Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Langridge and Sue Mathew.

The Committee was advised that Liz Smith had resigned her position as a co-opted member as she was no longer eligible having resigned as a governor.

The Chairman urged Councillors to encourage suitable governors to come forward. The clerk clarified that any governors identified would need to put their names forward through the formal process.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2014 were approved and signed by the Chairman subject to the addition of Carole Thomson to the list of those attending.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2014 were approved and signed by the Chairman subject to the following amendments and corrections:

Councillor Stratford was in attendance as a member of the Committee and not as a substitute as indicated.

References to Mr Stan Taylor on minutes 1/14 and 3/14 to be amended to read Mr Stan Terry.

Minte 3/14: First sentence of 13^th paragraph of the preamble to be amended as shown in bold italics and strikethrough:

Councillor Waine observed that although Oxfordshire was performing just ahead of the National Average in science, sustaining improvement would be difficult had been a problem in the past and and a potential problem in the future.

Minute 3/14: Last sentence of 17^th paragraph of preamble to be amended as shown in bold italics:

Local authorities do not employ staff, set curriculum, inspect schools or hold school funds, and their impact on secondary schools is minimal.

10.10am

Carole Thomson, Chair of Schools Forum has been invited to talk about strengthening the relationship between scrutiny and schools forum (ESC6).

Carole Thomson, attended for this item in her role as Chair of Schools Forum and gave a presentation, on the composition, role and work of the Schools Forum, as part of a discussion about strengthening the relationship between scrutiny and schools forum. Following the presentation Carole Thomson addressed the question of strengthening the relationship between scrutiny and Schools Forum and referred to the Somerset model. This was a compact on collaboration across wider matters than finance and would be welcomed by the Schools Forum. She commented that most of the academies seemed to be keen to continue to work in partnership with local schools. Continued hard work would be needed to develop relationships. The possibility of a compact was currently being investigated by officers and there would be a report to a future meeting of the Schools Forum.

Asked about the allocation of funding between different phases of schooling Carole Thomson agreed that it could be confusing but that in Oxfordshire it worked well. There was a general agreement to keep budgets as stable as possible. Councillor Tilley, Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Families agreed that despite disagreements things worked better together and they supported one another. It was suggested that one way to strengthen relationships would be for members of the Committee to attend meetings of the Schools Forum to better understand their working.

There was some discussion of fairer funding and Councillor Tilley explained that the County Council was part of the F40 group of Councils lobbying Government for a fairer deal.

During discussion of the compact it was generally seen as a good thing although a member was wary about the proliferation of groups. Asked about its impact on externalisation Frances Craven indicated that with any externalisation there was a need for robust connections with a partner understanding that working together was critical to the school improvement agenda. A member expressed concern at the direction of travel of some academy policies and was keen that a similar message went to Academy Trusts that there is a common concordat. A compact if it could achieve that would be beneficial but he felt it would become more difficult as the picture fragmented. It was suggested that going forward consideration of a compact be done jointly. Frances Craven undertook to co-ordinate discussions with groups about a compact and to work with the Chair of the Schools Forum, the Cabinet Member and the Chairman of this Committee.

Asked if there was a place that Schools Forums could share best practice with one another it was noted that there were no longer national Conferences arranged by the DfE. Frances Craven added that there were networks of officers supporting the budget processes around schools. Members expressed an interest in learning more .

Responding to questions about whether the compact would enable the Schools Forum to take forward some of the issues identified at the last meeting around teacher recruitment and development, Carole Thomson replied that these were  was not matters for Schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12/14

10.30am

Frances Craven, Deputy Direct for Education and Early Intervention, to present the attainment of vulnerable groups including Looked After Children (ESC7).

Sue Bainbridge, Schools & Learning Manger, gave a presentation providing context to the data submitted on the educational attainment of vulnerable children. In particular she explained the focus of HMI in the South East

detailed the actions being taken including the role of the Oxfordshire Teaching School Alliance and the role of support and challenge being provided by Ofsted.

Responding to a question as to the links of the Oxfordshire Teaching School Alliance with Schools Forum Sue Bainbridge explained that it was early days but some of the projects had been funded and supported by the Forum so she would want to see that link back.

During discussion members queried what estimates had been set on the improvement to be expected and how it was to be measured. Sue Bainbridge replied that there was a focus on individual schools and there was no Oxfordshire target. There was an absolute intention to narrow the gap and they did not want to be below the national average. At the same time they did not want to lose sight of the need to raise the achievements of all pupils.

The problems faced by white working class boys was discussed and Councillor Tilley stressed that regardless of a child’s background the problem was a lack of aspiration. It was everybody’s problem to ensure there were high aspirations for all. It was noted that some of the issues raised through the report, presentation and discussion could be addressed by the Education Attainment Working Group.

11.30am

The Chairman to update the committee.

11.40am

Frances Craven, Deputy Director for Education and Early Intervention, and Sue Bainbridge, Schools & Learning Manager, to give a presentation as to how Pupil Premium is being used in schools in disadvantaged areas (ESC9).  This will be supported by representatives of two primary schools.

12.40pm

Councillor Mark Gray, Chairman of the Committee, to present the report (ESC10).

12.50pm

An opportunity to discuss and prioritise future topics for the Committee, potential approaches to its work and to discuss the schedule for future meetings (ESC11).