Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Children and Families that presents an update on the refreshed 3A’s plan following previous consideration by the Board in March 2023.

The Board received a report from the Director of Children and Families that presented an update on the refreshed, draft 3A’s plan following previous consideration by the Board in March 2023.

This report summarised the new 3As plan which covers 2024-2026 and has been developed following wide-ranging consultations with school leaders and review of the previous plan by service providers. Appendix 1 to the report outlined full details of the five priorities, actions and impact measures contained in the plan.

In attendance for this item were:

·  Councillor Jonathan Pryor, Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Farrah Khan Deputy Director of Children and Families – Social Care

·  Cath Lennon, Chief Officer Learning Capacity and Development

·  Dave Clark, Chief Officer Learning Improvement

·  Liz Canning, 0-19 Consultant

Cllr Pryor introduced the report setting out the long standing aim to improve attainment, attendance and achievement in the city which was established through the first strategy in 2018. Post covid the 3As strategy has been re-evaluated and schools are still reporting that Covid is impacting pupils in Leeds in terms of enhanced support needs particularly amongst SEND children and young people. The new strategy sets out priorities for 2024-26.

It was emphasised that the document is very much focused on feedback from schools and academic leaders and is a delivery plan for the Council to deliver against using existing resources as opposed to a plan for schools to deliver, the aim is to support educational settings to deliver their priorities.

The following discussion points were raised under this agenda item:

·  Members were interested in Action 5 in respect of secondary schools being offered KS3 reading reviews to ascertain progress in reading skills in Year 8. A question was raised in relation to students who were not at the higher levels at secondary schools but were able to ‘de-code’ and have functional literacy. Reassurance was provided that this was still part of the action to ensure that children and young people at all levels leave school with the ability to read effectively which would help them gain employment or progress into further and higher education.

·  Responding to a question around attendance and the rising number of suspensions, Board members were informed that suspensions have increased in response to some of the more challenging behaviours that are being experienced following Covid and that this was a concern within the service in terms of reducing those numbers and re-engaging children and young people in education. As discussion developed on this subject it was suggested that an update report could feature in the future on this following past Board interest in fixed term exclusions and off rolling. Leeds has consistently been an authority with one of the lowest rates of suspensions and exclusions compared to other local authorities. It was also noted that this is an issue being experienced nationally and is not unique to Leeds.

·  The Board wanted to know more about the link attendance officer in terms of how many schools they had responsibility for and how they worked geographically in the city. It was agreed that further information on the deployment of the service will be provided in writing. In terms of geography the officers work on a wedge or area basis to enable relationships to be formed and more effective working. In addition, the board were informed that significant absence panels work on a similar basis but more detail could be provided as part of the Board’s wider interest in attendance in Leeds which has already featured on the work programme this municipal year.

·  The Board emphasised the importance of attendance particularly after the pandemic and suggested that alternative models of curriculum delivery could be considered to tackle a different cohort of children and young people with a focus on being less conventional where that is appropriate to address young people whose lives have been significantly disrupted. Responding to this point, it was noted that schools and academies were responsible for their curriculum policy and for setting specific curriculum delivery methods. The Local Authority could support schools in reviewing their curriculum and provision. The newly devised SEND curriculum audit tool was noted as an example of where the Local Authority could work alongside settings to review their curriculum offer.

·  Members also suggested a whole school approach to well-being to maximise available support and ensure that children feel safe and are having their needs met in school. By ensuring a really strong well-being offer it was thought that issues around attendance may also be resolved. The Board welcomed the development of an online well-being gateway which is being deployed and used by staff and is part of developing a whole school approach to well-being.

·  Board members were keen to see a stronger emphasis on children in care and care leavers in the strategy. By way of an example of the challenges faced by children in care, in respect of bullying in secondary schools from the my health, my school survey, 68% of children in care reported being bullied compared to 35% who were not in care. It was suggested that when the impact of the strategy is assessed children in care and care leavers are a focus in terms of outcomes and performance.

·  A question was raised in relation to Priority 4 and feeling safe at school particularly with regard to the increase in knife crime and how that is dealt with. The Board believed that safety at school is a key area to ensure regular attendance and tackling issues of self-esteem. The Board were informed that knife crime is a priority after increases in reports of that type of crime. Work is ongoing city wide to tackle this by identifying patterns of behaviour and preventing knife crime by sharing information and making early interventions. The link between gangs and knife crime is clear and it is important to target those that are exploiting children and young people through gang activity by joint working with Safer Leeds, Youth Services and West Yorkshire Police. The Board were assured that this is a key priority with the development of a new portal by the Police to enhance reporting and intelligence sharing given as a positive example of recent service improvement.

·  The Board also suggested that drug trafficking and county line gangs should be referenced in the strategy as often the link to gangs and violence comes through drug use and drug dealing.

·  The Board were also informed of established education programmes on knife crime and the dangers of carrying knives both generally and for self-defence purposes.

·  The Board noted that NEETS has been a problem that has been difficult to resolve for a number of years and it still remains a problem. Whilst noting that the ‘not known’ category forms a significant part of NEET statistics it remains a challenge to keep young people engaged in education as they approach the end of compulsory education. There remains a focus on broadening the offer to young people and focussing on those children who may be the most likely to slip through the net. It was noted that the Not Known category can involve students who have moved settings during the academic year and who are in fact still engaged in full-time education, employment or training.

·  Members were keen to ensure that issues such as cyber bullying which is a newer form of bullying and continues to be a problem in schools is also part of the approach and remains on the agenda in terms of issues to tackle and support schools with.

·  The Board highlighted the possibility of children, particularly those from a SEND background but also more widely, moving to secondary school struggling to adapt to new teaching techniques in Maths and Science. In response the Board heard that work is ongoing to ensure that it is understood how children and young people learn effectively. The Board heard about how the focus in primary school is on pictorial and developing relational understanding in Maths and that in secondary there is more of an abstract focus to enable A-Level and higher education learning. The Board suggested wider use of materials to support learning for those that have moved from primary to secondary school to ensure that base understanding is still developed in secondary school and to ensure that children of all ability levels are able to progress.

·  As a final point it was noted that the report uses the term ‘Sendco’ as opposed to the more commonly used ‘Senco’ to describe the school based SEND co-ordinators. The point being that there are quite a lot of abbreviations used in education and that consistency on this role in terms of the abbreviation used would be helpful. This observation was noted.

Resolved

a)  The content of the report and strategy was noted and the Board provided feedback to decision makers on the various actions and priorities contained within them.