2:25
The committee will receive a
presentation on sufficiency of school places for information and to inform
future discussion.
Members of Scrutiny Committee
have requested an update on population trends affecting the provision of
education services for children and young people in the county. These trends are expected to inform a
strategy to meet demand to be presented later in the year.
The Education Scrutiny Committee
is RECOMMENDED to note the presentation given and receive a further report on
actions to meet the provision of Education services later in the year.
Minutes:
Members of Scrutiny Committee had requested an update on
population trends affecting the provision of education services for children
and young people in the county. These
trends expected to inform a strategy to meet demand to be presented later in
the year.
Accordingly, the Committee received a presentation by Allyson
Milward, Head of Access to Learning on sufficiency of school places for
information and to inform future discussion.
Ms Milward reported that the primary phase ‘bulge’ in pupil
numbers of recent years was transferring to secondary schools from 2019/20
academic year. The projected trends in
pupil numbers in the primary phase for the next five years showed clear
increases in areas of proposed housing growth but falling numbers in some areas
where this is not the case. Strategies
to manage the expected changes in demand for places with primary schools in the
county are being reviewed and will be the subject of further reports to this
committee in due course. When planning
new schools, the whole local picture of provision will always be considered including
relocations of existing schools to meet whole community needs. There has also been a decline in the birth
rate for the last 4 years, again not evenly geographically spread, and so
published admission numbers for some schools may need to be reviewed and other
ways to allow groups of schools to maximise the value of resources
investigated. An updated Oxfordshire
Pupil Place Plan is being consulted on with Headteachers currently. Forecasts
for pupil numbers had been sent off to the DfE to determine allocations, which
would be fed into the pupil place plan.
The Plan will go for Cabinet approval in January. There was also an
Action Plan to support sufficient and sustainable school places with a series
of actions to be agreed with schools and other stakeholders. The action plan would be presented to the
Committee in due course.
The Chairman raised concern regarding the fair access
protocol. He was aware of one school,
that had blocked taking children into the school, stating that they had closed their
Year Group. He queried whether officers
were aware and whether appropriate action was being taken with the
Governors? In response, Ms Milward
confirmed that they were aware, and that appropriate action was being taken.
The Committee questioned what was being done around the
long-term identification of growth or decline in pupil numbers and the
Council’s ability to assure capacity to meet that within schools. In relation to that, concern about children
coming into schools outside the main admissions rounds and during the academic
year was expressed and potential for children to be without a school place for
a long period.
Ms Milward explained that if children were coming into the
area over the summer holidays, there was very little they could do about the
delay. Keeping track of changes in
places available during the time when schools are not open is a particular
challenge but an additional factor in delays is that the Council had no powers
to accelerate the process to admit children into academies. Academies are admissions authorities. There is close liaison with council officers
but ultimately each admissions authority needs to formally approve the offer of
any place before the council can process this.
Mr Hilliard reported that they were having termly meetings
with the Regional Schools Commissioner and increasingly strong dialogue with
Headteachers and the MAT Chief Executives.
There were also new governor services officers in place who could pick this
issue up and add it to the questions that Governor’s should be asking Schools.
RESOLVED: to note the presentation given and
receive a further report on actions to meet the provision of Education services
later in the year.