Issue - meetings

(a)       That the educational progress of Looked After Children in Flintshire be noted;

(b)       That the Committees support the proposals to seek the Welsh Government to increase the Pupil Premium to £900 as had been done in England; and

(c)        That Cabinet be asked to support recommendation (b) of the Committees.

The Director of Lifelong Learning introduced the report to update members on the attainment of Looked After Children (LAC) in Flintshire for the academic year 2011-2012.  He referred to the pupil outcomes in the Foundation Phase, and Key Stages 2, 3 and 4/5 which were detailed in the report and which provided comparative data for the Authority against the Wales average. 

He introduced Mrs K. Wylde, Learning Advisor for Children Looked After, and Mr. D. Messum, Advisor for Social Inclusion and Well Being, to the meeting and invited them to give an overview of the attainment of Looked After Children.

The Learning Advisor for Children Looked After provided background information and advised that there had been a notable increase in the number of LAC within the Primary sector (Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2) in 2011/12.  She explained that this was due to the work of the social work team where intervention and action was taken at a much earlier stage. 

Referring to future progress the Learning Advisor for Children Looked After advised that joint partnership working with teachers and social workers was ongoing and a secondary school event which took place at the end of October 2012 had been well supported.  A second joint partnership day with Primary Schools had been held to develop plans for ‘catch up’ and basis skills recovery.  It was also anticipated that there would be a continuation of support for LAC from the School Effectiveness Grant to support basic skills.

The Learning Advisor for Children Looked After referred to the Pupil Premium Grant which was additional funding given to schools to support disadvantaged pupils.  She advised that at the next Welsh Government (WG) All Wales Group meeting she would be requesting that the WG considered increasing the amount of the Pupil Premium in Wales so that it matched the level of funding provided to pupils in England.  Councillor H.J. McGuill spoke in support of lobbying the WG to increase the amount of pupil premium for Wales.

The Head of Children’s Services advised that Children’s Services had published a document based on the ‘Who does What’ document that had been published by local authorities in England.  She suggested sending a copy to the Facilitator so that it could be circulated to Members of both Committees.

Discussion took place around LAC who wished to progress to higher education and the Advisor for Social Inclusion and Well Being, referred to the impact this had on foster care placements.  The Head of Children’s Services confirmed that the Authority supported students through their University education but emphasised that LAC were not given preferential treatment, that there was an expectation of reasonable parental involvement and that students would pursue the option to take up the student loans and maintenance grants available.  The Learning Advisor for Children Looked After cited an example of a young person who was being supported financially by the Authority during his university course and who had also achieved a work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4