To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2023.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2023.

To receive a list of all Manchester schools which have been inspected since the last meeting and the judgements awarded and to consider the main themes arising from the inspections.

The Subgroup received a list of all Manchester schools which had been inspected since the last meeting and the judgements awarded. 

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer provided Members with an overview of the inspections which had taken place since the last meeting.   She reported that an unprecedented number of Ofsted inspections had taken place this year, with 74 Manchester schools being inspected, which was comprised of 46 ungraded inspections, 23 graded inspections and 5 monitoring visits; however, only 56 of the reports had been published so far.  She reported that 88% of Manchester schools were judged to be good or outstanding, which was above the national average.

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that the same recurring themes were seen in the most recently published reports and that these were being communicated to schools.  She stated that there was still a strong emphasis on the curriculum and that key themes included component knowledge, the sequencing of the curriculum, adaptive learning for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), leaders monitoring the impact of the curriculum, assessment and reading and phonics. 

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer highlighted some of the key points from the inspection of St Francis RC Primary School, which had been judged as inadequate.  She stated that behaviour was often an area of concern at schools which were judged as inadequate and that this was often connected to the quality of education, as an engaging, progressive curriculum encouraged better behaviours for learning from the children.

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer updated Members on the series of webinars for school leaders focusing on the key themes from the Ofsted inspections.  She reported that there would be additional work with schools around adaptive teaching, building on the webinar which had taken place, and that the subject-specific work would continue.  She stated that all schools had been RAG-rated and would receive an appropriate level of support, with all schools receiving at least one visit from a Quality Assurance professional per year and those identified as needing a higher level of support receiving more frequent visits.

The other Senior School Quality Assurance Officer present reported that her team was in the process of identifying the schools which were likely to be inspected in the next academic year, that a risk assessment process would be carried out for those schools in September to identify the ones who might need further support and that information on this could be provided at the next meeting.

The Chair expressed concern about small, one-form entry primary schools which did not have a strong specialist lead for all subjects.  She asked for further information in relation to Saviour CE Primary School, Cheetwood Primary School and St Francis RC Primary School, including whether issues had been identified, and additional support provided, prior to the inspections taking place. 

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that Saviour CE Primary School had been identified as a school causing concern through the risk assessment process and that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To receive a list of daycare providers which have been inspected since the last meeting and the judgements awarded and to consider the main themes arising from the inspections.

The Subgroup received a list of all Manchester daycare providers which had been inspected since the last meeting and the judgements awarded.

The second Senior School Quality Assurance Officer in attendance provided Members with an overview of the inspections which had taken place since the last meeting.  She reported that 95% of early years settings in Manchester were judged to be good or outstanding as were 93% of childminders, despite the challenges that the sector was experiencing.  She reported that there had been an increase in complaints triggering early years inspections.  She highlighted some of the main themes from the reports, stating that strengths included the development of communication and language, adapting the curriculum for individual children, particularly those with English as an Additional Language (EAL) and supporting children with SEND, while the development of children’s independence was an area for improvement for some settings.  She outlined some of the support being provided to settings, which included a range of training, for example on phonological awareness, a pre-registration course for childminders and termly development forums.  She provided an update on the Government’s two Early Years consultations.  She reported that the first of these, which related to staff to child ratios, had already closed and the changes would be implemented from September.  She advised that the second consultation, which related to mathematics qualifications for Early Years Level 3 staff and creating two separate provider-specific versions of the Early Years Framework, was still currently open.

In response to a Member’s comments about recruitment issues in the Early Years sector, the Senior School Quality Assurance Officer acknowledged that this was an issue and stated that work was taking place to look at sufficiency for the proposed expansion of childcare funding from April 2024.  A Member who was also the Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee requested that an item on Early Years Sufficiency be considered at a future meeting of the Committee.  A Member also requested that details of the proposed expansion of free childcare and the timeline for its roll-out be emailed to Subgroup Members.

Decisions

1.            To note that the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee will receive a report on Early Years Sufficiency at a future meeting.

2.            To request that details of the proposed expansion of free childcare and the timeline for its roll-out be emailed to Subgroup Members.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

To review the Terms of Reference and Work Programme of the Subgroup.

Decision

To note the Terms of Reference and Work Programme.