Agenda and minutes

The evacuation procedure was noted.

There were no declarations of interests recorded.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 12 November 2025.

AGREED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Select Committee received progress updates in relation to its previous review of Narrowing the Gap in Educational Attainment.

The review had been carried out using an Appreciative Inquiry Approach. The benefit of the approach had been in the awareness raising of the issues. It had also brought all stakeholders together at events and secured support for agreed objectives and future action.

The Select Committee received progress updates in relation to the following recommendations:

Refine teaching strategies

Further refine teaching strategies to improve lesson enjoyment, encourage speaking and listening and strengthen understanding also ensuring that teaching is tailored to the needs of the individual child.

Developing speaking and listening skills

Ø  Ensure the curriculum and school clubs provide opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills, for example through debating clubs.

Ø  Raise awareness of regional and national opportunities to develop speaking and listening skills

Enhance curriculum development

Work with partners and labour markets, making more explicit links to future employment.

Ø  Innovate a local curriculum.

Enhance skills to respond to special needs

Increase range of opportunities to enhance skills in mainstream schools to respond to Special Educational Needs (SEN), Child Protection Plans (CPP) and Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA):

Ø  Share best practice of integrating SEN pupils into mainstream schools.

Ø  Promote vocational opportunities.

A presentation was also provided which highlighted:

Action Taken

·         Established a (free) primary oracy network – meeting half termly

·         Sharing of good practice

·         Further developed the CPD programme – with a particular focus on SEN

·         Development of Post-16 strategy

·         Development of Skills for Success programme

·         ‘Our Children, Our Future’ conference

What is Working Well

·         Developing partnerships and joining the dots

·         Sharing evidence-based good practice

·         Constant reflection on impact – increasingly taking into account the views of children and young people

·         Uptake of and access to CPD, particularly around SEND

Our Learning

·         Even with free networks and Continuous Professional Development (CPD), it was difficult to engage with some schools

·         Some of the initial plans had needed to change and adapt due to capacity and in response to the needs of stakeholders

·         The focus on building partnerships (relating to all four priorities) had been beneficial and allowed individuals to engage with different perspectives

·         Many schools were keen to develop oracy and could see the benefits – but were starting from a low baseline

·         The CPD offered around SEND was much improved, but needed further development

Impact so far

·         Although the gap in attainment for children in Stockton remained too wide, the attainment of disadvantaged children in Stockton was above the national average for this group on every measure and was consistently amongst the highest in the region

·         Attainment of children with SEND was improving for every measure at KS2

·         Over half the primary schools in Stockton had engaged with at least one of the oracy networks – 16 schools had registered to participate in the Poetry Slam in January 2026, and a programme of ‘big events’ was planned for the year

·         Raised profile of oracy – school improvement  ...  view the full minutes text for item CYP/35/25

To receive further evidence in respect of Children Not in School under the categories of Home and Hospital, Electively Home Educated and Children Missing from Education.

Relevant policy documents attached.

As part of their review of Children Not in School, the Select Committee received further evidence in respect of children falling under the categories of Home and Hospital, Electively Home Educated and Children Missing from Education.

The Elective Home Education Policy and Policy for Children Missing Education including Children at Risk of Missing Education had been circulated to the Select Committee with the agenda for the meeting.

The Select Committee received a presentation which outlined:

The role of the Locality Team

·         Local authorities had a duty to identify; Children not registered at a school and children not in receipt of education

·         The Locality team’s main responsibility was the monitoring, and interpreting of absence trends from all schools and education providers in Stockton including alternative provision providers, children listed as Education other than at School (EOTAS) and children who were electively home educated and not in receipt of their education

·         Also included were the Children who had an Education Health and Care Plan and were educated outside of the borough

·         Identify and monitor children missing education, act promptly to provide support and intervention, and apply parental responsibility measures where necessary for unauthorised absence.

Elective Home Education

·         The number of children electively home educated had risen each year

·         Numbers were steadily increasing year on year up until Covid ’19. It was evident numbers surged when school attendance once again became mandatory and the steady increase continued following the national and local lockdowns. 

·         DfE collect and publish the data on electively home educated children on a termly basis via the Children not in school (CNIS) COLLECT. 

Monitoring Children who are Electively Home Educated    

Safeguarding checks in isolation are not routine

·         This reflected current legislative limits, but it underscored the importance of vigilance during educational monitoring. While checks could not be made without cause, caseworkers had all accessed safeguarding training and could recognise signs of harm and escalate appropriately.

Home visits made by caseworkers are within the remit of monitoring the child’s education

·         While the primary purpose was educational monitoring, caseworkers remained alert to safeguarding indicators during visits. Professional curiosity was vital—if anything observed raised concern (e.g. unsafe home conditions, signs of neglect), on education-focused visits, escalation to a manager discussion and Children’s HUB referral and safeguarding procedures were triggered even though the visit was not a formal safeguarding check.

·         This limitation highlighted the importance of inter-agency communication and professional curiosity. While proactive safeguarding checks could not be made without evidence, caseworkers used every interaction (e.g. education monitoring) to identify potential risks and escalate concerns promptly.

Overview of the Process including the Steps Taken

Building Relationships

·         Introduced Parent network for EHE parents to inform of the services and facilities available to children and their families

·         Health and immunisation

·         Health information newsletters circulated

·         Careers information

·         KS4 college access

·         Library and museum facilities

·         Wellbeing information

·         Feedback from parents resulted in a rewrite of initial contact letters and reports with a more relational approach

·         Feeding families food parcels through the HAF Programme

Considerations

·         Legislative limitations

·         Limited opportunities  ...  view the full minutes text for item CYP/36/25

AGREED that the work programme be noted.