Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bev Chapman.

None

There were no declarations of interest made.

The minutes were agreed and approved as a true record.

(A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up to 5 members of the public on matters within the Panel’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be considered or contribute towards the future development of the Panel’s work programme).

There were no public statements made.

The Chair welcomed Mark Douglas, Chief Operating Officer and James Thomas, Head of Performance and Business Intelligence from the Doncaster Children’s Trust to the meeting to provide an overview of the Quarterly Performance Trust Update and respond to questions.   

The Panel was reminded of the monitoring arrangements of Governance Assurance being undertaken within the Children’s Trust, which included: -

·         Quarterly Performance Meetings

·         Monthly Operational Progress Group

·         Monthly Financial Monitoring Group

·         Annual Review

Members were told that there was an intention to bring the Monthly Operational Progress and Financial Monitoring Group meeting closer together to establish links and develop a better understanding.  It was also added that the Annual Review had nearly been completed looking at issues such as the Trust’s monitoring arrangements and performance indicators.

Members were informed that at the end of the Quarter 2 (which marked the first 12 months of the Trust’s operation) there were 11 at or above target and 4 outside tolerance.  These included the time taken to complete assessments when children are referred to as a child in need, case file auditing activity and two relating to financial monitoring and forecasted projected spend against budget.

Case File Auditing: - It was explained that the Trust had improved consistency and introduced more rigour and challenge to its case file auditing activity, with Managers having received additional training and deployment of a new audit tool.  It was expected that this performance indicator should improve by the next quarter.

Stability of Placements: - A Member asked about stability of placements (for placement breakdowns of 3 or more moves), which had reported as having a rise at Corporate Parenting Board meetings.  Members expressed their concern about the effect of less stable placements on children in care outcomes such as education.  Members were informed that this had shown a slight increase during the last couple of months and was now being measured and monitored for specific trends.  It was added that further work would be undertaken on the reasons behind the increase although no specific local research was available in respect of educational outcomes. 

Foster Change Project – Members were told that a regional lead had been recruited and that any delay in progress had not been caused from within the Trust.

Single Assessments Completed in Timescale – Members were informed that this was due to a combination of increased referral rates, a small number of short term vacancies (which have temporarily increased demand on services), the speed at which workers were able to complete assessments and finally an increased challenge to staff to complete high level quality assessments.  Members were also told that there had been a reallocation of case files, rewriting of scheduling reports, support provided to Managers and use of agency staff.  As a result of these steps, the performance indicator was now back up to tolerance levels and back on track.

Careers Information Advice and Guidance (CIAG) of Children in Care: – Members were informed about what was in place to provide CIAG to children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Panel received a report that provided information on the 2015 Doncaster Attainment Summary for children and young people aged 5, 7, 11 and 16 and School Improvement Strategy/Key Stage 2 Strategy and Progress Report.  The Panel discussed the following areas: -

Early Years Foundation Stage: – Members were informed that the Early Help offer would make an impact in this area and that a Senior School Standards Officer had been appointed that would link with Early Help to carry out work alongside the Communications Officer.

Phonics Testing at ages 6 and 7: – Further to the report detailing that the performance of Doncaster’s 6 year old children was 7% lower than the national average; Members were informed that there was a Phonics Action Plan in place and initiatives were being introduced which included the delivery of training and phonics leads within schools.

Key Stage 1 Attainment (Children aged 7) – Members were informed that this presented a more positive picture.  In relation to pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) support, Members were told that all academies schools and Education Standards and Effectiveness provided a particular focus on SEN children.

Key Stage 2 Attainment (Children aged 11) – Members were concerned that for Key Stage 2 children aged 11 and over that it had not been a positive year for results, in particular for Maths (top at KS1 and bottom at KS2).  It was explained that some of the reason behind this was in relation to a mismatch between teacher assessments and outcomes.  In respect of Maths results in particular, it was explained that what was happening in Doncaster mirrored national results and international research that children were being pushed too soon before truly understanding the depth of the subject.  Members were informed that at Key Stage 2 the Rapid Improvement initiative had been launched which would collect live data to enable issues to be identified.

Other actions being taken to address issues at Key Stage 2 included: -

·                Pyramid Plans – data being used to supply and improve outcomes.

·                Procuring Tracking Systems – target setting

·                Data Sharing Agreement – circulated data to schools

It was also noted that Rapid Response was need to address issues and included: -

1.      Securing accuracy of teacher assessment mismatch to test outcomes.

2.      Accelerating progress of schools under pressure to deliver new curriculum.

3.      Securing high quality leadership – look at how it impacts on teaching and learning and undertaking effective monitoring and evaluation.

Key Stage 4 Attainment Summary (children aged 16) – Members were informed that the educational performance of children in care for Key Stage 4 with 5 + A*-C including English and Maths was at 9% and had bucked the national trend which had dropped by 1%.  It was added that one of Ofsted’s recommendation was to ‘improve outcomes for Children in Care through the Virtual School’ which was in place.

In respect of Data Protected Characteristics it was asked why there were no Children in Care included.  Members were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The Senior Governance Officer presented the current Overview and Scrutiny work plan highlighting areas of work undertaken by the Scrutiny Panels since the last meeting including an update on the Disabilities review.

The Senior Governance Officer also presented the recommendations from the Joint Children and Young People/Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel informal meeting on Sexual Health - Signposting for Young People/Partnership Working.

RESOLVED that:

i.      the 2015/2016 Overview and Scrutiny workplan, be noted

ii.     the recommendations from the Joint Children and Young People/Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel informal meeting on Sexual Health - Signposting For Young People/Partnership Working, be agreed.