Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor John Oswell, who was substituted by Councillor Beulah East.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were none.

It was confirm that all items were Part I and would be heard in public.

RESOLVED -

1)    That the minutes from 19 January 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record subject to inserting the role of Tony Little.

Maintained school perspective

The Committee welcomed Simon Hawley, Headteacher for Colham Manor Primary School to the meeting, to provide his view on the Local Authority's relationship with maintained/academy/free schools. He referred the Committee to a handout sheet he had produced.

The following points were made by Simon Hawley during his presentation and in response to questions from Committee Members:

·         There were a majority of services that Colham Manor Primary relied on, provided by the Local Authority as either services of a statutory duty or service level agreement. There was a variation in quality between these services.

·         It was important that schools were supported and it was difficult to know the points of contact within the Local Authority. It was suggested that a contact register/directory would be useful to ascertain contact details for the responsible officer within the Local Authority. 

·         The proposed changes in the Children Centre could have been delivered better if Local Authorities had enlisted the support of headteachers in redesigning services that would have also delivered savings. This would have avoided a "done to" approach that many of those involved felt.

·         The Hillingdon School Improvement Plan was an excellent piece of strategic work, and it is important that there is a focus on clarifying a longer term plan for this work.

·         Headteachers meet and share ideas and feedback in the Primary Forum Executive. The fortnightly briefings produced by the Local Authority are good and provide useful updates for headteachers.

·         Local leader groups provide headteachers with good quality CPD.

·         Sometimes headteachers feel frustrated by 'peripheral' issues that can prove to be a distraction from teaching and learning and school improvement.  For example buildings, car parking etc.

·         The way to hold schools to account is through effective partnerships and by building trust between schools and the Local Authority so that difficult discussions can be had.

·         Issues which cause headteachers concern include the constant pressure about results; adequacy of inspections; dealing with challenging pupils and parents; teacher recruitment in suburban London and finances. Colham Manor Primary benefits from pupil premium grants but not all schools are this fortunate.  Many schools benefit from the expertise of skilled business managers to assist with the financial aspect of the school running.

·         The interest of maintained headteachers in conversion to academy status varies and many head teachers feel nervous about losing control of their own school. In Hillingdon most maintained schools headteachers have considerable autonomy already and if they did decide to convert there is the chance that their Ofsted history could be deleted.

·         Additional services which would be useful to schools  included teams going beyond statutory duties - particularly around vulnerable pupils ; a specialist knowledge team focussing on pupils at risk of exclusion and a key Local Authority contact point which addressed issues such as legal and Health & Safety concerns.

Academy/free school perspective

The Committee welcomed Colin Tucker, Headteacher for Ryefield Primary School to the meeting, to provide his view on the Local Authority's relationship with maintained/ academy/ free schools.

The following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

The Committee considered a report on the Standards and Quality in Education in Hillingdon in 2015/2016.

Although not all officers who contributed to the report were able to attend the meeting an officer was available to answer the Committee's questions and feedback.

The Committee noted that the Standards and Education Quality in Education report had not been submitted to the POC before Cabinet. The Committee preferred for matters relating to the POC to go the POC in the first instance and then to Cabinet.

It was reported that:

·         A number of services would remain as statutory duties around the promotion of high standards of education.

·         Overall achievement within early years and primary phases had progressed and were moving in line with London aspirations. There had been particular improvement in the early years sector.

·         Areas of concerns related to Key Stage 5 and some aspects of Key Stage 4 performance. Although attainment levels have improved they remain below the London averages in some areas.  There were common themes identified in particular with white British boys from poor backgrounds. As Hillingdon was moving forward a number of themes were being identified which were being worked on at a strategic level.

·         Schools State Partnership Board was involved with working with schools. Where school performance was an issue, the Regional Schools Commissioner and the Local Authority had a close working relationship where difficult and robust conversations could be undertaken.

·         In summary school performance levels were progressing positively and areas of concerns have been identified and are worked on in partnership with school leaders

Although the Committee was grateful for the report, Committee Members would have benefited from a more user friendly formatted report and being able to question the range of officers who contributed to the report. The Committee indicated that it was difficult to conduct a review without being able to ask questions.

The Committee recognised and commended the improvement in school performances levels across the Borough. Discussion took place on other areas which the Committee requested further information. These included:

·         Additional information on what was raised with the Regional Schools Commissioner in relation to the two schools in the Borough not performing to the standards expected.

·         Additional information as to where Hillingdon school performance levels stood nationally.

RESOLVED –

1.  That the Standards and Quality in Education in Hillingdon 2016/17 report be noted.

2.  That officers be asked to undertake the actions outlined above and bring back the information for the Committee to consider.

The cabinet forward plan was noted.

The Committee was mindful that the next POC meeting was scheduled for Tuesday 14 March 2017. The Committee noted that postponing the meeting would impact later meetings scheduled. The Committee therefore decided to go ahead with the meeting as planned and use it to consider recommendations for the major review and to obtain an update on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

The Committee noted that the School Improvement Plan had not been included in the Work Programme. The Committee was informed that the School Improvement Plan had not been included in the Work Programme since February 2016 and it was usually done on a quarterly basis.

RESOLVED -

1)    That the meeting on Tuesday 14 March 2017 go ahead as scheduled with agenda items on the Major Review recommendations, update on CAMHS, the Cabinet Forward Plan and the Work Programme.

2)    That Democratic Services look into the School Improvement Plan not being included in the Work Programme.