Agenda and minutes

Apologies:  Carole Thomson, Chris Bevan, Cllr Chapman (Cllr Tilley substituting) Cllr Hurchinson for Cllr Val Smith.

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To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2011 (CH3) and to note for information any matters arising from them.

Cllr Waine was in attendance

p. 6 Should say that it is important for a Management Board to be put in place

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10:15

The Director of Children, Education and Families will give an update on the current activity and priorities of the directorate.

The Committee is invited to receive the presentation which will be followed by a question & answer session.

MeeraSpillet provided her regular update on the latest issues affecting the Directorate.

At several points during the presentation, the committee had discussions on items.

The topic of commissioning was discussed amongst the committee.  Cllr Seale stated that the term commissioning can be confusing as it means different things to different people in different contexts.  The Director defined it as a map of services and matching those services to purchasing.  She emphasised the benefit of data led decisions.  She went on to say that in a climate of limited resources it became increasingly important to use research and evidence to focus resources on achieving results. 

The Director relayed some themes that emerged from a recent national conference she attended with other children’s services directors.  She related that there were national themes around culture change that were relevant to Oxfordshire.  That the discussion pertained to shifting officers’ thinking towards:

Outcomes not Targets

Evidence not Ideology

Culture not Structure

Cllr Godden voiced concern that this ‘culture change’ was meant to have taken place with the splitting of services several years ago, and that this does not seem to have happened.

The Director consented and stated that a change in structure does not necessarily bring desired culture change.

Cllr Waine stated that after 20 years of topdown directives from government, the shift is to local decisions.  He asked about the interface between evidence based local decisions and funding decisions that are made nationally.

The Director acquiesced that this was a big question and that it was still unclear how this would play out nationally.

Sue Matthew commented that she had recently heard that Oxford University is partnering with the Children’s Trust and that this was an exciting development.

Cllr Waine confirmed that it had taken place and that it had been in the works for a while.

Cllr Fitzgerald-O’Connor asked about the Sure Start Programme evaluation.  Was it true that this evaluation did not have the expected outcomes?

The Director stated that the directorate was in the process of developing guidance on this evaluation.  There are issues when trying to make a direct comparison as the levels of resource vary.  Funding levels were scaled back in subsequent waves.  She acknowledged that there was a need to better focus provision and the directorate is about to do a review for the county.

There was a discussion on the new provision of families approaching schools directly for admittance mid-year.  There was a concern that families might not understand their rights if schools did not admit their child or understand the appeal process.  There was also a concern regarding the ongoing consultation to increase the time allowed to file an appeal from 10 to 30 days.  This could amount to a considerable amount of time for a child to be out of school.  While the specific reason for this proposed increase was unknown, it was suggested by Cllr Fitzgerald-O’Connor that it could address some time pressures on parents to build an appeal.

The Director gave an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 146/11

10:45

As a follow on to the seminar held last year, the committee will hear an update on the current position of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) as well as recent developments around the apprentice schemes.

Sandra Higgs, Business and Skills Manager, will give an overview followed by a question and answer session.

For the second part of this item the committee will hear from Martin Dare-Edwards, the Chairman of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Oxon-LEP) on the views of the business community around Science Education in the county.  His presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Sandra Higgs (SH), Business and Skills Manager for Oxfordshire County Council addressed the committee.  She reported that while it was good news that apprenticeships were on the rise in Oxfordshire, there were other parts of the South East which were experiencing faster growth.  She reviewed a few details on the data including the fact that hairdressing is the most popular apprenticeship, by far.  As the manager, she indicated that she would like to see an increase in areas like engineering which currently ranks 8^th for younger apprentices and not in the top 10 for older apprentices.  Cllr Bonner asked about the number of apprentices who drop-off their scheme to which SH responded that it is less of an issue for OCC that, although we have fewer in number, our quality of those is actually higher.

Cllr Hutchinson remarked that it was important to draw the connection between the scheme and young people who are successful in being placed in a job.

SH responded that in many cases, the companies who utilise apprentices, have a tendency to keep the young people on in employment.

The committee discussed that some of the take up may have a gender component with fewer girls opting for engineering placements.  It was mentioned that gender bias starts young and that there already exists a number of women in science events across the county to help address this. 

Martin Dare-Edwards (MDE), the Chairman of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Oxon-LEP) joined SH at the table. 

He spoke about his view that there was disconnect in what companies were looking for as far as qualifications are concerned, and what was being provided at Oxfordshire colleges.  His read on what businesses are looking for goes beyond what can be a narrow skill set, as defined by the qualifications.  Companies are more interested in an ‘all-rounder’.  He feels that colleges need to start to address a new sector and that they need to ensure students have ‘combined skills’. A ‘job-for-life’ does not exist in today’s job market in the same way that it once did.  He spoke about the need for the country to feed the high tech sectors to keep the UK competitive and to ensure that high paying jobs continued to be created to support current standards of living.

Cllr Bonner commented that a primary component was essential.

Cllr Waine agreed adding that Science Oxford provides an excellent outreach to primary students.

Cllr Seale spoke about the importance of culture change in promoting apprenticeships.  He felt that there needed to be better communication about the huge benefits of apprenticeships.  Young people might not realise that some leaders and senior managers in companies such as BMW came in through the scheme and not through a university route.  He felt that in some cases for some industries, an apprenticeship scheme is superior to a university education.  He asked what the committee could do to support the work.

SH agreed that a culture change was very important and pointed out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 147/11

11:45

The committee will receive a presentation from Sean O'Sullivan, Headteacher, Frank Wise School.

Frank Wise is a Special School for children and young adults aged between 2 and 19. It is a school which prides itself on delivering effective learning in a caring, sensitive and dynamic environment centred around the needs of the individual child.

The school’s curriculum, the calibre and qualities of its staff and the school’s willingness to share with parents any aspect of their child’s education are at the heart of its success.

As a Specialist Special School in Cognition and Learning, Frank Wise School is committed to sharing good practice and involving itself in educational developments on a local, regional, national and international basis.

After the presentation, Janet Johnson, Strategic Lead for Learning Difficulties and Disabilities will join the discussion for a question and answer session.

The committee received a presentation from Sean O’Sullivan (SO) the Headteacher at Frank Wise School.

The Committee discussed the data around children under 5 on Roll in Special Schools from 2007-2011.

SO commented that the figures suggest that identifying and addressing issues with children early can lead to better outcomes for an individual child.  Beyond that, this approach can be less costly in the long run.

Several barriers to taking this approach were discussed.  It was stated that there are political considerations, that parents views may differ wildly on the preferred approach for their child, and that educational professionals views may also differ. 

Janet Johnson (JJ), Children with SEN Manager, joined the discussion to add that the number of admissions for 2 and 3 years olds has increased.  This would indicate that students are being identified earlier.

JJ commented that there are, however, families who would like their children to stay in mainstream schools as long as possible.  Adding that in some cases, these are very strong preferences.

Cllr Bonner thanked SO for his presentation and acknowledged his views.

SO thought that work could be done to popularise this provision (special schools) and promote the support that special schools can offer.  He continued that work needed to take place to address any existing stigma and convince parents of the merits.  He felt that what was needed was a cultural shift as a whole.

Cllr Bonner asked for specifics on what could be done.

SO listed that more can be done to celebrate achievements, that further cross learning between schools could take place, and that better joined up working should happen between areas.  He also mentioned that linking in with the Early Intervention Hubs was important.

Cllr Seale concurred that there was a stigma issue and felt that a large part of it was down to the views of other children.

Cllr Waine commented that it was down to perceptions.  Were special schools ‘schools of last resort’, or was there a consideration about what the schools actually have to offer.

Cllr Turner thought that even the name ‘Special School’ stigmatises (or can).  Adding that at the end of the day it is the outcomes that matter most.

JJ commented that the evidence suggests that teacher competency is the key factor in achieving good outcomes.

Brenda Williams (COTO) spoke about current teacher demands in that they are higher than they have ever been in the past.  Her view was that the requirements placed on teachers at mainstream schools are not possible within the current resources.  She felt that the debate about inclusion, which has benefits, does not fully take into account the impact on those providing services.

Cllr Turner requested that this item come back in 6-9 months time once the hubs were in place.

Cllr Bonner said that this item could be part of the discussion scheduled for the next committee meeting in September.

12:45

The Committee is asked to suggest items from the current Forward Plan on which it may wish to have an opportunity to offer advice to the Cabinet before any decision is taken, together with details of what it thinks could be achieved by looking at any items.

Information Share

Cllr Bonner reported on the recent Select Committee style review held the previous week on KS1 results.  It was her view that it was an excellent meeting and inspirational to hear directly from ‘the front line’ the work that is being carried out on behalf of the young people in the county.

She said that there would be a report to the September meeting on the outcomes from the review.

Sue Matthew informed the committee about the upcoming Children’s Parliament scheduled for Wednesday, the 9^th of September from 9.00 to 15.00 in the council chamber.

12:55

The meeting finished at 12.50.