Agenda item

This report provides an update on activity to narrow the attainment gap of disadvantaged (pupil premium/FSM) pupils, included in the Education Updates report presented to Policy Development and Scrutiny (PDS) in November 2021.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding introduced this report to the Panel, a summary is set out below.

Whilst undoubtedly the pandemic will have impacted the education outcomes of all children and young people, recovering from Covid-19 provides opportunities to bring the work to support disadvantaged pupils into focus and

collaborate with partners.

To support this report, members of the B&NES Schools Standards Board have

shared early School and Trust level summaries of the impact of Covid-19 on

pupils in B&NES. These summaries will be based on Teacher assessment of

pupils when they have returned to schools.

Pupils in the younger years, especially reception, year one and year two, are furthest away from where we would typically expect them to be. Trust leaders have also indicated that the impact on progress has been more significant for some disadvantaged pupils. Broadly, upper KS2 pupils are being reported as being on track to attain their targets set at the start of the academic year, though a drop in those reaching the higher standards has been reported. Pupil writing, alongside phonics, was considered the most significant challenge to deliver remotely and this is being reflected in the 'lost ground' compared to the other core subjects.

In Key Stage 3 and 4, schools report no discernible impact on progress, with

indicators being slightly below where they had been in previous years. However, there is a general reporting of deterioration in behaviour in these year groups, particularly in year 7.

The Panel is advised that due to Covid-19, examinations once again have been

cancelled in primary schools and secondary examinations have been replaced by Teacher Assessed Grades.

To tackle the lack of comparable area-wide examination data and to find a way to measure the progress of these young people, the B&NES School Standards

Board has agreed to a project using the Education Endowment Foundations

Families of Schools data. This project aims to engage all schools in B&NES to

identify, support and track the progress of all pupil premium children over a period from September 2020 – September 2021.

The attainment gap in B&NES can be closed by improved results in specific locations in B&NES and by targeting support in the early years and at particular schools. As advised in the last report, Officers in the LA have been working alongside the St. Johns Foundation to deliver strategies to target Early Years outcomes in specific locations and provide additional support to Primary Schools with the largest disadvantaged children population.

There are two projects supported by the St. Johns Foundation that are targeted

at improving the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children through the

combined interventions of the St John's Foundation, early years settings, schools, the Local Authority and key partners from health and the voluntary sector. These two projects are:

? The Language for Life Project

? The Primary Empowerment Project

All schools in B&NES have been provided with additional funding to target pupils with catch up education activities. This funding has also been supported by the DFE's role out of the National Tutoring Programme. This programme provides a range of accredited organisations that schools can purchase support from using catch-up funding.

The Department for Education (DfE) provides funding to local authorities to

coordinate a programme that provides healthy food and enriching activities to

eligible children during the 2021 Easter, Summer and Christmas Holidays. This is known as the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme. These activities will be targeted at children eligible for free school meals.

Councillor Michelle O’Doherty asked for any further comments on the pilot projects with St. Johns.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that they have been involved from the early stages of these projects and have always had a welcome and listening approach to them.

The Early Years Adviser added that there had been a good response from partners to both of the projects with launch events due to take place later in the year.

Councillor Paul May commented that he believed that the gap locally was significant because of our most successful schools. He also said that funding levels for schools across the area have been traditionally low. He added that if possible he would like to see a breakdown of male / female with regard to the attainment gap.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that he would address the Schools Standards Board on what data can be collected. He added that some of the information might be able to be obtained but could not guarantee that at this stage.

Councillor Dine Romero asked if a SHEU (Schools Health Education Unit) Survey was to be carried out this year.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that it would and that schools were committed to this process.

Kevin Burnett commented that the changes to the funding formula for Pupil Premium had resulted in a loss for many young people.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that he had raised concerns of this nature to the DfE and was awaiting feedback from them.

The Chairman asked the following three questions on behalf of Councillor Liz Hardman.

Referring to page 30, paragraph 3.14 it says that a proportion (up to 15%) of the funding can be used to provide places for children not in receipt of FSMs but this requires written approval from the DFE.  She asked if the Council was intending to apply to the DFE to use some of the funding in this way.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that the Council have applied to the DFE to use up to 15% of the funding to support children and young people not in receipt of FSM. He added that the DFE are reviewing all applications this week and will be confirming back to Local Authorities as soon as possible.

Referring to page 36, Appendix 2 she said that she welcomed both the Language for Life project and the Primary Empowerment Programme. She asked why St Mary's, Writhlington was part of the Primary Empowerment Programme, but not included in Language for Life.

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that the decision to not work with the locality or St Mary’s was based on the available resources within the Early Years team to work across a number of localities as part of the pilot and deliver the roll-out of the reformed Early Years Foundation Framework at the same time. He added that should the project be a success, we hope to be able to work across further localities and this would include St Mary's.

Referring to page 39, Appendix 4 she asked are schools engaging with the process suggested. She noted from looking at the Families of Schools database, that some schools are missing from it, perhaps because they recently joined a MAT. 

The Director of Education, Inclusion and Children's Safeguarding replied that we have an agreement from representatives of the School Standards Board who met in March to engage in this process. He added that following this meeting, LA Officers are involved in discussion with Trust leads to encourage broader engagement and formalise the local approach.

The Senior School & Improvement Achievement Adviser replied that data is wiped when schools join a MAT.

The Chairman thanked the officers for their report and attendance on behalf of the Panel.