Agenda and draft minutes

To consider and approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 October, 2024 as a true and correct record of the proceedings and to be signed by the Chair.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meeting of the Improving Lives Select Commission, held on 29 October 2024, be approved as a correct record of proceedings.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items of business on the agenda that required the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To receive an update on the development of the Special Education Needs and Disabilities Strategy, following the public consultation period.

The agenda item provided an update on the draft SEND Strategy and included a high-level overview of the strategy consultation response, following the public consultation on the proposed strategy.

The Chair welcomed Cary- Anne Sykes to the meeting, who was the Head of Service for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The Chair invited the Head of Service for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities to introduce the item and present the update, during which the following was noted:

·       The consultation had gone very well; however, the consultation period was disrupted by a three week SEND Ofsted Inspection.

·       The SEND Ofsted Inspection graded the Local Authority at a One, which was the highest grade. The Local Authority would be inspected again in five years’ time.

Overview of the proposed SEND Strategy, My Life, My Rights 2024-2028:

·       The Strategy, “My Life, My Rights”, set out the vision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Rotherham.

·       It would drive forward the improvements that had already started across the local area and would help all services in education, health, and social care to work together to make the required changes, to ensure children and young people in Rotherham would achieve the very best outcomes. 

·       The proposed SEND Strategy had been approved for consultation.

Consultation:

·       Consultations took place via online consultation form, face to face and over Microsoft Teams, to ensure engagement of a wide range of people.

·       Consultations included children and young people, parents and carers, Social Care and Early Help, Health and Therapy Services, education professionals and schools and partner agencies and members of the Improving Lives Select Commission.

·       There had been cohorts of people who were harder to reach and did not want to attend any sessions in person or over Microsoft Teams. In these instances, the Head of Service for SEND briefed the leaders of community groups and they shared the information with those cohorts. An example was provided of Ferham Primary School’s parents coffee morning, the group did not feel it would be appropriate for a local authority officer to attend the coffee morning and present, therefore the school shared the information with the group on the local authority’s behalf in a relaxed environment.

·       152 responses were received from online consultation forms and 13 consultation group sessions were held, with 137 people attending the sessions in total.

Consultation Feedback:

·       Four people opposed the way that the strategy was written in the voice of the child and/or young person. It was advised by the service that the young people wanted the Strategy to be written in that way, in their voice. Everyone else who provided consultation feedback had strongly agreed with the way that the strategy had been written in the young persons voice.

·       Overall the feedback on the draft strategy was very positive and included the following:

o   “All positive, brilliant use of inclusion with the strategy and the wording Ambition, Inclusion and Equity”.

o   “The SEND strategy is beacon of hope for outstanding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

To receive an update on all types of absences from education, including Elective Home Education (EHE) and the Elective Home Education dashboard.

The update will also include information on children accessing Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) and those who are missing any or all of their education.

The agenda item considered an update on all types of absences from education.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Councillor Cusworth, Cabinet Member for Childrens and Young Peoples Services, Sarah Whitby, Head of Access to Education and Rebecca Braithwaite, Senior Officer for Home Education and Children Missing from Education.

The Chair invited the Head of Access to Education to introduce the report and give the presentation, during which the following was noted:

·       The report provided an update on elective home education across Rotherham and the elective home education dashboard provided figures on the cohort of children and young people who were electively home educated across Rotherham in the 2023-2024 academic year. The report also provided an update on children who were not accessing their full entitlement of school, this included children missing education, children missing out on education and children educated otherwise than at school. All the types of absences from education listed within the report were a key focus for the service.

Children Missing Education:

·       Children missing education were children of statutory school age who were not on a school roll and were not being educated otherwise.

·       The Education Act 1996 S436a was the relevant legislation and stated the following, “Duty on the LA to make arrangements to enable them to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children in their area who are of compulsory school age but are not registered pupils at a school and are not receiving suitable education otherwise than at a school”. This was also outlined in the Department of Education Children Missing Education Statutory Guidance in 2024.

·       Rotherham had a Children Missing Education Policy which was updated in September 2024, the policy was updated to reflect changes to national attendance guidance. The service had ensured that all schools and partners were aware of the relevant updates and associated referral processes into the Council.

·       There was a Children Missing Education Officer, located in the Access to Education Team.

·       There was process assurance through the Elective Home Education and Children Missing Education Governance Group, this was Council managed and included partners across several services. The group met on a regular basis to review the current picture of elective home education within the borough, to raise any potential concerns and any changes required in ways of working.

·       There was performance assurance via the Childrens and Young Peoples Services performance scorecard. The service also reported on a termly basis to the Department of Education, this was a statutory requirement to provide data on children missing education and children who were electively home educated, this information was available to access publicly.

·       It was noted that Rotherham had a high transiency of families moving in and out of the borough, the days out of education for children missing education was a key performance indicator, which had reduced from 36.6% to 26.9% between the period of the Autumn Term 2023 and Summer Term 2024. During this period there was changes to process relating  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

To consider and approve the Commission’s Work Programme.

The Committee considered its Work Programme, and the following was noted:

·       The work programme was included in the agenda pack.

·       The suggested items for January’s meeting were the Family Help Proposal and the SEND Ofsted Inspection Outcomes.

·       An off-agenda briefing would be circulated via email to members of the Commission, following the changes to the Rotherham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership presented to Cabinet in November 2024.

Resolved: - That the Work Programme for 2024/2025 be approved.

For the Chair/Project Group Leads to provide an update on the activity regarding sub and project groups of the Improving Lives Select Commission.

The Chair provided a progress report on sub and project group activity.

Resolved: - That the update be noted.

To consider any item(s) the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.