Agenda item

Questions Submitted Under Council Procedure Rule 10

Councillor Mrs Birch to Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning  

 

Can the Executive member share with the Council the different approaches that can be taken when Leadership and management concerns about a local authority or academy school are reported?

 

Councillor Temperton to Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning  

 

This year the half term holiday just passed and the Easter school holiday dates do not align with neighbouring local authorities. This has put an extra stress on all those working in schools who live or work in one Borough but whose children attend a school in another. This at a time when school staff so desperately need our support.

 

How did this happen and can residents be assured it will not occur again?

Minutes:

Councillor Mrs Birch asked Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning the following published question:

 

Can the Executive member share with the Council the different approaches that can be taken when Leadership and management concerns about a local authority or academy school are reported?

 

In response Councillor Dr Barnard stated that there was a comprehensive answer due to the partnership working and governance framework surrounding the management of schools. A full version of the response would be appended to the minutes. He summarised that in relation to Local Authority maintained schools there were a number of mechanisms used to closely monitor performance. The Standards and Effectiveness Team met fortnightly to discuss any concerns. Where a range of intelligence created a broader picture of concern around a particular school, perhaps in relation to leadership or the quality of education, or where standards drop to unacceptably low levels, the Head of Standards and Assistant Director decide whether a Declaration of Concern was necessary. A very prescribed process would then follow. This could be provided but is available as part of the Bracknell Forest Learning Improvement Strategy available on the Bracknell Forest Council website. Since the strategy was implemented, the process has been effective, and no schools have been issued with a formal Performance and Standards Warning notice. The Council’s approach had been to intervene early and avoid things reaching the point where this was necessary.

 

In relation to Academies if similar concerns were to exist then the Local Authority would write to the Chair of Governors, the Head of the Academy/Multi Academy Trust and the Regional Schools Commissioner, outlining the concerns requesting a Declaration of Concern meeting. The Local Authority can either broker additional support for the school and agree to monitor its progress with the Regional Schools Commissioner, or if there are more significant concerns, the Regional Schools Commissioner will issue a formal Performance and Standards Notice. This process was set out in the Bracknell Forest Learning Improvement Strategy. He advised that where specific concerns were raised about academies, the Assistant Director or Head of Standards could address these directly with either the Headteacher or the CEO of the trust, as appropriate.

 

He advised parents to contact the Head Teacher or the Chair of Governors if they had concerns. He wanted to reassure that if there were significant concerns processes were in place and existing safeguarding processes would be followed if appropriate.

 

Councillor Mrs Birch asked what the process was for parents and carers to express concerns about a school. Councillor Dr Barnard encouraged parents and carers to engage with the school to resolve the issue. However he added if they remained unhappy then they could raise concerns with Ofsted directly who would then take a view as to whether they need to contact and take action with the school depending on the seriousness of the issue. He concluded by repeating that if the Local Authority had concerns then they would liaise with the school and decide if further action needed to be followed.

 

 

Councillor Temperton asked Councillor Dr Barnard, Executive Member for Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning the following published question:

 

This year the half term holiday just passed and the Easter school holiday dates do not align with neighbouring local authorities. This has put an extra stress on all those working in schools who live or work in one Borough but whose children attend a school in another. This at a time when school staff so desperately need our support.

 

How did this happen and can residents be assured it will not occur again?

 

In response Councillor Dr Barnard apologised to everyone affected and recognised the inconvenience and frustration this situation would have caused. He explained the process followed in setting term dates for Bracknell Forest community schools was to consult with immediate neighbours and then with all Bracknell Forest Headteachers to try and align dates wherever possible. There was no statutory timing for consulting on or setting term dates, and all authorities consult on and set their dates at different times which sometimes also creates mis-alignment.

 

He advised that the 2021/22 term dates were consulted upon with all Headteachers and there were no comments received back.  Some of local authority neighbours chose to publish different dates after the Bracknell Forest dates had been agreed, and some of these were different to that they had previously advised the Council that they were consulting on; presumably because Easter falls later this year.

 

He confirmed that term dates for the 2022-23 academic year this issue did not occur, and the term dates that were agreed last year are aligned. He recognised the difficulty that mis aligned term dates could cause for schools and parents. He stated that there could unfortunately be no guarantee that this would not happen again in future years because the dates set by neighbouring authorities were outside of the Council’s direct control, however he concluded that they would be vigilant in future years to minimise any disruption.

Supporting documents:

 

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Email: committee@bracknell-forest.gov.uk