Council and democracy

Agenda item

Education Commission Update

Minutes:

Officers introduced the report which outlined the developments regarding the Education Commission and provided an update to the associated action plan. Key achievements to date included:

 

·         Twenty six schools had participated in the Cultural Entitlement Project, Trailblazers,  with the Royal Opera House

·         81% of pupils are attending good or better schools and academies in Thurrock which is 1% above national average.

 

Councillor Redsell questioned why only twenty-six schools participated in the Royal Opera House, and how the Council would get more involvement from other schools? Officers assured the Committee that the Local Authority was involving all the schools although some schools had other priorities such as Ofsted and staff recruitment, but would be involved in the near future.

 

A Youth Cabinet Member suggested liaising with children and students when creating projects with the Thurrock Education Alliance, the Director of Children’s Services thought this was a good idea and accepted an invitation to the Youth Cabinet to discuss.

 

Councillor Gupta referenced the financial implications and highlighted that the Council had committed £1 million to support the Education Commission, it was questioned where the money was sourced from. The Director of Children’s Services informed the Committee that it was a pledge by the Leader and had come out of the Council’s reserves. The Committee was informed that the spending was observed by a monthly budget monitoring team; the appendix explained where expenditure occurred. It was reported that the funding had already contributed to significant progress to date, which included:

 

  • The introduction of the Cultural Entitlement for young people in Thurrock.
  • The recruitment and retention of teachers.

 

Patricia Wilson questioned whether using the budget to match the salaries of teachers in London would encourage a better quality of education; the Director of Children’s Services explained that in order to inspire teachers to work and live in the borough there were a number of initiatives including encouraging teachers to come back to work after breaks for pregnancy and other things, the service must also advertise the positive aspects of Thurrock. The Committee discussed whether figures were available regarding the number of students aspiring to pursue teaching careers. It was agreed that the Director of Children’s Services would see whether this information was available and would follow this up and report back.

 

Councillor Gamester queried why the category recruitment and retention on the Thurrock Education Alliance project didn’t state the expenditure agreed. He asked if it was overlapping with another project. Roger Edwardson explained that they had two separate items for external retention and recruitment, one for primary and one for secondary. The service wanted a cross phase approach so it was combined into one. It was also raised as to how Thurrock’s retention rates compared to other Local Authorities. The Director explained that a recent telephone survey with Her Majesty’s Inspector gave her information that retention was an issue across the country. Clarification was also given to the Committee regarding Tribal Inspection Training, which trained teachers to prepare schools for Ofsted inspections.

 

Reverend Barlow questioned how successful the work had been from the project and how it was communicated. The Director informed the Committee that the Thurrock Education Alliance was a long term project and updated on work completed so far. The relationship between academies and the Local Authority was questioned further; Roger Edwardson explained that the Director of Children’s Services had built good trust with the Academies

 

Councillor Halden felt that Officers concentrated on positive outcomes and that further work should be undertaken to identify areas that could be improved. He further suggested that a survey be circulated to the schools which took part in the work of the Education Commission.

 

The Director of Children’s Services addressed 3 areas in need of improvement

·         High achievers.

·         Post 16 Results

·         Attainment of children in care

 

Sonny Tipping, the Youth Cabinet representative responded by reminding the Committee of a service called the Youth Hub and suggested working with post 16 higher education pupils to improve employment and education. The Director of Children’s Services felt it was a good idea and agreed to attend a future Youth Cabinet meeting to discuss.

 

A topic arose regarding children in Thurrock that were educated from home, it was estimated that there were around 250 cases. The Committee was informed that council officers have no right of entry into their home, but they do employ an Officer who visits the families on a regular basis and most families welcome this.

 

The Chair questioned why the same amount of funding was allocated to Cultural Entitlement as to Retention of staff, It was explained that the service were hoping to eventually stop funding Cultural Entitlement as schools and potentially business sponsors would fund the service themselves. Members agreed that Arts and Drama was important for students’ confidence but highlighted that Maths and Science should also be prioritised. It was explained that the Cultural Entitlement project enabled pupils to experience a range of activities including musical performances and visits to the Tower of London.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.            Comments on the progress and achievements of Thurrock schools and partners above be noted

 

2.            That the currently funded activity and further developments that it would wish to be taken to further the education standards for all children and young people in Thurrock be noted.

 

3.            Science and Maths will be included in the School on School Improvement report in November.

 

4.            A potential for a survey to return to each school of the original questions that the education commission proposed.

 

5.            Organise briefing for December for members what’s being done for each school to help the improvement journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting documents: