Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director, Children and Young People’s Services, which provided a summary of Ofsted inspection results over the 2017-18 academic year (for copy see file of minutes).

In response from a question from Councillor Jewell in relation to whether the inspection process was fit for purpose the Strategic Manager Support and Development advised that not all local authorities had school improvement teams due to austerity measures.  In County Durham the local authority can go into any school to help and support the school following an inspection.

The Interim Head of Education confirmed that even as the budget reduced, schools would be challenged to do better.  Results in the County had improved and this was due to the hard work of teaching staff and governors but there was no doubt that the budget reductions would effect children from deprived areas.  With regards to permanent exclusions, children from primary schools were getting the intervention required to recover and therefore were not being excluded from school.

Mr Patel thanked the Strategic Manager Development and Support for a good report.

Councillor Kennedy commented that school exclusions were often not recorded because parents were forced to accept managed moves for their children as an alternative to permanent exclusions.  The threat of permanent exclusion put pressure on parents to accept a managed move, even though it was not always best for the child.

The Strategic Manager, Support and Development, agreed that managed moves were not a solution and it was recognised that it did not serve to meet the needs of the child, although was a better option than permanent exclusion.  Many children were not strictly academic and the service were exploring alternative provision which would ensure more meaningful outcomes and reduce the number of managed moves.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.