The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Alison Chambers, Peter French, Steve Cox, Andreas Menzies, Kathryn Pullan and Carl Smith.

To confirm the minutes and update the actions of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on the 3^rd March 2022

There were no actions from the previous meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 3^rd March 2022 were approved as an accurate record.

There were no actions from the previous meeting.

To receive a report from Andrew Merry, Finance Manager

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(15 MINUTES)

A finance update report was received from Andrew Merry, Finance Manager, During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       It was too early in the financial year to accurately forecast for the 2022/2023 budget but an update would be presented at the next meeting.

·       Final funding for the High Needs Block has not yet been confirmed but there were an extra 33 EHCP’s, which has led to an increase of 12.5%.

·       A briefing regarding the final outturn for the Early Years Funding will also be brought to the next meeting.

·       The Government was running two support schemes to help LA’s regarding the budget deficit.  The first scheme was for those in an emergency situation and the second scheme was for those declaring a disadvantage.

·       The budget was running at a deficit but this was a national issue and not something specific to Rutland.

To receive a report from Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Help, SEND and Inclusion

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(10 MINUTES)

A report was received from Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Help, SEND and Inclusion.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       A new model has been agreed for the Education Inclusion Partnerships (EIP) and these will come into practice in September 2022.

·       The development of the secondary provision was progressing and would begin in September 2022 and work was ongoing with schools to make the school transitions for the chosen pupils to be as smooth as possible.

·       Demand remains high with approximately 300 education, health and care plans completed with 30 awaiting assessments.  11 requests for assessments were received in just one week.

·       The SEND Green Paper, the Schools’ White Paper and the SEND Ofsted Inspection Framework will all have an impact on SEND services.

·       The DfE would also be working with the LA as part of a ‘Better Value Review’ in the autumn.  The SEND Recovery Plan and the locality response to delivering on it, would be assessed as part the review.

·       Work on the review of the Parks provision and Early Year Pathway continues.

·       The demand for and the pressure in the SEND service was increasing, however increased capacity has been created funded by RCC and the service is actively engaging with parents in a series of workshops.

·       The short term and long term impact of COVID and the lockdown on children’s emotional wellbeing and their behaviours must be considered.

·       SEND support is a specialised role and the staff should be paid accordingly but current funding does not allow this.  Recruitment continued to be very difficult.

·       It was agreed that the Schools’ Forum would receive a report in September 2022 on:

o   Nurture Hub and Practice

A report exploring how additional funding could accelerate practice.

o   EHCP Proposal for Banding

A report and a presentation from the Sector Led Task and Finish Group

ACTION: Bernadette Caffrey

To receive a briefing from Sharon Milner, Academies Representative on high needs funding.

[ITEM FOR DISCUSSION]

(5 MINUTES)

A verbal briefing was received from Sharon Milner, Academies Representative.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       Large numbers of children were attending schools with EHCPs which had large numbers of support hours attached to them.

·       68 children on roll at Edith Weston and 13 of those have EHCPs.

·       Some schools were becoming magnets for parents with children with EHCPs and these schools were in danger of being overwhelmed by the demand.

·       She confirmed that she had already spoken with Andrew Merry and they were working on a new formula for fairer future funding.

·       It was agreed that Andrew Merry would discuss the proposed new formula with Dawn Godfrey and Bernadette Caffrey.

ACTION: Andrew Merry

To receive a briefing from Sharon Milner, Academies Representative.

[ITEM FOR DISCUSSION]

(5 MINUTES)

A verbal briefing was received from Sharon Milner, Academies Representative.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       Nurture support had been successful supporting the children on placement before they returned to their original school.

·       Some children were now staying at Edith Weston School as they were unable to return to their original school as they had been permanently excluded.

·       The school was struggling with capacity and staffing issues and a solution was required to move forward.

·       It was agreed that schools needed to work together and not permanently exclude children and that the children were suitable for mainstream school after receiving support at their placement.

·       COVID has had a big impact on children and families and this has had a knock-on effect regarding behaviour in schools, especially with young children.

·       Anybody wishing to discuss further, please contact Sharon Milner (sharon.milner@brookehillacademytrust.education )

To receive a briefing from Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Help, SEND and Inclusion regarding the new LPT process for contributing to SEND Annual Reviews.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

A written statement from the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust was presented by Bernadette Caffrey, Head of Early Help, SEND and Inclusion. During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       There was a new process for annual review contributions including a digital single point of contact for schools to use when requesting annual review contributions.

·       EHCP annual review notification should be send to LPT.EHCAR@nhs.net

·       A minimum of 8 weeks’ notice was required from the date of the annual review request and the review date.

·       Annual review advice from the Leicestershire Partnership Trust would be returned electronically to the school prior to the annual review and a copy would also be shared with parents/carers

·       If anybody has any queries, please contact Bernadette Caffrey bcaffrey@rutland.gov.uk or LPT.EHCAR@nhs.net .

To receive an update from Mrs K Pullan or Mrs J Ward, representatives of the Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) Early Years.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

A verbal update was received from Jo Ward, representative of the Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) Early Years.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The Early Years Working Group (EYWG) met on the 20^th June 2022 and new members were in attendance.

·       Funding continued to be a major concern.

·       Managers were struggling with the business model so this would be reviewed.

·       The recent sufficiency audit was discussed but it was agreed that this information had changed since February. 

·       The recruitment and retention of staff was becoming an increasing problem.

·       Further education e.g. colleges were not offering early years training courses so the group would like to attend secondary schools to promote early years as a future career. 

·       The Chair stated that Rutland schools were very keen to work with the EYWG to identify training courses and possible apprenticeships.

To receive an update on pupil place planning from Jon Weller, Business Intelligence Manager and Gill Curtis, Head of Learning and Skills 

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

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

·       96% of applications for secondary school places were completed on-line.

·       This method of applying would continue to be promoted post COVID as it made the process more efficient.

·       97% of applicants received their first choice in secondary schools, and 95.5% of applicants received their first choice in primary schools.

·       358 primary school places were offered, 302 to Rutland residents, 56 to out of county residents.

·       615 secondary school places were offered, 303 to Rutland residents, 312 to out of county residents.

·       Homes4Ukraine: 44 children currently on the database for a Rutland school place. 19 children would be in the early years’ settings.

·       This was putting extra pressure on Rutland schools and a meeting had been arranged with the DfE on Monday, 14^th July 2022 to discuss potential extra support.  This was a national issue and was not something that was specific to Rutland.

A report was received from Gill Curtis, Head of Learning and Skills.  This item was for information and was not discussed during the meeting.

To receive a report from Gill Curtis, Head of Learning and Skills regarding the annual review of the Constitution and the Rules of Conduct including the Nomination of Chair and Vice Chair.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(10 MINUTES)

A report was received from Gill Curtis, Head of Learning and Skills.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       The tracked changes on the Rutland Schools’ Forum Constitution could not be seen in the version attached to the agenda pack but only slight changes had been made - nothing significant.

·       It was agreed that the tracked changes document would be sent out to members for their attention.

ACTION: Jane Narey

·       The constitution would be taken as approved by the Schools’ Forum if no comments or queries were received moving forward.

To receive a report from Gill Curtis, Head of Learning and Skills regarding the Learning and Skills Service Fees and Charges to Early Education Settings and Schools.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

A report was received from Gill Curtis, Head of Learning and Skills.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

·       Fees and charges were aligned to the cost of living increases but costs were kept as low as possible.

·       Key costs were the school admissions and moderation costs

·       Any queries should be addressed to Gill Curtis (gcurtis@rutland.gov.uk).

To review and approve the proposed Forward Plan

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

The Forward Plan for 2022/23 was discussed and updated accordingly.

(5 MINUTES FOR FINAL AGENDA ITEMS)

a)    Homes for Ukraine (H4U)

Attendees were informed that at the Homes for Ukraine (H4U) DfE meeting on the 27^th June 2022, it was announced that the H4U education funding guidance would be published ‘imminently’ but confirmed that the government was providing additional funding to councils to provide education services for children from families arriving from Ukraine under the H4U scheme. The DfE would allocate funding on a per pupil basis for the three phases of education at the following annual rates:

o   Early years (ages 2 to 4) - £3,000

o   Primary (ages 5 -11) - £6,580

o   Secondary (ages 11-18) - £8,755

These tariffs would include support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The actual funding amounts received by the LA would be based on data received from DLUHC reference the number of children who had arrived in the LA by end of May 2022.  It would then be made quarterly based on updated DLUHC confirmed new figures.  It would be paid in full as a one-off payment for each child who entered via the H4U scheme.  At this time, there was no funding for children from Ukraine who arrived through any other scheme.

There would be no central guidance on how the money would be distributed and it was for LAs, with their Schools’ Forum, to determine what central costs would be required by LA, and how much was passported to education sector. 

It was proposed that Schools’ Forum set up a SF Working Group with representatives from each sector to work with the LA once the guidance was published.

Note:

LAs would be able to use the funding (for EY, primary and secondary) to support the provision of education and support for H4Ul children arriving from Afghanistan, with money passported to schools and academies who offered places to children.  Also, one of the conditions was that in cases where children were offered a school place in a local authority outside the one in which the child’s family was housed, the local authority that received the grant funding would send an appropriate amount to the counterpart authority providing the school place.

·      It was proposed that there should be a centralised system for teaching Ukrainian children English. 

·      It was confirmed that Uppingham College had Ukrainian speaking members of staff currently employed to support Ukrainian families but that it would be good to have something centralised to support all schools and the College would be happy to help.

·      A H4U Working Group would be a good idea with the first meeting held week beginning the 4^th July.  Interested partners should contact Gill Curtis (gcurtis@rutland.gov.uk )

RESOLVED

That the Schools’ Forum:

a)    AGREED to the creation of a H4U Working Group.

b)    Return to Face-to-Face Meetings

Mr S Williams requested a discussion about the potential return to face-to-face meetings of the Schools’ Forum. 

RESOLVED

The Schools’ Forum AGREED that:

a)    Meetings would be held in person where a decision was required.

b)    Meetings would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

·       Thursday, 15^th September 2022, 4.00 – 5.30 p.m. via Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87369576044

·       Thursday, 8^th December 2022, 4.00 – 5.30 p.m. via Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83680892433

·       Thursday, 16^th March 2023, 4.00 – 5.30 p.m. via Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81436021541

·       Thursday, 22^nd June 2023, 4.00 – 5.30 p.m. via Zoom - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86101580093

The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2021 amended The Schools Forums (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 to make permanent provisions to enable schools’ forum meetings to be held remotely. This includes (but is not limited to) telephone conferencing, video conferencing, live webcast and live interactive streaming. Where a schools’ forum decides to hold a public meeting by remote means only, the forum should provide support or make alternative arrangements so that any interested parties who do not have telephone or online access can attend virtual meetings.

Thursday, 15th September 2022, 4.00 - 5.30 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Catmose, Oakham LE15 6HP