Hampshire County Council Education Advisory Panel Meeting

Apologies were received from Cllr Bowerman, Cllr James and Ian Potter.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 2 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

The minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and agreed.

No deputations were received.

The Chairman noted that this was the last meeting for Brian Pope, Assistant Director for Education & Inclusion, ahead of his retirement. On behalf of the Panel, the Chairman thanked Brian for his outstanding contribution to education in Hampshire.

The Panel received a presentation from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on suspensions and exclusions within Hampshire.

The Panel received an overview of suspensions and exclusions across Hampshire’s schools, separated by Primary, Secondary, Special and other educational settings. These figures were also shown in comparison to the national picture.

The Panel noted that the directorate had channels of communications with schools dedicated to these issues, with most queries dealt with within 48 hours. The directorate operated a ‘support and challenge’ approach, building on the successful relationship with all Hampshire schools irrespective of their designation. It was noted that, if the current trends of increased permanent exclusion remain then work will need to be undertaken to incentivise inclusion over exclusion. There is a need to build more resilience in schools and look at proactive rather than reactive measures around challenging behaviour.

In response to questions members found that:

·         Suspensions are a useful tool for behaviour management but there is difficulty in judging when it is appropriate. This is often in relation to issues affecting other pupils or disproportionately using school resources.

·         Mental Health Support Teams have been established around the County to support Schools to prevent suspensions and exclusions were possible.

·         The County has ways of sharing best practise between schools.

·         The welfare of School staff is the responsibility of the individual school, but the Local Authority offers services in this area to support this.

·         Places at a new educational setting need to be provided to excluded pupils within six days and that this is the responsibility of the Local Authority, including pupils excluded from Academies.

·         The County’s higher suspension numbers could be a repercussion of the lower exclusion figures.

Resolved:

That the Education Advisory Panel note the update on suspensions and exclusions within Hampshire.

The Panel received a presentation from the Director of Children’s Services providing an update on emergent themes from recent Ofsted inspections.

It was noted that there had been forty inspections for Primary Schools in the 2023 Spring term so far, and four for Secondaries. Officer’s set out the various strengths that had been identified for each type of school, alongside the areas for development.

For Primary Schools strengths included strong attainment and school leadership, positive situations for attendance, behaviour and attitudes and positive work for pupil’s wider development. Areas for development included safeguarding recording, phonics and early reading and several areas in relation to the delivery of the curriculum.

For Secondary Schools strengths included ambitious curriculums, SEND provision, PSHE, high standards, expectations and achievement and supportive relationships between staff and students. Areas for development included pupils conduct and attitude to learning, parental involvement and curriculum development including the uptake of languages.

In response to questions members found that:

·         Support is in place during Ofsted inspections for early career teachers and the Ofsted inspectors will be aware of who these are at each school. Support from the local authority is also in place for all inspections more generally.

·         There is a new Ofsted framework which holds a higher benchmark then the previous system, meaning that it is possible for a school to have improved yet still be assessed as ‘Good’ when previously ‘Outstanding’. The Local Authority provides support to school’s when their Ofsted rating changes, including input from Corporate Communications.

Resolved:

That the Education Advisory Panel note the update on emergent themes from recent Ofsted inspections.