Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from the following Councillors

Cllr Michael Heap

Cllr Lorna McGregor

Cllr Mark Evans

Cllr Jas Dehar

Cllr Dr Michael Hardacre declared a non-discloseable pecuniary interest in agenda item 5 (Draft Wolverhampton School Improvement Strategy) in so far as they relate to Governor of the City of Wolverhampton College and Director of the Central Learning Partnership Board.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26.3.14 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes.]

Cllr Hodgkiss briefed the panel on the process for adding items to the scrutiny work programme and encouraged the panel to suggest topics for consideration.

Cllr Brookfield queried how members of the panel will be kept updated on national policy developments which fall within its remit. Cllr Brookfield also commented on the child safeguarding issues linked to the issue of female genital mutilation and forced marriage, as areas which the panel should consider. The panel discussed how the information about national policy developments should be presented.

Cllr O’Neill commented on the need to consider the limited employee resources available to support the work of the panel and that it was important that a flexible approach is adopted when deciding which items to include in the work programme.

Cllr Wainwright suggested that the children’s homes should be considered as a future item for the panel. Cllr Wainwright commented that this would likely to be longer term review.

The panel discussed adding the issue of looked after children to the programme. The panel agreed that there should be a discussion with other committees who are leading on this area to avoid duplication.

Resolved

1.    Jim McElligott agreed to present regular briefing notes on changes to national regulations or new policy initiatives to the Panel as appropriate.

2.    The following topics to be added to the draft panel work programme:

·         Children homes

·         Looked after Children

[To scrutinise the Wolverhampton 2014 School Improvement Strategybefore it is presented to the Senior Executive Board for a decision]

Jim McElligott gave an overview of the report. He discussed the main elements of the refreshed strategy, including the role of the Council in providing appropriate challenge to schools and explained the powers of the Council to take action where children were not receiving a good education.  He also highlighted the responsibilities of the Council in supporting schools to deliver a good education and meet their responsibilities as detailed in the legislation.

Jim McElligott explained that the strategy is currently out for consultation and a final draft will be presented to Cabinet in the autumn. He commented that the level of support given to individual schools is based on the needs of the school and other intelligence, for example OFSTED reports.

Cllr O’Neill welcomed the report and commented that it was an excellent document.

Cllr O’Neill commented on the mechanisms for the Council to quality check services delivered to schools by non-local authority organisations. Jim McElligott explained that schools have the discretion to buy in services and advice from external providers. The role of the Council is to remind the schools of their responsibilities and to reassure themselves that they are meeting their statutory responsibilities when contracting with non-Council organisations to deliver services.

Cllr O’Neill referred to a previous panel discussion about how funding from pupil premium was being used by schools and also exemplars of good practice in other schools in how the money was being used to improve the education of children and young people. Jim McElligott commented that it would be possible to collate information about exemplars of effective practice and share this information with the panel.

Cllr O’Neil commented on the quality of training and support given to school governors and how the Council deals with schools that choose not to positively respond to offers of help.

Jim McElligott commented that Council visits every school at least once a year. During such the visits advisors will review school self-evaluation forms, in addition to other data and intelligence to help provide a picture about the effectiveness of the governing body in meeting their responsibilities.

Cyril Randles queried whether the panel could receive details of number of schools in each of assessment categories and also how the Council would know if the strategy was making a difference.

Jim McElligott commented that information on the number of schools in each of the assessment categories is in the public domain and could be shared with the panel during the year to provide an opportunity to see changes.  He explained that the number of schools in each category will clearly be affected by the timings of OFSTED inspections.

Jim McElligott explained that there are 30 schools in Wolverhampton which have been assessed as being a risk and the work being done to help them improve.   He explained that four schools previously rated as requiring improvement have made improvements as a result of intervention of the Council  and are expected to show improved ratings when the information is published.

Cyril Randles queried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

[To receive details of the Learning and Achievement employee structure chart]

Jim McElligott presented the structure chart  of the service area for information.