Agenda item

The Board considered educational data, published by the Department of Education, in relation to the Children in Our Care(CIOC). Trends for 2018 to the most recently published data in 2021 were shown within the main report, and where appropriate comparisons were shown for Stockton the North East, Statistical Neighbours and England.

The report also informed members about the current work of the Virtual School including new initiatives and updates from the Annual Report presented in December 2022

- Members were given case study updates as follows:

- Case 1

A child who had been separated from family and siblings was struggling in primary school. The child struggled a lot on intervention, however following attendance at virtual school the child was progressing and went on to transition well into year 7. After facing lots of change and uncertainty with a few bumps in the road, the child and most of the child’s siblings returned home. There was an initial dip in attendance at school, however following support from the school and parent’s, attendance had now improved, and all was going well at school and home.

- Case 2

A secondary school child who had moved out of the area into a smaller secondary school than they had previously attended, had been permanently excluded. The exclusion had been challenged by the authority however the exclusion was upheld. The child then began virtual school tuition. The child was currently attending the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), however following half term the child was struggling to attend. Had the child been younger a health care plan would have been put in place. The Virtual School/Head Teacher team were fully aware of the child’s needs, and would continue to work with the child, the child’s needs were at the forefront of everyone.

- Case 3

A child came into care one week prior to commencing year 11 from a different school. Attendance at the child’s previous school was poor and there was no transition plan in place at the new school. The child was spotted by an ex-member of staff who worked at the school and who was head of the English Department. The child was given additional tuition and improved by two grades. Unfortunately following an incident at school, the child was suspended. The child then commenced online tuition and with the extra tuition given, revision timetables and practice exams the child was achieving a level 6 GCSE in English. The child had also been accepted at Stockton Riverside College.

Officers highlighted that CIOC were very able, however due to circumstances and experiences they were not achieving their full potential. The team continued to work closely with schools to get the best outcomes for CIOC. In terms of outcomes for CIOC, Stockton was doing really well statistically against National and Northeast figures.

- In terms of KS1 CIOC, educational outcomes had dropped since 2019 and was lower than the National CIOC figure. It was noted however that the cohort for 2022 only contained eleven students therefore the difference between the Stockton and National figure was equivalent to only 1.4 students.

Stockton’s CIOC KS2 had made significantly better progress than the North East and National CIOC in 2022 for maths, reading and writing.

KS4 Progress 8 area comparison showed Stockton CIOC making much better progress than both CIOC in the North East and Nationally.

In addition, members were informed of the current work of the Virtual School including new initiatives and updates from the Annual Report, which had been presented in December.

Discussion

- Members noted that there was a varied approach to how schools in the Borough dealt with the suspension / exclusion of CIOC at school, and whether there were exceptions made for CIOC to try and keep them at school as much as possible. The approach was varied across the borough and much depended on past experiences the child may have suffered and the circumstances surrounding the reason a child may be considered for suspension / expulsion. A lot of schools dealt with it extremely well and some may require further assistance. The main message was that schools needed to persevere as a lot of CIOC found it hard to accept positive outcomes.

- Members acknowledged how positive the Team were, working in this area and proud about the work the staff at Stockton Council did with CIOC.

- Brief discussion was had around future activities and the better ways in which corporate parents could engage with CIOC to make a difference.

RESOLVED that the update and discussion be noted/actioned, as appropriate.