of the Chair, and to praise New Earswick Primary School on the quality of information they were providing to parents. ¹

Finally, Members agreed to provide the Scrutiny Officer with their comments on the Consultation Event to be held at the Mansion House following the meeting, and their suggestions for recommendations arising from the review, to enable them to be fed into the draft final report.

RESOLVED:            

(i)         That the report be noted

(ii)        That the Assistant Director of Partnership & Early Intervention be invited to attend the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

To consider and agree the updated plan of the Education Scrutiny Committee and to receive an extract from the Executive Forward Plan of items for the Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services and Advisory Panel.

Members considered the updated work plan and received an extract from the Executive Forward Plan of items for the Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services and Advisory Panel. 

The Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Services had been invited to attend this meeting and the informal consultation session due to be held after the meeting, but was unable to attend.

It was noted that there was no Forward Plan item on ‘Building Schools for the Future (BSF)’.  However, it was reported by Officers that further information was expected with regard to funding for this in March 2009. Officers also confirmed they were looking at the issue of the South East York schools, their role and numbers. 

RESOLVED:

(i)         That the Workplan be agreed.

(ii)        That the Forward Plan items for the Executive Member for Children’s and Young People’s Services and Advisory Panel be noted.

REASON:  

To progress the Committee’s Workplan and update the committee on items taken to the Executive Member for Children and Young People’s Advisory Services and Advisory Panel.