Agenda item

Annual Standards Report 2017-18

To receive a report from the Head of Governance and Scrutiny Support presenting the Annual Standards Report for 2017-18.

Minutes:

The Head of Governance and Scrutiny Support submitted a report presenting the Annual Standards Report for 2017-18.

 

Members were informed that the supplementary information distributed prior to the meeting was a corrected version of Key Stage 2 data on page 44 of the report, along with an additional data chart in relation to the percentage of Key Stage 2 pupils reaching the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths (RMW).

 

The following were in attendance:

 

-  Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Learning, Skills and Employment

-  Phil Mellen, Deputy Director for Learning

-  Sal Tariq, Deputy Director of Children and Families

-  Anne Fell, Area Lead Primary Learning Improvement

-  Kevin Paynes, Leadership and Management Lead

-  Erica Hiorns, School Improvement Adviser

 

Councillor Jonathon Pryor, Executive Member for Learning, Skills and Employment, introduced the item. In doing so, he apologised for the errors in earlier versions of the report. Councillor Pryor also highlighted some areas where Leeds was improving at a faster rate than nationally. The Deputy Director for Learning added that much of the work to tackle the 15 priorities set out in the report, would be addressed by the new 3 A’s Strategy.

 

Members discussed a number of matters, including:

 

·  Early years performance. Members commented that Early Years progress was behind national, despite the increasing number of providers with ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ OfSTED judgements, and sought more information as to why this was the case. The Board were informed that this was largely due to the increase in population, along with an increase in the complexity of needs of early year’s children, particularly in relation to SEND and SEMH.

·  Take-up of free early years hours. Members were informed, in relation to the above point, that around 10% of children eligible for free early years hours were not accessing the provision. This was reported to be due to a number of reasons, including disparity in quality of provision across the city, complexity around mobility, and the need for better engagement with private providers. Members were assured that the new 3 A’s Strategy would provide a clear focus for overcoming this issue. The Chair requested more information on this matter to be submitted to a future meeting.

·  Increase in children and young people with SEMH needs and SEND. Members sought more information in regards to the effectiveness of the current training offer to staff in early years settings, considering the higher threshold for EHCPs. In response, the Board was informed that SENCOs in each school were responsible for supporting other teachers within the school, and that early identification comes as part of the generic training package for early years teachers.

·  Presentation of data within the report. Members requested that maps be incorporated into the design of the report for 2018/19, to illustrate differences in outcomes across the city. Additionally, there were some comments about misdirection of the data to show a more positive picture.

·  Internal Exclusions. Members sought clarity about the steps taken to address the prevalence of internal inclusions, despite a decrease in permanent exclusions, and were informed that work ongoing with the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) was informing new strategies to focus on making the best use of teaching assistants, and ensuring that support staff in internal exclusion areas are trained to manage SEMH and behavioural issues.

 

RESOLVED -

 

a)  That the contents of the report be noted.

b)  That arrangements are made for the successor Scrutiny Board to be provided with specific information relating to the take-up of free early years provision across the city, including mapping of providers and families.

 

Councillor K Bruce arrived at the meeting at 10:15am during discussion of this item.

 

 

Supporting documents: