Issue - meetings

[To receive the Virtual School Head Annual Report 2021.]

Darren Martindale presented the Virtual School Head Annual Report in his capacity as Virtual School Head and highlighted salient points.

The report detailed educational progress and achievements of Wolverhampton’s Children and Young People in Care and previously in care, the steps that the Authority had taken to support those achievements and priorities for future work.

It was acknowledged that two young people achieving first class degrees with honours was a huge positive and great success.

In terms of personal education plans (PEPS) for sixth formers, it was queried why completion rates were so low and if the young people had been asked why this was. It was noted that some of the factors included technical or recording issues, staff changes or challenges arranging timely meetings. It was clarified that years 12 and 13 were showing an 82% completion rate.

A concern was raised around the use of teacher assessments during the pandemic in lieu of examinations and whether previous assessment methods would return. There were fears some young people may have missed out on achieving their potential grades due to them performing better in an examination situation. It was expected there may potentially be a greater emphasis on examinations this year as any remaining restrictions lifted, although this was not confirmed as yet. It was acknowledged that whilst some young people thrived in an examination, many performed better in a summative assessment. Work was also being undertaken on supporting young people to prepare for examinations.

A query was raised around a higher number of males than females being assessed at entry level post-16. It was acknowledged that this year there had been more females assessed at higher levels, however this was monitored and no concerning trends had emerged. Assurances were offered that monitoring would continue and any patterns that became apparent would be examined in greater detail to understand why.

It was confirmed that pupil premium was set at a national standard and was offered to authorities as a lump sum which was divided into £2,345 per pupil. It was noted that each local authority managed this differently, but in Wolverhampton, money was provided to schools in termly instalments and tracked using PEPs.

A concern was raised around the response to exclusions as a result of extreme behaviours or violence, particularly those involving a weapon or prohibited article. Members were assured that exclusion or risk of exclusion cases of this nature were worked on closely involving the young person, their parent or carer and a multi-agency team.

It was noted that no recent data was available due to delays caused by COVID however, historically, Wolverhampton was below national average in terms of fixed term exclusions and permanent exclusions were exceptionally rare. A small amount of pupil premium was reserved for fund additional support for those with additional need.

It was clarified that recorded incidents of extreme behaviours often involved spontaneous behaviour that challenged due to dysregulation or behaviour used to communicate an unmet need and every effort was made to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7