Agenda item

Context:

To scrutinise the outcomes of Monmouthshire Looked After Children (LAC) in 2016/17.

Key Issues:

The achievement at all key stages for LAC pupils fluctuates due to very small cohort numbers and a greater representation of pupils at School Action Plus or with statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN) than the overall population (for example, as of March 31st 2016, there were 76 school aged pupils who were looked after and out of this cohort 11 pupils (14.5%) were statemented compared with approximately 3% of Monmouthshire’s population). The distribution of statements reflected that 22.2% of secondary pupils had a statement of ALN (eight pupils out of a secondary population of 36). Of these eight pupils, 50% were placed in out of County specialist provision, with one placed in specialist provision in County with the other three attending local in County mainstream provision.  Of the 7.5% (3/40) of primary aged LAC pupils who were statemented LAC pupils, one was educated within out of County specialist provision, whilst two other children were educated within mainstream provision, one within Monmouthshire and the other child in a neighbouring South East Wales Consortia (SEWC) Local Authority. This, associated with underlying issues for pupils being accommodated, presents schools and local Authority officers with significant challenges in engaging and maintaining engagement, resulting in positive outcomes for this cohort of very vulnerable young people.

The Welsh Government has launched its strategy and action plan for raising the ambitions and educational attainment of children who are looked after in Wales and funding for raising the attainment of LAC pupils is now distributed on a consortia basis. Funding is allocated on the basis of the numbers of Welsh LAC pupils in each cluster across the region. Monmouthshire’s LAC pupils placed in England have been raised as an issue and to ensure that they have access to support it has been agreed that a sum of money is allocated to each pupil that their school can bid for.

Monmouthshire’s academic year 2016-17 indicates that all LAC pupils in the Foundation Phase achieved the Core Subject Indicator (CSI) together with improved three year rolling averages in attainment at the end of Key Stages 2 and 3. The outcomes at Key Stage 4 will require detailed explanation.

The local Authority monitors the progress of this cohort of pupils using targets set by the schools which have been submitted to the EAS. The performance of LAC pupils across all key stages is favourable in comparison with other Welsh local authorities.

Member Scrutiny:

·         Monmouthshire has taken the lead with Welsh Government this year on how outcomes are reported. Previously, the Authority reported on all LAC pupils in one document, regardless of what education setting the children were in.  The Authority is now far more analytical in how it reports on LAC pupils.

·         Funding to support LAC pupils has changed.  Previously, funding came to the local Authority and individual LAC pupils could be targeted.  However, funding is now distributed via a regional grant by the Education Achievement Services (EAS) which is distributed to clusters.  Monmouthshire’s clusters submit bids and submissions as to how they intend to spend the funding to support the LAC pupils in their clusters.

·         It was reassuring to see that officers understood the LAC pupils as young people rather than just statistics going through education.

·         It was noted that this matter had been scrutinised in great detail at the Corporate Parenting Panel.