Agenda, decisions and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 29^th June be agreed as an accurate record of proceedings.

1.1       RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 29^th June be agreed as an accurate record of proceedings.

There were no declarations of interest.

2.1       RESOLVED:

There were no declarations of interest.

There are no responses to referrals due at this meeting.

There were no response to referrals due at the meeting.

There were no response to referrals due at the meeting.

That the report be noted.

4.1       Angela Scattergood, Director of Education Services, introduced the report to the Committee. Pinaki Ghoshal, Executive Director, Children and Young People and Councillor Chris Barnham, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, were also in attendance.

4.2       The Chair invited Susan Rowe from Lewisham Education Group and Nicky Dixon from Lewisham Parent Exchange to join the meeting and take part in the discussion.

4.3       During the discussion the following key points were raised:

·         Lewisham Learning had supported the improvement of schools at Primary and was now starting to be increasingly involved with secondary school improvement. At secondary there had been an improvement in Ofsted ratings and the provisional KS4 exam results for 2022 were looking positive.

·         Support was provided to schools on their marketing and media strategy. There had been a very successful Lewisham Secondary School Fair at the Civic Suite on the 6^th September 2022 with 300 parents present as well as the Council’s school admissions team.

·         Last year saw a 10% increase in applications for Lewisham secondary schools.

·         There would be an annual plan attached to the strategy with detailed targets including a focus on attainment particularly in English and Maths.

·         In 2019, KS4 results in Lewisham were below London and National average. In 2022 they looked like they would be approximately national average.

·         A member of the Committee commented on the balance between encouraging schools to improve performance and increasing pressure causing other issues such as increased exclusions or changing the qualifications students were encouraged to do.

·         The Committee heard that young people wanted a relevant curriculum that prepared them for life.

·         Although nationally the government encouraged academisation, 65% of maintained schools governing bodies had no interest in becoming an academy. In Lewisham there seemed to be no desire for this from schools at this time.

·         96% of schools in Lewisham were Ofsted rated good or outstanding. 

·         Following a question on what adjustments to places planning were made in response to the reduction in numbers of children, the Committee heard that there were some changes to published admissions numbers.

·         Changes to the National Funding Formula would mean schools in Lewisham would be under increased pressure financially and would have to make prioritisations decisions.

·         A member of the Committee commented that in terms of recruitment and retention, officers should look at the Workload Charter and also the CYP Select Committee’s review into Recruitment and Retention of School Staff published in 2017.

·         The report showed that 7% of school leavers were either Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or data was unknown. Focusing on understanding more about that group and also on ensuring data was joined up with apprenticeship data was important.

·         Lewisham Parent Exchange had run a number of workshops on the transition to secondary schools for local parents.

·         Councillor Luke Sorba thanked Susan Rowe and Nicky Dixon for attending and contributing to the discussion and also for their work supporting young people and families in Lewisham.

4.4       RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

That the report be noted.

5.1       Pinaki Ghoshal, Executive Director for Children and Young People introduced the report to the Committee. Councillor Chris Barnham, Executive Member for Children and Young People and Sara Rahman, Director of Families, Quality and Commissioning were also in attendance virtually. Susan Rowe from Lewisham Education Group was also invited to contribute to the meeting. During the discussion, the following key points were raised:

·         A member of the Committee commented that there needed to be a decision on the future of the Ladywell Fields Adventure Playground which currently remained closed as the building was not safe.

·         The Play Strategy was created in recognition that play needed to be prioritised to a greater extent in Lewisham and in the future adventure playgrounds needed to be better used and to ensure that Lewisham always had children and play in mind when spaces and developments were being considered.

·         Beckenham Place Park had received large amounts of investment to redevelop however many other parks and play areas across the borough had had little investment in recent years.

·         The strategy was aimed at bringing a more strategic approach to play across the whole borough.

·         Members of the Committee felt there should be more discussion with planning around developments and with businesses about partnership projects or play areas being part of businesses.

·         The Watergate School redevelopment would include play areas as part of the scheme.

·         There were examples of private companies that provided play areas such as soft play centres providing some subsidised sessions for those on low incomes. There could be more potential for the private sector to be involved. There was a careful balance between income generation opportunities and ensuring spaces were open to all.

5.2       RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

1)    That the item on the Cost of Living Crisis scheduled for the November Committee meeting should include:

·         information on what additional needs and pressures are being seen by Lewisham Schools

·         Information from Youth First on their experience on the pressures faced by families and young people

2)    Representatives from the Young Mayor and advisors should be invited to attend to share their views on the Cost of Living Crisis.

3)    The Lewisham Mayoresses should be invited to attend the meeting

4)    A series of visits to schools should be arranged for members of the Committee to discuss the cost of living crisis directly with pupils and teachers.

5)    The next meeting of CYP Select Committee should start at 6.30pm.

6)    An additional item on Youth Services should be added to the work programme for the January meeting. The report should include details of Youth First’s 5-year strategy and details of the contract between the Council and Youth First.

6.1       Katie Wood, Scrutiny Manager, introduced the report to the Committee and asked that members provided additional information on items for the next meeting.

6.2       RESOLVED: that

1)    The item on the Cost of Living Crisis scheduled for the November Committee meeting should include:

·         information on what additional needs and pressures are being seen by Lewisham Schools

·         Information from Youth First on their experience on the pressures faced by families and young people

2)    Representatives from the Young Mayor and advisors should be invited to attend to share their views on the Cost of Living Crisis.

3)    The Lewisham Mayoresses should be invited to attend the meeting

4)    A series of visits to schools should be arranged for members of the Committee to discuss the cost of living crisis directly with pupils and teachers.

5)    The next meeting of CYP Select Committee should start at 6.30pm.

6)    An additional item on Youth Services should be added to the work programme for the January meeting. The report should include details of Youth First’s 5-year strategy and details of the contract between the Council and Youth First.