NOTES OF A MEETING HELD ON 10 FEBRUARY 2004 OF
THE SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP BOARD
Present: Carey Bennet, Christine Bragg (part), Ian Carter (Essex Police part), John Durrant, Nigel Edey, Jerry Glazier, Gordon Hewlett, Barbara Hutson, Judith Lunn, Iris Pummell (Chair), Liz Railton, Paul Raynes (part), Tania Rogers, Geoff Roser, Simon Walsh, Joyce Woodham, and Stephen Wyatt
1. Apologies
Roger Abo Henriksen, Ruth Brock, Tracey Chapman, Sally Quixley, Malcolm Reeve, Gary Smith, Kate Spiller
2. Matters arising from the notes of the previous meeting
a) ICT strategies – it was noted that the Communication and Information Strategies were being coordinated by Martin Fee with the executives of the headteacher associations. The ICT in Schools Group will act as a sounding board for developing the Information and Communication Technology strategy for administration, curriculum and learning. The headteacher associations would be asked to augment the ICT in Schools Group with additional membership.
b) Governor representation on the Admission Forum – arrangements for the appointment of parent governors to the Children and Family Services and Schools Policy Development Group would begin towards the end of February and could last twelve weeks depending on whether an election was required. These parents would sit on the Admission Forum. ESGA was concerned that it should have representation in its own right. Copies of the constitution, including membership, of the Forum and Regulations would be provided to ESGA to assist with clarifying the current position.
c) A paper setting out the Council’s proposals for distributing the Transitional Funding to schools and agreed by the Schools Forum had been sent to the DfES; a response was awaited. [Postscript: now agreed by the DfES.]
d) The selection process was underway for the posts of Head of School Improvement and Advisory Services and the Head of the Special Educational Needs and Pupil Support Services. A national advertisement for the Head of the Children and Young People’s Service was being prepared.
e) The revised Terms of Reference for the Working Group of the Board were accepted.
f) A draft of the statutory and consultative groups on which there was headteacher and governor representation was received. The next step would be to map how the respective bodies interrelated.
3. School Meals Service
a) An overview of events since November 2003 was provided by Christine Bragg. Information and advice for schools had been provided on the Schools Intranet. An extension to the contract had been negotiated until the end of the summer term for the south of the County. Discussions were underway in the north to extend the contract but difficulties had been experienced. Schools had been asked to inform Procurement Services of their intentions by 12 February; to date 40 responses had been received.
b) The primary headteachers were appreciative of all the hard work of Christine and her colleagues. It was anticipated that there could be significant variations in the provision of hot and cold meals and prices across the County. Single status could be a factor increasing costs. Schools were appreciative of the additional funding to help meet costs. It appeared, however, that the larger primary schools might not benefit from this funding.
c) There was a wide-ranging discussion in which the following points were made.
i) Funding would be available to cover the utility costs of producing hot meals based on take up and expenditure; it was anticipated the figures would be available at the end of February.
ii) The nutritional value of hot and cold meals should meet guidelines; it was acknowledged that in some cases school meals were in the only daily source of hot food for some children from families on low incomes.
iii) Although organising a meals service may not be within the spirit of the workload agreement, it was noted that if the new tenders had been accepted there would have been additional pressures on headteachers and school budgets.
iv) Further advice would need to be provided on the implications for pensions, holiday entitlement and sick pay.
v) Members and officers were committed to supporting headteachers in resolving outstanding issues. As confidence in the Procurement Service had been dented there would be a review of the process to learn from the experience.
d) It was noted that the Food Standards Agency had produced a booklet of guidance on school meals; this was being distributed by ESGA.
4. Essex Police Youth Strategy
A comprehensive presentation was made by Ian Carter to raise awareness of the Youth Strategy being implemented by Essex Police. In the ensuing discussion the following matters were discussed.
a) The use of language was important e.g. ‘Safer Schools’ as a term could be misleading; by implication some might think that schools were ‘unsafe’ before the initiative; it was also important to differentiate between adult and youth crime and crime prevention, intervention and detection.
b) Although there was good liaison with the Connexions Service, the potential of Youth Outreach workers had yet to materialise.
c) The Police would be key representatives on the Child and Young People’s Strategic Partnerships.
5. Essex Approach Delivery Plans
As part of its strategic approach to school education, the Board should have an input into policy development e.g. the framework for new model special schools and the strategy for special educational needs. The Essex Approach Delivery Plans were part of the process for implementing the Council’s priorities. Schools would be able to contribute to the implementation of:
a) the integration of services to children aged 0-19;
b) the development of collaborative approaches with schools to ensure schools benefit from the latest thinking about innovative and effective approaches to school improvement whilst continuing to monitor and challenge poorly performing schools in an effective way;
c) Implementing the strategy for special educational needs by developing further New Model Special Schools and improving support to SEN pupils in schools.
6. Recruitment and Retention
The budget of £481,000 for teacher recruitment and retention was administered by the HR Service. As a result of the ongoing costs for rent and mortgage support, this figure is reduced to £127,000 for the coming financial year. A paper outlining the options and costs of various initiatives was considered. Mrs Pummell was minded to include the continuation of the long service awards, recruitment of newly qualified staff, general advertising and rent subsidy to newly qualified teachers but sought the advice of the Board.
The Board agreed that financial support should be targeted on:
a) schools in challenging areas in order to improve standards;
b) Eteach;
c) Flexec at the lower level of subscription;
d) middle manager recruitment;
e) initial teacher training.
Overall it was recognised that £127,000 was unlikely to make much impact on teacher recruitment and retention.
7. Traded Services
a) A catalogue listing the statutory/strategic and traded services provided by the Council would be distributed to schools after half term. The information would also be placed on the Schools Intranet.
b) Support was confirmed for the development of the Schools Brokerage Service and a Newsline for Schools devoted to this initiative would be put on the Schools Intranet and distributed to schools as soon as possible.
8. Children’s Trust
a) The following developments were noted:
i) A project manager had been appointed to the Trust from January 2004.
ii) The Board of the Trust, comprising the Council, the Primary Care Trust and the District Council had held its first meeting.
iii) Priority was being given to recruiting staff.
iv) The Planning Group had held its second meeting and established short term objectives to be achieved over the next 18 months.
v) Service mapping was underway.
b) It was intended that good practice would be identified and shared through a sub group of the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership.
9. Any other business
Paul Raynes reported that early preparations were in hand to consider the next Local Public Service Agreement for 2005-08. Currently there were 12 priority areas, two of which focused on education. It was intended to have an outline for the new priorities by May 2004. The period between March and Easter would include discussions with headteachers and governors as well as the Board. A draft version of the PSA would be circulated during April and May. It was noted that it ought to be consistent with the recently negotiated Compact between the Council and the DfES.
10. Items for future meetings
a) March – PSA, SEN Strategy, Primary School Meals.
b) May – Extended Schools
11. Dates and times of next meetings
25 March at 14.00
20 May at 8.30
8 July at 14.30 – please note rearranged date
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