Agenda item

The Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services submits a report that informs the Board of the planned re-modelling of the Secondary Behaviour Support Service, in order to meet the aims and objectives of the Local Authority Behaviour Strategy, addresses the issues arising from its recent OfSTED inspection and delivers on the aspiration of Leicester City becoming a ‘zero’ permanently excluding authority.  The Board is asked to note the contents of the report, the proposed re-modelling of the Secondary Behaviour Support Service, the intention to submit a bid for DCSF funding for the operation of a pilot project of alternative education provision, in line with one of the proposed options for delivery in the Government’s  White Paper – Back on Track (May 2008), the proposed use of the former Cherryleas site by the Secondary Behaviour Support Service, to create an Assessment and Intervention Centre and approve the necessary expenditure for conversion work to the building, as outlined in section five of the report and the proposed addition of the scheme to the CYPS Capital Programme at an estimated cost of £600,000, to be funded at this stage from Basic Need Pupil Places allocation which is a service resource.

The Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Service submitted a report that informed Cabinet of the planned re-modeling of the Secondary Behaviour Support Service, in order to meet the aims and objectives of the Local Authority Behaviour Strategy, addressed the issues arising from its recent OfSTED inspection and delivered on the aspiration of Leicester City becoming a ‘zero’ permanently excluding authority. 

The Head of Behaviour and Attendance informed the meeting that a new Behavior Strategy for Leicester City was finalized in September 2007.  Furthermore, in light of the recent OfSTED inspection, it was reported that a number of changes were now deemed essential to address the concerns raised within the inspection and to ensure delivery of the required objectives within the Leicester City Behaviour Strategy.   He explained that the key to these changes was to stem the flow of permanent exclusions, and it was proposed that an Assessment and Intervention Centre would be developed to provide provision to those pupils at a very high risk of permanent exclusion

Councillor Dempster, Cabinet Lead Member for Children and Schools was in attendance and stated that it was imperative to look after the educational well-being of all young people, and acknowledged that behaviour that warranted exclusion impeded other pupils. 

One Member of the Committee asked whether the CherryLeas site was equipped to look after secondary education aged people.  Officers responded by stating that as CheeryLeas was a Primary School, it was required to modify the toilet facilities and the furniture in some of the classrooms.

A Member of the Committee asked whether officers had looked at any comparative authorities that had implemented similar programmes.  In response to this point, Members heard that Luton had been identified as an authority that had a successful record of reducing exclusions, but had tackled the problem in a different manner.

In response to a question surrounding managed moves, officers confirmed that no such moves would take place and excluded pupils would remain on their schools’ roll.

In response to a question around the amount of money the authority was expecting to receive to pilot the programme, officers stated that the exact amount had not been made clear but that a fee of £26.5m would be allocated amongst ten authorities who were carrying out pilot studies. 

Members of the Board requested that progress reports on the secondary behaviour support service be brought the board every 6 months.

RESOLVED:

(1)               That the report be noted

(2)               That the proposed re-modelling of the Secondary Behaviour Support Service be noted

(3)               That the intention to submit a bid for DCSF funding for the operation of a pilot project of alternative education provision, in line with one of the proposed options for delivery in the Government’s White Paper – Back on Track (May 2008) be noted

(4)               That the proposed use of the former Cherryleas site by the Secondary Behaviour Support Service, to create an Assessment and Intervention Centre and approve the necessary expenditure for conversion work to the building, as outlined in section five of the report be noted.

(5)The proposed addition of the scheme to the CYPS Capital Programme at an estimated cost of £600,000, to be funded at this stage from Basic Need Pupil Places allocation, which is a service resource, be noted.

(6)That the board receives an update report on the Secondary Behaviour Support Service every 6 months.