Agenda item

Ms K Atkinson (Assistant Director - Management Information & Intelligence) was in attendance for this item.

(1)        Ms Atkinson provided a brief summary of the key indicators set out within the Performance Scorecard, which included indicators impacted by Covid-19.

Officers then responded to comments and questions from Members, including the following: -

a)    Ms Atkinson referred to general absence and attendance data and said that it was often difficult to obtain the data because unlike the exclusions information, it did not come through on a regular basis, it was collected through the school census on a termly basis. She added that CYPE officers were working closely with schools to implement some new live software that would collate data every week and allow key officers and staff to access a live view of attendance to produce persistent absence information. She reassured the Committee that there would be no additional burden on schools.

b)    Ms Atkinson referred to EHCPs and said as part of the WSoA, a range of targets were set with the DfE which rose every few months as a more realistic way of having upward trajectory rather than just having a target from the start which matched the national average. In terms of the quality of EHCPs, the map of the plan had been redesigned and rewritten to make it much clearer and easier for parents to see information and that had been co-produced with parents. The Special Educational Needs (SEN) service had received training on EHCPs to ensure that there was more consistency and quality of plans across the board.

c)    Ms Atkinson referred to the ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ (NEET) indicator and stated that it was an annual indicator because the NEET data was subject to seasonal fluctuation. She added that she could produce a detailed monthly NEET and ‘not known’ monitoring report in future. Ms Atkinson said that she would liaise with officers in The Education People (TEP) with regards to the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had had on young people and the education, employment and training opportunities to cease being NEET.

d)    Ms Atkinson referred to achievement gaps and Free School Meal (FSM) gaps which were within the annual indicators section of the Performance Scorecard and said that the Free School Meal gap in particular was concerning as there had been a significant rise in children becoming eligible for FSM during the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore those children would remain on the Pupil Premium list for the next few years and would inevitably impact the FSM achievement gap.

e)    Ms Atkinson said that she would explore laptop provision during the Covid-19 pandemic in more detail outside of the meeting.

f)     Mrs Dean requested that further information be provided within the scorecard graphics page in relation to timeframes/timescales.

g)    Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) emphasised the importance of NEETs and flagged some of the impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic had had on NEETs. She reassured Members of the Committee that the issue would be closely monitored and would remain a priority.

h)    Mrs Chandler welcomed the Committee’s interest in all of the areas which had been raised and confirmed that she could provide further information to assist the Committee in better understanding the work which had and continued to be undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic. She thanked the Committee for their understanding during these unprecedented times and reminded the Committee that staff would continue to focus on prioritising key issues in the event of a second wave of Covid-19.

(2)        RESOLVED that the information contained within the Performance Scorecard be noted.