Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee - Wednesday, 15th January, 2025 10.00 am

Venue: Council Chamber, Level 2, Town Hall Extension. View directions

Contact: Rachel McKeon 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 96 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2024.

 

To receive the minutes of the Ofsted Subgroup meeting held on 23 October 2024.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Decisions

 

1.             That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2024 be approved as a correct record.

 

2.             To receive the minutes of the Ofsted Subgroup meeting held on 23 October 2024.

2.

Attainment Headline outcomes 2024 (provisional) pdf icon PDF 401 KB

Report of the Director of Education

 

This report provides a summary of the 2024 outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, 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 following the pandemic.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Education which provided a summary of the 2024 outcomes of statutory assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, 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 following the pandemic.

 

Key points and themes in the report included:

 

  • Background information;
  • 2024 outcomes in relation to:
    • Early Years Foundation Stage;
    • Year 1 Phonics Test;
    • Key Stage 2;
    • Key Stage 4; and
    • Key Stage 5 and
  • Next steps.

 

Gaynor Stubbs, Executive Headteacher, Aiming High C of E Federation informed the Committee about some of the steps their schools had taken to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on children and their families.  She outlined a range of steps taken, relating to the curriculum, including identifying and mitigating key aspects of teaching that had been missed through online teaching and provision for the increasing numbers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), pastoral support, support for staff and support for families, including parent workshops on a range of issues and SEND Local Offer parent meetings.

 

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

 

  • To welcome the work taking place and the progress being made, in particular in relation to children from disadvantaged backgrounds and global majority children;
  • Meeting the needs of children with SEND, including making an earlier diagnosis and learning from best practice in other countries;
  • Whether there were any particular areas of the city that were a cause for concern;
  • Concern about the widening gap between Manchester and the national average in relation to Year 1 Phonics; and
  • Availability of T-Levels.

 

The Assistant Director of Education advised that there were no specific areas of the city where outcomes were lower but that thematic issues had been identified.  She highlighted writing as a skill which had been particularly affected by the pandemic and advised that it was being addressed through work with the Education Endowment Foundation on the Write Beginnings project, which was being rolled out to selected schools across Manchester.  She reported that “a good level of development” had also been identified as a thematic issue for some cohorts of children, linked to disadvantage, and she outlined some of the work to address this, including the Kickstarter project providing speech, language and communication support to schools, as well as educational psychology.  In response to a question about Phonics, she advised that there were pre-verbal children entering Reception and that speech needed to be developed before Phonics could be effectively taught and she outlined a range of programmes to address.  She reported that the Manchester approach to SEND was to meet the presenting needs rather than waiting for a diagnosis.  She informed Members that a tool for identifying early indicators of neurodiversity had been trialled in an area of the city and that discussions were now taking place with Health on how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Inclusion Approaches and Exclusions Data 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report of the Director of Education

 

This report provides an update on the development of our inclusion support for all Manchester schools. It also looks at available exclusions data held internally in Manchester for 2023/24 and validated Department for Education (DfE) published school exclusions data for 2022/23.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Education which provided an update on the development of inclusion support for all Manchester schools. It also looked at available exclusions data held internally in Manchester for 2023/24 and validated Department for Education (DfE) published school exclusions data for 2022/23.

 

Key points and themes in the report included:

 

  • An overview of work to support inclusion in Manchester schools;
  • Data on permanent exclusions in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024;
  • Data on suspensions in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024; and
  • Early indications in relation to the current school year.

 

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

 

  • Breaking the cycle of pupils being repeatedly suspended;
  • Disproportionality regarding the pupils who were being suspended or permanently excluded;
  • Sharing good practice;
  • A suggestion that officers include a glossary in reports to make it easier for Members and the public to read; and
  • Managed moves.

 

In response to a question about repeated suspensions, the AP Lead and SAFE Taskforce Lead advised that schools were encouraged to involve the Council’s Outreach Services as early as possible where a pupil was at risk of disengaging to prevent suspensions from happening.  She reported that, if a pupil was suspended, it was important to effectively re-integrate them back into school, which the Council could provide support on, and that this re-integration could include providing support to parents, mediation or other actions to demonstrate that it was a fresh start.  In response to comments on disproportionality, she advised that there was a lot of variety of contexts between schools and that city-wide disproportionality might not reflect the population of individual schools but that the Council would provide support and challenge to schools as appropriate where there was a disproportionality of suspensions and exclusions compared to the demographics of that individual school.  She advised that the Council had commissioned a study in relation to Gyspy and Roma pupils, noting that this group was an outlier, and that the Council was also working with Afruca and Dimobi to put together a strategy to address other outliers.  In response to a Member’s question, the Statutory Lead (Attendance and Exclusions) advised that the exclusion rate for Asian Pakistani pupils was 0.14 last year, informing Members that although the number of Asian Pakistani pupils excluded was quite high, the exclusion rate was quite low as there were a large number of Asian Pakistani pupils in Manchester. 

 

In response to a question about the high number of White British pupils being excluded, the Assistant Director of Education advised that this was a national issue which was linked to disadvantage, low aspirations and negative feelings towards education and that a lot of work was being done by the Council and schools to engage with pupils and raise aspirations.  She outlined how best practice, regarding inclusion and other issues, was shared between schools, including through webinars, Headteacher Briefings, through Senior Schools Quality Assurance Officers and the brokering of formal support between schools.  In response to a Member’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Overview Report pdf icon PDF 118 KB

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.

Minutes: