Return to AgendaITEM CH3(a)
CHILDREN’S SERVICES SCRUTINY committee
MINUTES of the meeting held on 18 March 2009 commencing at 10.00 am and finishing at 12.40 pm.
Present:
Voting Members: Councillor Ann Bonner - in the chair
Councillor Marilyn Badcock Councillor Nick Carter Councillor Jean Fooks Councillor Deborah Glass Woodin Councillor Sue Haffenden Councillor Pete Handley Councillor Steve Hayward Councillor David Nimmo-Smith Councillor Val Smith Councillor David Turner Councillor Carol Viney
Mr Ben Jackson Mrs Sue Matthew
By Invitation: Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement (Items 6 & 7); Cabinet Member for Children & Young People (Item 7)
Officers:
Whole of meeting: S. Whitehead and R Edwards (Corporate Core).
Part of meeting:
The Scrutiny Committee considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda and agreed as set out below. Copies of the agenda and reports are attached to the signed Minutes.
7/09 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS
Apologies for absence and temporary appointments were received as follows:
8/09 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Councillors Jean Fooks, Deborah Glass Woodin, Sue Haffenden, Peter Handley, Lawrie Stratford and David Turner declared personal interests in respect of Agenda Item 5 on the Scrutiny Review into Educational attainment as school governors.
9/09 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 February 2009 were approved and signed subject to the following amendments:
Minute 4/09 – First sentence of the final paragraph of the preamble amended to read: “Councillor Waine added that a school should not solely rely on its SIP to say whether or not it was performing well.”
Minute 5/09 – Resolution to be amended to read:
AGREED to note the presentation on Ofsted’s annual performance assessment of the Council’s services for children.
Matters Arising
On Minute 3/09 it was noted that information now available did not refer to the possibility of individual insurance and it was suggested that this option needed to be promoted.
10/09 DRAFT EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT SCRUTINY REVIEW (Agenda Item 5)
The Committee considered the draft report of the Working Group on the Scrutiny Review on Educational Attainment that was set up with the following aims:
· To look at the data on educational attainment across the county. · To review the response of the county and individual schools to poor performance · To make recommendations where appropriate.
Councillor Sue Haffenden as Lead Member for the Review explained the history to the review and detailed how it had been conducted. Following problems with obtaining officer support the review had only begun in October 2008. Given the huge scope of possible matters for review the decision had been taken to focus on 4 specific areas. The report covered the first of these four areas, that of leadership.
Although due to time constraints and the very poor weather earlier in the year a small number of schools had been visited there had been a cross section of schools visited including secondary and primary and urban and rural. The Lead Member of the Review thanked Roger Edwards and Bruce for arranging these visits. The Leader Member noted that the points coming out of the seven schools visited had been similar.
Members of the Review paid tribute to the openness of head teachers in speaking about the problems they faced including with targets and initial problems with SIPs. They also commended the general commitment and ability of Chairs of governors. They saw this as a vital element in raising educational attainment.
The link between the head teacher and the deputy head or senior management team was another vital factor.
Governors generally had been positive about governor training services and induction processes. Some felt that it would be useful to receive a refresher after 6 months. Chairs encouraged governors to undertake the training.
There appeared to be some problems around governor training in the North of the County. Information from the centre was sent out but did not always seem to get through to governors. Schools wanted to be able to commission and arrange their own governors training.
During discussion the major points were made:
(1) Members of the Review stressed that individual schools visited reported similar experiences. They had been very impressed by the inspiring quality of head teachers and Chairs of Governors that they had met and thanked them for taking the time to talk with the Review members. In schools doing well the head teachers were inspirational and the willingness of such schools to help other schools in the partnership was noted. Schools struggled to develop and maintain successful business links. The booklet on governorship produced by Martin Pounce was commended and it was suggested that Chairs of Governors have access to a copy. (2) Members regretted that it had not been possible to visit a small rural school due to weather and time. Some of these schools had no leadership team. (3) With regard to recommendation there was some discussion of the support currently available for governors. (4) On recommendation III there was some discussion over the process for recruiting governors and around succession planning for Chairs’ of governors. Members highlighted the need for flexibility to adapt to local circumstances. Reference was made to the useful to schools of a list of businesses that were willing to allow their staff to become governors. (5) On school visits the leaflet available to governors was commended. (6) There was some discussion of the intention and timescales with regard to recommendation VIII. The aim was for practical advice. (7) With regard to the section on local authority support the issue of joint leadership was highlighted as needed more explanation to schools. It was suggested that the recommendations be amended to better reflect the comments set out in the section. (8) It was felt that there should be specific reference to the possibility of Federation. (9) On training it was stated that there was an effort to provide appropriate local training and that many schools did work in partnership to provide training. Martin Pounce added that the provision of a customised session aimed at local need was part of the training package provided by the local authority. (10) On paragraph 15 it was suggested that it be sent to Councillors directly.
In summary the Chairman commended the report as a good start on a complex review: she would be recommending the carry over of the remaining aspects of the Review to the next Scrutiny Committee with the hope that there would be the time to gather a wider evidence base.
The Committee AGREED to adopt the Review report subject to any changes by the Lead Members in the light of the Committee’s comments, prior to submission to the Cabinet on 21 April 2009.
11/09 REDUCING TEENAGE CONCEPTIONS IN OXFORDSHIRE SCRUTINY REVIEW- AN INTERIM REPORT (Agenda item 6)
The Committee considered a paper (CA6) to brief Members on the findings of the initial review by the Director for Children, Young People & Families, jointly with the Director of Public Health, the action taken to date and plans for a follow-up review later this year.
This paper was in response to a request by the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee at the last meeting. The Chairman expressed her frustration at the lack of progress with the Committee’s planned review.
During discussion the following major points were made:
(1) Members expressed support for the additional funding for school health nurses to target hot spots. It was welcomed that they would be available outside school hours. (2) In targeting hot spots it was important not to forget the rural areas. (3) It was suggested that sex education that was too clinical or that presumed that sex was unwanted by young people were both turn offs. (4) There was reference to the increased pressure through the internet in addition to the traditional peer pressures. (5) There was discussion over the appropriate size of groups for education and the vital role to be played by parents. A member felt that the Healthy Schools Team needed more resources. (6) Members referred to the importance of taking forward separately the Alcohol Strategy Task Force as alcohol played a role in unwanted conceptions. (7) Members emphasised the need to break the cycle of teenage mums leading to their daughters also being teenage mums. They wished to see more about how young people could be encouraged not to have a baby. (8) It was felt that more intervention was needed with boys and young men.
The Lead Officer and Head of Joint Commissioning thanked the Committee for its comments.
12/09 HEALTHY OXFORDSHIRE SCHOOLS PROGRAMME – UPDATE (Agenda Item 7)
The Committee noted the update from Councillor Peter Handley on his activity as the Healthy Schools Champion.
13/09 SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME (Agenda Item 8)
The following items were suggested for the work programme for the new Committee following the June elections:
· Educational Attainment Scrutiny Review – Parts 2-4 · Joint work with the Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee into teenage pregnancy · Funding formula · Children & Young Person Plan refresh · Dissolution of the Learning & Skills Council – funding issues and preparation for. · Children’s Trust – Operation in Oxfordshire · Teaching of religious education in schools · Learning Disabilities
14/09 TRACKING SCRUTINY ITEMS (Agenda item 9)
No report.
15/09 FORWARD PLAN (Agenda Item 16)
No items were raised as this was the last meeting of the Committee before the election.
................................................................................... in the Chair
Date of signing.................................................................. 2009
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