Witnesses:
Julie Iles, Cabinet
Member for All Age Learning
Liz Mills, Director
– Education, Learning and Culture
Key
points raised during the discussion:
- The Cabinet
Member updated the Committee that the Department for Education had
praised Surrey County Council for the work carried out around risk
assessments for vulnerable groups of children during the COVID-19
pandemic. Free school meals had continued for those in need and
targeted webinars had proved valuable for governing bodies and
school leadership teams during the pandemic.
- The
Director informed Members that a dedicated team for safeguarding
had been put in place and the council had exceeded other local
authorities regionally and nationally in this area. The Director
added that school attendance would be mandatory again from
September and there was guidance for each school setting on how to
implement social distancing measures. Nationally, there was a
consultation underway to support decision making around year-10 and
year-12 students. The Service was prioritising school readiness and
transition arrangements and was continuing to work with the
Department for Education to ensure national guidance was
disseminated locally.
- Another
area of focus for the Service was to be examinations and
accountability arrangements, as the learning gap between socially
disadvantaged children and other cohorts would have been
exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The
Director continued that the Service would target financial support
available from central government, including the £1 billion
catch-up support package. There was a
plan in place for every child and young person not in a regular
school setting.
- The
Chairman relayed the concern of Family Voice regarding the
enforcement of school attendance in September, given that a number
of children would require high levels of support to catch up to
where they were educationally six months previously. The Director
stated that the Service wanted all children and young people to
return to full-time education in September and that in fact a large
number of children with statutory plans had remained in educational
settings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. All guidance was about
providing assurance to enable parents to return their children to
school full time. Additional support would be provided to make this
transition possible for all children; emotional well-being and
mental health support was to be redirected to support school pupils
and an additional support service was to be provided to parents.
Officers from the Service met with Family Voice every week to pick
up on concerns and use them to inform planning.
- A Member
was concerned about some schools not providing adequate remote
learning for their pupils during the COVID-19 pandemic and asked
what would happen if there was a second lockdown. The Director
assured Members that there was regular contact with schools
regarding this and the majority of schools did provide home
learning programmes, which would be the national focus of Ofsted
going forward. Maintaining the quality of education provision would
be a challenge for all schools and best practice should be shared
to ensure school leaders could provide the best support for pupils.
Schools which had been underperforming in this area would receive
support and challenge to assist their improvement.
- A Member
emphasised the importance of prioritising pupils who would have the
most significant learning gaps, referring to the increased
incidence of traveller families in Surrey with children who miss
education. The Director stated that there was a dedicated team
focusing on support for these children, particularly those in
primary school – this would be a focus in
September.
- A Member
stated that many parents were anxious about returning their
children to school when the government had just increased the
quarantine period for those returning from abroad. Considering
this, convincing all parents that schools were safe for their
children could present a challenge.
Recommendations:
i.
That a verbal update on the implementation of the
Recovery Plan supporting the reopening of educational settings is
given to the Select Committee at its next meeting on 21 September
2020.