Agenda item

On 07 March, Councillor Makwana and Councillor Sweeting had met with officers to discuss a draft set of recommendations for the review. Following this, an updated set of draft recommendations had been circulated to Members. The Committee were now looking to move towards finalising the recommendations.

Members noted that in the witness session with parents, a number of witnesses had noted educational benefits outside of school. Members noted that as school was not quite compulsory, there was no advocate for the benefits of education. It was suggested that the Local Authority should play this role. Theme 1 of the revised draft recommendations referred to informing people of the impact of absence, however a more positive message should be given of the benefits of education and attending school, to include social benefits as well as educational. Whilst it was noted that draft recommendation 1 was trying to capture collaboration between parties, there should be more explicit reference to the positive value of education in the final set of recommendations, and the role of the authority in promoting this value.

Members cited the witness session with schools and referred to draft recommendation 8 and suggested a poster campaign to put out the message of the benefits of school, and to get this message across as early as possible. It was suggested that such posters could be put up in schools, libraries, Council venues and Hillingdon People, as it was important to get this message across as the earliest possible point.

Members highlighted the issue of getting children the right help, whether this be mental health or special educational needs assistance, noting that these young people were often worst affected by absence. It was suggested that the draft recommendations did not draw attention to the appropriate officers or to CAMHS, or highlight the necessity of meeting deadlines and getting young people the help they need as fast as was practicable. Such delays could lead to unnecessary additional absence. It was suggested the draft recommendation 4 (theme 2) be amended to reflect this.

Members referred to the witness session with young people, who had spoken about gang culture and gang violence. This was not reflected in the draft recommendations. Members noted the importance of parents but also of external stakeholders in providing training around the impact of gang culture. Members further noted the impact of mental health, and difficulties parents may experience in facing this. A common theme from the young people had been schools not picking up on such issues early enough, and so Members suggested a need to review internal policies and processes to better identify mental health needs.

Members suggested referring to Government funding for mental health training and the possibility of mental health mentors in all schools. It was also suggested that there be a whole Council approach to absenteeism, not just one department tackling the issue. It was suggested that other authorities could be researched to see how they were tackling the issue. It was also suggested that information provided by schools could be revisited to see if the final recommendations could be strengthened.

Members highlighted sharing good practise. The Chair highlighted draft recommendation 5 which made reference to existing attendance cluster groups, where schools got together to discuss issues. It was highlighted that officers had shared a briefing note outlining that there was lots of work ongoing, and positive progress had been made. It was noted that draft recommendation 5 may need to be amended to better reflect this. 

Members highlighted draft recommendation 6 (Hillingdon Attendance Awards initiative), and it was suggested to include nurseries and early years settings in this as a method of early intervention. Other Members suggested that often, attendance of the youngest children was more reflective of parents, and so including nurseries and early years settings may be rewarding parents’ behaviour rather than the young person, whilst not rewarding older young people who may not benefit from such parental assistance. It was noted that this linked to the wider point of parents valuing education.

RESOLVED: That the Children, Families & Education Select Committee:

1. Considered possible conclusions, findings and draft recommendations in relation to the review;

2. Agreed to delegate any further changes to the review recommendations to Democratic Services in conjunction with the Chair and in consultation with the Opposition Lead; and

3. Agreed to receive the final review report back for consideration with recommendations before submission to Cabinet