Agenda item

To consider the above report and an update on Education.

Laura Rogerson, Head of Service for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Virtual School Headteacher for Cared for Children attended the meeting and presented this report to the Committee.

The Committee heard that the Virtual School had continued to provide an effective service to Cared for Children within statutory duties throughout the pandemic. Laura noted that the Virtual School Headteacher had also provided an Interim role as Head of Service for SEND, so a Deputy had been appointed to help support the work.

The emphasis of this report was on case studies that outlined impact, there had been links with partners and direct quotes to add more depth to report.

In terms of staffing there had been an increase in core staffing, some of this was funded through the Pupil Premium.  The service was committed to ensure all children and young people in care were in an education provision that was right for them.

Children, Carers and Families had been contacted in August to encourage a return to school in September and discuss any support that may have been required.  During the first term, there was a priority on the completion of Personal Education Plans for students to have clear targets on their return to school.

The Committee heard that the main use of the Pupil Premium funding had been used towards one to one or small group teaching, supporting the enhancement of social and emotional skills and the purchase of specific resources.  There had been other uses for the funding which included:

• High cost support for children with particular needs;
• Exam preparation;
• Preparation for transition;
• Recreational activities;
• Support of post 16-year olds to enable the reduction of those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) from 16% in 2019 to 6.3% this year; and
• An RSPCA programme where children got to work alongside staff to care for animals as part of their school day and bespoke school work.

In terms of attainment children have not missed out during the pandemic and have attained very well.  There had been a 92% attendance since the return to school with 55% of Personal Education Plans completed.  The service were aiming for this to get to 90% by Christmas.

The Committee were advised that since the start of this term, the Council had brokered a range of interventions to Support targeted work with vulnerable groups and to support catch up.  Some were Cheshire East programmes where some were Government initiatives and included  academic mentoring, the National Tutor Programme and the increased use of IT through the national ‘EdTech’ programme.

The Committee were given the opportunity to ask questions and give comment to the report.

The Chairman noted that the current percentage figures for those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) had come down significantly to 6.3% and the service should be commended on that.

There was a query about how the quality of the teachers provided by Government was measured. Laura advised that the National Tutoring Programme contained a database of over 30 providers and the schools submit an expression of interest directly to the Department for Education (DFE) and from there a provider is assigned. Whilst the service is not directly involved in that there was a feeling that the service would be working more closely with schools to determine the needs of the school. Whereas with academic mentoring there was one specific provider which enabled the service to have more oversight on what the offer would be.

The Virtual School was funded to enable the service to procure tutors, impacts of this will be measured via the Personal Education Plans (PEP).

RESOLVED:

That Laura be thanked for her attendance and presentation and that the report be accepted and noted.