Agenda and minutes

Mrs J Law proposed and Mrs A D Allen seconded that Mr R B Burgess be elected Chairman of the Select Committee.

Agreed without a vote

Mr Burgess thereupon took the Chair.

Mr R B Burgess, Mr A R Chell, Mr R Parry, Mr K Pugh and Mr K Smith all made non-pecuniary declarations as Governors and trustees of various schools in Kent.

Before proceeding with the business, the Chairman asked all those present to introduce themselves.  He welcomed to the meeting Sean Carter, Extended Services Lead Manager, Jo Jackson, Senior Policy Officer, and Jo Allchurch, Extended Services Project Officer, who were present as observers.

1.         Members had a general discussion about aspirations for this piece of work and set out views on what should be included and how the topic should be approached.  Views expressed were as follows:-

a)         there is much good practice that the committee should hear about, but it is also important to find out where things are not happening as they should, for instance, interviews representatives from some of the 5% of schools which do not meet the minimum standards of the core offer;

b)         there will shortly be another select committee which will look at low attainment in primary schools, and this committee should avoid crossing over into its remit;

c)         it is important to talk to the people involved in delivering extended services on the ground, as well as hearing about theory and policy;

d)         the committee should not be introspective and look just at Kent’s practice, but should look outside for examples of good practice which could be copied;

e)         some Head Teachers and governors are reluctant to relinquish ‘ownership’ of their school, but there needs to be change of attitude towards seeing the school as belonging to the community;

f)          the review needs to look at how to reach hard-to-reach and disaffected families who do not engage with school, children’s centres, etc;

g)         the review should look at how academies could engage more with their communities, and how their facilities could be used by the community;

h)         the committee should not become involved in staffing issues around the reorganisation of the CFE Directorate;

i)          it would be helpful to engage with the Cabinet Members who proposed the review, half way through the evidence gathering process, so the committee can share its findings so far; and

j)          the list of witnesses invited to contribute evidence, either written or oral, should be as broad as possible.

2.         In addition, it was suggested that the committee undertake visits to the following:

            a)         The Bridge project in Dartford;

            b)         The Living Well project in Dartford; and

            c)         The Quartet Community in Garlinge, near Margate.

3.         Members discussed and supported the proposed Terms of Reference which were set out in page 4 of the papers, as well as the Scope which expanded the Terms of Reference, and agreed the following adjustments to the wording of the latter:-

• Amend 2c) to read ‘clarify commissioning roles and relationships between schools, Local Authorities and other commissioning bodies.’

• Amend 2d) to read ‘Investigate how partnership working between all agencies involved in providing extended services in Kent can be maximised.’

• Delete the word ‘explore’ from 2e)

• Add a new Term of Reference 5 to read ‘having investigated the above, make recommendations…..’

4.         A suggested additional point 4d) ‘to explore the potential of 16 – 19 year old providers’ facilities to provide extended services’ was not added, but it was agreed that Mr K Smith would look into and report back on this issue as a ‘rapporteur’.

5.         Members then  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

1.         Miss Grayell circulated a list of dates which had been identified from the canvassing exercise, which would cover the evidence gathering programme and the drafting of recommendations. 

2.         She then set out a number of suggested administrative arrangements for the timing of interview sessions and the handling of information which had been tried and tested by previous Select Committees, and it was agreed that:-

a)         evidence gathering sessions be half-days only, each half-day including three interviews, each of 45 minutes’ duration, with a 15-minute break between;

b)         a ‘summing up’ session of 20 minutes’ duration be added to the end of each half-day, after the public part of the proceedings, to allow Members to summarise and note the main issues arising from the session.  This will be shown on the agenda;

c)         all agendas, papers and briefings be circulated to Members by email, followed by paper copies of the formal meeting papers;

d)         summaries of evidence-gathering interviews be shared with  Select Committee Members as soon as possible after each interview, but these remain in draft form until they have been cleared and agreed by the respective interviewees.