Agenda item

The Interim Head of School Performance and Partnerships (HSPP) delivered an update presentation on the quality of schools’ recovery post-Covid-19. This detailed:

·  The current cohorts of children and young people, and the great impact of the pandemic on their learning;

·  Statistics from the Prince’s Trust around young people’s thoughts as to their futures, with an overwhelmingly negative outlook due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis in particular, as to their future work prospects, job security and life aspirations;

·  The fact that whilst exam grades were now being graded as those prior to the pandemic and were “going back to normal”, that normal still felt a very long way to go in schools;

·  The general consensus that whilst all children and young people had been impacted by the pandemic, those youngest had been particularly affected;

·  2022 outcomes for primary, GCSE and post-16, with both positive and negative results;

·  Information as to pupil attendance, Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET), suspensions and exclusions;

·  Stresses on the system, such as increased numbers of children and young people suffering from mental health and anxiety problems, and a doubling of requests for Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments, which were now standing at 500 per annum;

·  Staffing issues as a result of the pandemic, such as higher absence rates and lower resilience, and severe recruitment issues for more specialised support;

·  Positive OFSTED inspections of the Borough’s primary and secondary schools, which spoke very positively as to their resilience and increased support for children and young people’s wellbeing. 95% of the Borough’s schools were rated as “good” or “outstanding”, which was above the London average;

·  The positive OFSTED thematic review of alternative provision in the Borough, which had taken place in March 2023; and

·  Further positive approaches to supporting pupil wellbeing and learning, such as the introduction of the ‘Best Chance Strategy’.

The Church Representative (Church of England) Co-optee praised the Borough’s excellent alternative provision and its schools’ OFSTED outcomes, having worked as a Headteacher in the Borough previously and noting the hard work and passion needed to achieve these.

In response to questions from the Committee’s co-opted Members, the HSPP stated that:

·  Whilst schools’ data did not always look positive, despite their achievements, the OFSTED framework itself no longer put a huge value on data. When OFSTED went into schools in the Borough, it saw that the schools were performing very well in the context in which they were operating. This included looking at wellbeing, what happened both inside and outside of the classroom, extracurricular activity and what happened to support young people when they were not doing so well. Whilst schools needed to continue to be ambitious for their young people, ensuring that their results were as close to or beyond the London and national averages, OFSTED recognised that education was holistic, and that schools brought multiple strengths.

·  A report published by the Government on 7 June 2023 noted that the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged young people had reverted to where it had been 10 years prior to the pandemic. Whilst exam results were important, pupils needed to be supported holistically.

The Young Mayor noted her own experiences of the pandemic and its effect on her education, highlighting the disparity that would very likely be seen in the upcoming exam results. She noted that the education system felt very rigid and unsupportive in some aspects, rather than being holistic, and discussed some of her own experiences in relation to pupil attendance, noting the various reasons as to absence for students, such as through feeling unsupported in their school environments when facing issues. She also highlighted the difficult working conditions for teachers, which contributed to issues with staff retention and expressed her concerns around the impact of this for future pupils who would sit exams. The HSPP expressed her concern as to the negative experiences of the Young Mayor. She noted that the OFSTED framework was a national comparator, which reflected the different experiences in schools across the UK. She also echoed the difficulties in the teaching profession, highlighting the impact of Covid-19 and the support that schools worked to provide, despite recruitment issues in terms of specialist support.

In response to questions from Members, the Commissioning Director for Education stated that:

·  The Council has around £50m in its high needs budget that it spends broadly on children with additional and special educational needs.  The allocations are agreed at Schools’ Forum, which includes Headteacher representatives. We have to make the best use of the resource in a context where there are not enough specialist placements across the country. We aim to educate locally as far as is possible. In 2022 the number of Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments being requested doubled. School budgets are under pressure owing to rising costs and recruitment of specialist support staff is challenging. There are many children who need an Additional Resource Provision (ARP) placement or a special school placement. The local authority continues to increase places but at the moment more are still needed owing to increased demand.

·  Barking and Dagenham is one of the few local authorities in the country that do not have a deficit on its high needs block and do not have to make savings or cuts to high needs provision. Whilst there are lots of stresses in the system, there are positives and strengths. There is funding (although never enough), schools are highly inclusive, there are 34 ARPs (one of the highest proportions in the country), meaning that many children can be in a mainstream school alongside getting specialist support). There is a very strong Culture of LBBD schools working together.

·  Barking and Dagenham has created 160 additional special school places in the last couple of years, with another 36 becoming available from September 2023. To give an indication of the pressure 19 children have come into the borough from other parts of the country since January 2023, requiring a special school place, highlighting the difficult context that schools and the local authority were working in.

·  Barking and Dagenham has put together a commission of around £400k to pay for private speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, to address the gaps in health provision for our children.

Members praised the response of schools to the Covid-19 pandemic and their work in supporting the Borough’s pupils. The Chair requested that officers return to update the Committee as to schools’ recovery progress, in one year’s time.