Issue - meetings

The Panel will receive a presentation from representatives of the DfE Regional Office.

Tish Bourke (BANES lead, DfE) and Giles de Rivaz(Head of Somerset Sub-region and RISE SW, DfE) gave a presentation to the Panel, a summary of which is set out below.

The opportunity mission and Regions Group

The Opportunity Mission is focused on breaking down barriers to opportunity. We will deliver this through our four mission pillars.

·  Best start in life - high-quality early education; early-child health; home- learning environment; family support.

·  Every child achieving and thriving - high and rising school standards with a broad curriculum; excellent teachers; an inclusive approach to SEND; wider support and enrichment.

·  Skills for opportunity and growth - a strong skills offer; pathways into work including youth guarantee, work experience, careers advice.

·  Family security - removing underlying barriers to opportunity including tackling child poverty, improving housing and keeping children safe.

Roles and Responsibilities / How we Work

Schools:

·  High quality trust delivery

·  Addressing underperformance

·  Enhancing school infrastructure and capacity

·  Safeguarding in academies

Vulnerable Children: CSC and SEND:

·  Intervention

·  Improving performance

·  Engaging with Local Authorities

·  Care review implementation

BANES: Structure and performance

Structures

•  BANES highly academised – 91.4 %

•  9 MATs, most with more than six schools; & 3 SATs

OFSTED performance

•  Ofsted very strong with vast majority of schools with headline Ofsted judgement of Good or better, those with more recent inspections, performing well in sub-judgements.

•  Trust with schools with less than Good are held to account for improvement, supported to improve

2024 Pupil outcomes

•  KS2: ES RWM 60%, improving from 2023, but below NA of 61%

•  KS4: Progress 8,  0.16  slight dip on 2023 but above NA of -0.03

•  Disadvantaged: KS2 ES RWM 33% below NA of 46%; and KS4 progress 8 -0.56, just above NA but still to improve

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

Keeping Families Together and Children Safe:

•  Mandating local authorities to offer family group decision-making meetings

•  Improving information sharing across agencies

•  Strengthening the role of education in safeguarding

•  Implementing multi-agency child protection teams

Driving High and Rising Standards for Every Child:

•  Delivering commitments on school admissions, qualified teacher status, and the national curriculum

•  Introducing new duties for schools and local authorities to co-operate on admissions and place planning; extending local authorities’ powers to direct academies to admit children

•  Changing the legal framework for opening new state-funded schools

Removing Barriers to Opportunity in Schools:

•  Providing access to free breakfast clubs for every primary school child.

•  Limiting the number of branded uniform items that schools can require

Accountability reform

•  Two consultations published from Ofsted and DfE on 3rd February.

•  Ofsted’s consultation seeks views from parents, carers, professionals and learners on the way it carries out its inspections, and the way it reports them, with a new inspection framework and toolkits, and report cards.

•  The DfE’s consultation seeks views on the principles we propose should underpin an effective accountability system:

o  The approach to, and the principles of, school accountability;

o  The introduction  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88