Agenda and minutes

Venue: Desborough 4 - Town Hall

Contact: Wendy Binmore  01628 796251

Items
No. Item

43.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Evans.

44.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 219 KB

To receive any Declarations of Interest.

Minutes:

None.

45.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 87 KB

To confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part I Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June 2018 be approved.

46.

EYFS RESULTS AND UPDATES - FOUNDATIONS FOR LEARNING

To receive the above report.

Minutes:

Sarah Cottle from Cookham Nursery stated the project was run for three years and last year they identified nursery schools and settings that were pre-entry into schools with three or more children receiving Pupil Premium (PP). As PP numbers were low in the Borough, they decided to use a more targeted approach.

 

The project involved meetings where 20 settings were identified in the Independent and private sector and schools. The project looked at barriers to learning and held conferences and meetings after school so that staff from those settings could attend.

 

Sarah Cottle stated there were lessons learnt. Settings and schools are very different which means intervention is difficult to introduce as a whole. Schools have GLD as a measurement but settings are not required to measure GLD.

Lindsay O’Connell, AfC stated that for this year the project will looked at trends in schools and focus on reception years especially those with low GLD. Schools need to buy into the offer and be fully engage with the programme. The first training session trained attendees on how to fill out an action plan with a focus on the quality teach first.

 

Inspiration days are being held in January 2019 and the project would be collaborating with schools with high numbers of PP; it would also be running parent sessions too. Children tended to miss their GLD in literacy and language so there would be a focus on those areas too. Lindsay O’Connell confirmed that the project is opened to all settings and schools

 

Councillor Hollingsworth stated PVI settings were not as high quality as that in schools so he wanted to raise quality in the private and voluntary settings. Sarah Cottle responded that when children moved to feeder schools, it’s important that PVI provide information on children so that schools were more prepared.

 

The Chairman stated there was a lot of great work going on and asked what the project did to help Struggling children dropping off the radar. Lindsay O’Connell responded stating that during visits the settings are challenged on individual performance. Cluster meetings are being held and settings are also monitored within their clusters to ensure children did not slip. Clive Haines, Schools Leadership Development Manager explained academy schools tended to not attend the meetings and the Borough had no control; he added he would keep emailing them and inviting them as they provide education for our RBWM pupils.

 

Sarah Cottle and Lindsay O’Connell stated PP was just one part of the story. The Chairman requested the project be made a standing item on the agenda of the School Improvement Forum. If there were schools not attending the meetings and workshops, the Chairman offered to write to them; she felt parents would want to know and the Borough needed to find out why academies did not want to get involved. Sarah Cottle responded that free courses and money for training had been offered but academies still did not want to engage.

 

Councillor Jones asked if the borough was engaging  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

47.

PUPIL PREMIUM SUMMER CAMP REPORT pdf icon PDF 319 KB

To receive the above report.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Clive Haines, Schools Leadership Development Manager stated 90 Pupil Premium (PP) children attended the summer camp over three days. Table one showed the schools attended and the numbers of possible children as well as the number of actual children that attended.

 

The summer camp consisted of sports activities over three days but, not in the style of PE lessons the activities were focused on fun.

 

The summer camp was run by a company called Sports Partnership and included sixth formers to engage with the children. Parent were also invited to attend an awards ceremony every day. On the last day of the summer camp, the children performed a street dance and it was very emotional for parents.

 

The Schools Leadership Development Manager received some great feedback from the children and the general consensus was that they wished the summer camp ran for longer. He added he would like to run the summer camps again next year in 2019.

 

Councillor Jones stated there was no Windsor summer camp last year in 2017 so she was really pleased with the scheme this year. The Schools Leadership Development Manager stated he would like to include Ascot next year. The Chairman said that publicly and in the press the camp had deliberately not been presented as a camp specifically for PP children, so as to remove barriers to children's attendance, focusing instead on building confidence and skills. She added she went to see it and felt it was a very good programme. The Chairman wanted more children in the Borough to be included.

 

The Schools Leadership Development Manager said the venue and facilities would be big enough but, he might struggle with transport. He added the camp were also about transitioning children and buddying children going up to the same secondary school.

 

The Chairman noted that if the camp had a bigger uptake of eligible pupils and around 250 children were to attend the summer camps, it would cost in the region of £24,000, and asked whether there was sufficient budget for a much bigger uptake. Councillor Jones said some Councillors gave some of their Members Budgets towards the summer camp. The Chairman said it was nice that children were paired up into the schools they were moving on up to. The Schools Leadership Development Manager said it was about transitioning children moving up to the next school, it was also about disadvantaged children who might not get the opportunity to take part in summer activities. The Chairman said the Schools Leadership Development Manager needed to start sending letters out asking organisations to donate to help fund the camp It was a positive news story with some children being signed up to the summer camp by their schools but, some children did not attend so there needed to be a mechanism in place to prevent children missing out. The Schools Leadership Development Manager confirmed he would email Members of the forum regarding fundraising for next year’s summer camp project.

 

v  Action – The Schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

48.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

To consider passing the following resolution:-

“That under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion takes place on item 7 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 and 3 of Part I of Schedule 12 A of the Act”.

Minutes:

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That under Section 100 (A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public can be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion takes place on item 9 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 and 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the act.

 

49.

DISADVANTAGED PUPIL PROJECT

To receive the above report.