Agenda item - Educational Attainment for Looked After Children

Report of Chief Officer (Education and Youth)

(a) That the work of the Looked After Children steering group and its continued role in having a positive impact upon the achievements of Looked After Children be supported;

(b) That the remodelling of the Pupil Referral Unit be given added impetus to Looked After Children to achieve to the bets of their ability;

(c) That Looked After Children be given named mentors in every school to ensure that they are properly advised and guided on their education pathway, in line with the Youth Engagement and Progression Framework;

(d) That every Looked After Children as well as having their Personal Education Plan, have a personal statement written about themselves be introduced throughout Flintshire schools;

(e) That those children who have additional learning needs continue to access specialist support to help them reach their potential;

(f) That the Social Services and Education & Youth Services continue to work collaboratively to further enhance and embed consistent approaches with regard to Looked After Children;

(g) That Flintshire accesses funds that will be controlled by GwE to ensure positive and worthwhile training is given to all school staff;

(h) That work to develop a database on a regional basis to reflect the needs and support provision required for all Looked After Children continues;

(i) That the positive collaboration across Local Authorities continue to be encouraged so that cross border working and information sharing improves; and

(j) That a briefing note be circulated to Members of both Committees, outlining whether there had been any breakdowns in care placements as a result of school exclusions, with a fuller report to be presented to both Committees in due course, if there was any indication that there had.

The Head of Inclusion Services introduced a report to update on the attainment of Looked After Children (LAC) in Flintshire for the academic year 2013-14. She provided background information and gave a presentation on Looked After Children. The main points of the presentation were as follows:

· Summary of activity 2014/15

· Outcomes for 2013/14

· Out of County Placements

· Out of County Outcomes 2013/14

· Attendance and Exclusions

· National Strategy

· Operational

· Regional Strategy

· Developing a whole school approach

· Training

· Developing a school-to-school approach

· Individualised approach where necessary

· Monitoring of the regional plan

The Chairman thanked the Head of Inclusion Service for her detailed presentation and invited members to raise questions.

Councillor Hilary McGuill commented on the regional review of the use of the ONE database (Education) and its links to PARIS (Social Services) and asked for an update on progress. The Head of Inclusion Service responded to the concerns raised and reported on system development. She explained that there was not universal use across the region as yet but work was in progress.

Mr David Hytch queried whether young people were achieving any less than their potential and asked if there was some form of prediction against which children’s potential could be measured. In her response the Head of Inclusion Services commented on the need for the Service to be confident that young people were achieving in line with its high expectation of them. She referred to the TRAC project and reported that this was a regional initiative across North Wales, where European Social Funding will be used to identify 11-24 year olds at risk of disengagement and provide resources to support young people to maintain their placements and achieve.

Councillor Cindy Hinds referred to the mental health difficulties experienced by some young people. The Head of Inclusion Service said the importance of supporting young people as early as possible was recognised and referred to the need for early intervention to support children in the Foundation Phase and Primary school.

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin referred to the underlying social, emotional and behavioural difficulties experienced by some young people which affected outcomes and commented there was insufficient data in the report to support this. The Head of Inclusion Service said that the difficulties were recognised and the Service was working with schools to support young people. She referred to the training provided around relationships society and family.

In response to the comments and questions raised by members the Head of Inclusion Service explained there were 150 LAC in Flintshire and only a small number were not in mainstream education. She advised that the education of LAC was a high priority and many initiatives had been instigated to improve outcomes. She explained that a group of professionals comprising representation from Children and Mental Health Support Service (CAMHS), Behaviour Support Service, schools, Children’s Services, inclusion and the LAC Co-ordinator, oversaw the education of LAC. She also commented on the value of proposing that a Governor on each school Governing Body be given responsibility for LAC.

Councillor Carol Ellis sought clarification around the data provided in relation to attendance and exclusion statistics for LAC and asked how many children the 55 incidents of fixed term exclusions related to. The Head of Inclusion Service agreed to provide further details. During discussion the issue of exclusions and use of fixed term exclusions was raised by members and concerns expressed around the effect on carers of the young person. Members asked what arrangements were in place to ensure support for carers of the young person excluded. Officers referred to the range of strategies in place and commented on the preventative work and consideration of providing alternative accommodation to enable the young person to remain within a supervised and monitored environment whilst continuing to undertake school work. The Head of Inclusion Service emphasised that the Service advocated a no exclusion policy and that the priority was to work with the young person to prevent escalation of a problem.

The Chair commented that when a LAC was excluded there was a corporate responsibility for the time the child was excluded. He asked if there was any evidence that placements could breakdown due to the young person being excluded. The Chief Officer (Social Services) referred to the family placement scheme which provided support in such situations and the range of interventions to prevent placement breakdown. He added that the Authority currently had the highest number of Foster Care placements and recognised the importance of working jointly with schools to support carers.

Councillor Andy Dunbobbin expressed the view that it was important that young people understood the reason for the exclusion and the consequences.

Councillor David Healey commented on the internal strategies which were used by schools to address the issue.

Councillor Carol Ellis asked how many breakdowns in care placements had occurred as a result of exclusions. She also asked that if a continued exclusion was used was the young person referred to CAMHS as a matter of urgency. The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) agreed to provide a briefing paper to Members from the Service Manager concerning any instances of placement breakdown which occurred as a result of repeat exclusions and submit a follow-up report on the matter to the Education & Youth and Social & Health Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

In response to Councillor Hilary McGuill’s concerns on the number of exclusions over the year for LAC, the majority of which were from the Pupil Referral Unit, it was agreed that Officers would provide further detail to members on how many young people the number of instances related to.

Councillor Carol Ellis expressed concerns around use of the A2A card in schools and cited the example of a young carer who had experienced difficulty when she had presented the card in a school as the school concerned did not understand its purpose. The Head of Inclusion Service agreed to take the matter forward and raise awareness at the appropriate school-related forums. The Chief Officer said he would speak to Councillor Ellis about the matter following the meeting.

Councillor Peter Curtis raised concerns around the number of abbreviations used throughout the report. The Chief Officer acknowledged the point and said his comments would be taken on board.

RESOLVED: