To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2023.

The Chair asked whether she could attend a Childminders Forum meeting in order to better understand the relationship with the providers, to which officers agreed.  She provided an overview of the visits Subgroup Members had carried out since the last meeting.  She stated that the visit to The East Manchester Academy had been particularly useful in enabling local Ward Councillors, who had joined the visit, to get involved.  She reported that Xaverian College had praised the support they had received from the Council regarding their funding bid.  She highlighted how the College was moving beyond its traditional academic strengths towards subjects which linked to needs in the city’s employment market.  She praised Brighter Beginnings in Newton Heath, including the positive atmosphere and its approach to environmental sustainability.

Decision

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 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, advising that all reports for inspections from the previous academic year had now been published.  She reported that 88.4% of Manchester schools were judged to be good or better, which placed the city fifth out of ten local authorities within Greater Manchester and in line with the average for the north-west and nationally.  She added that 89.6% of Manchester primary schools were good or better, placing Manchester sixth out of ten within Greater Manchester, and 82.8% of the city’s high schools were good or better, placing Manchester second out of ten at secondary level within Greater Manchester. 

In response to comments from the Chair about the positive outcomes for the special schools which had been inspected, the Senior School Quality Assurance Officer clarified that these were not included in the above figures.  The Director of Education highlighted that Prospect House was a new school which had been judged as outstanding on its first inspection.  The Chair welcomed that there was additional special school provision for pupils whose needs could not be met in mainstream schools.  A Member expressed concern that the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant was not sufficient to meet the needs of all the pupils with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) in the city.

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that the themes emerging from the Ofsted inspections remained similar to those reported at previous meetings.  She stated that these included curriculum design, particularly identifying component knowledge, and curriculum implementation.  She reported that her team had put in place a series of webinars on curriculum design and implementation, which had received positive feedback so far.  She informed Members that the city had approximately 81 schools which were likely to be inspected during the current academic year and that these had been risk assessed, with officers working closely with those assessed as being ‘red’ or ‘amber’ risk.  She reported that, where there were specific concerns about a school, this was closely monitored by the Quality Assurance Board.  She informed Members that all Manchester schools had received a Quality Assurance visit during the autumn term and that these had included a focus on the curriculum to identify any issues and provide support.  She reported that next term there would be a Quality Assurance report focussing on behaviour, as the Department for Education (DfE) was spotlighting this issue.  She also informed Members of a webinar which was being developed on adaptive teaching, stating that Members would be welcome to attend this.  In response to a Member’s question, she stated that the schools judged to be inadequate or requires improvement were not concentrated in any specific area of the city.

Members discussed King David High School, with the Chair commenting that Subgroup Members had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

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 Early Years Quality Assurance Lead 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 the city were judged to be good or better and that no settings were currently judged as inadequate.  She highlighted that Manchester Montessori House had received an outstanding judgement at its first inspection and suggested that the Subgroup might want to visit the setting. 

In response to a question from the Chair, the Early Years Quality Assurance Lead confirmed that the three settings which had recently received judgements of requires improvement had already been identified by her team and had been receiving support.  She informed Members that one of these settings had previously been judged as inadequate and had improved following support from her team.  She highlighted staffing as a key issue for these settings, and as a wider issue for the sector, and informed Members about work with Manchester College to address this.

A Member expressed concern about the sector’s ability to meet increased demand as the free entitlement was expanded and highlighted qualification requirements and pay rates as issues affecting recruitment. 

The Early Years Quality Assurance Lead informed Members about plans to change the qualification requirements for Early Years staff and to give managers more autonomy regarding ratios and about a forthcoming Government recruitment and retention campaign in the New Year. 

A Member commented on providers developing their own staff into management roles, highlighting an example from a recent visit.

Decision

To note the reports.

To receive a verbal report from the Early Years Quality Assurance Lead.

The Early Years Quality Assurance Lead provided Members with an overview of childminders across the city.  She reported that Manchester had 327 registered childminders, although not all would be currently providing childminding services.  She informed Members that nationally over the past 10 years the number of childminders had decreased by 50% but that in Manchester the number had only decreased by 25%.  She reported that 291 of the registered childminders were on the Early Years register, with the remainder only working with children aged 5 and over.  She informed Members that 16 childminders in Manchester were part of the Tiney Childminding Agency so did not have individual registrations and were recruited and trained by Tiney. She informed Members about grants which were available for new childminders registering with Ofsted but advised that the government scheme offered more money for new childminders to register with agencies.  She reported that her team offered the same support to childminders who were registered with Tiney as it did to other childminders in the city, including visits and access to the Forums, and that the Council had a working relationship with Tiney.  She reported that around 200 childminders in the city could offer free entitlement childcare and that some childminders offered overnight care.  She reported that some childminders worked as a group and that approximately 60% worked with an assistant and that her team supported the childminder on their leadership role where they employed an assistant.  She explained planned changes in relation to space requirements in the home, which would include kitchens from next year, and the relaxing of the qualification requirements for childminders.  She informed Members about the wide range of training and support offered to childminders, including pre-registration training, visits, termly Forums, an allocated Quality Assurance Officer, support from local Children’s Centres, support and training on working with children with SEND, safeguarding training, a professional development programme and peer support.  She reported that 13 childminders had been judged outstanding, 211 were good and 9 were judged as requires improvement or satisfactory, although 6 of these had no children on roll.  She explained that settings which were due an inspection but did not have children on roll could have a “no children on roll” inspection which resulted in a judgement of met or not met but that the grade awarded at the previous inspection would be counted for the figures.  She reported that, if settings which had since received a judgement of met were discounted, there was only one provider in Manchester currently judged as inadequate.  She informed Members that 93% of childminders were now judged as good or better, compared to 58% ten years ago.  She highlighted some of the issues for those which were less than good, including not keeping up to date with requirements such as first aid certificates and insurance when they did not have any children on roll, which her team regularly highlighted to the providers, and self-evaluation.  She explained how her team prioritised their visits to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

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

Members were informed that the next meeting would take place on 28 February 2024.  Members agreed to visit Manchester Montessori House, Rodney House School and Prospect House Specialist Support Primary School.

Decisions

1.            To note the Terms of Reference and Work Programme.

2.            To arrange visits to Manchester Montessori House, Rodney House School and Prospect House Specialist Support Primary School.