Edcuation Information Bulletin — Issue 23, April 2005

Children’s Services Panel – 10th March, 2005

Elected Member Representation on the Adoption and Fostering Panels : The requirement for representation on the Adoption and Fostering Panels was explained. A vacancy existed on the Fostering Panel and Councillor B. Bourne was nominated.

Managing School Emergencies : The Proposals, which would also be discussed by Cabinet were considered. The procedure for the management of emergencies in Schools will align alongside the School’s Emergency Procedure; the procedure clarifies what the School may expect from the Council, when an emergency occurs.

Admission Arrangements 06/07 : Admission arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools were contained in the Report.

A deviation from the proposed criteria was explained with regard to Leigh C.E. Junior School in order to protect the interest of Pupils from the feeder Infant Schools.

A reduction in the Admission number from 45 to 30 is proposed for Leigh Central Community Primary School.

Education Capital Programme : Proposals for the new expenditure were explained and in particular, the Devolved Formula for the Local Authority Co-ordinated Voluntary Aided Programme (LCVAP).

It is now expected that under the auspices of Building Schools for the Future, that capital will become available for the construction of one new Secondary School by 2011. However, planning of future provision will be on-going.

MCCS Best Value Improvement Plan – Proposed Changes : A variation has been proposed to the Best Value Improvement Plan to prepare the way for an application for Charter Mark Status next year.

Reporting of Racist Incidents Involving Pupils in Schools : The statistics for the Autumn Term 2004 were presented in the new format by Township. The Report would also be discussed by Cabinet and the Community Protection Panel.

A future Report will provide information about trends, which are impossible to determine at present.

Best Value Review of the Education Department’s Premises Team : The results of the Best Value Review of the Premises Team were considered; the process is an important Performance Management mechanism. The process has celebrated a good Team, which provides value for money. The Improvement Plan will be placed on Performance Plus, after consideration by the Cabinet.

School Loans ‘04/05 : Five Schools have received the loans requested :

The loan period varies from between three and five years.

Proposals for the Children’s and Adult Services Departments 05/06 : The Panel considered a Report that had been discussed by Cabinet to explain the background to the development of the two new Departments. The Panel considered the proposed Senior Management structure of the Children’s Services Department; a clear timetable leading to April 2006, was made available.

However, it was explained that a long lead-in preparation would be required to determine the Senior Management structure of the Adult Services Department, with a Green Paper imminent.

Draft Inclusion Statement and Draft Action Plan for MLD and SLD Implementation Process and Physical Difficulties Implementation Process : Developments in relation to the on-going work for Inclusion were explained : the Proposals had been Agreed by the Working Group. The Proposals will be cascaded to Staff in Schools and it is expected that the Document will evolve over a period of time.

Members of the Panel emphasised the importance of consultation and the content of the document in the direct support of the Pupils. Advice was offered on clarity and timing. Conversation also referred to the security of tenure of Staff in Special Schools.

Appointment of L.E.A. Representative Governors : A number of vacancies exist in a small number of Schools.

Compared to the vacancies both nationally and within Metropolitan Districts – 12% and 14% respectively – the vacancy level in this Authority is a modest 6.32%.

Dates and Times of Meetings 05/06 : There was unanimous support for the proposed Calendar, which follows the same ‘footprint’ as the current year.

Special Interest Member Report : The Special Interest Member, Councillor R. Winkworth, circulated a Briefing Paper : Positive Futures – some key achievements since September 2002.

Questions by Members : A question was raised with regard to the Petition by the Mere Oaks Action Group to the High Court. The situation was clarified by the Cabinet Member and the Director of the Children’s and Young People Service.

Further questions addressed the system for making appointments with Speech Therapists and the Director Agreed to raise this matter at the next Meeting of the Strategic Partnership.

A third question alluded to an article in a local newspaper, about the amount of Capital, which would be required to improve School premises. The Cabinet Member described the nature and the context of the telephone enquiry, which had been the origin of the article.

Wigan Area Child Protection Committee – Minutes of the Meeting held on 20/1/05 : It is both necessary and desirable that the Panel Members are aware of the scope and responsibility of the Area Child Protection Committee. The contents of the Minutes were noted.

Budget 05/06 and likely out-turn 04/05 : This additional item was presented as a matter of urgency in view of the content of the Report, which explained the predicted increase of £1.74 million for Lifelong Learning and £4.5 million for Social Care in 2004/2005. The major variations between the original estimates and the likely out-turn were explained.

The detail of the approved revenue budgets for 2005/2006 were provided : the total budget for the Children’s and Young People Service is £187.49 million and £79.2 million for Social Care.

Policy

Extended Schools - The story so far and the way forward : Extended (Extending) Schools are very much on the Government’s agenda. They are not only a fundamental part of the DfES 5 Year Strategy for Education but also the 10 Year Strategy for Childcare. Extended schools are also considered to be a vehicle for delivering integrated services.

The overall agenda is very much linked to the raising of attainment, achievement and aspirations of children, young people and their families. If barriers to learning are not challenged, then there is a view that levels have already plateaued.

The DfES has stated that over time it wants all schools to provide a core offer of services. For primary schools this means that they will offer a wide range of study support activities, parenting support including family learning and ensure swift and easy referral from every school to a wider range of specialist support services for pupils. Secondary schools may provide a core offer of study support activities, widespread community use of the schools facilities and family learning activities. The DfES expects that many schools will go beyond this and provide a greater range of services. The Government also wants 8am – 6pm wrap around childcare to be available for pupils from 5-14.

There has been a shift in thinking from a Full Service Extended School Model (FSES) where one school has ‘everything’ to a more collaborative model, where services are developed across a cluster of schools and other providers. To some extent this is reflected in the more recent DfES definition of an Extended School.

"An Extended School is a school that recognises that it cannot work alone in helping children and young people to achieve their potential and therefore decides to work in partnership with other agencies, that have an interest in outcomes for children and young people and with the local community. In doing so, it aims to help meet not only the school’s objectives but also to share in helping to meet the wider needs of children, young people, their families and the community" DfES 2005

Local Context

While Extended Schools are part of the Building Learning Communities Strategy, it also links closely with Sure Start, Remodelling of the Workforce and Healthy Schools etc.

Working in collaboration with Sure Start Good Practice Centres (SSGPC) Officers were able to identify a number of ‘pilots’ last year. This has enabled Staff to begin to develop potential models of good practice and also to grapple with some of the issues for which there are no easy answers e.g. management and governance.

The pilots have included TIC TAC Centres, the potential for setting up Limited Companies, SSGPC as well as completely new schools e.g. Platt Bridge and Westfield Community Schools.

From April 2003 to November 2005 there has been a Children’s Fund Extended Schools’ Project in the Westleigh area.

Funding has been made available for a Full Service Extended School (FSES) via the Kingsbridge Excellence Cluster with BIP money (Behaviour Improvement Programme). The nominated school was PEMBEC @ Kingsdown.

From April 2005, there will be funding for another FSES school/model in the Leigh Excellence Cluster, again via BIP funding. This is Leigh Central collaborative model (Leigh CE Junior, Sacred Heart R.C., Leigh St John’s C.E. Infants, Leigh CE Infants and Christ Church CE, Pennington).

The Co-location group, which is a task group of CYPF, was set a task during the Spring Term to debate and produce a document that looked at the following issues in relation to Extended Schools: -

Hopefully, when it is finished, it will be a working document to help not only Schools but partners too.

Between October 2004 and April 2005 Officers have been running a Leadership Of Extended Schools CPD programme. Twenty-three schools (primary, special and secondary) have been involved in the 7 sessions of the CPD Programme, which has been facilitated by ContinYou. (ContinYou hold the contract with the DfES to support Extended School developments.)

The Sessions have included management and governance, partnership working, accessing funds, leading learning outside the curriculum and schools as community regenerators.

From April 2005 there is funding through the Standards Fund for LEA support to Extended Schools. While it is expected this funding will continue via Children’s Services, at the moment it is only possible to plan until August 2006.

The Standards Fund Criteria states "All schools to offer extended services over time. The funding should be used to support schools to develop a sustainable model and to overcome barriers they face, that may prevent them from developing extended services. This includes, for instance, support staff to help plan, develop, manage and maintain extended services on school premises, capital costs, developing partnerships with key agencies and consulting the main stakeholders (children, parents, community agencies etc) about what services are needed.

The development of the full service school model, where a full range of services (childcare, health & social care, parenting support, family and lifelong learning, sports and arts activities, ICT access and study support) is based around either one school, a cluster of schools or across a close network of schools and other providers. Local circumstances will determine the most suitable model but, whatever model schools decide to develop, the DfES would, as a minimum, expect to see some evidence of multi-agency working, that meets the needs of children, young people and families. "

The Way Forward

Employing Area Co-ordinators, who will link with Early Years Co-ordinators, Township Managers, PSHE&C link workers etc.

To develop support for universal and targeted provision:

Universal – all schools

Targeted

Some of this will be determined by partners and the criteria for different funding streams etc.

It could include:

There is already a lot of good practice going on in Schools with their partners and local communities. It is important that good practice is built upon and shared with new opportunities explored and exemplified.

For further information please contact:

Karen Pigott, Strategic Manager Extended Learning

Val Salter Extended Schools’ Co-ordinator

Curriculum

Wigan LEA Music Service : Over 1000 proud parents and friends attended the third Wigan LEA Music Service Easter Showcase Concert Series, which took place at the end of March. Wigan Youth Orchestra, Youth Choirs and Brass Ensemble performed an exciting programme including works by Gabrieli, Vivaldi and Copland to a capacity audience at St Michael’s Church in Swinley, whilst ensembles from the Wigan and the Leigh Music Centres performed over two nights at the Mill at the Pier.

The four concert Showcase concluded with a spectacular night featuring the Rock and Pop School based at Leigh Music Centre. Three bands performed rock classics to a packed Mill at the Pier followed by a superb performance by Leigh Music Centre Pop Choir. The Evening was brought to an exciting conclusion by the Wigan Schools Swing Band.

The quality of the work produced by the 400 young musicians involved in the Showcase was stunning – the young people again showed the strength and depth of their musical talent suggesting an exciting and diverse musical future for years to come

Area Initiatives

Truancy Sweeps: In February, a Truancy Sweep in Wigan Town Centre on one particular day gave the following results:-

A Truancy Sweep in Leigh Town Centre on another particular day, also in February, gave the following results:-

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