Agenda item

10.25

The committee is asked to agree the report on the recent Early Intervention Hubs visits and discussion.

The committee will also receive a recommendation following the Preparing Young People for Employment Seminar that took place in September.

Lastly, the committee will receive an Education update.

Early Intervention Hubs report:

Cllr Patrick noted that she was pleased to see that this work has happened and will keep watching and waiting as there is a mixed picture at the moment for how well they are all working.

The committee discussed the need to have the right engagement between hubs and schools and that schools should be reaching out to their hubs as well.

It was agreed that this topic be revisited in Autumn 2013 as part of the work programme.

Preparing Young People for Employment Seminar

Cllr Waine presented a recommendation for the committee to consider:

"It is recommended that the council support Oxfordshire Skills Board to develop employability skills in young people whilst they are at school, by supporting a competition which will encourage young people to develop such skills. Winners could then showcase their winning talent to a younger audience at an event which provides a platform for local businesses to offer information and advice to all visitors about local jobs."

He suggested that as an upcoming activity the committee might visit a school in each of the 3 geographic areas, north, central and south and explore best practice in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) coursework as it relates to business needs

The need for a mechanism to ensure schools and businesses are better connected was highlighted.

The committee agreed to the recommendation and the visits to schools.

Education Update

Frances Craven (FC) joined for the final item on committee business. She updated on the Reading Campaign:  45 schools have signed up for the first round, 103 volunteers have come forward and volunteer trainer begins in January.  The local press have been very positive and supportive of the campaign and have advertised it widely.

Twilight sessions are being held to get more schools involved and data from the latest Key Stage results is being reviewed to identify other schools who could benefit from the campaign.

Cllr Owen queried whether the volunteers are all CRB checked and whether they have to pay for this. FC explained that they are all checked, paid for by the schools.

Cllr Waine expressed the disappointment that early conversations about working in tandem with the city council had broken down and wondered what was being done to ensure this did not have a detrimental effect on the campaign.

FC assured the committee that they are working well with city council officers to minimise confusion around the two schemes.

Cllr Waine asked whether all targeted schools are taking part in the campaign and whether they are giving clear reasons if they are opting out.

FC explained that the responses are documented and will be analysed. The data can be provided to the committee. It is their understanding, particularly in the city, that all schools will engage with the programme.

Cllr Smith explained that whilst she had reservations over having competing schemes they seem to be working well together. However the picture is changing quickly and it is unclear what academies will decide to do.

The committee expressed appreciation to the officers and hoped that they keep up the good work.

FC reported that the Education Transformation Board has met twice and is expected to produce its first report after the third meeting.

FC gave a brief overview of the work of the board and the committee requested to know more about what the board can do.