Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr B Allbut, Mr M J Hart (Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Education and Skills), Ms T Russell (Director of Children’s Social Care and Safeguarding, Worcestershire Children First) and Ms J Stanley (Healthwatch).

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 14 October 2020).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

None.

(previously circulated)

With reference to the minutes of the previous meeting, a question was asked about the number of schools in the County now sending attendance data to the Department for Education (DfE).  It was confirmed that this would be covered under item 5.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 September 2020 were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

The Director of Education and Early Help updated the Panel on developments relating to the re-opening of schools and settings for the autumn term and the handling of COVID-19 cases in schools and settings.

By way of introduction, she made the following main points:

·       Members were reminded that all except one school site had re-opened at the beginning of September.  The one outstanding site issue (at Lea Street, Kidderminster) had now been resolved allowing the Medical Education Service to return.  Outreach provision for the Beacon Pupil Referral Unit would also return to the site by the end of October half term at the latest.

·       A risk assessment checklist had been shared with Academies to support their own self-assessment.  This had been developed by specialist teams and would share learning from the development of infection prevention control in schools to date.  Academies would also be invited to attend a webinar and a series of surgery events with County Council colleagues working in Public Health, Health and Safety and Human Resources.  These events would aim to give a specialist overview of the situation and share good practice and learning from outbreak case examples.

·       The internal officer group continued to meet three times per week and maintained a constant circle of learning.  For example, in response to concerns from some schools about parents gathering at drop off time, a pilot of posters and wraps outside schools was being run to enhance communications.

·       With reference to attendance rates, Members were reminded that schools were required to make a daily return to the DfE.  Over 90% of schools in the County were now making this return.  The attendance rate in Worcestershire schools as of the previous day was 90.2%, compared with a national rate of 89.1%.  The County’s rates had been consistently above national rates since the beginning of term.

·       Over 80% of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were now back in school.  Schools would be asked to let Worcestershire Children First (WCF) know if they had children with EHCPs who had not yet returned.  With reference to special schools, the Panel was informed that some parents of children with very complex needs were reluctant to send their children back to school and officers continued to work with these families.  Over 90% of children with social workers had now returned to school.

·       The Education Incident Planning Group, which included representatives from across school phases and types, continued to meet regularly, as it had since the beginning of the pandemic.

·       Members were reminded that the Local Outbreak Response Team (LORT) was the first point of contact for any educational setting experiencing a suspected COVID outbreak.  The LORT had experienced an increased volume of enquiries from the first week of September and additional resource had been provided to meet demand.

·       As of the day of the meeting, there were 47 educational settings affected by COVID activity.  This covered 2273 people (both staff and students) and was linked to 72 positive cases in education provision.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 454.

The Director of Education and Early Help updated the Panel on developments relating to transition planning for overnight unit-based short breaks for children with disabilities and the impact of COVID-19.

Members were informed that COVID-19 had had an impact at a critical time in the transition process including an effect on the planned building works at Osborne Court.  However, it was confirmed that those children who had previously accessed respite at Ludlow Road had now moved to either Osborne Court or Providence Road, although this had happened in a different way due to COVID.

This had been a challenging time for those families with a child with SEND and there were still two families who were choosing not to access respite at this time.  During lockdown, when families were not able to access respite, social workers and schools had kept in regular touch with families to offer support.  With reference to Osborne Court, building work had now been completed and Ofsted’s pre-registration visit had taken place.  Staff had been recruited and were being trained.

Community short breaks had been suspended in March 2020 in line with government restrictions.  To address this, social workers had kept in touch with families and assessed whether they needed any further support in the home.  During the summer, providers had been able to run activity sessions for day respite and 146 children had been able to access these.

Although transition arrangements had been affected by COVID, the re-organisation plan had continued and new transport arrangements were now in place.

Members were informed that there had been some COVID activity at Moule Close in Kidderminster (another of the Council’s overnight short breaks units) and one member of staff was now self-isolating.  Consequently, no overnight short breaks would take place there for two weeks and social workers were in touch with all families.

The Chairman of the Panel expressed her thanks to all staff who she felt were going over and above to provide an extremely good service in Worcestershire during the time of COVID.

In response to a Member’s question, it was agreed that updates on any COVID activity in residential children’s homes and overnight short breaks units would be included in the internal Gold Command report which was circulated to Members each week.  The Director of Children’s Services confirmed that WCF had very good operating protocols for dealing with COVID outbreaks in residential children’s homes and overnight short breaks units.

It was agreed that Members’ positive feedback and thanks would be shared with all staff, including members of the Education Incident Planning Group.

In response to a question from the Chairman, it was confirmed that WCF received reports in relation to COVID activity from all provision including independent schools and children’s homes.  It was important to ensure that all sectors were aware of advice in relation to preventative measures and outbreak response.

The Chairman thanked the Director of Education and Early Help for her report and reiterated the Panel’s thanks to all staff who had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 455.

The Panel reviewed its 2020/21 work programme.  It was noted that a number of items for future work would be recommended to a new Panel to be taken forward following the County Council elections in May 2021.