Agenda item

Purpose: To provide an update on the local educational landscape, educational achievement and the financial challenges affecting schools in the Scarborough & Whitby constituency committee area.

Considered -

A detailed report introduced by Andrew Dixon, CYPS Strategic Planning Manager.  The wide-ranging report provided information on:

·            The no of schools across the area and their status;

·            School Standards and Attainment;

·            Exclusions;

·            Special Education Needs and Disabilities;

·            Elective Home Education

·            Schools Finance;

·            Local School Place Planning Issues;

They also noted the increase in the number of primary and secondary schools becoming academies and the number of schools with out of date OSTED ratings that required a new inspection.

In response to questions from Members, it was confirmed:

·            The vast majority of NYCC schools with an OFSTED ‘require improvement’ rating were from inspection in 2014;

·            OFSTED had recently confirmed that over the course of the next three years all schools across the country would be re-inspected;

·            In the meantime, considerable work had taken place within schools with support from NYCC’s, School Improvement team and Inclusion team.    In addition the Improvement  Team, Opportunities Area and the Locality Board for the Scarborough, Whitby & Ryedale were working effectively together to support school improvement and to provide for pupils with Special Educational Needs

·            The number of fixed term exclusions was decreasing, but the number of permanent exclusions had increased.  Jane Le Sage, Assistant Director for Inclusion provide a brief overview of the review of the Pupil Referral Service in 2020 and the resulting changes to the how schools could access those services before it got to permanent exclusion stage.  She also confirmed there were 40 early intervention places in the Scarborough area  that could be accessed through the Service;

·            A post implementation review of the revised model for the Pupil Referral Service would start in early 2022;

·            There was a requirement on the Authority to complete an ECHP within 20 weeks.  During Covid, a range of disruptors had resulted in an Education Psychologist resource issue, which in turn had adversely affected the Authority’s ability to achieve the 20-week timeline.  In response, the Authority had introduced a hybrid Model in August 2021 to build on its capacity to deliver those statutory assessments and whilst there was still a backlog of around 80, there had been some improvement in delivery times.

·            There had been a higher increase in the number of families choose elective home education in North Yorkshire compared to the national picture, with Covid being cited as the main deciding factor.  In response the Authority had provided some additional resource to introduce four new EHE advisors who acted as a bridge between a parent, a school and the Local Authority, and provided an improved level of support and challenge. The result of that improved level of contact was now being evidenced through an increase in the number of EHE pupils returning to school.

County Councillor Liz Colling requested an update in six months times on the backlog in ECHPs and the number of pupils in Elective Home Education across the constituency area.

The Committee expressed their thanks to all those involved in supporting young people and vulnerable families, and for the comprehensive report and it was

Resolved – That

i.     The annual report be noted and;

ii.     A six-monthly update be added to the Committee’s work plan on the backlog in ECHPs and the number of pupils in Elective Home Education across the constituency area.