In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and whether the interest is of a personal or prejudicial nature.

Members are also reminded of the requirements of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 that they should declare and not vote on specified matters if they are two months or more in arrears with their Council Tax payments.

This item is for Councillors only, to declare any interests in items on the agenda.  Newly appointed co-opted members have an opportunity to declare their interests later on the agenda.  It is necessary for Councillors to declare any interests at this point, to enable the committee to confirm the appointment of co-opted members.

From the next meeting, declarations for all members will be made under a single agenda item.

Agenda item 6. SCHOOL EXAM RESULTS

Councillor Eady declared a personal interest in this item by virtue of being a governor at St. Mary's and St. Peter's CE Primary School.

Councillor Evans declared a personal interest in this item by virtue of being a governor at Hampton Wick Infant School.

Councillor Montague declared a personal interest by virtue of being a governor at Marshgate Primary School.

Councillor Nicholson declared a personal interest in this item by virtue of being a governor at Hampton Junior School.

To consider and approve the minutes of the last meeting on 14 June 2010 – attached.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2010 be received and approved, subject to the following amendment, and the Chairman be authorised to sign them:

Agenda item 5, final sentence

Add “as a priority” to the end.

This report seeks to confirm the appointment of three non-voting co-opted members of the committee, following interviews held with shortlisted candidates.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services attached.

Resolved that:

·        The appointment of Charles Hoseason, Nicholas Lait and Beverley Sanders as non-voting co-opted members of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames for a maximum of four years be confirmed.

·        There be a review of these appointments after approximately two years.

The committee welcomed the three new co-opted members and thanked them for applying for the positions.

In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and whether the interest is of a personal or prejudicial nature.

Members are also reminded of the requirements of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 that they should declare and not vote on specified matters if they are two months or more in arrears with their Council Tax payments.

This item has been included on the agenda, to give newly appointed co-opted members an opportunity to declare interests in any items on the agenda.

From the next meeting, declarations for all members will be made under a single agenda item.

Agenda item 6. SCHOOL EXAM RESULTS

Mr Charles Hoseason declared a personal interest by virtue of being an associate member of the governing body for Hampton Junior School.

Mr Nicholas Lait declared a personal interest by virtue of his association with the Joint Council for Qualifications and being a governor at Nelson Primary School.

Apologies for absence were received from Mr Andrew Cole and Mrs Esther Mirrielees.

This is a detailed report on the recent examination, test and teacher assessment results for schools in Richmond upon Thames. Information contained in the report is drawn from unvalidated test and assessment data for 2010.

Report of the Head of School Effectiveness attached.

Dr Tessa Moore, Head of School Effectiveness, presented this item and started by drawing the committee’s attention to paragraph 6 of the report, which detailed some information that could not be included in the report.  This was because the data was not yet available.

The Director added that there was an aim to not exclude any children. He felt that, given the level of improvement in results seen, this demonstrated how hard schools were working to drive up results, even when sometimes vulnerable children were not being removed.

It was confirmed that analysis on the trends would be carried out once the borough had received the verified results.  These would then be brought to the committee.  The trend over time had been one of improving results.

Foundation Stage

Overall, it was deemed to be a very good set of results for the borough’s schools.    Foundation results were important as there were demonstrable links between them and achievement later on.  The gap between the bottom 20% of learners and the top achievers had narrowed, although it was felt this could be decreased further, meaning it was area being focussed on.

Questions from the committee at this stage:

·        In terms of further support, there was some provision for the private, voluntary and independent sectors.  There was also a local initiative based at Windham Nursery, which enabled staff there to share their expertise.  It was planned that this initiative would be introduced into another school in the near future.

·        ‘Stretch targets’ were designed to be challenging to achieve.

·        Large differences between different years at specific schools were often cohort specific.  Other differences could also be attributed to staff turnover.

·        Baseline assessments were carried out by individual schools, although the local authority was now working on rolling out a consistent process in which this could take place.

·        There was sometimes a link between results and areas of relative deprivation, although this was reflected at a national level as well.

·        Commonly, amongst children in the bottom 20% of achievers, issues that needed working on included communication, personal, social and emotional skills.

Key Stage One

Standards at this level ranked very high.  Richmond upon Thames was ranked first nationally for children achieving level 1, but also for children achieving level 2.  There had been a decline in the number of children gaining level 2 in mathematics and science, although achievement at level 3 was sustained, along with maintained results in level 2 reading and writing.

Areas for development included reducing the gap between boys and girls reading and increasing the achievement of children in receipt of free school meals.

Questions from the committee at this stage:

·        Richmond upon Thames did well when compared to the national figures for boys achieving level 3.

·        There was further support in mathematic for more able boys and in writing for girls.

·        There was sometimes a need to look at how individual children have achieved, as this can give indications as to why there have been certain trends.

·        Budget cuts would have an effect, but staff would work hard to ensure that it was reduced as much as possible.

·        The difference in results between reading and writing was reflected nationally; there was resource going in to addressing this.

·        Baseline assessment data was not gathered centrally, but the local authority was working with schools to ensure there was a common assessment.

·        Each Quindrat had its own area of support for focus to narrow attainment gaps, but there was capacity to tailor support to individual schools.

Key Stage Two

There was a rise in results ‘across the board’.  Twelve schools did not participate in the SATs, with all carrying out their own teacher assessments.  These assessments were test informed, but not test driven.  The results collected from schools carrying out their own assessments were consistent when compared with those schools who did participate, so the directorate’s statistics team were confident it was a reliable dataset.

English results had dropped slightly by 2%, but this was because of reading.  This drop could not be associated with any particular group.

The gap between the achievement of children receiving free school meals and the top achievers was driven by a larger number of statements of special needs.

Questions from the committee at this stage:

·        There was a correlation between free school meals and statements of special needs.

Secondary Level

Over the past two years, secondary schools had seen an improvement of 15% across all subject areas.  There had been occasional dips in results, but the drops had been assessed and reasons for these were found and acted upon.  General trends did indicate a significant improvement.

Questions from the committee at this stage:

·        Schools had access to a group of consultants who were tasked with supporting schools in various subject areas.

·        Secondary schools were now more popular than they had ever been, with most being full of over-subscribed.

·        It was expected that there would be an improvement in contextual value added scores.

The committee thanked schools, teachers and staff for their work in achieving some very encouraging results.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Proposed efficiencies for the financial year 2011/12, including details of previously agreed efficiencies.

Report of the Director for Education, Children's Services and Culture attached.

The Director introduced the item and stated that efficiencies had been sought for many years and there had already been a lot of work around doing this.  Since the election, public finances had been reduced more quickly, which made the task more difficult.  The Director stated that he had been already been cutting some non-essential functions, but stressed that these were being handled in a controlled manner.

There was a predicted overspend on child protection, which stemmed from the Baby Peter case.  This was because new measures had been put in place and there being a greater number of referrals since it happened.

Since coming into post, the cabinet members has been looking at reducing management and administration costs, along with any associated bureaucracy.  The cuts were now at a stage where they would start affecting front-line services.  Any cuts that would be made, would be balanced against whether they preserve the outcomes for children and whether they were sustainable.

The Cabinet Member for Schools thanked officers for their assistance in this task.  He confirmed that he had been spending a lot of time looking at various options, but was keen to add that he was also looking at the long-term view.  The recent review of finances had been useful, as it identified areas where costs were greater than expected.

The Strategic Cabinet Member for Education, Youth & Children’s Services stated that the central government comprehensive spending review would reveal more when it was published on 20 October 2010.

There was a need to look at where thresholds were for access to certain services provided by the directorate.  When looking at this, there would be consultation with the various user groups, but ultimately the decision would need to be made based on a professional judgement.

The Director gave examples of where money had been saved through three secondary schools gaining academy status.

The Director was confident that there would be enough resource for child protection and various proposals for the service area were being discussed.  It was noted that a high quality workforce of social workers needed to be developed at a national level.

Shared services were being explored in the efficiencies work, but currently there was not a working example of services being shared across boroughs.  The Director said that he was hoping to build capacity in the existing system, in order to share expertise and good practice.

Children’s needs had to be assessed on an individual basis, in order to avoid parents going to a tribunal.

It was noted that addressing the issues being encountered by the borough’s special schools would become more challenging in their existing buildings.

There were charities available to parents which helped with the cost of school uniforms.  Schools would also have opportunities to generate funds and hand out their own grants.

Extended schools functions would be handled by schools themselves within their Quindrats.  The post being removed was a management post, which fitted in with the overall aim.  The schools would then be responsible for responding to local community demands.

The council would be working with schools to build capacity for them providing services to each other, as opposed to them purchasing services from the council.

The Connexions service was potentially under threat from cuts in central government funding.  It was recognised that this could present issues for children trying to access independent advice.  It was felt that information given out by individual schools was often discarded by children.

Concerns were raised by some members of the committee that these cuts were proposed in order to minimise council tax increases.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

This report gives details of the proposed work programme for the remainder of the municipal year 2010/11.

Report of the Head of Democratic Services attached.

RESOLVED that the following changes be made to the work programme:

• A report on school places be received at the next meeting.
• Post 16 Education item be moved to the 2 February 2011 meeting.
• Reports on academies be received as and when necessary.
• Long term items include looking at the achievement of the three current academies, and linked schools.