To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2023.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2023.

Report of the Director of Education 

The report provides a summary of the 2023 provisional outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5.  It also provides a list of actions which are being progressed to address some of the gaps in learning.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Education which provided a summary of the 2023 provisional outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. It also provided a list of actions which were being progressed to address some of the gaps in learning.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) outcomes;
• Year 1 Phonic Test outcomes;
• Key Stage 1 outcomes;
• Key Stage 2 provisional results;
• Key Stage 4 GCSE provisional headline results;
• Stage 5 A Level provisional headline results; and
• Next steps.

The Committee heard from John Rowlands, Executive Principal and CEO, Greater Manchester Academy Trust (GMAT), which was a small multi-academy trust which provided nursery, primary and secondary education in north Manchester, as well as associate leadership and management support to a local authority-maintained nursery and Children’s Centres.  He outlined how the Trust provided a cradle to career approach within the area, supporting children, families and communities.  He reported that the area served had high levels of deprivation and that the Trust worked to understand the lived experience of the children and focused on both quality of teaching and mitigating the impact of social disadvantage, working with the Council and other partners.  He highlighted the importance of young people having not only good results but also developing the right character and a positive perception of their area.  He informed the Committee about the role of the Trust’s Manchester Communication Research School, whose role was to impart evidence-informed practice across the region and beyond.  He highlighted some of the work the Trust had been doing to secure improvements, including a focus on early years and on mental health, both in school and within families, supporting community cohesion and working with partners on issues such as housing.  He provided an overview of the current position, including the impact of the pandemic, particularly on younger children, which schools were working to address, and positive results at GCSE, highlighting the progress made by children from disadvantaged backgrounds.  He finished by emphasising the importance of investing in early years now in order to secure positive future outcomes for disadvantaged children.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the approach taken by GMAT, including work with the local community;
• Competing pressures on headteachers and senior leadership teams;
• School workforce;
• International New Arrivals;
• Children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), including how children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and other additional needs were being accommodated, including in relation to Behaviour Policies; and
• The impact of the pandemic and lessons learnt.

John Rowlands outlined how his Trust recruited teachers, based not only on teaching ability but also on their alignment to the Trust’s values and highlighted the excellent teacher training centres in the region.  In response to a question on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), he reported that the Trust used  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services

Local authorities are required by legislation to secure sufficient childcare, as far as is reasonably practicable, for working parents, or parents who are studying or training for employment and for children aged 0-14 (or up to 18 for disabled children). They are also required to shape and support the development of flexible and sustainable childcare which is responsive to the needs of the community. Childcare provision in Manchester continues to be of an extremely high quality and there are currently no settings judged to be inadequate in the City.

Manchester’s Childcare Sufficiency Report 2023 reveals that there are sufficient places to meet current demand, but pressure is likely to build in response to the expanded entitlements launching in 2024. This is being carefully monitored and plans are being developed to respond to potential demand.

This report also includes a summary of progress to date on the capital investment made in the city council’s Early Years estate.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which provided an overview of the Manchester’s Childcare Sufficiency Report 2023 and a summary of progress to date on the capital investment made in the Council’s Early Years estate.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• The Early Years National Context;
• Sufficiency of childcare and early learning opportunities in Manchester;
• New childcare entitlements from April 2024;
• Provision for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND);
• Capital improvements to the Early Years estate;
• Phase 2 update;
• Additional developments to the Early Years estate; and
• Lease reviews.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• To welcome the focus on training the workforce;
• The decarbonisation bids for six Early Years buildings;
• Concern that the funding to develop and expand wraparound childcare in Manchester for primary school aged children from working households only related to term-time; and
• That some of the areas with insufficient 2-year-old places to meet potential demand were very close together (for example, Old Moat, Withington and Fallowfield) and what was being done to address this.

The Lead for Statutory Area Early Year Access and Sufficiency reported that she would speak to officers in Capital Programmes to get an update on the decarbonisation bids.  In response to a Member’s question, she provided an overview of the Dingley’s Promise Inclusive Practice Training and stated that she would check how FASD was covered in the training and respond to the Member.  She acknowledged the Member’s point about working parents needing wraparound childcare during school holidays and stated that it was hoped that developing sustainable wrapround provision during term-time, which included supporting families to claim all their entitlements, would help providers to extend the offer further. 

The Director of Education highlighted the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) scheme which ran during the school holidays for children who were eligible for Free School Meals (FSM).

The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People reported that a lot of work was taking place on Early Years buildings which would have a demonstrable impact on the buildings’ carbon footprint, whether or not the bids referred to in the report were successful.

The Chair expressed concern about changes in immigration rules, levels of pay and qualification requirements in the Early Years sector affecting recruitment and retention.  She highlighted that the new funding for wraparound care was for the set-up costs and that parents would still have to pay for their children to attend breakfast clubs and after-school clubs under the current Government.  She informed Members about the difficulties some parents in her ward were experiencing in finding childcare places.  She asked what was being done to increase capacity in the Early Years sector as the free offer expanded, including the recruitment of additional childminders, advising that billboards could be used, as well as reaching out to black and ethnic minority communities.  She expressed concern that asbestos removal work to the Early Years estate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

Report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services

This report provides an update on work done by the Council which has had a positive impact on increasing the number of young people accessing Education Employment Training (EET) opportunities in the city over the last 2 years. It also outlines the plans for this work moving forward which align with Our Manchester Forward to 2025 Strategy and Manchester Inclusion Strategy 2022-25.

The report outlines how the cohort of young people post 16 is set to increase year on year which is causing significant pressure on places across the post 16 sector. Plans are in place to expand existing provision and to open new provisions however, there is no planned growth of places for technical courses. Projected continued growth of the post 16 cohort in the next few years as well as the planned reform of level 2 technical education may adversely impact on the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training going forward.

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services which provided an update on work done by the Council which had had a positive impact on increasing the number of young people accessing Education Employment Training (EET) opportunities in the city over the last 2 years. It also outlined the plans for this work moving forward which aligned with the Our Manchester Forward to 2025 Strategy and Manchester Inclusion Strategy 2022-25. The report outlined how the cohort of young people post 16 was set to increase year on year which was causing significant pressure on places across the post 16 sector. It stated that plans were in place to expand existing provision and to open new provisions but there was no planned growth of places for technical courses.  It also stated that projected continued growth of the post 16 cohort in the next few years as well as the planned reform of Level 2 technical education might adversely impact on the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training going forward.

Key points and themes in the report included:

• Background/context;
• Progress to date in relation to;
  • Young people not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET);
  • Post-16 provision;
  • The Risk of NEET Indicator (RONI); and
  • Qualification reform; and
• Business engagement and Skills for Life.

Some of the key points and themes that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• Tracking young people who had been identified through the RONI after they had entered college and supporting them beyond the first term;
• That NEET prevention work needed to be FASD-, neurobehaviourally- and trauma-informed;
• To request that a representative of Career Connect be invited when this item was considered again; 
• The approach to supporting young people with SEND who were at risk of becoming NEET;
• The lack of clarity on post-16 technical pathways, which was making it difficult for schools and students to prepare;
• Mentoring opportunities;
• The need for additional sixth form provision in north Manchester; and
• Challenges in finding work experience placements.

The Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure emphasised the importance of urgently addressing the pressure on post-16 technical and vocational places, highlighting the impact on the quality of the post-16 offer and on the number of young people who were NEET and he reported that the Council was working closely with partners on this.

The Post-16 Lead outlined how young people who had been identified in Year 11 as at risk of becoming NEET were supported, stating that this continued over the summer period.  He reported that checks were then carried out early in the new academic year on whether they had started at their planned destination and, if not, further support was quickly put into place.  He informed Members that in the last academic year, schools had been encouraged to identify young people earlier, in Year 10.  He informed Members that work took place with partners to provide appropriate support for young people with SEND who were at risk of becoming NEET.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

The monthly report includes the recommendations monitor, relevant key decisions, the Committee’s work programme and any items for information

A report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit was submitted. The overview report contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit, responses to previous recommendations and the Committee’s work programme, which the Committee was asked to approve.

Decision

To note the report and agree the work programme.