Issue - meetings

Councillor David Mellen, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Schools and Communications, Nick Lee, Director for Education and John Dexter, Education Services spoke to the Committee about the re-opening of schools following their closure to the majority of pupils in March, and the impact of that closure.  They highlighted the following information:

a)  Many children were away from school for six months and during that time many did not have the appropriate space, technology or environment at home to facilitate learning.  There will have been learning loss but the scale of this isn’t yet known.

b)  Some children will have also been without outdoor space for a period of time which limited their ability to play and exercise.

c)  Some children will have had regular contact with their school while they have been unable to attend in person but this has not been consistent and it is known that some pupils had no contact with their school. 

d)  Many children will have been pleased to return to school with the benefits of normality, structure and socialisation, but for children who were already anxious about attending school the six month gap may have made this worse.  It is important to recognise the need for balance between education and wellbeing.

e)  In anticipation of school closures, children known to social care were risk-assessed to identify vulnerable individuals and their needs. 

f)  The Council has a good relationship with, and understanding of the schools which form part of the Nottingham Schools Trust but the Council has been reliant on the willingness of other schools to engage with the Council during this time.  In order to support this the Council established a network of link officers attached to each school to facilitate communication, information sharing and the management of practical issues such as provision for pupils entitled to free school meals.  This arrangement has been well-received by Ofsted and the Department for Education and will be continued in order to manage the issues than are likely to remain for the foreseeable future.  Schools have also fed back that this work has been valuable.

g)  The Council has supported the early years sector to open as many private settings as possible because the early years offer is vital to the City’s ambitions for its children.

h)  The summer programme recognised the need to have opportunities for the huge numbers of children who had not been in school since March.  There was a particular focus on Year 6 pupils who would be transitioning to secondary school and a range of activities took place outside over four sites.  Activities reflected issues raised by the Educational Psychology survey and work to address these issues continues into the autumn term.  It is hoped that all schools will engage with this because there are some concerns about the potential for behavioural issues and it will be crucial to have a graduated response to intervention through the Routes to Inclusion scheme rather than a move towards exclusions. 

Lisa Desouza, Senior Educational Psychologist, gave  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11