Agenda and minutes

None.

Councillors Catherine Dann, Judith Cooper, Peter Curling, John Hensley, and Anita Macdonald declared a personal interest in all items on the agenda due to their roles as a School Governors.

All items were Part 1 and were considered in public.

The Committee queried the “Attendance and Staff: Pupil ratio statistics” which were circulated following the previous meeting. Members said the information could be misleading if Rosedale College was used as a best practice, as the number of staff was very high compared to the number of pupils and the level of funding was high. This could be due to the school receiving funding for each child with Special Education Needs (SEN). Officers said the ratio was between staff: pupil and not teachers: pupil. Therefore all staff had been included (teacher, teaching assistants and support assistant.) Therefore the funding formula was the same for all schools.

The minutes were agreed by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman welcomed all of those present to the meeting, and asked Mrs X (Parent witness) to begin her presentation. Mrs X said her son suffered from autism andattention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He attended Highfield Primary School until the age of three, after which he was excluded for attacking a teacher. He moved to Belmore Primary School, Hayes, and then transferred to a Special Resource Provision (The Acorns) at Hayes Park school in Hayes. Mrs X said her son spent most of his day with the 12 children in the unit cared for by fully trained teachers. There were 2 children in his year group, which enabled the teacher to focus on each child and dedicate their time and attention to them.

Mrs X said her son was happy at the Special Resource Provision where a lot of time was spent attending assemblies, playing time and undertaking interactive learning. He was not included in his mainstream school to a great extent, and spent most of his time there in the Relaxation Room where he was able to unwind and calm down.

Although her son is 10 years old, Mrs X said he is working at the pace of a 7 year old. He will be transferring to secondary school next September, and Mrs X said she had submitted her application for her choice of school, which would be Meadow. Mrs X said her son benefited from interactive learning that was provided in SEN schools as he could not keep up with other children in mainstream schools.

The Chairman opened the floor to questions. Members asked Mrs X whether her son preferred ‘hands-on’ learning rather than sitting in a classroom. Mrs X said her son enjoyed cooking and painting. He was able to express himself well in the unit in his school, where the walls had paintings with emotions stuck on them. Her son was able to pick up which emotion he was feeling in order to express himself.

Members asked Mrs X what activities were available to her son at The Acorns. Mrs X said the children were taught social stories, encouraged to use the computers, use a camera to take photographs, take care of pets and take part in speech programmes to develop their vocabulary.

Members asked how often Mrs X communicated with her son’s teachers. A contact book was filled in every day by Mrs X and her son’s teacher to track his progress. An annual review took place of her son’s academic progress, which Mrs X thought was not often enough. In the last year her son’s progress had become stagnant, and Mrs X was unaware of this until the review. Mrs X said had she been aware of his lack of progress throughout the school term, she could have offered her help and support to her son. However, due to the review only taking place on an annual basis she was unaware of the problem until it was too late.

Mrs X  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Chairman invited Jane Guest, Debbie Haith and Chris Spencer to present this item. Officers presented the four scoping report:

Junior to Senior School Transition:

Officers said this review last took place in 2007. Since then, an electronic form had been created to keep record of each child. Head Teachers had formed a Steering Group and met on a regular basis, which enabled them to keep up to date on current practice. An annual conference was led by Hillingdon and attended by the DCSF.

Safeguarding Children in Schools:

This review would focus on how to ensure the recruitment service in schools is safe by working with external agencies and challenging how the Local Authority works with these agencies. Members requested for officers to provide the Committee with a detailed scoping report at their earliest convenience regarding this issue. 

Effective Support and Intervention:

Officers informed Members this review would entail scrutinising the current practise and ensuring value for money.

Child Trafficking:

This review would be focused on how the Local Authority worked with external agencies to safeguard children who arrive at Heathrow Airport. The review would be hinged on inter-agency working and where the Local Authority could add value and support to the service. The Committee could use this opportunity to explain the Council’s role in this process and review & develop how we work with external agencies.

The Committee agreed that a review into Child Trafficking would be significant, with Heathrow Airport within the borough. The Committee agreed Child Trafficking was to be chosen as the second review topic for 2009/10.

Agreed:

1. That the Committee’s second review focus on Child Trafficking. 
2. That officers would provide Democratic Services with a revised scoping report, which included key statistics regarding Child Trafficking, recent documentation and an aim of review.
3. That officers would provide the Committee with a detailed report on the Safeguarding of Children in Schools.

Natasha Dogra informed the Committee that the redrafted Religious Education Syllabus would be presented at the meeting on 22October 2009 by the Chairman of the Hillingdon Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, as agreed by the Chairman. This syllabus would be circulated to the Committee prior to the next meeting so Members could provide Democratic Services with their comments via e-mail.

The Committee requested a Quarterly Audit Update by officers at the meeting scheduled for 26 November 2009. Officers agreed to produce this report at the meeting

Agreed:

1. That the Committee would provide Democratic Services with any comments regarding the Religious Education syllabus.

2. That officers provide the Committee with a Quarterly Audit Update at the meeting on 26 November 2009.

3. The Committee agreed the Work Programme for 2009/10.

The Committee agreed the Forward Plan