Agenda item

Members are asked to consider whether a Task and Finish Group should be set up to review the use of Pupil Premium Funding by schools in the Borough, specifically focusing on children with Special Educational Needs or disabilities.

Zoe Livingstone, School Standards and Effectiveness Partner, Learning & Achievement, outlined the complexity of need by children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding who were doubly disadvantaged due to also having a Special Educational Need (SEN). She referred to a Joseph Rowntree Foundation research paper ‘Special educational needs and their links to poverty’ which focused on 10 key areas, a number of which were thought to be relevant to Bracknell. The report explicitly requested policy makers and school leaders to look at policies for children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding; ensure staff in schools and early years settings were trained to identify needs as early as possible; and review targeted funding for pupils with SEN at risk of exclusion.

Zoe Livingstone informed members a sample of last year’s Year 6 pupils across Bracknell found 34% of children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding were in good or outstanding schools, which reflected the national picture. This year group had one of the largest numbers of children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding. It was suspected part of the problem was the difficulty in recruiting teachers in schools where there were large numbers of children receiving Pupil Premium funding (mainstream and academies). To try and address this issue Bracknell’s Learning & Improvement Strategy had already focused on retaining and recruiting inspirational leaders. Zoe Livingstone drew members’ attention to the data contained in the first table on Page 5 of the Supplementary Report ‘Pupil Premium Task and Finish Group’ which showed 21% of the cohort was disadvantaged in comparison to 28% nationally. However, the proportion of those who also had SEN was broadly in line with the national figure of 33% so it was thought the data required further exploration. In terms of outcomes, 35% of doubly disadvantaged children in Bracknell gained Expected Standard in reading compared to 28% of the same cohort nationally. It was thought this may largely be down to the local authority making this a priority for all schools across the Borough. However, the combined result for this cohort was much poorer as the number of doubly disadvantaged children achieving the Expected Standard was lower than the national percentage for both writing and maths. Indeed, 15% of children with SEN achieved the combined Expected Standard in comparison to only 11% of doubly disadvantaged children. Interestingly, the outcomes for Bracknell’s doubly disadvantaged children in last year’s Key Stage 4 cohort outperformed Bracknell’s children with SEN.

Staff were aware of the need to collate and scrutinise data better and this was part of Bracknell’s SEN Action Plan. Parental engagement was also thought to be an area for improvement, and fitted with the Family Safeguarding Model, to give parents the skills to help their children. Zoe Livingstone informed members that doubly disadvantaged children were over represented in figures nationally in terms of being identified as having an SEN but the support did not always follow through. The School Improvement Team were already keen to look at transition points and where children previously in receipt of Pupil Premium funding went on to after they turned 16, i.e. college or employment. Current data showed the majority of children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding in Bracknell were white, British pupils and children from Gypsy/Roma/Traveller Communities.

Zoe Livingstone went on to give examples of how the Council, through its SEND Strategy and School Improvement Strategy, were already focusing on intervening in schools where doubly disadvantaged children were not achieving to their full potential. Support currently in place for schools included a universal offer to all schools to support doubly disadvantaged children; termly Pupil Premium Network Meetings; an annual conference; governor sessions focusing on reviewing the use of Pupil Premium funding; Clerks briefings on Pupil Premium funding and four leading Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) working with SENCOs in other schools. Bracknell also works with Wokingham Borough Council to share best practice in this area.

Zoe Livingstone had mapped out potential areas of work the Panel could scrutinise which included transition; an Inclusion Charter; the work of SENCOs; leadership in schools; attendance and quality of data.

Members agreed to set up a Task and Finish Group to look at children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding who also have SEN. The Panel would consist of Councillors Mrs Birch, Mrs Hamilton, Ms Hayes, Ms Gaw, Mrs McCracken and Mrs Temperton.

It was agreed to incorporate the effect of mental health needs of the parent on a child’s attendance into the scope of the Task and Finish Group as well as consider the level of understanding of school governors about Pupil Premium funding and their role scrutinising the data.

Nikki Edwards, Director of Children, Young People and Learning reminded Panel members about the Children’s Plan Phase Gateway Review on 17 July 2018 which would look at shifting early help into family hubs and co-locate staff from a variety of disciplines such as employment support and family support workers.

Rachel Morgan, Chief Officer, Education and Learning explained that staff working with the Family Support Model developed Motivational Interviewing techniques and the same trainer had delivered a motivational conversations approach (how to help parents get their children into school) with 40 staff from 20 different schools across the Borough. It was the intention to repeat this training for other schools in September. There were also two further coaching days for leaders being offered to schools.

Councillor Dr Barnard requested the scope of the Task & Finish Group also seek to understand the level of understanding of school governors about Pupil Premium funding, as they should be scrutinising the data first and foremost. It was agreed this should be included in the scope.

Actions:

·         Members agreed the Pupil Premium Task and Finish Group and to proceed with the scoping meeting on 19 June

·         Membership of the Groups as set out above

·         Scope to include a focus on attendance and assessment of school governor’s understanding of Pupil Premium and doubly disadvantaged pupils