Agenda and minutes

Venue: Training Room Ground Floor - Civic Centre, St Peter's Square, Wolverhampton WV1 1SH

Contact: Earl Piggott-Smith  Tel: 01902 551251 or Email: earl.piggott-smith@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies were received from the following people:

 

Cllr Rupinderjit Kaur

Cllr Jonathan Yardley

John Dovey

Emma Bennett

Representatives of Wolverhampton Youth Council

2.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest recorded.

 

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting ( 7 February 2018 and 1 November 2017) pdf icon PDF 62 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 7 February 2018 and 1 November 2017 were approved as a correct record and was signed by the Chair.

 

4.

Matters arising

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes]

Minutes:

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

 

5.

Early Intervention Model Implementation pdf icon PDF 176 KB

[Andrew Wolverson, Head of Service, to present report]

Minutes:

Andrew Wolverson, Head of Service – People, introduced the report. The report details the impact of the early intervention programme which is aimed at keeping children safely at home. The Head of Service advised the panel that the restructure of the early intervention programme started in April 2016.

 

The Head of Service commented on the overall progress made by the programme and the positive impact made against the stated objectives. The Head of Service accepted that there was more work to be done to build on the progress made.

 

The Head of Service reported that the numbers of looked after children had remained relatively stable during the last 12 months, but was confident that the right children had been placed in care. The Council had the highest intake of children under five years and older children.  The Head of Service commented on the issue of cases involving youth violence and the use of knives and the work being done with Youth Offending Team to provide the right level of support in these circumstances.

 

The Head of Service commented on the positive impact on the parent champions programme in supporting and encouraging people to get involved with initiatives supported by the early intervention programme. The parent champions have been able to engage with parents that the service has not been to work with. The Head of Service advised the panel that the contact by parent champions is done with the consent of the family.

 

The Head of Service briefed the panel on the results of an analysis of the assessment of the three key issues facing each of the localities. The Head of Service advised the panel that action plans had been prepared and delivered by members of the multi-agency strengthening families partnership groups in the locality.

 

The Head of Service commented on results showing the areas highest levels of referrals to the MASH team are Children’s Village and Whitmore Reans and the work being done to respond to increase.

 

The Head of Service commented on the important role of the Council in helping families but also highlighted the contribution of partner organisations in offering a flexible response to help meet the needs of local families.  The Head of Service added that the Council wants to get more partner organisations working at the early intervention and making referrals to the early assessment team.

 

The Head of Service commented on the work being done to restructure working practices with a focus on prevention and to offer families support at the right level. The aim of the providing support is to give skills that build the family resilience so they will need less help from the service or have the confidence to access the support or information themselves to deal with the situation.

 

The panel discussed the work of the youth offending team in dealing with issue of violence and the relationship with early intervention teams. The Head of Service commented that the service had two dedicated police officers working within the strengthening  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Key Stage 4 and 5 Results for Wolverhampton pdf icon PDF 120 KB

[Amanda Newbold, Senior School Improvement Adviser, to present report]

Minutes:

Meredith Teasdale, Director of Education, introduced the report and invited Amanda Newbold, Senior School Improvement Advisor, to present the main findings of the report. The Senior School Improvement Advisor explained the progress made in Wolverhampton at Key Stages 4 and 5 against national performance measures for 2017.

 

The Senior School Improvement Advisor explained the changes to how school education results are measured and the performance of Wolverhampton against 2017 headline accountability measures. The Senior School Improvement Advisor advised the panel of the improvement in Progress 8 outcomes when compared to 2016 and its good performance when compared to other areas nationally.

 

The Senior School Improvement Advisor commented on the performance of the Wolverhampton schools who had reached the English Baccalaureate standard. The Senior School Improvement Advisor advised the panel that 15.8% of pupils reached the standard.

 

The panel queried the impact on some schools in Wolverhampton as a of changes to subjects which were no longer included in the assessment, such as ICT.  Director of Education explained the changes to the assessment process and added that work is being done to improve the score in the future, but added it will take time for schools to get the structures in place. In addition, the response to schools to the introduction of the English Baccalaureate varied with some schools giving pupils more choice about the subjects at post 16 stage, while other schools encouraged pupils to study subjects that would count in the assessment.

 

The panel discussed the poor performance of Wolverhampton in the table listing the percentage of pupils attaining the English Baccalaureate when compared with neighbouring authorities. The Senior School Improvement Advisor commented on the reasons for this and added that Wolverhampton is performing better than our neighbours in most subjects.

 

The panel discussed the issue of pupils being prevented in some schools from been given an option of considering apprenticeships as an option at post 16 stage. The Director of Education responded that there is still work to be done to raise awareness about the option of apprenticeship with schools and to explain to parents and pupils what is on offer. The Head of Skills is drafting a report on skills strategy which will set out plans to respond to the issues highlighted during the discussion.

 

 

The Senior School Improvement Advisor commented on the results of the post 16 accountability measures for schools and the progress made.

 

 

Resolved:

The panel welcomed the progress made and agreed to note the progress made to support schools to improve educational performance.