Agenda item

The Chair invited Clair Pyper, Strategic Director for Education and Children Services, Robin Crofts, Assistant Director for Inclusion and Margaret Dennison, Interim Assistant Director Children and Families, to introduce the report. Among key points they made were

• Recent Express coverage had been mistaken. This report is about Ofsted’s routine annual assessment of the authority as a whole, not a further inspection, and it covers other areas of performance including schools.
• Safeguarding had been rated as poor and brought the Council’s overall rating down from ‘good’ to ‘poor’. Other services, including Education, continue to progress.
• The number of schools in special measures had reduced from six to four, and progress in the remainder had been judged as ‘satisfactory’.
• Local GCSE results were now placed ninth nationally, up from 13^th previously. Exclusions were amongst the lowest in the country. Mallards residential home had recently been inspected as ‘good with outstanding features’.

In response to Members’ questions the following comments were made

1. The Council wants to work with local academy schools to ensure comprehensive education services continue to be provided and to make it as easy as possible for parents to choose schools.
2. The Youth Offending Team had met the Action Plan targets.

Resolved:-

1.  To thank Clair Pyper and her team for their responses.

To send questions on the Youth Offending Team to Clair Pyper so they can come back to the next Panel meeting.