PAPER A

POLICY COMMISSION MEETING

Meeting	Children and School Results Commission
Ref	C.PC 6/7/05
Date	Wednesday, 6 July 2005 18.00 – 19.25
Place	Committee Room 1, County Hall, Newport
Purpose of meeting	Formal public meeting
Attendance	Commission members - Mrs M Swan (Commissioner); Mrs W Arnold; Mr G Cameron; Mrs G Kennet, Lady Pigot. Apologies Mrs D Gardiner. Cabinet member – Mr P Joyce Cabinet Secretaries – Mr D Pugh, Mr A Wells Officers – Mr D Pettitt; Mr K Simmonds; Mr J Lawson; Mr P Thistlewood; Miss A West
Agenda Items
1. Scoping Document C6/05 – Special Educational Needs and Statementing Processes	Papers considered :- Scoping Document C6/05 (Paper A); Background Briefing Note relating to SEN Task Group prepared by the Overview and Scrutiny Team and legal advice from David Ruebain of Levenes Solicitors. Outcomes :- a) The Commissioner outlined initial recommendations to the Cabinet member for Children’s Services regarding SEN which would be finalised with officers before being submitted to the next meeting. b) Scoping document C6/05 approved. c) Advice from David Ruebain accepted. Action required :- Commissioner to finalise recommendations with officers.
2. Initial Recommedations regarding School Improvements	Papers considered :- Recommendations to the Cabinet Member regarding School Improvements (Paper B) Outcomes :- The following recommendations be made to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services :- a) School clusters will be further supported and developed to ensure an integrated service both vertically within the clusters and horizontally between them. Good practice will be identified and incorporated to assist in improving those schools which are not thriving or which are currently failing. Where schools are found to be weak or failing, the emphasis will be on encouraging this to be seen in the context of the whole community addressing the problems of, and supporting, schools in their work of improving standards. b) An effective dialogue will be further developed between the Commission, School Governors and the LEA, with continued improvements in the training of School Governors. c) In addition to other education professionals, the views and experience of classroom teachers will be sought to assist in devising successful strategies to improve standards in education. The Commission will place a strong emphasis on seeking their input in policy development. Action required :- The Overview and Scrutiny Team to advise Cabinet Member of the recommendations.
3. Scoping Documents for the Commission’s Initial Enquiries	Papers considered :- Scoping documents for a) Schools Improvement Programme C1/05 (Paper C) b) LEA Management C2/05 (Paper D) c) Schools Exclusion Centre C3/05 (Paper E) d) Parenting Orders C4/05 (Paper F) e) Children’s Trust C5/05 (Paper G) Outcomes :- The scoping documents were agreed. Action required :- The Overview and Scrutiny Team to publish the scoping documents on the website
4. School Improvement Programme C1/05 – Evidence Session	Papers considered :- Briefing paper from Mr K Simmonds, Head of Learning Effectiveness, powerpoint presentation and additional information circulated at the meeting. Briefing paper from Standards Not Tiers (Paper H) Evidence from Mr K Simmonds :- a) Schools are autonomous and the role of the LEA is to challenge. b) Significant developments achieved in some areas through cluster working enabling focus to be placed upon those actions able to make an impact on attainment. c) Role of school governors to scrutinise not administer schools. d) Improved training for school governors has been commenced and CD rom to be issued on Governance. e) All clusters have achieved 1^st stage approval from the DfES for Learning Networks enabling access to £12k funding for further initiatives. f) Impact on school attainment caused by absence – 8% in science but if this had been 4% then national targets would have been achieved. g) Draft leaflet had been prepared on how parents can help children with their education. h) National change to KS3 would give full responsibility for delivery to Middle Schools. i) Important for schools to demonstrate added value in teaching. j) Significant number of children within 5 marks of achieving next level and teacher planning should be geared to giving appropriate support to these. k) All partners need to co-ordinate activities and work together. Evidence from Mrs D Hart and Mrs W Welsford from Standards Not Tiers :- a) Consideration required on how best to inform parents so that they become involved in their children’s education. b) Positive action needed to tackle truancy and school attendance. c) Many parents are not involved with schools due to their own personal experiences and therefore need to set up ways in which they can become involved through a range of activities. d) Links required between parent governors and parents. e) Parents need a point of contact to express views on the performance of a school. f) Organisation willing to be involved with the LEA on the production of appropriate literature and information on the Eduwight site for parents. g) Important to listen to views of children and action these where appropriate. h) Difficulties created for children who miss school transport. Action required :- The Overview and Scrutiny Team to incorporate the evidence in the final report when produced.