Agenda item

Agenda item

Out of School Settings

Report of the Director of Education

 

This report updates the Committee on the DFE (Department for Education) Pilot Project on Out of School Settings which aims to:- 

·         Support Local Authorities to test approaches to mapping, identifying, and intervening in out of school settings

·         Improve understanding of risks and intervention approaches in out of school settings; and

·         Consider how existing legal powers can be best utilised, and identify any gaps in the current legislative framework.

 

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Director of Education which provided an update on the DfE (Department for Education) Pilot Project on Out of School Settings which aimed to support local authorities to test approaches to mapping, identifying and intervening in out of school settings, improve understanding of risks and intervention approaches in out of school settings and consider how existing legal powers could be best utilised and identify any gaps in the current legislative framework.

 

Officers referred to the main points and themes within the report which included:

 

  • Manchester Award for Supplementary Schools;
  • Pilot DfE Project on Out of School Settings and building on successes through the pilot;
  • Legislation;
  • Initial mapping of out of school settings;
  • Safeguarding arrangements in Manchester;
  • Training for out of school settings providers;
  • National concerns and the Council’s responses;
  • Findings to date; and
  • Strengths and challenges in Manchester.

 

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

 

  • To welcome the work that had taken place in Manchester on out of school settings over many years, noting that this had enabled the Council to take part in the DfE’s pilot project;
  • To welcome the benefits to children of being able to participate in a wide range of out of school activities, while recognising the challenges this presented in ensuring there were appropriate safeguarding procedures in place;
  • Request for further information on the Safe After School campaign;
  • The information that was available on a ward basis;
  • Whether the good practice in Manchester could be shared with other Greater Manchester authorities; and
  • The legal powers available to the Council, noting the limits of these powers and also the challenge of different legislation being the responsibility of different services.

 

The Safeguarding Lead for Education reported that the Safe After School campaign aimed to raise the awareness of parents and communities about safeguarding in out of schools settings so that parents who were planning to send their child to an out of school setting knew the right questions to ask to check that appropriate safeguarding measures were in place.   She reported that a range of resources were being developed including flyers to be delivered to schools, libraries and other venues, as well as being available electronically.  She advised that, once these were ready, she would also circulate them to Members of the Committee.  She confirmed that the Youth Engagement Team had mapped all provision that they were aware of in each ward, including supplementary schools, and offered to circulate this to Members.  The Executive Member for Children and Schools supported a Member’s suggestion that officers liaise with Neighbourhood Managers to gather information on out of school settings in particular wards and to progress information-sharing through Ward Co-ordination.  The Chair welcomed the proposal to share information with Ward Councillors through Ward Co-ordination.  He advised any Member with concerns or information about a setting in their ward to raise this directly with officers.  A Member suggested that this information could also be shared with schools and that schools could gather information by asking parents what out of school activities their child took part in.

 

The Safeguarding Lead for Education informed Members that the DfE was keen for learning and good practice to be shared and that the Council had already been sharing good practice on out of school settings with some other Greater Manchester councils, as well as using some work which Rochdale Council had already done to develop the ‘Safe After School’ campaign.  The Executive Member for Children and Schools reported that he, the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services and the Director of Education were involved in the Greater Manchester Children’s Board and would share this work through that and other appropriate forums. 

 

The Safeguarding Lead for Education reported that there were some gaps in the legal powers available to her team but that, if there was a concern about safeguarding, they would use these powers, working with partners as appropriate.  She advised Members that her team had good relationships with a number of partners and that being part of the pilot project had enabled them to strengthen and develop these relationships.  The Strategic Director for Children and Education Services informed the Committee that the DfE pilot should seek to answer the question of whether more legislative powers were needed in this area.

 

In response to a Member’s question, the Safeguarding Lead for Education informed Members that the number of children in Elective Home Education (EHE) had increased in Manchester and nationally.  She advised the Committee that her team was using positive engagement to work with families who were home educating, as their legal powers were limited.  She reported that a lot of families who home educated used out of school settings and provided her team with information on these settings.  The Executive Member for Children and Schools advised Members that the Council would prefer a stronger legislative framework for EHE.

 

Decisions

 

1.            To note the report.

 

2.            To welcome that information would be shared through Ward Co-ordination.

 

3.            To recommend that Members lobby the government to improve legislation relating to supplementary schools and Elective Home Education (EHE).

Supporting documents: