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ITEM CH3
CHILDREN’S
SERVICES SCRUTINY committee
MINUTES of the meeting held on
Present:
Voting Members: Councillor
Sue Haffenden - in the chair
Councillor Marilyn Badcock
Councillor
Councillor Jean Fooks
Councillor Mrs Anda Fitzgerald-O’Connor
Councillor Deborah Glass-Woodin (part of meeting)
Councillor
Lesley Legge (in place of Councillor
Councillor
David Nimmo Smith
Councillor
Val Smith
Councillor
Lawrie Stratford (part of meeting)
Councillor Carol Viney
Mr
Chris Bevan
Mr
Ben Jackson
Mrs
Sue Matthew (part of meeting)
Ms
Bernadine Spencer
Other Members
in
Attendance:
By Invitation: Mrs
Mrs
Dr Tony Eaude (Agenda Item 9)
Officers:
Whole
of meeting: K. Coldwell
(Corporate Core).
The Scrutiny
Committee considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or
referred to in the agenda for the meeting, together with a schedule of addenda
tabled at the meeting and the following additional document:
and agreed as set out
below. Copies of the agenda, reports,
schedule and additional document are attached to the signed Minutes.
10/07
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN FOR THE
CURRENT COUNCIL YEAR
RESOLVED: that Councillor Sue Haffenden be elected Chairman of the Committee for the current Council Year.
11/07
TRIBUTE TO COUNCILLOR
Councillor Haffenden paid tribute to Councillor Keith Stone on behalf of
this Committee.
12/07
ELECTION OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
FOR THE CURRENT COUNCIL YEAR
RESOLVED: that
13/07
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND
TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS
Apologies for absence and
temporary appointments were received as follows:
14/07
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Mr Ben Jackson
declared a personal interest in relation to Agenda Item 7 by virtue of being a
Member of CHOICE, a parent of a child with special educational
needs, and the husband of a review witness.
Ms Bernadine Spencer declared a personal
interest in relation to Agenda Item 7 by virtue of being a parent of a child
with special educational needs and on the grounds that she worked with children
with special educational needs.
15/07
MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting
of the Committee held on
Matters Arising from the Minutes
Minute 5/07 – Effective
Communication to Parents of Children with SEN
Councillor Mrs Anda
Fitzgerald-O’Connor stated that she wished to make a public apology to Mr Ben
Jackson for previously querying his participation in the Task Group as she had
not intended to question his integrity.
16/07
DRAFT
REPORT: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION TO PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH SEN
(Agenda
Item 7)
At
the October 2006 meeting of this Committee, it had been agreed that the
Committee undertake an investigation into ‘How Effective Communication to
Parents of Children with SEN’ is in Oxfordshire’. The aim of the investigation
was to explore areas such as parents’ awareness of SEN activities and
newsletters, how parents could communicate with each other on this subject and
whether the Council supplied services were the correct avenues for the
dissemination of information.
Having
collected a wide variety of evidence, the Review Group presented its findings
in a draft report for the Committee’s consideration.
The
Committee also had before it an amended copy of the draft report from Mrs Janet
Johnson (Service Manager – SEN lead) which included some corrections to factual
errors, together with a number of suggestions for the Committee’s
consideration.
Following
debate, the Committee AGREED that
the following changes should be made to the draft report:
To the Recommendations
-
a)3. – amended as indicated in bold italics and
strikethrough:
-
‘from existing staff resources a
-
b) amended as indicated in bold
italics and strikethrough: ‘
-
c)i) to re-word this recommendation given that there was some unease
regarding setting a target date to ensure that all the appropriate lead
professionals to support children with Special Educational Needs were in post countywide;
and in recognition that this recommendation could only be actioned if their
workload was not excessive;
-
c)ii) to re-word this recommendation in order to emphasise that methods
of communication to parents and carers of children with Special Educational
Needs needed to be improved;
-
e) to expand this recommendation in order to state that professionals
must check that the parents or carers of children with Special Educational
Needs understood the information that had been provided to them;
To the Text
-
to amend the review title as indicated in bold italics and
strikethrough ‘Effective Communication With
-
to make a number of grammatical changes throughout the
report as suggested by Members of this Committee.
The final
report would be submitted to this Committee’s July meeting.
17/07
FINAL SCRUTINY REVIEW REPORT: HEALTHY
SCHOOLS
(Agenda
Item 8)
On
27 September, this Committee had agreed as part of its work programme to
undertake a scrutiny review of Healthy Schools and had appointed Councillors
Mrs Anda Fitzgerald-O’Connor, Keith Stone and Jean Fooks to the Lead Member
Review Group. Having collected a wide variety of evidence, Members of the
Review Group presented their findings to the Committee.
Members of the Committee
also had before them a paper setting out suggested amendments to the
recommendations.
Following a lengthy debate, the Committee AGREED to submit the
report to
To the Recommendations
-
R2) to
reword this recommendation as follows: “to draw attention to the need to
identify the resources (from whichever agencies are appropriate - the Council
and its partners) to meet the particular emotional, behavioural and personal,
social and health issues that schools were having difficulties in managing, at
the times when the problems occurred, as central support services were not
always available."
-
R3) to amend as
indicated in strikethrough and bold italics:
‘that there must be robust monitoring by the Children and Young
People’s Board of the
effectiveness of various external agencies that might be called upon in
relation to Personal, Social and Health
-
R5) to amend as
indicated in strikethrough and bold italics:
‘to consider how to help schools, particularly secondary
schools, to accord a high priority in their capital expenditure to improv
18/07
DRAFT SCRUTINY REVIEW REPORT: WORKFORCE
REMODELLING, PLANNING, PREPARATION AND ASSESSMENT
(Agenda
Item 9)
On
Dr
Tony Eaude (Educational Research Consultant) had been invited before the Committee
in order to present the report and to answer any questions which Members may
have wished to ask. Dr Eaude reported that a few additions needed to be made to
the report, as could be seen from the annotations in the text.
Following debate, the Committee AGREED that the following changes should be made to the
draft report:
To the Recommendations
-
to add an
additional bullet point to Recommendation 2 to request that staff’s immediate
situation regarding accommodation be addressed now (as the other bullet points
were longer term actions);
-
to amend
Recommendation 10, as School Governors were a collective body and therefore it
was not appropriate for an individual governor to be tasked with monitoring the
impact of the model used to provide PPA time on staff morale and workload and
on the range and quality of the curriculum.
To the Text
-
to make it clear
that there were many demands on standards and personalised learning funding;
-
the comment on
Governor Training would be inserted where indicated;
-
a comment would
be added to state that there had been more training for higher level Teaching
Assistants in Oxfordshire than in comparable authorities; and
-
Dr Eaude would
check a few other minor points of detail.
The final report would be
submitted to this Committee’s July meeting.
The
19/07
FULL TIME ADMISSION FOR RECEPTION AGED FOUR
YEAR OLDS
(Agenda
Item 10)
Oxfordshire
schools are funded to offer half-time places for children from the September
after their fourth birthday until the term after their fifth birthday, when the
funding becomes full time. The current position of part-time admission
generates an increasing number of complaints from parents on the grounds of
quality and equity. Many other
authorities now offer full time education from the beginning of the reception
year.
Oxfordshire
County Council has undertaken a cost benefit analysis on proposals to change
the current admission arrangements to offer full time education to all
reception aged pupils. As part of this process the Council has commissioned an
independent survey of the views of parents on this issue. It has also undertaken full consultation with
other stakeholders such as schools and private, voluntary and independent early years settings.
A report to
This
item had been placed on the Agenda to enable Members of the Committee to provide comment
to the
Members of the Committee
also had before them a summary of headline results from the provider and
stakeholder survey.
The
The Committee conducted a question and answer session.
A selection of their questions, together with the officer responses are listed
below:
·
What would the cost implications be as some schools would not
benefit financially and how would this be addressed?
Mr Andrew Tagg (Interim Strategic Finance Manager) had
done some analysis of this. However, the
formula might change in future so it was difficult to be precise about the
impact. The majority of the County’s
Schools would benefit significantly under the proposals as there would be
increased resource from the Department for Education & Skills. The four junior schools without reception
aged-children could lose out financially under the proposals. This would need to be considered when
establishing the formula for 2008/09 and beyond.
·
The financial implications section of the report
stated that the picture would also change for the Voluntary Aided schools if
they adopted the
Ms Davy responded that she had spoken to financial
officers. If a number of Voluntary Aided schools had chosen not to accept
children before the age of five then there would be no additional benefits for
the schools and they might lose resources as with the junior schools.
·
How could adequate quality be maintained when a number
of schools might provide nursery
nurses rather than teachers?
The County Council expected very high standards to be
provided whether in nursery provision or at foundation stage. The increased resources would enable schools
to provide greater quality, especially in terms of continuity of staffing,
which was one of the principles behind the proposals. The proposals advocated a rich play-based
curriculum and care appropriate for the child’s age and stage of development.
· A set number of places were now offered in a part-time capacity. What effect did this have on younger children?
It was not anticipated that the proposals would reduce
the number of part-time places. There
should be sufficient provision in place to ensure that children did not miss
out. Particular attention would need to
be given to Partnership Foundation Stage Units and split funding to sustain
their current good working relationships.
The Committee then AGREED to forward the following advice to
-
this Committee
supports the right of parents to defer entry until the term after their child’s
fifth birthday as choice must be provided;
-
this Committee
supports full - time foundation stage provision if good quality provision can
be assured county-wide;
-
it will be
difficult for teachers to plan the curriculum if their classes contain a mix of
part-time and full-time pupils;
-
constructive
learning around play, should be provided as the children are very young to be
entering full-time education;
-
this should
fulfil the Children & Young People’s Plan target of ‘Enjoy and Achieve’;
-
it is important
that rest breaks are provided for children after lunch as they will find the
move to full-time provision very tiring;
-
officers are advised
to look at transport issues in relation to this policy;
-
this Committee expresses concern that parents might use the earlier
entry point as a free child care option;
and
-
this Committee expresses concern regarding the four junior
schools who will lose out financially if the proposals are agreed.
20/07
CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE’S PLAN (CYPP):
REVIEW OF YEAR ONE
(Agenda Item 11)
Oxfordshire’s
first Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) was produced in April 2006. There is a new statutory requirement to carry
out an annual review of the CYPP and to publish the outcomes.
The aim of
the review was to focus on the impact of the Plan on outcomes and quality of
services for children, young people and families and to inform the development
of priorities for Year 2 of the Plan.
The review
had focused on:
- strengths and achievements in Year 1 of the Plan with a focus on improvements in outcomes
and quality of services for children, young people and families;
- areas for further development to address needs; and
- priorities for Year 2 of the Plan.
The review of the Plan
would have to be submitted to the Department for Education and Skills in June
2007 and would form the self assessment for the Joint Area Review of Services
for Children and Young People in Oxfordshire in December 2007.
This item had been placed on the Agenda to enable
Members of the Committee to:
(a)
comment on the draft document Oxfordshire’s Children & Young
People’s Plan: Review of Year One prior to
(b)
consider setting up a task group to work with officers to
review implementation of the Children & Young People’s Plan over the coming
year and feed into the review of Year 2 of the Plan in 2008.
The
Following debate, the Committee AGREED to forward the
following advice to
-
this Committee
endorses the priority to raise the educational aspiration, achievement and
enjoyment of all pupils, with a particular focus on vulnerable and/or
underachieving groups of children and young people (Children Looked After (CLA)
and Children from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities (BME Children)) and
wishes for it to be given priority over the other targets;
-
this Committee
expresses concern that CLA and BME children and young
people are still underachieving at secondary
level;
-
large class sizes
in many of Oxfordshire’s primary schools
affect teachers’ ability to facilitate enjoyment;
-
more emphasis
should be given to enjoyment rather than to achievement as all children and young people need to develop a strong
sense of self worth which is not dependent upon achievement;
-
this Committee
welcomes the vocational achievement of young people in Oxfordshire as this is
good for morale and therefore often enhances academic achievement;
-
there should be a
greater emphasis on combating bullying in ‘Stay Safe’;
-
there appears to be no reference to young carers. The
Committee wishes the same data as for Looked After Children to be produced for
this group of children;
-
there should be more of a link between the outstanding
issues for each area in the report and how the next steps relate to them.
Members of this Committee were asked to forward any
typographical, formatting and other suggested amendments to the Review document
to Mr Simm.
Members of the Committee AGREED to the setting
up of a task group to work with officers to review implementation of the
Children & Young People’s Plan over the coming year and feed into the
review of Year 2 of the Plan in 2008.
This would be discussed further at this Committee’s
next meeting.
21/07
NOMINATION FOR SCRUTINY EVALUATION: CHARGING
IN SCHOOLS
(Agenda
Item 12)
The
Committee was asked to nominate a Councillor to track progress regarding the
Charging in Schools Investigation and lead on evaluating this item at this
Committee’s July meeting.
Councillor
Haffenden undertook to fulfil this role.
22/07
SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME
(Agenda
Item 13)
The
Committee was asked to review/update its Work Programme.
Members
of the Committee were invited to suggest topics for possible inclusion in their
future work programme and to allocate a priority order to them
(high/medium/low).
The Committee AGREED to put forward the following
items for possible inclusion within their work programme:
-
a review into
young carers as suggested by Members of the Social & Community Services
Scrutiny Committee;
-
the effectiveness
of the various external agencies that might be called upon in relation to
Personal, Social and Health issues in schools;
-
a question and
answer session on the effectiveness of project management arrangements
regarding Maltfield House;
-
consultation procedures – for example, on moves to Academies – are
proper procedures followed?;
-
Oxfordshire’s
Secondary School Provision – equality for all? (if real/perceived inequality);
-
schools for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties
– why 95% boys – (why) is the system failing them?;
-
recruitment and
retention of Headteachers;
-
setting up a task group to work with officers to review
implementation of the Children & Young People’s Plan over the coming year
and feed into the review of Year 2 of the Plan in 2008.
Members of this Committee were invited to send any
further suggestions to Councillor Haffenden and Kath Coldwell.
All suggestions received would be discussed at this
Committee’s July meeting.
23/07
TRACKING SCRUTINY ITEMS
(Agenda Item 14)
Report back on advice by this Committee to the
There was nothing to report.
24/07
FORWARD PLAN
(Agenda
Item 15)
The Committee was asked to suggest items from the current
No
items had been identified for consideration.
................................................................................... in the Chair
Date
of signing.................................................................. 2007
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