Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

To receive apologies for absence (if any).

An apology for absence was received from Mrs A Khan.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Forum;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents or organisations under the provisions of Executive Procedure Rule 51 (Part 4D of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions or deputations received at this meeting.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

The Forum received a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services which set out proposals for constitutional changes to the Education Consultative Forum.  An officer advised that:

·                    the Education Act 2011 had initiated changes to the role of the Local Authority with regard to schools and these changes were reflected in the proposed changes to the scope, function and composition of the Forum;

·                    following a suggestion from the Education Consultative Forum at its 25 January meeting, further consultation of key stakeholders had been carried out with regard to the proposed changes to the Forum’s composition and admissions functions;

·                    the results of the consultation had been incorporated into the recommendations in the report.

The officer outlined the following proposed changes:

·                    that the Education Consultative Forum (EdCF) be renamed Education Strategy Consultative Forum (ESCF);

·                    ESCF would not be a decision-making body, but would be an advisory body and would make recommendations to Cabinet;

·                    ESCF would also consider cross-cutting issues, including revenue and capital funding and strategic issues relating to the provision of education and schooling in Harrow, educational excellence and provision for vulnerable children;

·                    membership of ESCF would be widened to reflect its extended scope and would include representation from academies and the private and voluntary early years sector;

·                    the role of the Harrow Admissions Forum would be subsumed into ESCF, subject to approval by Council.

Following questions and suggestions from Members of the Forum, an officer stated that:

·                    the two support staff representatives could be recruited through Unison and GMB and a letter could be sent to all schools inviting prospective representatives to come forward;

·                    there would four denominational representatives, one from each denominational provider in Harrow (Hindu, Roman Catholic, Church of England and Jewish);

·                    the two parent governors representatives would be sought by writing to schools and through publicity in Harrow People, parent-teacher associations and schools’ newsletters;

·                    the paragraph relating to the composition of the Governor constituency would specify that it would consist of six non-Councillor members and the representative for post-16 providers would be from a college in Harrow;

·                    it was proposed that representatives from independent schools in Harrow not be invited at this time, but that established relationships between maintained schools and independent schools in Harrow be further developed.   He added that this proposal was not inconsistent with inviting representatives from the early years private and voluntary sector providers to the Forum, because there was no state provision for children under five, whereas there was state provision for children over five years of age;

·                    this policy of not inviting representation from independent schools in Harrow be reviewed in March 2013.

Several Forum Members expressed the view that representatives from independent schools in Harrow would benefit and enhance the work of the Forum and this would be in keeping with recent government initiatives to create better links between the independent and the state sector.

Resolved to RECOMMEND: to Cabinet, via the Constitution Review Working Group

That

(1)               the Education Consultative Forum be renamed the Education Strategy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

An officer presented a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services which provided an update on School Place Planning issues, including the outcome of the statutory consultations about the proposed programme of school expansion.

The officer advised that:

·                    increased demand for school places, particularly in the primary sector, would be met through the permanent expansion of nine schools in the south west planning area and the introduction of temporary bulge classes;

·                    8 bulge reception classes had been agreed for September 2012, with two further classes planned.  The admissions service had received 1,969 applications for Year 7 places for 2,200 places in total;

·                    initial analysis of the consultation results indicated that there had been positive feedback about the proposals.  However, there were concerns regarding funding commitments and possible impact on traffic and parking in the vicinity of schools.  Any issues arising from the consultation would be addressed in a report to Cabinet in April.

Following questions and comments from Forum Members, an officer advised that:

·                    officers would ensure that schools received the appropriate level of guidance and support during the process of expansion;

·                    the preferred location for the Free School was Harrow, however, the proposers for the Free School, Avanti House, would not be able to enter into a funding agreement until a suitable site had been identified.  He added that officers were assisting Avanti House in their search for a viable site.  He added that Harrow Council were represented by an officer on the Avanti House School Steering Group;

·                    the school planned for the Kodak site had been earmarked for those families who would be living in the new developments planned around the site and would not be a suitable location for the proposed Free School.

The Chairman thanked officers for their hard work on the school expansion programme.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

The Forum received a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services which set out a review of the Brent and Harrow Education Business Service (BHEBS) and the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS).  An officer stated that the review was being carried out jointly with Brent Council with a view to informing decisions on any future provision of both services.  The officer added that:

·                    state funding for BHEBS and EMAS would cease from 1 September and the future of both services would depend on whether schools in Brent and Harrow chose to buy into their services;

·                    a consultation of key stakeholders about the future of these services was being carried out as part of the Council’s Protocol for Managing Organisational Change;

·                    the main work of BHEBS consisted of finding work experience placements for high school students;

·                    although the majority of employers signed up to the BHEBS tended to be from Brent, cross-border work placement of pupils was not uncommon;

·                    much of the EMAS’ responsibility and funding had increasingly been delegated to schools. One aspect of EMAS’ responsibility had been to meet the educational needs of children of traveller communities.

A Member stated that the government was increasingly taking a more integrated approach to education funding and schools were being asked to expand their provision to include areas such as work experience, work placements and career guidance.  He added that the phrase ‘Ethnic Minority’ in the EMAS title could cause confusion as it was no longer relevant in view of the changed demographics in both Brent and Harrow.

Following questions and comments from Forum Members, an officer advised that:

·                    in his experience, employers preferred to deal with a single point of contact rather than individual schools when offering work placements to pupils;

·                    currently the BHEBS operated as a joint service offered by Brent and Harrow.  Its future would depend on responses to the consultation and an assessment of whether its services were considered viable, and these may need to be reduced or become more specialised.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)               Forum Members consider and comment on the review papers, and;

(2)               encourage their constituencies to respond to the consultation by 26 March 2012;

(3)               the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

The Forum received a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services which set out proposals to develop a Special Schools/Special Educational Needs (SEN) Strategy.  An officer advised that the proposals were being developed in response to increased pressures on Special Schools in Harrow, a general increase in SEN demand in the population , and increasing financial pressure in the context changing government policy.  The officer added that:

·                    SEN provision covered a wide spectrum of needs;

·                    the Strategy being developed would identify current and future demand and work with a range of stakeholders, which included officers in Adults and Housing to formulate future SEN policy and provision;

·                    proposals regarding future SEN provision would be submitted to Cabinet in July 2012 with further reports being submitted to the Forum.

Following questions from Members of the Forum, the officer advised that:

·                    Harrow’s Academy Schools were considering how to accommodate SEN children in their schools;

·                    It was now possiblefor Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) in Harrow to convert to Academy status.  Children in PRUs often had complex needs beyond educational needs, in the areas of health and social care.  The work of PRUs was closely linked to many local authority services.  One implication of PRUs converting to Academies may be that local authorities would retain responsibility for a small group of pupils with complex and challenging needs;

·                    officers were carrying out a review of out-of-borough SEN placements, and the officer undertook to circulate information about the type, number and cost of these placements to Forum Members at a later date;

·                    officers were taking a more holistic approach to SEN provision, for example, officers were working with paediatric services to help formulate SEN policy and strategy; Children and Adult Mental Health Services (CAMHS) would now be located within Children’s Services; and Children’s Services were considering the possibility of co-locating health services in schools.

The Chairman stated that, currently, healthcare, social care and education were all differently funded.  In the future, he hoped to see greater partnership working between these providers, with child-centred budgets.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)               officers circulate information about the type, number and cost of out of borough SEN placements to Forum Members;

(2)               the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

An officer presented a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services, which set out proposals to amend the criteria for funding for transport for students without a Special Educational Need, who travelled out of borough to a post-16 educational setting to study.  The officer advised that:

·                    the grant from central government that provided transport costs for students without a SEN or disability through a locally determined scheme, ceased on 31 March 2011;

·                    most students in Harrow were well supported through arrangements offered by Transport for London (TfL);

·                    the scheme funded students aged between 16 and 19 from low income families, currently living within the London Borough of Harrow taking courses which were not available at one of Harrow's schools or three Colleges and where the location travelled to was not covered by TfL's free travel scheme for students;

·                    the fund was limited and the number of pupils affected was small.  Furthermore, there was no strict obligation to provide this support and few other urban local authorities offered it;

·                    if pupils were not eligible to receive the fund from Harrow, then they might be eligible for a bursary or discretionary grant from the institute where they were studying.

A Member questioned why the eligibility criteria for the fund was retrospective with regard to the receipt of free schools meals and stated that this could have equalities implications.  The Officer responded that the intention is to provide the grant where young people are eligible and would make the adjustment (subject to the consultation outcomes).  Following further discussions, Forum Members requested that the eligibility criteria be amended.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)               having considered the proposed criteria, the Forum Members recommended that the eligibility criteria be amended, subject to the consultation, as follows:  ‘You must have been in receipt of, or have been eligible for free schools meals (FSM) while a Year 11 student in a secondary school or Academy, or be deemed to be eligible for free schools meals (FSM) at the time of application’;

(2)               Forum Members encourage their constituencies to respond to the consultation by 2 April 2012;

(3)               the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

The Forum received a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services, which set out the attainment and progress of Harrow students since the previous report to the Forum in November 2011.  An officer advised that:

·                    the overall patterns shown in the report were cause for celebration, and that pupils going through the school system in Harrow had made good progress.  However, some of the figures were unfavourable.  The EMAS team and others had been working on narrowing any gaps and raising attainment levels and that this was a Council priority;

·                    standards had improved in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for the last five years in the borough and Harrow was now close to the national average.  However, the gap in performance of the lowest performing 20% of children was still cause for concern;

·                    standards at Level 2+ in reading and writing had improved since 2008 and Harrow was ranked 19^th and 17^th nationally;

·                    there were improvements in standards at Key Stage 2 in English and maths and there was progress in English and maths from Key Stage 1 to the end of Key Stage 2;

Following questions from Members of the Panel, the officer stated that:

·                    for maths at Key Stage 4, Harrow ranked 27^th last year and 16^th this year, and for English, Harrow ranked 14^th last year and 10^th this year, both of which were a demonstrable improvement;

·                    the teaching of Maths at EYFS was based largely on experiential learning and this had yielded consistent improvement in pupils’ attainment.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services.

An officer presented a report of the Corporate Director Children’s Services which set out information about the duty on local authorities to promote  Raising the Participation Age (RPA), which would come into force in June 2013.  The officer advised that:

·                    the Education and Skills Act (2008) placed a duty on all young people to participate in education or skills training until their 18^th birthday.  This would come into force from the Summer of 2013;

·                    RPA did not necessarily mean remaining in school beyond the age of 16, but included apprenticeships, part-time education, training or volunteering;

·                    Harrow had among the lowest numbers of young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) after the age of 16;

·                    officers recognised that different young people engaged and participated in education and training in different ways.  He added that there would be appropriate information, advice, guidance and targeted intervention through schools, Academies and services such as connexions to ensure young people in Harrow engaged with RPA.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

To note that the next meeting of the Forum is due to be held on 27 June 2012.

RESOLVED:  To note that the next meeting of the Forum would take place on 27 June 2012.