Minutes:
Katy Hawkins, Manager of the Get Real Team, gave an update on progress and reported on the following:-
(a) The Team
The management restructuring of the team had been positive and plans were now moving forward.
From September each area team would have a specific contact from the Get Real Internal Management Team in the North, South and Central areas providing support at team meetings, on a termly basis.
Recruitment had been successful for a part-time teacher, which would provide a range of experience to the team and assist with the development of alternative educational packages. Also a part-time administrative officer had been recruited, these posts were created from the restructuring of the team. Due to a resignation a Social Worker vacancy had arisen and was currently being advertised.
The team were also thanked for their hard work and dedication over the last academic year and this was endorsed by officers and elected Members present.
(b) Pupils off School Roll
There were currently no pupils off school roll. The team had actively prevented nine permanent exclusions over this academic year. Work had taken place with two permanently excluded pupils, one of whom had since settled at Whiston Grange; the other subject to a multi-agency meeting in order to consider how best to meeting his needs.
(c) Personal Educational Plans
82% of the Personal Educational Plans were now complete. This should be improved upon and the quality monitored carefully. It would appear that the figures for Rotherham were much higher than compared to others across the Trent Authority and more importantly they were of good quality.
From September Personal Educational Plans would be in place for children in nursery taking up places from 3+ and were based on the foundation stage profiles.
(d) L.P.S.A. and Best Value Performance Indicators
The Team had worked hard to establish performance action plans for all the targets and the Trent Regional DfES Development Worker had agreed to visit Rotherham to consult on the plans to ensure they were effective.
One area of performance receiving particular attention was school attendance. A clear action plan had been developed to maintain attendance, but record keeping was always a term behind due to the current paper based system which relied heavily on the team’s administrative officer and it would be the earliest 2005 before the new registering system was up and running via EMS in education. Links with the Education Welfare Service were also being built so they could provide support in this area.
(e) SATS Results
There had been an overall improvement in the results at Key Stage 1 from 44% to 46.67%.
At Key Stage 2, received last Friday, the results were not so good with a down turn to 29.8% from 32% reported last year.
Staff had worked hard at Key Stage 2 and one particular student, who was not going to be entered by the school, was entered when staff from the team read for him.
Discussion had also ensued on the numbers of children that have been dis-applied on roll at special schools. Currently Rotherham reported on all children in the year group, it had emerged that schools and other Local Authorities only reported on the children entered for SATs. If the children who were disapplied were not included then the Key Stage 2 target would raise to 37.4% against a P.S.A. target of 42%. Consultation with the Audit Commission would take place on this issue.
It was also pointed out that the results reported to the Government were based on children having been looked after for a twelve month period or more.
The results for Key Stage 3 had not yet been received and may not be available until September, 2004, due to a problem with the English result.
(f) G.C.S.E. Feedback
The results from this year’s cohort were not positive, due to so many young people having been disengaged from education and this may have a significant impact on the Council’s ability to achieve the P.S.A. target, in this area.
However, as well as the reports on pupil disengagement there were also success stories. In reality terms all pupils were provided with specific action plans even if they had disengaged from education or were experiencing other difficulties. There was a clear need for some kind of accreditation or the development of a national framework for children who were looked after or had some form of special educational needs. This view was also echoed by the other authorities in the Trent region.
Approaches had also been made by other local authorities, namely Leicestershire and Redcar, for some form of consultation on the difficulties facing their own teams.
It was also noted that Education, Culture and Leisure Services were in discussions to give a commitment to prioritising pupils with special educational needs in public care and that a report would be presented to the Cabinet in due course.
(g) Activities for Looked After Children
The team were actively involved in producing a number of sessions for young people over the summer break.
Swimming was being looked at as there were a total of fifty-seven non-swimmers amongst the Looked After population and their names would be included on the appropriate waiting lists for lessons.
In order to reduce costs all foster carers were able to apply for a Rothercard, which would reduce costs by 50%.
Three tenders had been received on the provision of driving lessons and the specification was being worked on, with an estimated cost of £500.00 per block of lessons each person should they pass their driving test first time.
(h) Teenagers to Work
A bid had been submitted to the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to fund a pilot of the Rotherham Trainee Initiative Scheme. No official response had yet been received. This issue had been raised at the Corporate Management Team on Friday and Programme Areas had given their support should the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund bid be successful. This would then be developed over the year and linked in to other agendas to fund N.V.Q.s.
It was pointed out that the report submitted indicated that during the pilot phase there would be no cost implications to Programme Areas. This was incorrect as match funding would be requested.
The Panel were informed that that the project had been extended to sixteen and seventeen year olds as many young people were favouring higher education. It was also noted that from this year’s cohort ten young people were joining the Army.
The Panel were also informed that the Designated Teachers’ Conference had been cancelled last week due to a poor response with only twelve people indicating their acceptance.
This Conference would be rescheduled for the 3rd November, 2004 with invitations extended to Designated Governors. Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen would be informed of this Conference at their next meeting scheduled to take place in the Town Hall on the 28th September, 2004 and would also be included in the Governing Bodies’ newsletter.