Agenda item

For the Sub-Committee to receive the summarised performance of children and young people in Croydon schools for the academic year 22/23. 

The Sub-Committee considered a paper set out on pages 33 to 54 of the agenda, which provided a report on Education Standards 2023 summarising the education performance and outcomes for children and young people in Croydon schools for the academic year 2022/23. The Director of Education and Interim Head of Education Services introduced and summarised the report. The Sub-Committee heard that 4.5.5 in the report had been included in error, but that current unvalidated data did show a slight improvement in persistent absence rates.

Members asked whether unmet Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) were leading to increases in persistent absence rates, and what work was being done to reach out to, and work in partnership with, parents. The Director of Education explained that the responsibility for persistent absences sat with schools; the Council did have attendance improvement advisors and regular meetings with schools focussed on attendance. The Council’s Link advisers also focussed on attendance and persistent absence in their focussed visits with schools. A Department of Education attendance advisor had provided some recent positive feedback on the practice in Croydon on following up on persistent absences. The Sub-Committee heard that schools would be doing a range of different things including working directly with parents to identify the reasons behind persistent absences and developing bespoke solutions to increase attendance. From September 2024, schools would have a statutory responsibility to share attendance data with the Council; this data was currently collected through ‘Studybugs’, but only around 69% of schools were reporting into this system.

The Sub-Committee asked what the Council would be doing with the complete attendance data from September 2024. The Director of Education explained that there was a national push to improve attendance and that ‘working together guidance’ would be important in promoting this. Currently the Council was working with schools where data was provided but this support would be better targeted once all of the attendance data for Croydon was available. The importance of schools putting actions in place by working directly with families to increase attendance and decrease absence was highlighted.

The Head of SEND Transformation & Delivery responded to questions about the long-term effects of unmet SEND needs at KS1 by acknowledging that this could lead to later problems with attendance. Members heard that innovative work was being undertaken at the earliest opportunity when emerging needs were presented through funding that could be drawn down quickly. This work was being done through the Croydon Localities SEND support service, psychology services, HENRY (Health, Exercise, Nutrition for the really young), Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs), and more.

The Sub-Committee asked how the voice of the child was being reflected in work on persistent absences. The Director of Education explained that conversations with children in schools always involved the child and that looked after children had a section covering the voice of the child in their Personal Education Plan (PEP). The voice of the child had been included in the most recent SEND Strategy to highlight the areas that children and young people thought needed the greatest focus; recent work had also included visiting the school councils in Croydon’s SEND schools. The Interim Head of Education Services explained that a student panel always formed a part of quality assurance visits to schools and that, where possible, these panels were a random selection of pupils.

Members reflected that the data in the report was representative of the hard work of children and schools. The Director of Education agreed and praised teachers, children and schools in Croydon, and highlighted the importance of celebrating good news. The Sub-Committee asked what was being done to build influence with schools and drive them towards the help and services that the Council could provide. The Director of Education explained that open and honest conversations, partnership working and sharing of best practice formed the basis of the Council’s ‘support and challenge’ role as a local education authority, and that this had also been the basis of establishing the Schools Partnership to formalise these positive relationships.

The Sub-Committee asked if there were plans to increase the provision of BTECs and T Levels in Croydon to appeal to the ambitions of young people and reduce NEET levels. The Interim Head of Education Services explained that these choices sat with schools and were made on the basis of finances and teacher recruitment. Members heard that there was ongoing work with the Head of Employment, Skills & Economic Development to look at what more could be done to promote these kinds of qualifications. The Director of Education commented that there were ongoing discussions with colleges and schools about making sure the pathways that met the needs and ambitions of young people were available.

Members asked about disproportionate exclusions for Black Caribbean pupils, and the lack of detail to address this in the action plan contained in the report. The Director of Education explained that this was a focus for the access to education team and formed the basis of conversations with individual schools. The Sub-Committee heard that it was schools who were responsible for exclusions, not the Council. Where schools excluded children, the Council intervened to review the process and highlight any issues around non-diverse exclusion panels and behaviour policies; these conversations would happen on an individual basis where an exclusion had taken place and there was an opportunity to intervene before the exclusion was enacted. The Council did have an impact in overturning exclusions before the panel stage and in working with governors on the appropriateness of decisions on exclusions and where these could or should be overturned. The Sub-Committee acknowledged the good work being done in this area and asked that the next report explicitly referenced this in the action plan. Members commented on personal experiences of finding different ways for students affected by exclusions to give their statements and the positive impact this had on reducing the numbers of exclusions.

The Sub-Committee asked about the increase in the number of suspensions in 2022/23 and the reasons behind this. The Director of Education explained that the previous years likely reflected periods of COVID where children were not in schools, but that they would check this and come back to Members.

Members asked about actions being taken by the Croydon Education Partnership to mitigate the emerging effects and impacts on children and young people from the COVID pandemic. The Director of Education explained that the pandemic had affected different children differently and at different times. The Sub-Committee asked if any specific trends could be attributed to the pandemic and the Director of Education explained that additional support was being provided where there was evidence of COVID having had a negative impact. Members heard that plans for extra support and capacity around behavioural issues for some children in KS1 had been put in place; there was also work to provide additional wellbeing support for young people to try and improve outcomes. The Director of Education explained that the Council always monitored trends and data but also looked at individual schools. The Interim Head of Education Services explained that the Croydon Health and Wellbeing Survey data would also be used to identify health and wellbeing trends for young people and the impacts on their education.

The Sub-Committee noted the disruption to structure in schools resulting from the pandemic, teacher/transport strikes and virtual teaching, and asked if this had impacted mental health for young people. The Director of Education explained that there was a focus on early intervention where SEND needs were identified, and that this was supported by the Croydon Locality SEND support service. Members heard that schools were doing a good job at focussing on children’s needs and how to best to meet them; it was important for schools to look at what they could do to support cohorts of children and individual pupils; the Council looked at the ways it could put support in for children with Education, Health and Care plan (EHCPs) and SEN. Members heard that schools were undertaking trauma informed training and that there was a focus on inclusion in education.

In response to questions on elective home education, the Director of Education explained that this was the decision of individual families.

Members asked whether long wait times for EHCPs and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) referrals were putting parents off of the process and leading to increased NEET (young people not in education, employment or training) levels and suspensions later in the young person’s life. The Head of SEND Transformation & Delivery responded that the percentage of EHCPs issued within 20 weeks (excluding exceptions) was performing to a high level, with 83% meeting this target in 2023 and 91% for March 2024. It was clarified that not all EHCP assessments required a CAMHS assessment and that this was dependent on the specific presenting needs of the individual young person; there were alternative pathways through different professional reports and assessments that could be used without the CAMHS assessment.

The Sub-Committee asked what was being done to engage with families of children who were unhappy with SEND provision, particularly where children were refusing to attend school. The Director of Education explained that the views of parents and carers were sought through ‘Croydon Active Voices’ (formerly the Parent Carer Forum) and the SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service) who were also embedded into the governance of the SEND Board and delivery group respectively. The Director of Education stated that should parents or families be unhappy with the services they were receiving then they should be able to feed this information back through Croydon Active Voices or SENDIASS, or by getting in touch directly. The Head of SEND Transformation & Delivery added that there were frequent check-ins with the family being supported at the early support stage and that feedback was generally positive; all children with an EHCP had Education and Health Co-ordinators who could feedback to schools and the Council should there be any issues. The Director of Education acknowledged that the Council did not always get things right and highlighted the importance of apologising and reflecting on instances where things had not gone as they should to ensure that improvements and learning could be taken forward. Members discussed some anecdotal experiences that were contrary to this and heard from the Head of SEND Transformation & Delivery that the Council sought to make itself available and to open up channels for communication by regularly attending parent forums and other meetings. The Director of Education highlighted that the Council and schools needed to be open to hearing the voices of children and parents and explained that they were aware that, for some families, provision was not where they wanted it to be.

Members asked if officers were aware of schools discouraging families from applying for an EHCP over wait times. The Director of Education responded that they were not aware of this but that they would want to advertise the Council’s early intervention work to support children with engaging with school in recognition that an EHCP could be a lengthy process.

The Sub-Committee asked whether the level of NEET support in Croydon was sufficient to meet the rising demand in Croydon. The Director of Education highlighted that NEET indicators on the Early Help, Children's Social Care and Education Dashboard were currently ‘green’ and offered to produce a briefing note for Members around NEET. The Corporate Director of Children, Young People & Education (CYPE) agreed and suggested adding NEET to the Sub-Committee’s work programme for 24/25. Members asked if the current model was sufficient to support care experienced young people and heard that these young people would have a personal advisor, but that more support on this was being developed through the ‘Virtual College’ and Corporate Parenting Panel Education, Employment and Training Sub-Group.

Members asked if poor KS4 performance was a contributing factor to rising NEET referrals. The Interim Head of Education Services agreed that this was a contributing factor among others, such as the withdrawal of lower-level qualifications and the Council no longer being able to access Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The Sub-Committee asked if information on this could be included in the briefing note.

Conclusions

1. The Sub-Committee thanked the officers and Cabinet Member for attending the meeting and answering their questions.

2. The Sub-Committee wanted to monitor the Council’s actions to improve attendance following the move to mandatory attendance reporting from schools from September 2024.

3. The Sub-Committee welcomed the offer of the NEET Briefing Note from the Director of Education.

4. The Sub-Committee concluded that they would like to include EHCPs and SEND provision in the borough on the Work Programme for 24/25.