Minutes:
1) Mrs Prendergast said the first key stage 2 attainment statistics since 2019 had recently been published, covering the attainment of year 6 pupils. Sadly but not unexpectedly, 59% of pupils were assessed to be meeting the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths, down from 65% in 2019.
The Schools Bill had proved to be controversial, with a significant number of amendments made as it has progressed through the House of Lords. KCC was submitting an expression of interest in participating in the “test and learn” phase of the government plans to promote Local Authority established Multi Academy Trusts. Whether KCC was successful or not, during the autumn term officers were work with the Kent Association of Headteachers to engage the range of providers in the education sector to consider options related to the Schools Bill.
There was an update on the locally commissioned review of 16-19 provision - Pathways for All. Members were encouraged to read the summary if not the document in full.
Mrs Prendergast met with Simon Cook, Chief Executive of Mid -Kent college and visited their campus in Maidstone where she learnt about the breadth of their offer, future plans and was able to talk with some students.
The three Kent FE colleges educate 25,470 students and like other education settings, had to support them both during and post pandemic. A letter from Lucy McLeod, Chief Education Officer at the EKC Group, was received about the very positive impact of the Covid Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) funding which was distributed across Kent last year. They expanded 1:1 and group counselling, established a wide range of additional clubs, alongside trips and visits for students to engage in and trained Mental Health First Aiders. Thanks were given to Lucy for taking the time to feedback the impact of the funding on supporting students.
KCC’s Reconnect programme was still working with schools, and the second in a series of hackathons last month saw nine school teams focusing on ways to improve health, wellbeing and the ability to engage with learning within their school communities. Mrs Prendergast spent some time talking to pupils as they formulated their ideas and the presentation. The three overall winners were The School of Science and Technology (Maidstone), St Peter’s CEP School (Folkestone), and Lady Joanna Thornhill PS (Ashford). Congratulations were given to them and to all those who took part.
Behind the scenes, officers were continuing to drive improvement in a variety of ways and thanks were given for this good work.
The Transport Eligibility team in Fair Access had streamlined the way parents secure free school transport for their children. Secondary transfer mainstream families were contacted to advise them of their child’s eligibility status, reducing the administrative burden of processing two and a half thousand applications. This allowed the team to focus on the assessment of SEN pupils applications, which could be fully automated to allow consideration of each child’s individual circumstances. This placed KCC in the best possible position to meet the challenges of finalising school transport against a backdrop of a pressured transport sector and record high fuel prices.
Some bus services which serve schools are being withdrawn from September.This was unfortunately due to a combination of bus operator service withdrawals and the reduction in bus subsidies that KCC provided to keep certain services operating. The challenges that had led to these service withdrawals included lower passenger numbers combined with expensive fuel costs, driver shortages and rising inflation affecting the cost of maintaining vehicles. Colleagues in Public Transport were in direct communication with schools who were to be affected by service withdrawals, and communications were being distributed to Kent families and on our website.
KCC would ensure that travel options were provided to pupils who are eligible for free school transport, fulfilling our statutory duty to do so. A child’s entitlement to free school transport was not dependent on the mode of travel they currently use, which unfortunately meant that pupils would not become entitled to free school transport as a result of the changes. A dedicated resource was available on Kent.gov.uk to advise parents on what they could do if they found themselves affected by the changes. KCC was to provide refunds to any parents who have bought a Kent Travel Saver bus pass which could not be used because services had been withdrawn or were to be later this year. KCC was also working closely with other bus operators to see if they were able to offer any services to those being withdrawn but it was recognised that all operators are facing the same set of challenges.
It was acutely understood how difficult these changes would be for families across Kent and every effort was being undertaken to reduce their impact, however, KCC alone was not able to balance the impact currently being felt nationally across the transport sector.
Last week, two burst water mains on the Isle of Sheppey resulted in residents and schools being left without water for two days. Schools and settings had to clos as they could not operate safely.
A Red Alert weather warning had been issued for the first time for the week beginning 18 July 2022. Officers disseminated DfE advice and guidance to schools, which was to stay open if possible and to take sensible precautions and very small number of schools closed, if, for example, their air conditioning had broken down. Thanks were given to school colleagues in continuing to work and ensure schools remained open for children and young people.
On related matters, at the beginning of May, Internal Audit reviewed CYPE’s Business Continuity Plans. CYPE’s engagement was managed through the Directorate’s Resilience Forum and the Directorate received the highest possible Audit rating of “high assurance” with prospects for further improvements being deemed “very good”.
On 4 July, a webinar covering Emergency Planning, Business Continuity Planning and Prevent was held for all schools to highlight the Council’s roles and responsibilities in planning for and responding to incidents and emergencies and to highlight the services on offer to support schools. More than 200 school colleagues participated and gave positive very feedback and we have seen increased contact from schools seeking advice and support. The webinar recording was still available on KELSI for those who did not attend the live event.
Thanks were given to all the education leaders and staff across the county that have worked with children, young people and adults through a very challenging year.
2) In response to questions from Members, it was noted:
· There had been a technical issue with the website for Kent Saver Bus Pass applications but this had been resolved.
3) Mrs Chandler said that the preliminary work had begun on the 0-5 Strategy and there was an intention to set up a ‘Task and Finish Group’ to start in September.
The KCC response to the SEND green paper was to go to the meeting of Cabinet on 21 July 2022. While the response was from KCC, Mrs Chandler and Mrs Prendergast had been holding stakeholder events and speaking to children and young people, parents, head teachers and deputy head teachers, SEN coordinators, primary and secondary schools, to formulate the response.
Mrs Chandler was looking forward to attending Virtual School Kent’s evening event for its young people in care in years 12 to 13. The Greatest Gala was being held at Detling Showground and was to bring young people together from around the county to celebrate their achievements over the past year. 250 nominations were received, with 200 receiving awards and 14 receiving top awards. A special award was to be presented in memory of Mrs Ann Allen and her contribution to the community.