Agenda item

Councillor Howson had given written notice of the following question to Councillor Lindsay-Gale:

“How many pupils has each secondary school in Oxfordshire presented to a Fair Access Panel in the past five academic years between 2013-14 and 2017-18? And how many pupils have they accepted in return from other schools as a result of those pupils being brought to a Fair Access Panel?”

Councillor Lindsay-Gale replied:

Pupils presented to Panel 2013-18

Fig 1

Pupils accepted through the In Year Fair Access Protocol 2013-18

Fig. 2

Please note that the pupils reported in Fig. 2 above as having been received by secondary schools in Oxfordshire may not have remained and/or completed their education at the receiving school.  If there were school moves subsequent to their placement via In Year Fair Access Panel, this would be demonstrated by individual case record scrutiny for c.1000 children and young people. If individual schools are of particular interest, this could be delivered if required.

Members may wish to be updated on developments regarding the important work undertaken to ensure that all children and young people in Oxfordshire, and especially the most vulnerable, are accessing their full time educational entitlement to enhance their opportunities through to adulthood.

Deborah Bell, the new Head of Service for Learner Engagement commenced with OCC on 1^st October 2018, reporting to David Clarke Deputy Director for Education.  Work to date includes: -

• A draft Learner Engagement Strategy has been produced and is currently being consulted on with schools and other key stakeholders prior to presentation for agreement to Corporate Leaders and Lead Cabinet Member.
• The Task and Finish Group convened to review the existing In Year Fair Access Protocol is due to report in December 2018. 
• Deborah has identified a very small number of disproportionate presenting of pupils against receiving pupils by certain individual schools.  She is planning to visit the Head Teachers concerned to unpick the reasons for this and seek to broker resolution through support and challenge.
• The Learner Engagement service will be reviewed and reorganised by 31^st March 2018 to ensure that it is configured to make available resource and skills that match the requirements of Oxfordshire’s children and schools to optimise fair distribution of vulnerable pupils and to improvement learner engagement.
• Members may be aware that the Ofsted schools’ inspection framework is due to change next September 2019.  This is anticipated to realise greater scrutiny of individual pupil experiences and destinations.
• Members may also be aware that the current Exclusions statutory arrangements have been the subject of DfE consultation earlier this year.  DfE is due to report on its findings and recommendations in Spring 2019.  It is anticipated that potential changes may offer a diminished opportunity for a minority of schools to disproportionately exclude from September 2019.”

Supplementary: Councillor Howson asked what steps could be taken to address the issues including off-rolling and reduced timetables to ensure that schools recognise the effects of these matters on local communities and other schools. Councillor Lindsay-Gale referred to the work detailed above and felt that with concerted efforts from everyone it may be possible to tackle the issue.