Agenda item

1.15 pm

Report by the Cabinet Member for Public Health & Education (ESC6).

The report is in response to the former Overview and Scrutiny investigation into school exclusions in Oxfordshire. It details the actions agreed in response to the recommendations in the report presented to Cabinet on 17 April 2018.

The Education Scrutiny Committee is RECOMMENDED to note the response to the recommendations and support the delivery of the action plan and the ongoing reporting of progress to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

In April 2018 the Cabinet received a report from the Education Scrutiny Working Group into Education Exclusions in Oxfordshire.  The Working party had been established in response to the Education Scrutiny Committee identifying the increasing numbers of fixed term and permanent exclusions in Oxfordshire schools and academies as a concern.

The Committee had before it a report (ESC6) from the Cabinet Member for Public Health & Education which provided a response to the former Overview and Scrutiny investigation into school exclusions in Oxfordshire, setting out details of the actions agreed in response to the recommendations in the report presented to Cabinet on 17 April 2018.

Councillor Hibbert-Biles whilst welcoming the findings of the deep dive and the report, explained that they had not yet got a full team in place so would be unable to do all that the Committee had asked straight away, but had started the process of getting the right team in place with the appointment of the Deputy Director and hoped to cover all the issues in the report in due course.  She fully agreed that inclusion was a top priority and this had been a recent discussion at the Children’s Trust.

Further training for Governors was a priority as was inclusion.  There was a need to work in cohesion across services to reduce exclusions, increase inclusion and get the right curriculum in place for the right children.

In response to questions from members, The Deputy Director, David Clarke explained that training for Governors was currently being addressed.  Recent changes in Governor Services was hoped to lead to better leadership and support.

During debate the Committee made the following points:

There was a need to ensure acadamies were on board – Councillor Hibbert-Biles felt good progress was being made via the Heads & Chairs Meeting.  Councillor Hibbert-Biles was also visiting all schools across the County.  There was also the learning engagement project, fair access panels and Oxford Headteacher’s Association.

The Committee would wish to receive an update on exclusions every 6 months;

There needed to be Director level reporting to Governors – more information on Education Dash Board and a greater consistency across the Council/

The involvement of the Regional School Commissioner was vital in ensuring academies were on board – Councillor Hibbert-Biles undertook to add this as a standard item to their meetings with the RSC.

The Committee felt that the time for being referred for EHCP remained too long, with children waiting 6-9 months for referrals – Councillor Hibbert-Biles agreed that the wait was too long but that the SEND Board was working on it.  The new target was 24 weeks and so far 50% had been done and the other 50% were on track to be done in 24 weeks.

RESOLVED:to:

(a)      note the response to the recommendations and support the delivery of the action plan and the ongoing reporting of progress to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

(b)      note that the Cabinet Member for Public Health would facilitate the involvement of the Regional Schools Commissioner to ensure all academies were on Board.