The Head of Policy, Performance and
Improvement submitted a report outlining progress against a raft of
both national and local performance indicators for the period
October to December 2008, and highlighting initiatives being taken
to tackle areas of under-performance.
In attendance at the meeting, and responding
to Members’ queries and comments, were Councillor Stewart
Golton, Executive Member
Children’s Services, Rosemary Archer, Director of
Children’s Services and John Maynard, Children’s
Services.
In brief summary, the main points of
discussion were:-
- Recognition was given to the large
areas of good performance contained within the report;
- The Board welcomed the inclusion of
some numbers in the reports, rather than just percentage figures,
which could by themselves be meaningless or misleading. However,
Members asked for this to be extended further in future reports;
- NI 92 – Narrowing the Gap
between the lowest achieving 20% in the Early Years Foundation
Stage Profile and the rest. Members
expressed concern at the widening of the gap by 1.5%, and that the
improvements witnessed in 2007 had not been maintained;
- Reference was made to possible
‘hot housing’ of pupils, especially at Key Stage 2, by too much concentration on literacy
and numeracy teaching in order to meet
national targets, and the detrimental effect this could have at Key
Stage 3, where the same levels of progress proved unsustainable.
However, Members welcomed new local targets focused on closing the
gap, which signified a more inclusive approach to the
curriculum;
- Alleged lack of funding for
Breakfast Clubs was referred to, and the detrimental effect his
could have on children’s academic performance if they were
not getting a proper start to the day;
- The need to achieve a balance
between academic and vocational studies, and the work being done in
this area;
- NI 43 – Young People within
the Youth Justice system receiving a conviction in Court who are
sentenced to custody. This particular
performance indicator had various contributory factors affecting
performance, as outlined in the report.
It was also interlinked with other indicators such as NI 44, 45, 46
and 111, also detailed in the report.
The attitudes and actions of local Magistrates played a huge part
in performance under this indicator, and discussions were taking
place with the local Bench. Work was
also ongoing with the Prison Reform Trust on this subject, and
further details would be supplied to the Board;
- Local indicator LKI -IYSS3 – The percentage of young people
aged 13-19 gaining a recorded outcome compared to the percentage of
young people in the local authority area. Frustration was expressed, given the stated
good level of contact between young people and the Youth Service,
that an apparent problem with adequately recording outcomes was
causing under-performance in this area;
- Local indicator BV - 46 –
percentage of half-days missed due to total absence in primary
schools maintained by the local education authority. The lack of real numbers, as opposed to
percentages, was again commented upon.
It was explained that a lot of the problems associated with this
particular performance indicator were due to sickness absence or
parents taking pupils on often extended breaks outside of official
school holiday periods. A lot of work
was being done to tackle this latter issue. Actual numbers would be supplied to the
Board;
- Reference was also made to possible
links between the number of Youth Workers and youth activities in
some parts of the City and a possible link to youth
crime. Limited resources meant that
choices had to be made, and often that choice was to concentrate
resources on perceived areas of greatest need, often in inner-City
Wards.
RESOLVED – That subject
to the above comments and requests for further information, the
report be received and noted.