Agenda item

This report provides the Panel with an overview of attendance and exclusions key trends across 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

The Head of the Virtual School addressed the Panel and highlighted the following areas from the report.

She said that it was very timely for her to attend the meeting today as in August the Government issued their ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ statutory guidance and said that it was everyone’s responsibility to improve school attendance.

She added that they have worked very closely with the DfE on this issue and that the Council has a very clear Strategic Attendance Plan and felt that this was beginning to show in some of the figures recorded.

She stated that a particular focus at the present time was on our vulnerable pupils, children in need, children looked after and those within child protection in terms of persistent and severe absence.

She explained that this was a target that sits across the whole of Children’s Services and within the Children & Young People’s Plan. She added that a joint working party was in place and stated that clear targets need to be set and challenged within any plans for our children and young people.

She said that another area of concern was around the attendance of those pupils that are eligible for Free School Meals as too many are recorded as absent (40%) and missing around 10% of their schooling. She added that meetings are planned to discuss how can this attendance gap be improved.

On the issue of permanent exclusions she stated that there had been a rise in 2022/23, but a reduction was now being seen in 2024. She added that historically ethnicity had been an issue, but currently these figures were low.

She informed the Panel that last year two Education Inclusion Co-ordinators had been appointed to provide advice to our schools regarding children that were at risk of permanent exclusion. She added that they had also introduced six Inclusion Panels that meet every 25 days.

She stated that her aim, over the next 2-3 years, was to have no children with a Child Protection Plan to be permanently excluded.

She said that number of suspensions had increased over the past three years, but that this was below the now national average. She added in relation to both vulnerable and Looked After Children the figures were also below the national and regional average. She said that a disproportionality remains in terms of ethnicity and that this is to be addressed through the work of the Race Charter.

Councillor David Harding asked if the most common reason for persistent absence over the past four years was infection.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that she would need to check the data to be able to provide an answer.

Councillor Harding asked why B&NES was worse than other Local Authorities with regard to the attendance of pupils in receipt of Free School Meals.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that this was an issue that she would be raising with her colleagues at meetings planned to take place later this week.

Kevin Burnett commented that it was good to see that in general, the trend was for a reduction in the figures. He asked if it was yet known if any reasons could be given for this.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that the majority of suspensions were for persistent disruptive behaviour and that work was taking place with our MATs to see what measures they have in place with their Behaviour Support Teams. She said that the Council needs to be involved when pupils begin to wobble and to strengthen the work of the Inclusion Panels.

Kevin Burnett asked if these resolutions were to be applied to children in need and those under child protection plans.

The Head of the Virtual School replied yes and said that the remit of the Virtual School had expanded over the last two years to have strategic oversight of children in need and those under child protection plans. She added that they have two Advisory Teachers to work alongside Social Care colleagues to target the importance of education. She added that this additional funding was only in place until March 2025 and would therefore be interesting to see how the DfE plans to move this issue forward.

Kevin Burnett asked what key factors were being brought in to enable these changes.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that in the main it was the ability to challenge and support. She added that it was the ability to also be an advocate with the education experience to ask schools what they are able to provide.

Kevin Burnett asked if resources was a factor within these discussions.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that money will always be a factor to some degree, but said that it was for all teams to work together and to develop clear action plans.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding added that resources remain an issue for all schools. He said that he was aware that schools have said how much benefit they are feeling from working with the Education Inclusion Officers and that the overall offer in place to schools in terms of advice and support has improved.

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that it was good to see the reduction in permanent exclusions and that a focus was now on reducing the number of suspended vulnerable pupils. She asked if the Panel were receiving the most up to date figures in this respect.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that they only have published data that they are able to share at this stage. She added that internal data was showing a slight increase in this area, but that could not be quantified with a comparison to regional or national data.

Councillor Ruth Malloy asked if in a future report the numbers of children & young people that are educated at home could be included in some way and what services are in place to support them.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that within her role she oversees those young people who are being educated at home. She said that the number has increased to around 240. She added that the two Advisory Teachers will visit those young people and carry out a RAG rating. She said that a close eye was kept in this respect for vulnerable pupils, but said that this figure was low.

The Chair suggested that as part of any future report that the education of traveller’s children and children in hospital be included as well.

Councillor Joanna Wright commented that she had been made aware of issues around school attendance and pupils being recorded as late and then being penalised for this and then subsequently either by them or by their families a decision had been made to not attend at all. She added that she felt there was a significant amount of pressure on families for their children to attend school.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that it was important for schools to know their families and pupils and to be able to code attendance appropriately. She acknowledged the difficulty that some families face in this respect and said that the Education Inclusion Officers would query penalties if they occurred regularly.

Councillor Wright asked what happens when a child is excluded from school and what impact does this decision have on them.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that when an exclusion is put in place the Local Authority is notified and the Alternative Learning Team will assess the paperwork submitted to form a view as to whether the decision is appropriate.

She explained that a basic provision of education would be allocated to the young person ahead of a meeting of the school’s Board of Governors to see if the decision to exclude will be upheld. She added that if it is upheld then the young person will receive our alternative provision until such time as we feel that they can apply to return to school. She said that as part of this process they will look at any unmet SEND needs before returning to school.

Councillor Lesley Mansell commented that as detailed as the report is, it would be helpful if the information in the report could be broken down into ward areas. She referred to the Equalities Impact Assessment and said she was surprised that disability data was not as complete as she thought it should be, in particular there was a lack of information for pupils who were neurodivergent.

The Head of the Virtual School replied that ward data can be supplied and that in future reports more information can be included regarding areas of disability.

The Panel RESOLVED to;

i)  Note our pupils' overall positive attendance for 2022-2023 and 2023- 2024. Our overall absence rate, % persistent absentees and unauthorised absence rate sits below national and regional data.

ii)  Note that we are aware that our attendance for children open to CPP is an area that we need to address and this is a target that sits across the Children’s Services directorate.

iii)  Note that whilst permanent exclusions rose in 2022-2023, that these were reduced in 2023-2024 to below the 2023 national average.

iv)  Be assured that Local Authority Officers continue to collaborate strategically with schools and partners and the Regional Director's office to improve educational outcomes for all pupils in B&NES.