Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Overview and Scrutiny Ofsted Subgroup - Tuesday, 29th January, 2019 10.00 am

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

Contact: Rachel McKeon 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 286 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2018.

Minutes:

Decision

 

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2018.

 

2.

Daycare Providers pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To consider inspection reports and performance information for a selection of daycare providers.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed the positive reports, noting the importance of Early Years education.  The Executive Member for Children’s Services highlighted the good partnership working which was referenced in the reports.

 

The Subgroup considered the recent Ofsted inspection report for Alexandra Park Children’s Learning Community, which had been judged as “good”.  The Senior Quality Assurance Officer (Early Years) informed Members that this provision had recently become an independent school for children up to the age of 11.  She highlighted the good teaching, the good behaviour and that it was a bilingual setting, citing studies which showed how bilingual education benefited children.  In response to a Member’s question, she reported that the setting attracted children from a wide area, including children who were electively home educated.  The Chair welcomed that the setting was developing relations with the local primary school.  In response to a question from the Chair, the Senior Quality Assurance Officer (Early Years) reported that the inspection related to the Early Years provision only but, as the setting had since become a school, at its next inspection it would be inspected as a school.

 

The Subgroup considered the recent Ofsted inspection reports for Happy Kids Delamere Park, which had been judged as “good” and Happy Kids Heybury Close, which had been judged as “outstanding”.  The Senior Quality Assurance Officer (Early Years) reported that both these settings were part of the Council’s tendered daycare provision.  She informed Members that the Delamere Park setting had been judged as “requires improvement” in November 2017 and that an action plan had been put in place which had resulted in improvements at that setting and the Heybury Close setting, which had moved from “good” to “outstanding”.  The Subgroup discussed the challenges of running a daycare provision in smaller premises, such as the Delamere Park site, where there wasn’t capacity to expand and offer more places.

 

The Subgroup considered the recent Ofsted inspection report for St Catherine’s Wrap Around Care, which had been judged as “outstanding”.  The Senior Quality Assurance Officer (Early Years) reported that, as with other wrap around care provision, the setting worked with a large number of children and that her team provided advice to the setting on how to work with the groups of children effectively.  In response to a Member’s question, she reported that the setting only provided care for pupils at St Catherine’s Primary School and highlighted the good relationship and information sharing with the school.  The Chair commented that there appeared to be a successful partnership between the setting and the school.

 

The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that officers prepared a report for the Quality Assurance Board on all inspections and the outcomes and offered to provide this to the next meeting, to which the Chair agreed.  The Senior Quality Assurance Officer (Early Years) informed Members that 98% of Manchester’s Early Years settings were now judged as “good” or “outstanding”.  Members thanked the Quality Assurance Team for their hard work in supporting settings to achieve this excellent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Ofsted Inspections of Manchester Schools pdf icon PDF 178 KB

To receive a list of all Manchester schools which have been inspected since the last meeting and the judgements awarded.

 

To consider inspection reports for a selection of the schools.

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Subgroup considered information on recent Ofsted inspections of Manchester schools.  In response to a Member’s question, the Senior School Quality Assurance Officer clarified that the figure of 65.4% of Manchester schools being judged good or better related to high schools only.

 

In response to a Member’s question, the Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that Newall Green High School, The Grange and St Matthew’s High School had all recently received Ofsted monitoring visits and suggested that the letters from these visits be considered at the next Ofsted Subgroup meeting, to which the Chair agreed.

 

The Subgroup considered the recent Ofsted inspection report for Burnage Academy for Boys, which had been judged as “outstanding”.  The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that, following its previous inspection where it has been judged as “requires improvement”, the senior leadership team had quickly addressed the issues raised.  He highlighted the difficult backgrounds of some of the pupils and some of the improvements outlined in the report.  A Member welcomed the progress made since the previous report.  In response to a question from the Chair, the Senior School Quality Assurance Officer informed Members that the school had become an academy by choice.  The Subgroup discussed the use of alternative provision.  The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported the Burnage Academy was a very inclusive school where staff worked to find ways to manage and modify behaviour and enable pupils to remain at the school.  He reported that a member of his team was undertaking a piece of work on alternative provision across the city, in order to ensure the quality of alternative provision commissioned by Manchester schools.  He offered to provide further information on this to a future meeting.  A Member who was also the Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee reported that the Committee would be receiving a report on School Exclusions, Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provision at a future meeting, in response to a recent Council Motion, and recommended that this information could be incorporated into that report.

 

The Subgroup considered the recent Ofsted inspection report for Lily Lane Primary School, which had been judged as “requires improvement”.  The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer informed Members that the school had been judged “outstanding” at its previous inspection five years ago; however, a one-day inspection in October 2018 had been changed to a two-day inspection because of concerns about the quality of teaching and learning at the school.  He informed Members that the school had expanded and the pupil demographic had also changed and that the school leadership team had struggled to respond quickly enough to these changes.  Members discussed the impact of these changes and how the Council in partnership with schools could deal more proactively with these challenges.  The Senior School Quality Assurance Officer reported that, prior to the inspection, the Council had already identified that the school required extra support, which his team had been providing, and the head teacher had also brokered additional support; however,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Terms of Reference and Work Programme pdf icon PDF 212 KB

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

 

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

Minutes:

The Subgroup reviewed the terms of reference for the Subgroup and the work programme.  The Chair requested that, at its March meeting, the Subgroup receive a document summarising the schools which were currently judged as “requires improvement” and progress being made to secure improvements. 

 

Decision

 

To agree the terms of reference and work programme, subject to the above amendment.