Agenda item

Purpose of the report: This report outlines the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education and Surrey learners and the plans that have been put in place to address the impacts, so that children and young people are supported to achieve their potential and no one is left behind. It provides further information on the recent destinations of post-16 learners.

Witnesses:

Denise Turner-Stewart, Cabinet Member for Education and Learning

Liz Mills, Director – Education and Lifelong Learning

Tina Benjamin, Director – Corporate Parenting

Mary Burguieres, Assistant Director – Systems and Transformation

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    A Member highlighted that, in the absence of council funding for mental health support, some schools were using education catch-up funding to support pupil’s mental health needs, which had increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and asked what the overall findings of the literacy and early language undertaken by schools were. The Assistant Director explained that from the pandemic’s outset the Education Service had adopted a preventative approach to minimising the impact of the pandemic on children’s learning. Vulnerable children and children of key workers received in-person teaching and support throughout the pandemic, where it had been in their best interest. Schools, the council and partners had sought to ensure children received high-quality education, and laptops had been distributed to children who needed them. National research showed that a learning gap of approximately three months in the areas of numeracy and literacy had emerged during the pandemic, particularly in Key Stage 1 – this was even larger for disadvantaged students. The Service continued to deliver campaigns to help families support their young children’s speech and language development. National and local research showed there had been a COVID-19-related impact on children at transition stages – Government guidance had prevented settings from providing in-person support at transitions. The Service’s focus for the 2021/22 school year remained on supporting schools to deliver high-quality curriculum and teaching via the Schools Alliance for Excellence (SAfE). The Department for Education (DfE) strongly advised schools to use catch-up funding to provide tutoring for those most in need and to increase teaching capacity to deliver catch-up learning. The council had commissioned continuing mental health support throughout the pandemic, elements of which were focused on parents and carers, children and young people and teaching staff.

2.    A Member asked how educational catch-up support related to child poverty and asked how the council was addressing those issues, particularly in early years. The Assistant Director stated that the Service had supported economically disadvantaged families by allocating supermarket vouchers for school- and college-age children in receipt of free school meals, early years pupil premium children and Care Leavers during school holidays. The Surrey Crisis Fund, food banks and relevant charities had also received financial contributions from the council.

3.    The Member welcomed those financial contributions and asked what additional support was in place for the future, particularly to support disadvantaged children’s education and infants’ development. The Director – Education and Lifelong Learning explained that the Service’s strategy and work around disadvantaged learners included children from economically disadvantaged families and connected with the emerging child poverty strategy – support led by SAfE and delivered by schools included subject matter networks, an increased universal offer and Quality First Teaching approaches. Targeted programmes had been put in place to support children in early years, especially those living in more disadvantaged areas. The Cabinet Member added that partnership working during the pandemic had enabled the council to more accurately identify vulnerable families and children, which would enable it to more effectively target support going forward.

4.    Members asked why levels of post-16 participation and attainment in education varied between groups from different disadvantaged backgrounds and how the Service could learn from the groups of disadvantaged young people who exceeded regional and national averages to better support learners whose participation and attainment was relatively low. A team monitored post-16 outcomes for young people, with a specific focus on vulnerable cohorts. Further analysis had been initiated to understand decreases in participation by young people from certain minority backgrounds to enable the Service to identify how best to respond.

5.    The Director – Corporate Parenting explained that the council’s Virtual School tracked the progress of young people in care and supported their career aspirations. The Virtual School had established an exam centre to support looked after children’s completion of maths and English qualifications to enable them to participate in post-16 education. The Assistant Director added that lacking a qualification in maths or English also presented a barrier to participation in post-16 education for other young people, such as the wider disadvantaged cohort. The Director – Education and Lifelong Learning said that the gap in participation and attainment by disadvantaged learners could in part be attributed to the small number of disadvantaged children in any one class, which could make it harder for them to be engaged by the wider support strategy; through SAfE, the Service was making support more targeted and seeking to increase staff’s skills and knowledge to help them with their Quality First Teaching approaches. A partnership was being formed to develop a lifelong learning strategy connected to the council’s skills agenda and reflective of the skills needed by the labour market then and in the future, to support people of all ages to return to further education.

6.    The Chairman and Cabinet Member thanked the education system and those involved in it for their response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which they had continued to educate and safeguard children and young people.

Resolved:

The Select Committee noted the report.