Decision details

Further to Minute No. 28 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 28 July 2022, the Council considered the report of the Chief Legal and Democratic Officer in relation to Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services and Safeguarding) Impact of Covid 19 on the Primary Curriculum Working Group Final Report.

Councillor Spencer, the Lead Member of the Primary Curriculum Working Group spoke in support of the recommendations set out in the report.

It was moved by Councillor Maher, seconded by Councillor Fairclough and

RESOLVED:

That the following recommendations be approved:

(1)      that, once data is available, the Assistant Director of Children’s Services (Education) be requested to submit a monitoring report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services and Safeguarding), on primary school performance, to include school attendance and any available information on SATs results, and other performance indicators, in order to draw comparisons with 2019 performance and also with regional and national performance;

(2)      that the Assistant Director of Children’s Services(Education) be requested to agree in writing to all Headteachers of schools throughout the Borough, to thank teaching staff for their on-going input throughout the pandemic and to raise the following matters:

(a)      to remind schools of the continued support available from the Council;

(b)      to remind schools of the various options available for securing additional teaching staff, such as:

·       the graduate teaching apprenticeship scheme

·       School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT)

·       Teach First

·       Degree course in Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) and

·       a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE);

(c)      to remind schools of the availability of mental health support, including the Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing Toolkit that can be accessed via the following link:

Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing (sefton.gov.uk)

(d)      to encourage schools to try to re-engage with families as a source of support in schools where possible and where practical, particularly given covid concerns;

(3)      that the Mayor of Sefton be requested to consider hosting an event for representatives of all schools throughout the Borough, to thank them for their on-going input throughout the pandemic;

(4)      that the Assistant Director of Children’s Services(Education) be requested to agree to writing to the Department for Education in the strongest terms, to request additional resources for Sefton schools, particularly in view of forthcoming literacy and numeracy expectations on primary schools by 2030; and

(5)      that the Senior Democratic Services Officer be requested to liaise with relevant officers in order to ensure that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services and Safeguarding) receives a six-monthly monitoring report, setting out progress made against each of the recommendations outlined above.