Minutes of Previous Meeting - Meetings, agendas and minutes

(b)(c)the updated and outstanding actions be noted, and a visit to the socialworkers in their work place be arranged for the Committee at a later date; andAction: Director of Children’s Services andCommittee Co-ordinatorthe Director’s Oral Report be noted.2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCEApologies for absence were received from Councillor Helen Binmore andCouncillor Alexandra Robson.3. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTThe following declarations of interest were received in respect of Agenda Item 5Ofsted Inspections Summary Report:• Councillor Craig declared a personal interest as he was a governor at TheGood Shepherd Catholic Primary School.• Councillor McLaughlin declared a personal interest as his daughter worked atJack Tizard School.• Councillor Nandy declared a personal interest as she was a governor atBrackenbury Primary School.• Councillor Scott Russell declared a personal interest as she was a governor atJack Tizard School.4. MEMBERSHIPRESOLVED THAT:The Committee noted the following amendments to its membership, as agreed atthe Council Meeting held on 28 October 2009:(1) Councillor Donald Johnson appointed as Chairman in place of CouncillorHelen Binmore who will continue as a Committee Member; and(2) Councillor Oliver Craig appointed to the Committee to fill the recent vacancyfrom Councillor Sarah Gore, who was now Cabinet Member for Children’sServices.5. OFSTED INSPECTIONS SUMMARY REPORTThe following declarations of interest were received in respect of this item:• Councillor Craig declared a personal interest as he was a governor at TheGood Shepherd Catholic Primary School• Councillor McLaughlin declared a personal interest as his daughter worked atJack Tizard School• Councillor Nandy declared a personal interest as she was a governor atBrackenbury Primary SchoolPage 3

McLaughlin asked that the Council looked beyond political parties when appointingto the school governor posts. Councillor Gore added that any suggestions for thevacancies were welcome.AttendanceThe Council and schools continued to work on attendance and the levels hadimproved since the previous Committee meeting. Councillor Craig asked whatmore could be done to improve the attendance levels. Attendance was always achallenge and schools were supported where there were persistent absentees.Families were also supported to help alleviate attendance problems and thewalking bus initiative had been effective in improving levels. Sue Fennimorereferred to learning mentors, who had made a significantly improvement onattendance. One of the headteachers commented that there was no one way tocombat attendance problems and by introducing and changing differentapproaches helped. One initiative was by holding a football club in the morningbefore school which helped attract pupils to attend school early.The Committee discussed families taking time off school during term time and thedifficulties for many who for personal reasons visited relatives abroad during thesetimes. Councillor McLaughlin referred to the costs to families going on holidayduring the school breaks, which was much more expensive and noted the benefitsfor pupils taking holidays abroad. He suggested that there were innovativesolutions to the pupils being absent such as taking work home. One headteacherno longer authorised holidays in term time and had found attendance hadimproved and families had respected this policy. There was a suggestion that theterm times in Hammersmith and Fulham be changed. Andrew Christie noted thatconsultation on the term dates took place before they were approved. There wouldalso be the difficulty for staff whose own children attended schools in otherboroughs which had different term dates. One of the headteachers noted that shefound the persistent absentees were not having holidays during term time and hada regular pattern of absence, which were the main problem for attendance levels.Another headteacher highlighted the importance of trust between the school andfamilies. She commented that the individual cases of families needed to be lookedat, such as in situations where families had to travel abroad due to a sickness inthe family.Other initiatives and suggestions for improving attendance included breakfastclubs, imposing fees for when pupils were absent and providing rewards for goodattendance.Healthy School StatusAll schools had a healthy school status, where the food provided in the canteensand healthy lifestyles were looked at. Obesity of pupils in Year 6 was looked atand was included as one of the Council’s targets to address. The Council andschools worked with the pupils and their families on these issues.Schools IntakeCouncillor McLaughlin asked about the intake of pupils at Sacred Heart HighSchool and the London Oratory School who were from the borough. Thepercentage for Sacred Heart High was 30% and for The London Oratory was 10%.Ian Heggs noted that he would like all the residents to choose the borough’sschools and was pleased that the number of borough residents attending aPage 6

orough school had increased to up to 40%. It was also noted that the admissioncriteria was different in each school. The Headteacher from The London OratorySchool commented that there were 160 places in each intake and there were 900applications this year for these places. The school was founded 150 years agoand the admission criteria was the same as it first opened with the first criteriabeing for catholic parents to send their catholic child to a catholic school.Councillor McLaughlin felt that as The London Oratory was a London school, itshould be considered as such and not as a Hammersmith and Fulham school.Councillor Gore commented that the nature of voluntary aided schools wasdifferent and noted that the London Oratory was rated very highly. She also notedthat other schools had seen fantastic improvements and rated on the schoolleague tables. Andrew Christie reminded the Committee that schools had to applythe admissions code.The School Improvement section encouraged discussions between the schools,and asked headteachers to encourage parents to visit the schools and to apply.Ian Heggs referred to the position at Lady Margaret School where relatively fewparents from the borough had applied for places at the school whereas now nearlyhalf of the Year 6 who received a place were from the borough.The Chairman congratulated the schools and was incredibly proud that they had allreceived excellent results.Burlington Danes AcademyIn response to a question on levels of achievement at the school, the Headteachernoted that a few pupils when joining the school had reached high levels, the intakewas below the national average but when they left they were at the nationalaverage. There was an issue of some higher ability pupils not achieving the goodgrades that they should have which had been picked up by Ofsted but this hadbeen addressed by the school; a lot of the issues related to discipline, and Ofstedrecognised that this picture was changing and the figures compared to were lastyear’s and not this year’s figures.Councillor McLaughlin referred to pupils with African and Caribbean heritage,where there had been concerns raised previously by the Committee aboutachievements, and was told that the improvements made at the school were by allgroups of pupils. There was a firm discipline structure in place at Burlington DanesAcademy and pupils improved. In the past more African and Caribbean pupils hadbeen excluded from the school which had now been worked on and improved.Councillor Phibbs congratulated the Headteacher for turning the school around insuch speed. He commented on the pride in the school and the strong academicachievement.Jack Tizard SchoolCouncillor Scott Russell, who was a governor at the school, referred to the fact thatthe school could only reach a level four in the Ofsted rating, due to it being aspecial school, and asked why it was compared to the standards used for otherschools. Ian Heggs replied that the new Ofsted Framework addressed this issueand looked at progress; the new achievement grade would recognise the overallgrading based on progress made at the school.Page 7

Councillor McLaughlin commented that every child should have the chance tostudy the national curriculum; he noted that it could be adapted to meet children’sneeds and could be studied in special schools.Councillor Dickenson had visited the school and submitted a few questionsbeforehand on target setting and leadership and management at the school. Theschool provided her with a response which had been emailed around to theMembers of the Committee for information.Lena Gardens Primary SchoolThe Headteacher referred to the school’s previous Ofsted rating of satisfactory,which the school did not agree with. The school had not expected that judgementand was not prepared for the outcome, as the school had judged itself to be good.It could see where improvements were needed but felt that the inspectors did notunderstand the nature of the school. The school worked hard with its governorsand the Council and continued with these working relationships. It did not deviatefrom the school improvement plan and worked well together with the schoolimprovement partner. The progress at the school was graded outstanding whichwas important.The Headteacher also noted that the school had a strong teaching force that hadbeen stable over the past few years, which was important especially due to thehigh turnover of pupils.Skilled Teaching StaffCouncillor Gore referred to the limitation on schools where the change in theimmigration rules prevented skilled staff from other countries such as Australia,New Zealand, for example, to remain at the schools. The Headteacher at JackTizard School noted that there was a national shortage of trained teachers in multiskills.The school had done a fantastic job of putting staff through the QTS(Qualified Teacher Status). This issue was starting to be addressed; the shortageof multi-skilled teachers had been lobbied nationally where a review had takenplace, so it was hoped new appointments would now come through.School NursesCouncillor Phibbs asked that the number of school nurses be looked at as schoolswould like additional school nurses.The Committee thanked the schools for attending and for their hospitality in thevisits arranged for Members of the Committee. It congratulated the Headteachers,Governors and pupils on their excellent results and asked that their congratulationsbe passed on to the pupils, so they knew that their efforts were recognised. TheChairman thanked the Headteachers, Chairs of Governors and otherrepresentatives for their input and noted he was very happy to receive anyfeedback they might have.Page 8

RESOLVED THAT:(1) a report on continued professional development for headteachers be submittedto the Committee at a later date; and(2) the possibility of additional school nurses be looked at.Action: Cabinet Member for Children’s Services andDirector of Children’s Services6. WORK PROGRAMME AND FORWARD PLAN 2009-10The Committee agreed that the following items would be considered at the nextmeeting on 15 December:• Financial implications of the additional pressures resulting from the Baby Petercase• Serious Case Review report• Progress report on the development of estate sportsRESOLVED THAT:The work programme be agreed.7. DATE OF NEXT MEETINGThe Committee noted that the next meeting would be held on 15 December 2009.Meeting started: 7.00 pmMeeting ended: 9.00 pmChairmanContact officer:Laura CampbellCommittee Co-ordinatorCouncillors Services: 020 8753 2062E-mail: laura.campbell@lbhf.gov.ukPage 9