Agenda item

The Committee received a presentation from Joe Caluori, Executive Member for Children and Families, on the work and performance of Children’s Services, copy interleaved, during which the following main points were made –

·         It was recognised that, although there had been an improvement in children’s phonics in Year 1, further work was needed to secure significant improvements.

·         Six out of ten young people in Islington achieved more than five A*-C grade GCSEs including English and Maths at age 16. The Executive Member advised that the authority was working to improve this statistic.

·         Two secondary schools had recently changed leadership and the Executive Member hoped that this would lead to significant improvements.

·         It was welcomed that 69% of children attending primary schools in Islington stay in the Borough for secondary education, however the Executive Member advised that further work was needed to improve the attractiveness of Islington schools to prospective pupils and parents. 

·         It was explained that although there were sufficient school places for children in Islington, parents often wished to choose the school their child attended and this was not always possible. It was commented that some parents objected to their child not attending their nearest school, however it was suggested that the relatively short distances that Islington children had to travel to school would be considered acceptable in other major cities in the world.

·         The Executive Member was keen to make capital investments in good and outstanding schools to increase the number of available places.

·         The problem of school attendance was highlighted; one in thirteen children missed one day of school per fortnight. It was suggested that schools could better integrate their attendance strategies to deal with this issue.

·         The Executive Member considered that too many children were in alternative provision and expressed concern that this often led to unsatisfactory outcomes for children. It was explained that attainment was higher in traditional education settings, however it was equally recognised that keeping children in schools which were not suitable for them was not appropriate. It was suggested that young people in alternative provision needed a clear vision of how their life would develop and the Committee was invited to consider this matter further.

·         A member raised that children in alternative provision often had complex needs and may come from families with substance abuse or medical issues. The Executive Member clarified that he understood the difficult situation faced by providers of alternative provision; however it was not acceptable that 41% of young offenders had previously been in alternative provision.

·         It was queried why four out of ten pupils were not achieving five A*-C grade GCSEs including English and Maths at age 16. The Executive Member explained that there was no straightforward answer however contributing factors could include overcrowded housing and limited access to ICT at home. 

·         Reference was made to the presentation made by the Director of Schools and Young People’s Services at the previous meeting, in which it was suggested that students with low levels of attainment were best supported through raising overall teaching and learning standards, as opposed to focusing support on demographic groups with particularly low levels of attainment. The Executive Member reaffirmed that this was considered to be the best method of raising attainment. A debate was had on this; and reference was made to Saturday schools previously provided for BME pupils which were considered to be successful.

·         The Executive Member supported the early help approach in terms of both improving outcomes for families and leading to savings in the long term. However, it was suggested that further work was required to intervene earlier in child health matters. It was commented that the Council should encourage greater use of early intervention approaches among its partners. 

·         It was suggested that the Health and Wellbeing Board had not yet focused on child health and further work in this area would be welcomed.

·         The Executive Member compared the Council’s social care performance to that of other local authorities. It was advised that, following a difficult inspection of the Council’s youth offending service, a new service structure had been implemented. It was hoped this would reduce levels of knife crime in particular.

·         Following a question, it was advised that levels of youth re-offending were comparable with other inner London boroughs, however the Borough did not perform as well as its statistical neighbours. It was noted that the rate of youth re-offending in Islington was decreasing, however not at the same pace as other areas. The Executive Member recognised that improvement in this area was needed and advised that he would be visiting other local authorities to learn more about best practice, including restorative justice schemes. 

·         In response to a question, it was advised that school governors were best placed to challenge head teachers on performance at GCSE level.

·         In response to a question about why children in care do not perform as well as their peers at GCSE level, it was advised that these children faced a range of difficulties and the Corporate Parenting Board was investigating how the attainment of children in care could be improved. It was noted that children who had been in care for a longer period of time tended to have better educational outcomes, and for that reason work was being carried out to minimise the length of time it takes for care decisions to be made.

·         The Executive Member advised that he would circulate data relating to any trends in the crimes of young offenders and first time offenders in particular.

·         Following a question from a member of the public, it was advised that the Council found it difficult to influence education at AS and A2 level as many local children received this education outside of the Borough.

The Chair thanked Councillor Caluori for his attendance.