Agenda item

To consider the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the Quarterly Service Report for the third quarter of 2013/14 (October to December 2013) relating to Children, Young People and Learning, giving particular attention to outcomes of Ofsted school inspections and supporting schools to improve.

Please bring the previously circulated Quarterly Service Report to the meeting.  Copies are available on request and attached to this agenda if viewed online.

Panel members are asked to give advance notice to the Overview and Scrutiny Team of any questions relating to this item where possible.

Bob Welch, Chief Adviser, gave a presentation in respect of the work taking place to improve school standards.  The presentation included an overview of the national and local improvement context, the legislative framework, the role of the Council’s School Adviser Service, school to school support and an overview of the Authority’s powers of intervention.

Under the new Ofsted inspection regime all schools were expected to be ‘Good’ and the requirements to achieve a rating of ‘Good’ were now much more onerous than they had been previously.  Any Bracknell Forest school graded as either ‘Requiring Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ was helped to develop a detailed Statement of Action which was subsequently made public. The Panel would continue to consider Ofsted inspection outcomes at future meetings.

Nationally schools had raised concerns over the varying interpretations that different Ofsted Inspection Teams had given to the new Inspection Framework and this had been raised with the Department of Education.  Inspectors were now placing greater emphasis on the evidence base used by schools and it was crucial that all schools had a robust, up to date, easily accessible evidence base regardless of whether they were expecting an inspection.  There were currently no national strategies for school improvement and schools were able to choose where they obtained guidance on improving standards from. To assist schools with this the School Advisers were identifying those school staff with expertise in particular areas and encouraging other schools to use them as sources of support and information for example the New Curriculum.  School Advisers also met with Head Teachers on a termly basis to provide support and all schools were affiliated to local cluster groups.

Nationally there was anecdotal concern that academies weren’t always being given the support or challenge that was required to drive improvement however Bracknell Forest’s maintained schools valued the support and challenge that they received from the Local Authority and consequently there was little pressure from school governing bodies to convert to academies. 

Locally feedback on schools was encouraged and there were a number of ways that this could be done for example through the Parent Complaint Line.  All contacts were logged and analysed so that any trends could be identified and investigated.  Social networks and professional forums were also monitored.

The Panel considered the Quarterly Service Report (QSR) for the Children, Young People and Learning Department for the third quarter of 2013/14 (September to December 2013) and arising from the Panel’s questions and comments the following points were noted:

• There were currently 9 agency social workers working with the Council to fill staff vacancies.  However this number varied according to need and there was a strong core of social workers employed by the Council.  Future QSRs would include a narrative putting staff vacancy rates into context and identifying the number of agency staff employed during the quarter
• The recruitment of experienced social workers was a national problem and a range of options was being explored to ascertain how this problem might be solved at a local level for example through the development of a specific social work micro-site that would enable people to express an interest in working in Bracknell Forest and looking at pay and conditions to make working in Bracknell Forest more attractive
• There had been a number of staff signed off on long term sick leave during the quarter reported and this had impacted on the staff sickness rates
• A member who had attended the recent SILSIP workshop congratulated the looked after young people who had given a presentation at the event about their lives
• The contract to provide targeted support to young carers was for very specialised work and this limited the number of companies able to bid for the contract
• The recruitment of additional foster carers was a key priority for 2014/15 and it was hoped that a further four fostering families would receive final approval by the end of May
• The cost of providing foster care ranged from between £300 a week for in house fostering to £3,500 a week for specialised residential care.  However the cost did depend heavily on the individual needs of the child
• There were currently 11 children in residential placements and these settings were tightly monitored on a monthly basis.  It was agreed that a narrative of summarising the numbers of children in each type of placement would be included in future QSRs
• Past Aiming High open events had proved to be particularly educational and members were encouraged to attend these when they could

The Panel thanked officers for their informative updates.