Agenda item

Since the Select Committee first spoke to you, it has heard much from other contributors about how Extended Services is being delivered and what problems have been encountered.  We have also visited sites at which Extended Services is being delivered in various forms.

 

We wanted to speak to representatives from KCC Directorates again to talk about our findings and ask further questions which we did not have at the beginning.

 

(SC) I have prepared a document called ‘Beyond the Core Offer – the Sustainability of Extended Services in Kent’ (tabled) which sets out where Extended Services is at the moment and what is possible in the future, delivered by whom and using which models.  This paper is intended to offer options rather a solution.  The previous government had measured the roll-out of the core offer as being 98%, but the quality and suitability of provision had not been assessed.  With the new government things will inevitably change, and there is much uncertainty. Ofsted is likely to have a narrower inspection framework, which might exclude the ‘community cohesion’ category, and more schools are likely to become Academies.

(MW)  Looking at the broader agenda, there is speculation that GPs and some independent schools will be given funding to deliver ‘community preventative services’, which would include Extended Services.  A government white paper on this will be issued in July 2010, and the challenge for local authorities will be how to engage with these other partners to take advantage of these resources.

 

Can you suggest innovative and creative ways for Kent County Council to deliver effective Extended Services in the County, given the substantial reduction in funding and staff in the Extended Services Team?  Who else could deliver Extended Services, if not the KCC?

(SC) Some schools are fully engaged, and Extended Services is part of the ethos of those schools.  Quality in Study Support (QISS) is being used by more schools, with collaborative working to increase community engagement.  Schools need to build capacity and skills to continue this.

 

Are schools doing this individually or in groups?

(SC)  In community groups, as a collaborative exercise.

 

The Select Committee has been shown a suggested model for Extended Services provision, which has been put together as a result of what the Committee has heard from other contributors.  Can you give us your thoughts on it, and how KCC could help to make it work?

(MW) The Local Authority has a leadership role, with other partners, as part of the Kent Partnership, and as part of Total Place.  The KCC could be a lead and a champion but would not necessarily be involved in the actual activity.  Work will be undertaken by local bodies, which will differ across the county.

 

Why is this not happening already?  Surely this would be a cheaper way to do it?

(MW) I agree that we could have pushed this forward earlier, but partnership working is complicated and takes time.  We thought we had more time (at least another year) to establish and roll out this sort of model, but we have been caught out by the rapid changes this year.

 

Does the Children and Young Persons’ Plan (CYPP) include Extended Services or Extended Learning?  Can we press for these to be included?

(MW) Extended Services is not explicit in the CYPP, but is a facilitator of and contributor to several other aspects of the Plan.

 

Would a policy in the CYPP help to spread the message about Extended Services?

(MW)  Yes, it would.

 

If it can be proven that Extended Services helps narrow the attainment gap, we should emphasise this.

(MW)  The broader reference in the CYPP is good, but Extended Servicescan be all things to all people.  A more focused inclusion would have helped to show evidence of the benefits of Extended Services.

 

How can KCC help schools to work together to find a way forward?  How can the model be promoted?

(SC)  KCC can promote a model but cannot instruct schools to use it.  There is a capacity issue if KCC is to support all schools, which will all be at different stages of implementation, and some area-based posts will be need to help this.

 

Can you confirm what posts will remain in the Extended Services team, and for how long?

Funding for the project office will end in March 2011, and three officers have fixed-term contracts until then.  21 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) co-ordinator posts will continue until the end of August 2011.

 

You said GPs might become involved in Extended Services provision. Can you explain how that will work?

(MW)  This is speculation, based on the review of Health funding for prevention.  We expect the preventative health budget to go to GPs, to be used via practice-based commissioning.  They could prescribe physical activity for a child’s health and wellbeing. These plans will become clear when the White Paper is published in July 2010.  As local government funding is reduced, more of the funding which used to come to the local authority will go direct to schools.  This funding method supports the consortium model.

 

I am concerned that the government believes that 98% of schools are satisfactorily delivering the core offer.  What data is there to show that the expected outcomes are being achieved?

(MW) QISS data is used, and at the advanced level of accreditation, schools have to give evidence to show the beneficial impact of Extended Services.  It is very difficult to evidence impact nationally, but easier locally, and we have evidence that Extended Services helps attainment.

 

The timescale caught us out too. We need to focus in building sustainability, and we have until April 2011 to focus effort and direction.  We need to identify the position that we want to be in by April 2011 and work towards achieving it.  I imagine that we could do this by showing examples of good practice and encouraging other schools to follow these examples.

(MW) I agree.  We have the freedom to get away from just the core offer.  We need to start now, as we have ten months.

 

We need to think how to promote Extended Services and get more Head Teachers to commit to their community.  We could involve sponsors and local businesses.  There is much to do in ten months. KCC should be the link and make Head Teachers realise that they have to do this.  As Ofsted’s role diminishes, I suggest that we look into KCC taking on the role of regulator.  In the meantime, we need to get communities and local businesses on board

 

To help raise attainment, we need to make children happy.   How can we overcome the issue of rural transport to access Extended Services?

(SC)  By using the Freedom Pass, and by opening activities up to all in the community, not necessarily a school’s own pupils.

(MW)  It is important that the Freedom Pass is extended to older age groups, but there will need to be some buses for them to catch!  There are some examples of community transport schemes, eg ‘Wealden Wheels’, which get some KCC funding support, but very little. There is much merit in the social enterprise model, and social enterprise concerns seem to be surviving the recession more successfully than many other businesses, but they need an income generating arm and some inventive thinking.

 

The Select Committee has thought similar as it has spoken to various contributors; Extended Services could be delivered to local communities rather than local schools, minibuses could be shared, and the Freedom Pass could be extended to include travel by train and taxi.  Some District Councils are able to give alternative transport schemes financial backing; we will have to look into that.

 

MIDES in Dover and the Quartet project in Thanet are both good, sustainable schemes. Can these be replicated with success in other areas of Kent, in the time available?

(MW) Yes, we intend to replicate these successful models, but the details might differ when we apply them to other localities, as every area is different. How could the Select Committee help with this?

(SC)  We have seven more co-ordinators on board to help with replicating these models.  Good co-ordination and school engagement are both vital to successful Extended Services, and some local Head Teachers need to be challenged to get on board. The frameworks themselves are a good platform but we need people to get together to deliver them.

(MW) The three new co-ordinators won’t be in post until September 2010, but some Extended Services managers will still be in post until the end of October, so there will be some overlap and extra capacity for a little while. We have tried to interest schools in models of Extended Services but have gained small return for the time and effort we have put in.  We need to re-launch and re-badge Extended Services. Some schools do not want to be in the vanguard, but if they delay in taking up Extended Services until later, they will then be in a weakened position.

 

With the legislation change that you were talking about earlier, will there be a change to the role of Children’s Centres, which are a type of Extended Services in themselves?

(SC) We will know more about this shortly, after a meeting next week. It would be good to have a model in which children’s centres and schools link and relate well together.  There will always be some overlap between the two, as families do not fit neatly into pigeon holes.

 

Could Children’s Centres ever run Extended Services?

(MW) New legislation might focus attention on vulnerable children, so there seems to be willingness to consider this option.

 

The Children’s Centre at the Quartet project (visited by the Select Committee) was involved in Extended Services.

 

How can the role of the voluntary sector be enhanced in order to provide and support Extended Services, and how can the energy of this sector be harnessed to help Extended Services?

(MW)  It is vital to have a voluntary sector, so we must protect it. It could perhaps be involved as part of a partnership with the Youth Service.

 

We have come across good and bad examples of partnership working and Extended Services provision.  How can we address the differences?

(MW)  There are examples of good and bad relationships between Head Teachers, Governors and the local community. Training of Head Teachers has helped them to embrace their role as community leaders, and this has helped, and there are also some new Head Teachers coming into the job with a different attitude. School Improvement Officers and those delivering Governor training need to fully understand the need to spread the Extended Services agenda, and we can get them to help promote it.

 

I think we should bring together all Head Teachers and Governors with all KCC Members (many of whom are Governors) to raise the issue with them all together.

 

What are the priorities for the limited timescale that we have?

(SC) The priorities are the five strands listed on page 3 of the document I tabled at the start of this interview.

 

What about prioritising areas of low attainment?

(SC) Nationally, 50% of schools listed as having low attainment are in affluent areas. 

(MW) In Kent, most of the affluent areas tend to be in the West of the county.

Deprived minority areas which are in predominantly affluent areas have a bigger gap in attainment between themselves and their better-performing peers. The picture of attainment patterns is very complex, and new work focuses on narrowing the gap.