Agenda item

Report given by Paul Tinsley

The sub-committee considered a detailed report on Attendance and Exclusion that was presented by the Alternative Provision & Looked After Children (LAC) Education Manager.

It was stated that absence from school, whether due to poor attendance or school exclusion, had a detrimental effect on the achievement of children and young people. 

One of the reasons for the Government’s focus on attendance was that there was clear evidence linking attendance to academic success and positive progression post compulsory schooling.  Members noted that of pupils who missed more than 50 per cent of school only three per cent managed to achieve five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including Maths and English. Seventy-three per cent of pupils who had over 95 per cent attendance achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C.

The issue of taking children out of school for holidays in term time was one which had been much debated.  The present Government’s stance was that parents should not, except in the most exceptional circumstances, take their child out of school during term time.  Local authorities and schools were therefore under an obligation to discourage parents/carers from taking such action.  The Government had tightened its stance in this area through recent updated legislation. 

The sub-committee noted that vulnerable children were particularly at risk in respect of exclusion rates. This included pupils with SEN, pupils eligible for Free School Meals, looked after children and pupils from certain ethnic groups. The ethnic groups with the highest rates of exclusion were Gypsy/ Roma, Travellers of Irish Heritage and Black Afro-Caribbean communities.

Permanent exclusion rates in Havering had been consistently higher than the London and national average over the past few years.  This disrupted the learning for young people and in addition, outcomes for excluded pupils did not compare favourably with those of their peers. The Council had a responsibility to minimise school absence and exclusions to ensure that all pupils, regardless of background and ability, had the opportunity to achieve their full potential at school.

The Alternative Provision & LAC Education Manager stated that Havering was seeing a rise in more vulnerable families, including large sibling groups, and families with very complex needs moving into the borough as well as a rise in child protection cases as the demography of the borough changed.  In the face of these challenges the Learning and Achievement Service had restructured its support for vulnerable groups at risk of exclusion and introduced new support systems that included the following:

• Instituting an ‘In Year Fair Access Panel’ (IYFAP) for both primary and secondary aged pupils with the support of Havering schools. A pre-IYFAP meeting included multi-agency support and considered the holistic needs of pupils to be discussed at the IYFAP meeting.
• Creating a post of Vulnerable Children’s Coordinator to facilitate the IYFAP process and liaise with other key LA professionals and external agencies in respect of excluded pupils and those at risk of exclusion.
• Attending governor appeal meetings where pupils were permanently excluded
• Reorganising the former Access Panel (AP) and LAC service into an Education Inclusion and Support Service, incorporating Attendance, Behaviour and Traveller Services. 
• Acknowledgement that schools were in need of extra support and training around the positive handling of students not only in the classroom but also reviewing whole school approaches to behaviour management such as Restorative Approaches.
• The Attendance and Behaviour Service also provided a transition service to support students via the IYFAP panel. 

In response to Members’ questions, the sub-committee was informed that the service worked with and learnt from other boroughs and alternative providers to make more choices available.

It was clarified that primary exclusion was rare and this could also be attributed to the good working relationship with primary head teachers.

It was also stated that some schools had decided not to buy services from the authority such as the Attendance Officer but to employ staff directly.

Members were informed that there had not been any instances of concern from the Academies in the borough. There had always been a willingness to accept guidance.

The sub-committee was informed that the Alternative Provision & LAC Education Manager also held the position of Virtual Head Teacher - a local authority appointment to promote the educational achievement of all the children looked after by the council.

It was noted that the service worked with secondary schools in the borough to develop an effective managed move system. There were about thirty secondary school managed moves currently in progress.  

The sub-committee asked to be presented with data on school referrals.

The sub-committee noted the report.