NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL
13 NOVEMBER 2024
STATEMENT OF EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR EDUCATION, LEARNING AND SKILLS
Adult Learning
School Performance
Ofsted performance
In the period 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 there were 117 published inspections of state-funded North Yorkshire schools. Of these, 100 were of primary schools, 9 of secondary schools, 2 of pupil referral units, 5 special schools and 1 nursery school inspection.
Of the 117 inspections, 68 were Section 5 graded inspections, 43 were Section 8 ungraded inspections and 6 were monitoring visits of schools judged requires improvement or inadequate.
Safeguarding has continued to be judged effective in all schools and academies during this period. This continues the positive trend previously reported.
Ofsted performance of North Yorkshire state-funded schools compared to national as at 31 August 2024.
|
Ofsted Grade |
North Yorkshire State-funded schools |
National |
|
Outstanding |
8% |
14% |
|
Good |
80% |
77% |
|
Requires Improvement |
9% |
8% |
|
Inadequate |
3% |
2% |
The proportion of good and outstanding schools in North Yorkshire improved by 4% in the period since September 2023, compared to a 1% increase nationally.
Changes to Ofsted inspection handbook
Since September 2024, new inspections of state-funded schools no longer include a judgement on overall effectiveness. The Ofsted grades outstanding to inadequate will continue to be used across the four sub areas of inspection during this academic year.
Schools are now notified of inspections on Monday of each week, except for Bank Holiday weeks when notification will be made to school on a Tuesday. Notification of inspections of North Yorkshire schools since September have been in-line with this change.
Attendance
The DfE guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance became statutory in August 2024.
The school improvement service is leading on the delivery of the Local Authority’s statutory duties relating to school attendance, specifically in relation to:
· Providing a named point of contact within the Attendance Support Team for schools
· Delivering annual and termly targeting support meetings with schools
· Facilitating the sharing of information and good practice through attendance networks.
· Legal intervention.
The overall attendance figure for North Yorkshire schools as at 24 October 2024 is 94.2% compared to the most recent national figure of 94%.
School Capital Programme
Arising from the Schools’ Capital Programmes that were approved by the Executive in June 2024 and previously, a significant programme of works has been undertaken throughout this year.
This has included a programme of 60 maintenance projects within over 40 schools which form an important part of addressing the significant maintenance backlog within our schools and helping to ensure that they continue to be safe environments in which our pupils are taught.
The construction of the new Oakbridge Primary Academy was completed earlier this year and was opened in September with children in early years. Additional year groups will be starting at the school on a phased basis.
Members will be aware that, after an extensive consultation exercise, a revised Home to School Travel Policy was approved by the Council at its meeting in July. The policy became effective on 1 September and applies to all new applicants for home to school travel. Parents are making applications for school places for both primary and secondary places for September 2025. Once new school places are allocated on the National Offer Days in the spring, the assessment for eligibility for assistance with Home to School Travel will be completed and transport arrangements established thereafter.
The arrangements for home to school travel provision are determined by the numbers and locations of eligible children and the location of the schools for which they have eligibility. In the event that these necessitate the establishment of new routes, members should be aware that those new routes are reviewed and risk assessed appropriately.
Outdoor Learning
Bewerley Park Development
Construction at Bewerley Park outdoor education centre began in September 2024, and is progressing on schedule, with a planned completion date in June 2025.
North Yorkshire Outdoor Learning (NYOLS) Nexus Launch
NYOLS has recently introduced a new programme: NYOLS Nexus. This is a diverse menu of five engaging 2-hour activities designed to be delivered on school grounds. These programmes aim to inspire and educate children about the outdoors while fostering teamwork, environmental awareness, and personal growth. 18 schools have already signed up to the programme.
Early Years and Wraparound Provision
Number of early years providers in North Yorkshire
There are currently early years 632 providers in the county, representing 1% change compared to 12 months ago.
The number of out of school clubs has reduced to 159 with the loss of one provider when compared to the same time last year.
Ofsted Inspections since 24th July 2024
There have been 23 early years Ofsted inspections across the early years sector since 24th July 2024. I am pleased to say that seven Outstanding grades were awarded. 12 settings were awarded ‘Good’, with only one judged as ‘Inadequate’ and one judged as ‘Requires Improvement’.
Wraparound Provision
Roboodles Out of School Wraparound provision (privately owned and operates from Roecliffe primary school) has received the national “Out of School Award 2024” for the second year in a row. Organised by Club Central, the setting also won “Inclusive setting of the Year 2024” and received Highly Commended in the “Mental Health and Wellbeing 2024” categories.
Early Years Expansion and Take Up
From September 2024, the next stage of the government’s roll out of early years expansion and take up began allowing eligible working parents with children aged over nine months can now access 15 hours of government funded provision.
The number of children funded through Working Parent Entitlement (children aged over 9 months) is 3,078 and initial analysis indicates that the number of children being funded through disadvantaged two-year-old funding for Autumn Term 2024 is 699.
Over 93% of working parent entitlement codes have been validated.
Early Years and Wraparound Capital and Revenue Grant funding
Capital and Revenue grant applications are being received by the local authority for expansion of early years places and wraparound places. This is an ongoing process to ensure we have sufficient provision across the county.
Seven capital grant funding applications for early years expansion have been approved with more applications being considered later in November. The capital grant funding applications for Wraparound care will also be evaluated this month - 25 applications for this have been received so far. In addition, 34 revenue applications have been approved which will benefit 38 schools.
Music Service
· The Music Service is planning a concert to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. The concert will take place at Harrogate International Conference Centre and feature over 350 singers and musicians from NYC schools as well as two schools from York, as part of our collaboration with York Music Hub. The Band of the Grenadier Guards will also be performing and working with our young people.
· The new billing system has been introduced. This will provide long term savings for the council in terms of debt and processes with all parents now paying up front for instrumental lessons.
· The County Youth Orchestra will be touring Europe next July. Concerts are being planned in Belgium and France. We are taking 60 pupils on the tour – this will be the biggest group we have taken abroad since the pandemic.
· The service is continuing to develop its work with York as part of the North Yorkshire/York Music Hub. Partnership agreements are now in place and a number of joint performance opportunities are being explored for the future.
· The Music Service worked with over 7000 pupils on a weekly basis, last academic year. Our data return to the Arts Council also shows that 81 schools received instrumental lessons on a whole class, weekly basis. This is the highest number achieved.
School Finance
There have been delays by the Department for Education in the publication of indicative school budget allocations for 2025/26 due, in part, to the general election. Normally published at the end of July each year, these are now expected by late-November. Dedicated Schools Grant allocations will be published in December 2024. As a result of the delay, the local authority has consulted North Yorkshire mainstream schools and academies on a number of principles regarding school funding, including the minimum funding guarantee and a proposed 0.5% block transfer to high needs. The results of the consultation will be reported back to the North Yorkshire Schools Forum prior to formal decision-making by the Executive in January 2025.
Medium Term Financial Strategy – Nov 2024
The Children and Young People’s Service have experienced increasing demand to support young people with multiple vulnerabilities and intensive support needs. This has resulted in rapidly increasing costs as the service has responded to meet operational requirements. This reflects the sustained level of high demand in supporting families, increases in referrals to Children’s Social Care and the numbers of children in care. Work is underway to develop a strategic response to increased demand through reshaping provision for high-cost placements, and developing a resilient workforce model.
In addition, there continue to be significant cost pressures arising from increasing numbers of children and young people assessed as requiring an Education, Health and Care Plan. This increasing trend has been sustained for a number of years and a wide range of mitigating actions have been identified to reduce the projected financial pressure. Nationally, £1bn has been allocated for High Needs and SEND from the Autumn Budget 2024 and we will continue to lobby the Department for Education for a fairer funding deal for North Yorkshire.
Although this information appears in my Statement to Council it should be noted that both Executive Members for the Children and Young People’s Service have joint responsibility for all relevant resources.
COUNCILLOR ANNABEL WILKINSON