ITEM BV8BEST VALUE COMMITTEE – 10 DECEMBER 2003BEHAVIOUR, ATTENDANCE AND EXCLUSIONS BEST VALUE REVIEW SECOND IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS REPORTReport by
the Director for Learning & Culture Introduction The Best Value Review on Behaviour, Attendance and Exclusions was completed in the Autumn of 2001 with a report to the committee on 29 November. A supplementary report was requested focusing on Children in Public Care and this was completed in October 2002. The first progress report was submitted on 4 December 2002. The main areas that the reviews focussed on were:
Current Status 6 areas for service improvement were recommended and progress on these are set out below. Progress in the implementation of the specific tasks that support the 6 improvement objectives is summarised in Appendix 1 (attached). Action 1 Support for Schools in Improving Standards of Behaviour
Progress: There has been significant progress on the targets to improve standards of Behaviour in schools. There have been 17 secondary inspections in the last 3 academic years which represents nearly 40% of the total, and 95 primary inspections also nearly 40%. %
of Good or better grades on behaviour;
Reduction
in % of Poor behaviour: Monitoring continues through the normal Annual Monitoring Quality review process. The systems for identifying schools where behaviour is of concern and where additional support can be targeted is in place for example through the Key Stage 3 Behaviour and Attendance audit, feedback from referrals to the Behaviour Support Team, analysis of Ofsted reports. Secondary school networks of Behaviour Coordinators are in place and feedback so far is very positive. Enhanced accredited training programmes for school staff are offered and uptake is good. An accredited course for Teaching Assistants has been well received. Action 2: Rapid Response to Exclusions
Progress: Action 2 (A) Permanent
exclusions fell from 71 in 2000/1 to 49 in 2001/02 but rose to 59 in 2002/03.
This reflects the general trend nationally. There is a PSA target to reduce
exclusions to 45 by 2005. In relation to specific high risk groups in
2002-03
15 were children of Primary School age There are some successes in these figures but the general increase is a concern though 49 permanent exclusions in 2001-02 may have been an unnaturally low figure. However Oxfordshire continues to be one of the lowest excluding authorities. Fixed term exclusions continues to be high. There were 3255 incidences totalling 10199 days in 2002/3 (provisional figures) in 2000/1 there were 8722 days and in 2001/2 there were 10,789 days. From November 2003 the Rapid Response Service has been extended to include: All
Oxford City Schools (Primary and Secondary) The consultation helpline continues and is available to any headteacher seriously considering a permanent exclusion. Action 3: Develop a countywide PRU and Reintegration Service (PRUIS)
Progress: The Pupil Referral Unit and Integration Service has now been running for a full year and an annual report has been produced. There is a consensus that the new service provides a more comprehensive and efficient service for pupils with behavioural difficulties across the LEA. An essential role of the new service is to provide a full time educational offer after 15 days to all pupils excluded permanently. This remains a challenge but data shows that the Rapid Response Programme made mean offers of .62 fte per secondary pupil and .74 fte per Child in Public Care throughout the year. This offer was achieved within 15 days, ie prior to the statutory full time beyond 15 days. All permanently excluded pupils placed on the KS3 reintegration programme received a full time offer and 88% of these pupils were successfully reintegrated to a mainstream school. All permanently excluded pupils on the Year 10 programme received a full time offer. Of 86 pupils on the Year 11 programme 28 had been previously excluded permanently. The average offer over the year for these pupils was 75% which compares favourably with other activities. Relocation As a result of the closure of the City Middle Schools, the old Marston Middle School building is being refurbished to provide extensive accommodation for PRUIS and will eventually house the City/South Year 10 programme, the Year 11 programme base and office and administration for the Rapid Response Programme and the rest of PRUIS. A block on one side of the building has already been refurbished to accommodate the City Education Social Work Service, City Educational Psychologists, Behaviour Support Service, Children in Public Care Reach Up Team, the Children’s Fund, the Advisory Service for the Education of Travellers the Youth Work Social Inclusion Team and the LEA Connexions Co-ordinator. This social inclusion Service relocation will enhance inter service working and will be a positive step forward when PRUIS is also relocated on the site. (The administrative offices and the Rapid Response Programme already occupy part of the building in advance of the refurbishment). Action 4: Attendance Action Plan
Progress : Overall attendance figures for Oxfordshire continue to improve. Overall attendance (ie Primary, Secondary and Special sector) has risen from 93.4% in 2002 to 93.6% in 2003. This steady year on year improvement has kept Oxfordshire above the national average for overall attendance in the last two years. The number of schools with overall attendance less than 92% also continues to decrease year on year, with only 32 schools in 2002-03 showing attendance of less than 92% (12 Secondary, 10 Primary, 5 Middle and 5 Special). There were 41 in this category in 2002. Work continues with the schools currently below 92% to set and agree specific improvement targets and agree action plans to address attendance issues. Unauthorised absence remains the primary focus of the ESW Service, especially in the secondary schools. Figures for unauthorised absence continue to improve with the level of unauthorised absence currently running at 1.1% in 2003; improved from 1.3% (2002) and 1.4% (2001). The figure of 1.1% is now the national average for unauthorised absence and can be seen as significant improvement but does not allow for complacency as the county target for unauthorised absence in 2004 has been revised by the DfES and set at 0.58%. Despite year on year improvement this remains a very challenging target. In the primary sector, unauthorised absence remained at 0.3%, the same as for 2002 and although this figure has not decreased in 2003, the rate of the unauthorised absence in the primary sector continues to be well under the national average of 0.43%. Nevertheless the target of 0.2% for 2003 was not achieved. A range of multi-agency and ESW/school partnership strategies have been introduced to try to tackle on-going attendance issues, such as truancy patrols, specific school action plans, first day response workers, improved electronic registration and the introduction of fast-track prosecution framework. These strategies will continue to be developed through 2003/04 and supplemented over time with the introduction of attendance policy and guidance packs available to all schools electronically The development of some whole school approaches to address attendance issues on an early intervention basis ie transition workshops, whole class attendance assemblies and possibly attendance panels. As a self-audit tool for schools, ESWs will introduce a diagnostic test for schools to enable Heads and Governors to measure their own performance on attendance. The main focus will continue to be the drive to reduce unauthorised absence.
Action 5: Strategic Planning Arrangements for Children at Risk of Social Exclusion
Progress: The Children’s Fund Plan was successful and £3.3 m over 3 years was approved and is now being implemented. The first review of the work shows that very good progress is being made and over 50 local projects have been approved. A multi agency partnership board including voluntary sector oversees developments. A strategy to involve children and young people in the design and delivery of services has been agreed across the full age range 0-19 with Children’s Fund and Connexions. The Children’s Programme Board, has been established and oversees policy and strategy for children. Currently the Board is coordinating a response to the Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’ and plans to undertake a multi agency Best Value Review of Children’s Services from April 2004. This will also explore the options for how a Children’s Trust for Oxfordshire may evolve and how greater integrated working across agencies can be achieved. The reorganisation within Learning and Culture to create the new Children’s Services has enabled a dedicated team of Access and Social Inclusion staff to ensure that the needs of vulnerable children can be better met. Tracking and Monitoring arrangements have improved. A Behaviour Inclusion working Group consisting of headteachers, governor representatives, teacher associations and officers will meet in November 03. The group will review progress on support for schools and identify continuing improvements or gaps in need. It is anticipated that this group will form an ongoing reference/monitoring group or Behaviour and Attendance Partnership and oversee strategies for Behaviour Support and social inclusion issues. Proposals are now being developed to take forward integrated support services through area support teams targeted to 4 areas of high need in Bicester, South Abingdon, Blackbird Leys/Littlemore and Drayton. Action 6: Implement a comprehensive action plan to support Children in Public Care (CIPC) who are at risk of exclusion and underachievement.
Progress: There has been progress on the action plan. Exclusions of CIPC reduced from 10 (2001) to 3in 2002 and 2 in 2003. Fixed term exclusions also reduced from 566 days (2001) to 506(2002) and 117 (2003). The educational attainment is showing improvements. Targeted work to improve the support for children in all key stages is underway and the Reach Up team has been strengthened with the addition of a Behaviour Support teacher, an Education Social Worker and a Key Stage 4 Specialist Teacher. Work to improve the attendance of CIPC has been identified as a priority area with a focus on Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers to ensure that school places are secured within 20 days and also in developing links with the residential children’s homes. There was an increase in the number of children reported to the DoH as being absent from school for more than 25 days due to the arrival of a large number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers in the year 11 age group who did not settle well in the education provision available at that time. The provision is now much improved and attendance problems are swiftly followed up. Providing access to a school place within 20 days of their care placement is monitored through the monthly CIPC panel. The LEA has revised its admissions policy for 2003 and CIPC are now recognised as one of the highest priorities for admission. The achievement of CIPC is a key priority in the Council’s Public Service Agreement. However
progress is slow.
The achievement of CIPC is now being targeted intensively for the Year 10 and 11 age group to achieve the challenging PSA targets for 2005/6. A specialist Key stage 4 teacher is working with an identified group of young people at risk of underachievement. There is close liaison between the REACH UP Team Development Officer with designated teachers and social workers to maximise support for young people in this target group. The implementation of Personal Education Plans improved by 300% during the year so that over 270 children had Personal Education Plans by the end of the academic year. There are good indications so far this year that practitioners are showing a high level of commitment to the PEP process now. Conclusion Overall the Best Value Review recommendations have been completed and significant progress has been made on the majority of tasks. Where some tasks have been delayed alternative action has been deployed to enable developments to continue. Progress on the recommendations has been regularly monitored by officers via the cross branch Social Inclusion Strategic Planning Group that met termly. All targets are also monitored through BVPIs and the Education Development Plan and the PSA. Other mechanisms are in place to support this work. More specific monitoring is overseen by joint agency groups for example through the Children In Public Care Steering Group; the PRUIS Steering Group; the Children’s Fund Partnership Board (5-13); the Connexions Local Management Committee (13-19). The Children’s Programme Board oversees much of the multi agency work and has agreed to take forward a Best Value Review of Children’s Services from April 2004. A Behaviour and Attendance/Social Inclusion Partnership group will be formed to include heasdteachers, teacher associations, governors, officers and partner agencies and this will monitor future Behaviour Support Plans and Social Inclusion Strategies. RECOMMENDATIONS The Committee is RECOMMENDED to agree that the review outcomes have been implemented satisfactorily and that ongoing progress will be appropriately monitored in future through the various mechanisms that are in place and that, therefore, no further progress reports should be brought to the Committee.
KEITH
BARTLEY Contact
Officer : Background
Papers: December
2003
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