Agenda and draft minutes

To elect a Chair of the Committee for the remainder of the 2024/25 Municipal Year following the resignation of Councillor Naim Salim

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Nick Raine as Chair of the Committee for the remainder of the municipal year.

To note that Councillor Nick Raine has replaced Councillor Naim Salim as a member of the Committee

To note that Councillor Nick Raine replaces Councillor Naim Salim on the Committee.

Councillor Maria Joannou – Unwell

Councillor Adele Williams – Leave

Councillor Cheryl Barnard – Leave

None

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2025

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 January 2025 were confirmed as a true record and were signed by the Chair.

To approve the Project Plan and Timetable for the Committee’s review on Preventing Exclusions

The Chair introduced the Project Plan and Timetable item to the Committee highlighting that it set out how this review had been developed, how it would move forward and associated timelines.

The Committee noted the Project Plan and Timetable. 

·  To consider a report on what the Council is doing to prevent exclusions

·  A discussion with school leaders on what has worked well to bring down the number of exclusions in Nottingham City

Nick Lee, Director of Education introduced the report detailing the work currently being undertaken by the Council to prevent exclusions. Sarah Nardone, Corporate Director for Children’s Integrated Services, and Jen Hardy, Interim Head of Access to Learning were also in attendance. They highlighted the following points:

a)  Rates of exclusion in Nottingham remain high and are around 50% higher than the national average. In recent years there has also been a concerning increase in primary age exclusion which more often affect children in receipt of extra SEN support, or are going through assessment for an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).

b)  The Education Division are working on a number of measures to bring numbers down developed with Education Colleagues across the City. These include:

·  Complex Cases Panel: A multi-agency panel held weekly to look at individual cases of children at risk of non-attendance and SEN placement breakdown. This has allowed a single point of entry to the system and identifies at risk children earlier for intervention.

·  Inclusion Model: A funding model that allocates schools funding from the higher needs budget to support inclusion. In return the schools have a cap on the number of exclusions, and if they exceed that the Council can claim the cost of those exclusions back from the schools. While there have been some good results in some schools, the number of exclusions still remains high. This model has been running since 2015/16 and by 2022/23 all schools across the City were signed up. This model is being reviewed to establish if the funding could be better invested in a more effective model. The post of Inclusion Manager has recently been appointed to and this review will form a large part of their initial work and will inform the refreshed Inclusion Strategy.

·  Additional SEND provision: Increase in provision for both primary and secondary age children in mainstream schools and the expansion of Rosehill School.

·  Routes2Inclusion: A framework of support for schools designed to support children and families with social, emotional and mental health. The services offered are being reviewed to ensure they address emerging need and consider how best to deliver them.

·  Transition Programme: Works to support transition from primary to secondary school funded by the DfE with the aim to start transition for children with SEND much earlier and for schools to work together on the transition. This worked well in the pilot schools, both of which reported a decline in behaviour issues, suspensions and exclusions compared to the previous year and increased attendance.

·  INclude: This programme was developed following learning from Ealing Council and combines mentoring with a trusted adult and meaningful activities to reengage with school and learning. In the initial pilot of 60 young people identified as at risk of permanent exclusion only 4 went on to be permanently excluded.

·  Parental Advocacy: taking learning from another programme in London this looks to develop advocacy skills for parents of young people who have been excluded to challenge the exclusions. Trainee lawyers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Report of the Statutory Scrutiny Officer

For the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2024/25 to be signed off as complete

The Chair introduced the Work Programme for 2024/25 confirming that as this was the last meeting of the year the Committee had completed the programme as set out. Work on developing the Work Programme for 2025/26 is well underway.

The Committee agreed that its Work Programme for 2024/25 could be signed off as complete.