Agenda item

The Director of Education, SEND and Early Help submits the Education Performance Report for 2023 for the Commission to consider areas of strength and concern.

The Director of Education, SEND and Early Help submitted the Education Performance Report for 2023 for the Commission to consider areas of strength and concern.

The Assistant City Mayor for Education, Libraries and Community Centres introduced the report. 

Key points included:

• Previously, the local authority had played a key role in school improvement, however, with the introduction of academies, there was not as much significance for the local authority in terms of school improvement.
• The role of the local authority was now more about partnering and engaging with people in terms of practice and brokering relationships.
• The effects of poverty on children’s learning were known.  It was also acknowledged that issues surrounding housing impacted children.
• During the Covid-19 pandemic, Leicester was in lockdown for longer than any other part of the country and it was acknowledged that this would affect pupil performance in the coming years.  Given the barriers such as this that Leicester schools had faced, the schools were doing well, but there was still progress to be made.  However, the partnership was strong.

The Programme Manager (Business Change) for SEND Early Help and Education then presented the report.

Key points included:

• The education landscape had changed a lot with reduced local authority ownership.
• A national reporting style had been followed identifying different groups and compared them against national trends and other local authorities.
• The report started with Early Years which had shown a good level of development particularly regarding children’s readiness for school.
• Phonics in Year 1 were looked at to assess if a child was on track to become a fluent reader.
• Key Stages 1 and 2 were looked at in terms of attainment and progress.  The report also looked at Key Stage 4 and secondary education.
• There had been fluctuation in assessment during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it had been noted that Leicester outcomes had not recovered as quickly as they had nationally, however, the extended lockdown in Leicester was thought to account for this.
• There was a similar picture to 2021/22 in terms of children in Leicester City Primary and Secondary generally making better progress than the national average, however, the starting point on entering school was lower than nationally and in comparison to other local authorities.
• Children eligible for free school meals performed better than their peers at all key stages.
• Children of Asian heritage and those with English as an additional language often had better outcomes and made better progress than their peers, particularly by the end of Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4.
• Only two thirds of Leicester children were ready for school.  Teachers had looked at reasons behind this in a national survey and part of the reason, among other things, was attributed to less time at nursery due to the lockdown, parents not reading to children and more time at home with less access to interaction with other children, a lack of targeted state support for children, a lack of peer and community support for parents and the rising cost of childcare.
• Children of white background were outliers in terms of attainment, and boys made less progress than girls, however, the latter was a national trend.
• In terms of next steps, the Council were talking in partnership with schools and talking with SEND and alternative provision providers,around focusing on children with education and healthcare plans. Additionally, the Early Years Strategy was being considered, and attendance management was looked at in terms of strengthening it, particularly with regard to children missing education and exclusions.
• Leicester was not an outlier in terms of authorised absence, but it was in terms of unauthorised absence.
• SEND Children were high in non-attendance.

The Committee were invited to ask questions and make comments. Key points included:

• It was requested that since members had difficulty in accessing papers due to cyber issues, the report be brought back to the Commission to allow members to more fully analyse the findings.
• The wider issue of the decline of industry in Leicester was raised, and it was suggested that this, along with the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis was said to have contributed to social deprivation in the city and in turn to a decline in parents reading with their children as parents had higher priorities such as providing food for their children.  It was also said to be a reason as to why children of white backgrounds were performing badly.
• It was later suggested that it was unfair to blame parents for not reading with their children as there was very little support for under-5s, and this contributed to children not being ready for school.
• It was also suggested that if parents had not been read to as children, then they would find it difficult to read to their children.  As such, it was highlighted that Leicester City Council libraries had staff who read to parents and children together and modelled how to read to children, although it was noted that this service had not been available during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• It was noted that as well as Leicester having an extended lockdown, Leicester had shut its schools at the beginning of the pandemic sooner than other authorities.
• Leicester had not been singled out for funding as it was not considered to be a special case.  This showed that relatively speaking Leicester was not in as bad a situation as other authorities and progress that Leicester children were making was relatively good compared to national trends.  Whilst the desired levels were not being achieved, the data showed that schools were working hard to help children and young people make improvements.  However, it was necessary to think about the earliest years and help children in this cohort prepare for school, as children were starting school not ready, it meant a lot of progress was needed for them to reach the desired level.  Deprivation was also seen as an issue and the disadvantage gap was the highest it had been in 20 years.
• It was suggested that community groups could have been better supported during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The closing gap from 2022 to 2023 was praised.
• In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, it was suggested that the increase in children on free school meals was good.
• Attention was drawn to the ‘Educate Me Too’ Campaign in which parents and carers of SEND Children had complied a report showing that overall, these children and young people fared worse.  Further to this, while the children were waiting to be assessed, the children were not being educated well and parents were being plunged into poverty as they were needing to give up time to look after their children which could mean losing earnings.
• This was seen as a particular issue for parents of children with ADHD as it took a long time for children to get assessed, and it caused a lot of stress for parents when schools engaged them about their children’s behaviour.  ADHD Solutions was not seen to be properly funded and it was suggested that members and officers consider asking the NHS to help fund ADHD Solutions.
• A big impact had been seen around language development.  The Covid-19 pandemic had caused children to be isolated in homes away from socialisation, additionally, mask wearing had impacted language development.  There were a number of opportunities for recovery, but this would take a long time, and it would be a long time before the impact was fully known.
• It was suggested that the social contract between parents and schools had been affected.  This had made attendance seem less important as parents had worked out that children could still learn without going to school.  Further to this it was suggested that some children with behavioural issues fared better not attending school. 
• A lack of diagnosis had led to a lack of support for people in need. The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education would speak with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) about solutions and approaches to neurodiversity issues.

AGREED:

1)    That the report be noted.

2)    That comments made by members of this commission to be taken into account by the lead officers.

3)    That the report be brought back to the Commission early in the next municipal year.