Verbal Update
Minutes:
Natalie McSheffrey (NMcS) reported that the Education and Learning Partnership Board had met on 9 June 2021. Items discussed at the meeting included:
4.1 Admissions Code/Fair Access Protocol Changes 2021
Members were informed that the new School Admission Code would come into force 1 September 2021. They noted that admission authorities must comply with the Code and NMcS explained that the main purpose of the changes was to improve support for the in-year admission of vulnerable children. NMcS summarised the changes, which included:
o introducing more detail on the process for managing in-year admissions;
o changes to improve the effectiveness of Fair Access Protocols;
o giving children adopted from state care outside of England equal admissions priority as children who were previously looked after in England; and
o clarification of which address to use for the admission of service or crown servant children.
4.2 Workforce Planning Group
NMcS stated that the first meeting of the Workforce Planning Group took place mid-May. Whilst there had been good representation at the meeting, there were still several gaps to fill and this was being addressed. Members noted that several priorities had been agreed, which were:
o Well-Being of/for all education staff;
o CPD for Senior Leaders;
o Recruitment and Retention (including the Early Careers Framework)
4.3 It was reported to the group that sickness absence figures had reduced during the last quarter, which was a positive.
4.4 Members were informed that a strong partnership was forming between the Early Career Teachers and Teaching Hub. Meetings were taking place on a regular basis and HR were confident of a full launch in September 2021.
4.5 Transition Arrangements
NMcS informed the meeting that discussions had been held around Covid related transition arrangements as the end of the school year approached, along with options being considered for 2021-22. General discussions had taken place around more creative uses of existing space, along with other options that were currently available and easily accessible.
4.6 Education Recovery
NMcS reported that the focus of discussions around education recovery had focused on the quality of teaching and learning pupils were receiving and how this would be carried into the next academic year. There was still a need to focus on the well-being of staff, so that they could continue to support children and young people and deliver a broad and balanced, less prescriptive curriculum, in order to ensure that young people leave school with the knowledge, skills and ambition to succeed.
4.7 The Kirklees Futures Strategy Commission and Expert Strategy group continued to meet and work on the on the 3 key areas within the 3-year plan – which was likely to be in situ until to 2030. Members noted that the first year of Strategy would include recovery and reading.
4.8 Education Improvement Committee (EIC) – 19 May 2021
Discussions took place around the EEF Project and Helen Metcalfe (Senior KLP) gave an update on this. All EEF evidence showed that the strategies which had the greatest impact occurred in the classroom, via quality first teaching from the best teachers. More information on the roll out of the EEF Project would be given at the July 2021 meeting of the EIC.
4.9 Target setting had been moved to the July 2021 meeting of the EIC.
4.10 The EIC received an update on the standardisation offer. This had been very positive in terms of school engagement and uptake. More detail on this would be provided at the July 2021 meeting of the EIC.
4.11 The EIC was informed that carry forwards used to support Covid and schools were now in a deficit and continued to be so, A significant contribution towards the deficit was the need to purchase new books to support phonics development and reading skills.
4.12 Places Access and Inclusion Committee (PAIC Committee) – 18 May 2021
NMcS reported that the PAIC Committee had met on 18 May 2021 and discussions had focussed on the following items:
o Primary National Offer headline data, which was shared.
o The SACRE Commission would be looked at in more detail.
o Overview of SEND Development work, which was shared.
o School Place Planning document, which was shared for discussion. Primary numbers were causing concern and feedback from schools and Governing Bodies was being sought on this.
4.13 Inclusion in Kirklees
Kelsey Clark-Davies (KCD) (Head of Educational Safeguarding & Inclusion) gave a PowerPoint presentation on ‘Inclusion in Kirklees’.
4.14 KCD informed the meeting that a huge amount of development work was currently ongoing within the Council, which related to and involved:
· The Kirklees Inclusive Ambitions.
· Kirklees Inclusion Transformation Plan.
· SEND Transformation and Commissioning Group.
· Inclusion Support Offer.
· Valuing SEND Tool.
· LA Commissioned Reviews.
· EHCP Top-Up Funding Review.
· Inclusion Partner Work.
4.15 Kirklees Inclusive Ambitions
Members noted that the Kirklees Inclusive Ambitions consisted of 7 areas, which underpinned the whole Kirklees approach to inclusion. These were:
· Responsive and holistic early intervention.
· Culture of trust with parents and families.
· Inclusive practice in the community and within education settings.
· CYP thriving in education settings and celebrating more holistic outcomes and achievements.
· An integrated system.
· Embedding a shared culture of proactivity, holistic skills and knowledge.
· Supporting children to have clear aspirations with a focus on preparing for adulthood.
4.16 Kirklees Inclusion Transformation Plan
The Kirklees Inclusion Transformation Plan focussed on high needs delivery via a number of delivery workstreams.
4.17 The Council was working on expanding the provision of outreach and inclusion workers in schools, with the ambition being to build capacity, have early interventions and maintain a quality provision up to and including out of area support. The Council was working closely with special schools on alternative provision (as special schools were currently full) which focussed on outreach provision from special schools into mainstream education.
4.18 SEND Transformation and Commissioning Group
Each workstream of the Kirklees Inclusion Transformation Plan was being overseen by the SEND Transformation and Commissioning Group. This group met on a monthly basis and was represented by key stakeholders across the primary and secondary sectors, as well as officers from within the Council. The purpose of the group was to provide quality assurance, challenge and support.
4.19 Inclusion Support Offer: Early Impact
Feedback from SENCos about the Inclusion Support Officer had been very positive. Two officers from within the Council could be contacted Monday-Friday during office hours to offer support to schools on high need cases. SENDCOs valued the reassurance that this provision gave them, particularly as with Covid it was difficult to meet with professionals face-to-face.
4.20 Valuing SEND and Inclusion Support Offer
The Valuing SEND and Inclusion Support Offer were split into two initiatives, which were:
· Valuing SEND: increased understanding of the range of needs, settings, readiness, and home confidence to meet them across Kirklees through use of the Valuing SEND approach and tool.
· Inclusion Support Offer: supporting settings to assess and meet the needs of children and young people by providing information, advice and guidance and coordinating access to multi-agency services.
4.21 Implementing VSEND in Kirklees
Members received a summary of work to date on VSEND in Kirklees. They noted that:
o There were 16 VSEND training sessions.
o 23 settings had submitted VSEND profiles.
o The average number of returns per setting was 5.6.
o There were c1200 CYP within those settings with SEND or an EHCP.
o 131 VSEND profiles had been completed.
o 10% completed returns of potential CYPs the VSEND tool could support.
4.22 Whilst the response rate was good, the Council acknowledged that the sample size was still relatively small. The responses had helped the Council identify where several tweaks to improve the provision could be made, which would be implemented in due course.
4.23 LA Reviews and Working Parties
Members were informed that there were currently 4 LA Reviews and Working Parties in situ. These were:
· Alternative/Specialist Provision (Jane Friswell)
· Specialist School Placement Sufficiency. A report to Cabinet was due imminently, which concentrated on the creation of additional places in special schools and the building of additional provision. As this would take time to implement, the Council was looking to find space in other schools and was working with key stakeholders on this.
· Educational Safeguarding Service. The Council was currently looking at its current provision and how this service could be located closer to local communities which utilised it.
· Exclusion Working Party. The Council was looking at pupil exclusion numbers across the district and had already received useful date to plan the ‘what next’ steps in relation to reducing the number of pupil exclusions.
4.24 EHCP Top-Up Funding
A paper had been agreed by Cabinet in May 2021, which proposed an increase in the top-up funding amount that mainstream schools received for pupils with EHCP’s.
4.25 Other Inclusion Partner Work
There were two additional strands of other inclusion partner work which the Council was leading on. These were:
· The Graduated Approach. This considered the ‘non-negotiable’ best endeavours in provision and had been co-produced with a team of SENDCos.
· Strategic Development of SENDACT (EHCP). The purpose of this was to review systems and processes within SENDACT, as well as implement innovative, transparent and equitable ways of working, with the involvement of key stakeholders in the process.
4.26 The Chair invited questions, following which Kelsey was thanked for her interesting and informative presentation.