Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Online

Contact: Alyson Grice/Alison Spall  Overview & Scrutiny Officers

Media

Items
No. Item

474.

Apologies and Welcome

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr T Baker-Price and Mr P McDonald.

475.

Declaration of Interest and of any Party Whip

Minutes:

None.

476.

Public Participation

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 15 March 2021).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

 

Minutes:

None.

477.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

(previously circulated)

 

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 January 2021 were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

 

478.

Educational Outcomes 2020/21 Update pdf icon PDF 337 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Mrs Julie Wills, Headteacher of Upton upon Severn Primary school and Mr Nick Gibson, Headteacher of North Bromsgrove High school who had been invited to join the meeting to provide a school perspective on the impact of COVID-19.

 

The Panel had received a report which provided an update on educational outcomes for:

 

·         the academic year 2019/2020, in particular the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the measurement of educational outcomes; and

·         the academic year 2020/21 including the impact of Covid-19 and next steps.

 

Mrs Wills explained that she was the Chair of the Worcestershire Headteacher’s Primary Partnership. In this role she worked closely with the Leadership of Worcestershire Children First (WCF) and disseminated information and updates back to the partnership members. She also met regularly with the Chairs of the other Partnerships in the county, and during the first term of the pandemic they met every day, to ensure that no school was left feeling isolated with issues that were arising.

 

In preparing her presentation for this meeting, Mrs Wills had consulted with all of the Headteachers in the partnership and 71 had submitted their views, which had been incorporated.  The statistical findings and key feedback received were as follows:

 

·         93% of Headteachers were worried about the impact of COVID-19 on pupils learning. Key issues of concern were those children who had not engaged with remote learning, learning behaviours and children’s well-being and mental health.

·         71.8% of Headteachers felt that both educational and social impact would be felt equally, with the balance of the remainder being towards social impact. The findings had indicated that this lockdown had been harder for parents to manage than earlier ones. The key focus was on social and emotional health and well-being.

·         97.2% of Headteachers felt confident that a secure system was in place that accurately reflected children’s attainment, despite the absence of external assessment. The Panel was assured that teachers had the experience and expertise to ensure assessment processes were robust and accurate. Much of assessment was through teachers’ observations and Mrs Wills explained that teachers had an intuitive feel for their children’s development needs going forward.

·         97.2% of Headteachers felt that their school had the capacity to provide continued improved educational provision.

 

Mrs Wills led the meeting through her presentation, and the following summarises the resultant key areas of discussion and Members questions:

 

·         Whilst headteachers could not know the long-term impact of the pandemic on children, they were clear that children must feel confident and happy to enable effective learning to take place. There had been a very positive return to school this month for most children with a sense of joy at being back in school with their friends. None of the schools had reported any major problems. Members of the Panel reported similar experiences in schools they were connected with.

·         In terms of children in pre-school and reception, it was highlighted that whilst these year groups were open during this last lockdown, some parents had kept their children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 478.

479.

Proposed Delivery Model for Medical Education Provision in Worcestershire pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Education and Skills reminded the Panel of the lengthy review process that had been undertaken on the provision of  Medical Education within the County, of which the Panel had received several  progress reports. The findings and proposals were due to be considered at Cabinet on 18 March, and if approval was gained, the next steps would be taken towards finalising the journey leading to a formal commissioning process taking place later this year.  The Director of Education and Early Help outlined the Report which the Panel had before them and commented how pleased she had been with the way the review was carried out and the engagement of health colleagues in the process.

 

The Assistant Director, SEND and Vulnerable Learners highlighted some key aspects of her presentation on the medical education pathway proposal and details of the proposed multi-agency preventative approach, as follows:

 

·         A recap of the timeline of activity since January 2020 when approval was given for a multi-agency co-produced review and design of medical education provision. During the year workshops had been held drawing together the stakeholder feedback and putting forward proposals for consideration.

·         A specific change which the Assistant Director wished to draw the Panel’s attention to, was that following consultation with the HWHCT, the idea of an Outreach role to support the early stages of the pathway, had now been altered to a Liaison role. The exact details of this role, for instance how it would dovetail with the existing teams supporting families, was to be determined.

·         The Panel was informed that with 80% of the Medical Education Team (MET) students identified as having anxiety issues, the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) were now providing timely training for all schools to support them in their role. From October 2021, Mental Health Support teams would also be working directly in some schools to provide additional specialist capacity.

·         The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and the CCG had agreed to be members of the Multi-agency Assessment and Review Panel. In preparation for the above, CAMHS had agreed to revise their triage and assessment considerations for their entry criteria for Tier 2 and 3, to review the impact of a young person’s mental health on their ability to access education and the necessary support required to manage that.

·         The CCG had agreed to seek additional funding options to improve the timeliness of support and outcomes for children and young people with autism.

·         The overall funding basis for the provision of medical education had been looked at in detail. It was necessary to support a wider pathway being developed and to ensure a broad and balanced curriculum was provided for learners, the latter being an issue raised by learners during the stakeholder consultation. This had been raised at the Schools Forum which had been supportive of the need to improve the provision to the MET. The proposed new funding arrangements would mean that in addition to the current funding arrangements, the MET would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 479.

480.

Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 252 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Derek Benson, the Independent Chair of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP) to present the WSCP Annual Report for 2019-20.

 

As background to the report, the Independent Chair reminded the Panel that in September 2019 the WSCP had formally replaced the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB).  The partnership was made up of 3 safeguarding partners, the local authority, the CCG, and the Police. The partners were required to publish a report at least every 12 months detailing progress regarding their responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the area.  The last annual report of the WSCB had covered the year to March 2019, therefore this Annual report was covering the period from April to September 2019, when the WSCB was still in place, as well as the 12-month period to September 2020.

 

The Panel was informed that the new streamlined WSCP arrangements had proved to offer a more dynamic and effective decision-making function. There was strong involvement in each of the WSCP Sub-groups from all of the partnership agencies, ensuring that there was an efficient multi-agency child safeguarding system in place in the county.

 

The Independent Chair advised that he was leaving the role at the end of this month and thanked the previous Chief Executive (WCF), the Interim Chief Executive and the Cabinet Members for all of their support in ensuring that the current safeguarding position had been able to be achieved.

 

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families thanked the Independent Chair for his efforts and integrity in the role and for the new style of report. Other Panel Members added their thanks to the Independent Chair for his effective chairing of the partnership and for the much-improved position of the WSCP.  The Interim Chief Executive praised the Independent Chair and the whole team involved in the safeguarding partnership for how well it was working. The interim Chief Executive was pleased with the Report and how the key personnel from the partner agencies had proved to be a great support and challenge for each other.

 

It was noted that Steve Eccleston had been appointed as the new Independent Chairman.

 

Members raised a few questions which led to the following areas of discussion:

 

·         Referring to a potential increased incidence in domestic violence during lockdown, concern was expressed about the impact of this on children and young people. The Independent Chairman advised that a recent national report had indicated that there had not been a massive spike in incidents, although a careful eye was being kept on referrals coming through the Family Front Door. A multi-agency approach was in place to deal with any complex issues that might come to light.

·         The Interim Chief Executive advised that as yet only a small increase in the safeguarding impact of lockdown had been seen.  In terms of domestic abuse specifically, there had been a rise in the lower level domestic abuse pressures resulting from lockdown and in the extreme high-risk harm where domestic abuse  ...  view the full minutes text for item 480.

481.

Work Programme 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 132 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel received its work programme and the following issues were discussed and actions determined:

 

·         Sufficiency Strategy - The Interim Chief Executive advised that the Sufficiency Strategy, currently on the Panel’s Work Programme was to be considered at Cabinet on 10 June. It was acknowledged that there would therefore not be the opportunity for the Panel to scrutinise the report in advance of Cabinet, due to the next formal Panel meeting not taking place until 16 July. It was agreed, however, that the item would be included on the agenda for the July meeting for discussion.

·         Supporting Families First – It was agreed that this report would cover the impact of COVID on this service. 

·         Vulnerable learners – A Member suggested the Task Group on elective home education (EHE) should be a priority for taking forward after the elections.  The Interim Chief Executive suggested a report on vulnerable learners be added to the Work Programme in the first instance covering the 3 cohorts of vulnerable learners (one of which was EHE), prior to a decision on whether an in-depth scrutiny on EHE was required. This was supported as a way forward.

·         Catholic Co-opted Church Representative (for education matters) – It was highlighted that the Panel had not had the benefit of a Roman Catholic representative on the Panel for a number of years. It was agreed that the Archdiocese of Birmingham would be contacted to seek to secure a nominee for the Panel.

 

As this was her last meeting before the County Council elections, the Chairman took the opportunity to thank Mrs Jane Potter for her valuable contribution to the education agenda over a number of years.

 

The Chairman then thanked everyone for their attendance and participation in the  meeting.