Council and councillors

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on the 11^th April 2019

The minutes of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on the 11h April 2019 were confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

Action 1

It was agreed that further details regarding the specialist teacher project to work with schools and the Local Authority regarding Early Help and High Needs should be distributed to all head teachers (with timescales where possible).

Item on agenda for discussion as part of the DSG Recovery Plan.

Action completed

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations of interest were made. 

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes.  Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.  Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.  Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice.  Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

(5 MINUTES for items 1, 2, 3)

No petitions, deputations or questions had been received.

To receive a report from Andrew Merry, Finance Manager

i.      The current forecast shows a breakeven position on schools funding, a deficit of £385,000 for High Needs and a surplus for Early Years and Central Schools of £24,000 and £21,000 respectively.

ii.    Additional funding announced last year was included in the figures.

iii.   Forecasts are based on estimates relating to Quarters 1 and 2 but there will be upcoming pressures in early 2020.  A more robust forecast would be available for Quarter 4.

iv.   The High Needs deficit equates to 1.3% of the DSG so a Recovery Plan would need to be submitted to the DfE by June 2020.

v.    One option would be to increase the transfer from schools funding to the high needs block but all agreed that this would only move the issue, not resolve it.

vi.   There were two important issues to consider - early years and transition.

AGREED: 

a.    The Schools Forum noted the forecast position for 2019/20 Dedicated Schools Grant.

To receive a report from Andrew Merry and Kevin Quinn

(ITEM FOR INFORMATION)

(10 MINUTES)

A report was received from Andrew Merry and Kevin Quinn.  During the discussion the following points were noted:

i.      Work started with schools back in November 2018 in order to produce the recovery plan.

ii.    The development of the recovery plan and the projects, designed to reduce or avoid future expenditure and pressure on the DSG, were approved at the Schools’ Forum meeting on the 11^th April 2019.

iii.   The projects approved were:

a)    Nurture Pilot: To implement a nurture pilot project designed to provide early support to children with Social Emotional and Mental Health needs within one primary school.

b)    Specialist Teacher: To progress a small pilot project providing specialist education support across a school partnership.

c)    Therapeutic Support: To identify and implement evidence based intervention/therapeutic models which could support children with SEND and additional social care needs.

d)    Education Inclusion Partnership: To progress a schools inclusion partnership which shares responsibility and coordinates support and solutions for complex cases and children with additional support needs across the school system, both primary and secondary. 

iv.   3 schools had expressed an interest in the Nurture Pilot and it was anticipated that implementation of the pilot would begin in September with a view to a March 2020 go live, depending on recruitment.

v.    A job description and proposed delivery approach would be drafted for the Specialist Teacher role which would be shared with identified school cluster for implementation during the 2019/20 academic year.

vi.   Therapeutic support programmes were currently being identified in order to increase capacity and the support for children with SEND and additional social care needs.

vii.  Expressions of interest would be sought from schools regarding the Education Inclusion Partnerships and schools were encouraged to express their interest.

viii.Table B (page 17) detailed funding under the Recovery Plan which could reduce the DSG overspend by £255,000 over 5 years.

ix.   The implementation of the Recovery Plan would entail an injection of circa 350k DSG funding per annum and would support a different way of working by shifting funding into our own schools.

AGREED:

a)    The Schools’ Forum voted unanimously to support the recovery plan, DSG investments and the value for money review.

A review of the current constitution and rules of conduct

(ITEM FOR DECISION)

(10 MINUTES)

An updated version of the Rutland Schools’ Forum Constitution and Rules of Conduct was presented by Gill Curtis.  During the discussion the following points were noted:

i.      The document had been updated to reflect the latest Schools forum operational and good practice guide plus the changes in the number of pupils in Rutland Academies. 

ii.    There were no major changes made to the content of the constitution

iii.   It was agreed that the updated Constitution and Rules of Conduct document would be circulated with the minutes identifying the tracked changes.

ACTION: Jane Narey

iv.   Cllr Wilby asked members if they agreed with the Schools’ Forum process and all agreed that it was a very useful group and gave schools a good opportunity to meet and discuss issues. 

To receive a verbal update from Gill Curtis, Head of Service, Learning and Skills, RCC and Jonathan Weller, Business Intelligence Manager

(ITEM FOR INFORMATION)

(5 MINUTES)

A verbal update was received from Gill Curtis, Head of Service, Learning and Skills, RCC and Jon Weller, Head of Commissioning.  During the discussion the following points were noted:

i.      A meeting was held with Iain Smith, the DfE representative for pupil place planning on the 13^th May 2019. 

ii.    Minor adjustments to methodology suggested but no major issues. 

iii.   Pupil numbers from out of county differ between Oakham, Uppingham and Casterton. 

iv.   The Local Authority has been co-ordinating with neighbouring Local Authorities regarding admissions and capacity and 1:1 conversations with Rutland secondary schools will be undertaken this term, and a meeting with primary Head Teachers will be undertaken in the autumn term following SCAP sign off.

v.    Cross border movement into Rutland is higher than seen nationally and an agreement was required as to which Local Authority would include the children in the SCAP calculations e.g. Lincolnshire children who attended Rutland schools currently cannot be included on Rutland SCAP because this would lead to double-counting.

vi.   All agreed that building new school secondary schools within the county was not the answer.  Instead identified existing schools would need to be expanded to reflect need. 

vii.  Jon reported that SCAP data had to be submitted by the Local Authority to the DfE by July.  Once approved by the DfE (hopefully within 3 months of submission) the information would be shared with Rutland schools.  No decision had been made as how best to share this information but Jon confirmed that it would not be sent via email.  

viii.Basic Needs Funding had been received historically but a review of how this has to be spent was required to ensure it most accurately reflected current need

ix.   Cllr Wilby reported that the St George’s project was moving slowly forwards and that the Council was in consultation with South Kesteven District Council regarding the Stamford North development.

(5 MINUTES FOR FINAL AGENDA ITEMS)

The Chair informed attendees that this was John Woodhead’s last Rutland Schools’ Forum meeting as he would be retiring on the 31^st August 2019.  The Diocese of Peterborough had already informed the Clerk that Mr Peter French would attend future meetings of the Schools’ Forum as the Dioceses representative. 

The Chair thanked John on behalf of the Schools’ Forum for his help and support over the past 10 years.  John wished all the very best to the Schools’ Forum in carrying out all the good work it does in supporting Rutland’s school children.

No changes were made to the Forward Plan

·         Thursday, 10th October 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 10th October 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., in the Council Chamber