Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor David Benson declared a general non-pecuniary interest as he was a Governor of Uxbridge High School and lectured at further and higher education colleges. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Councillor Lindsay Bliss declared a general non-pecuniary interest as she was a Governor of Brookside Primary School. She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Councillor Judith Cooper declared a general non-pecuniary interest as she was a Governor of Charville, St Andrews and the Hillingdon Virtual School. She was also on the Children’s Board at Charville and her husband was a Govenor at St Mary’s School. She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Councillor John Riley declared a general non-pecuniary interest as he was a Governor of Field End Infant School. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Councillor Catherine Dann declared a general non-pecuniary interest as she was a Governor of Newham Junior School and Bishop Ramsay C of E School. She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Councillor Susan O’Brien declared a general non-pecuniary interest as she was a Governor at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School and was working at Ruislip High School. She remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

Tony Little declared a general non-pecuniary interest as he was a Governor at Pinkwell Primary School and Hartlington Community School. He remained in the room during the meeting and took part in the discussions.

It was noted that all items would be considered in Part 1.

There were no matters notified in advance or urgent.

The Minutes of 16 January 2013 were agreed as a correct record.

Officers introduced the report which had been welcomed by Cabinet. It was noted that this was a retrospective report and that much of the information was historic. Officers reminded Members that simple assumptions should not be drawn from this report as it recorded a period in which the Council’s education service was changing significantly.

The report showed a service which was improving; with the gap in educational achievement between girls and boys narrowing and a general improvement in attainment across the board. However, it was noted that performance for Key Stage 1 and Foundation levels were not as encouraging as had been hoped for. Officer advised that challenges with Key Stage 1 were seen to be linked to the introduction of phonics test.

Members raised concerns that teachers in the Borough’s schools were failing to prepare Key Stage 1 pupils for the phonics test.

Officers advised that it would not be possible to comment on individual cases but that discussions would take place with head teachers to ensure that pupils were adequately prepared for these tests.

Members asked whether the Council had the ability to monitor the quality of the services being provided to schools by external organisations.

Officers noted that there were only three secondary schools in the Borough still under the Council. It was noted that Local Authorities did not have full oversight of services being provided and that schools were not currently receiving systematic support.

Officers advised that Ofsted had recently changed the “Satisfactory” rating to “Requires improvement” which could prove to be problematic for some of the schools in the Borough. Those schools rated as requiring improvement would be sent a formal warning by the Council. However, based on inspection results, Hillingdon schools were ranked in the 2^nd quintile nationally and the intention was to move into the 1^st quintile.

Officers noted that work was currently being undertaken to start an education partnership which would help to ensure that the Council could monitor schools. Currently local authorities were not able to monitor effectively as Academy Schools were accountable to the Department for Education and were not required to report to the Council. The challenge for the Council in this changing landscape was to renegotiate relationships with schools effectively.

Resolved: That the Report be noted.

Officers presented the report and advised that in the year ending 31 March 2012, the Council had only received 12 complaints relating to Education Services. These related to school admissions, Youth Services, school improvement, adult education, education psychology and a complaint about a specific school. It was noted that most of the complaints were related to process and admissions. Work had been undertaken to improve the admissions procedure which had proven successful and had resulted in less complaints being received.

Members commended officers for resolving many complaints at Stage 1of the Council’s complaints procedure.

Resolved: That the Report be noted.

The Committee was provided with an overview of access to education in the Borough by the Interim Chief Education Officer who outlined the changing landscape in the provision of education. He emphasised that a sea change was currently underway which would see the number of students in the Borough rise by roughly 6,000, an increasing proportion of students with Special Educational Needs and a major new schools programme being undertaken. It was noted that the Council faced many major challenges in accommodating these changes. One of these was continuing to ensure that the Borough’s vulnerable children and young people were able to access high-quality education.

Witnesses

To assist Members with the review Pauline Nixon, Senior Manager for Access and Inclusion, Deborah Bell, Service Manager for Behaviour, Attendance and SEN and Dan Kennedy, Performance and Intelligence Manager were present to provide information to the Committee.

A summary of the evidence provided by the witnesses is set out below.

Context

Given the significant changes to education provision caused by national policy changes and the expected rise in primary school aged children in the Borough, the Council faced major challenges in adapting its education services during this period.

In the next years the Borough would see an estimated 6,600 extra pupils in need of school places. The Council had acknowledged this as a major challenge for the future and had committed £150m to the schools programme to begin to address this demand. Over and above this investment, there would need to be an additional 3,000 places provided over the next ten years to accommodate expected growth. Much of the growth was expected to be in the south of the Borough with some areas having had a 20% population growth in recent years.

A significant portion of the Borough’s schools were currently either full or close to full. In the past, schools had worked with a 5-10% flex in numbers but, due to recent growth, this was now not possible. In some areas of the Borough this lack of flexibility was already proving to be problematic.

Statistics

Witnesses provided the Committee with a presentation on the current situation and forecasted developments. Statistics and key points from the presentation are set out below:

1. In October 2012, the number of pupils on-roll at primary schools was 24,362.
2. There had been a 20% increase in the amount of children missing education and a 20% increase in those electing to home educate.
3. There had been a 12% rise in children with English as a second language.
4. The Borough has seen 8 years of improvement in its education provision as highlighted in the Education Standards and Quality Report.
5. Foundation and Key Stage 1, 2 and 4 results were improving.
6. The Borough’s Ofsted inspections compared well with the national picture.
7. 91 of 92 schools were deemed at least “satisfactory”, with 70 being judged as “Good” or better.
8. There was expected be an 18% increase in demand for primary school places nationally between 2012 and 2020. Hillingdon had seen  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

A Member noted that item 873 – School Condition Survey Works of the Forward Plan, which should have been considered at the February meeting of Cabinet, was not on the agenda.

Officers were asked to follow up on this item and report back to the Committee.

Resolved: That the Committee noted the Forward Plan and decided not to comment.

A Member asked when the Committee would receive an update on school places. This used to be considered but was no longer being reported.

Officers advised that they would investigate why this was not being reported and update Members in due course.

It was further suggested that the update on the POD system and the Adoption Inspection Report be added to the work programme.

Resolved: That the Committee confirmed the dates of the meetings.