Agenda item

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director, Children and Young People.  The report explained that Scottish Borders Council had a strong commitment to Reducing Inequalities and worked in partnership with a range of partners to address the barriers that families might face in their daily lives.  In the newly established vision set out by the Council in ‘Connected Borders’ there was a strong commitment to ‘ensuring that the vulnerable and marginalised were included and considered in every action we take’ and that ‘together we needed to ensure that no-one and no community was left behind but that we grew and developed together’.  Within this new vision there were specific themes that provided a focus on improving the lives of the most vulnerable.  Communities of wellbeing identified a commitment to taking a whole community approach to education to raise attainment and ‘close the poverty related attainment gap’, to deliver extensive work on tackling substance misuse and improving mental health support for the most vulnerable young people.  Communities of Caring identified a commitment to family support services focused on early intervention, mentoring and parenting.

4.2       There were many existing structures and workstreams that were currently focused on developing support for the most vulnerable in communities in the Scottish Borders. The new vision provided an opportunity for a review of the structures and priorities for action enabling the Council and its Partners within the Community Planning Partnership to set out a new five year plan. Work had already started with an initial workshop involving a broad range of community partners and the creation of the Area Partnerships structure; currently holding community workshops aimed at identifying priorities within the locality forums.  The Children and Young People’s Directorate was sighted on Reducing Inequalities developments through the Director’s participation in the Corporate Management Team, the Community Planning Partnership Board, the Reducing Inequalities Delivery Team and the Children and Young People’s Leadership Group. This broader context of Reducing Inequalities work was a key factor in supporting the ‘closing the poverty’ related attainment gap priority set by the National Improvement Framework for all schools.   The report provided an update on current attainment levels between the most and least disadvantaged children in the Scottish Borders and the actions being taken to narrow the attainment gap in schools.  The report also provided background information on how poverty was defined, the effects of poverty and recent statistics on the levels of children living in poverty within the Scottish Borders. The attainment gap that currently existed between the children living in the most deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas in the Scottish Borders was presented within the report and an analysis provided across the stages of schooling. A key priority was raising attainment in numeracy. A significant part of the report outlined the extensive work taking place in schools to intervene and address the poverty related attainment gap. Part of the report outlined how the Pupil Equity Fund was being spent in schools in support of this work. Guidance that had been developed and training that had taken place were presented and the work of the Quality Improvement Officers and the Attainment Officers highlighted. Significant work was taking place to address the challenges presented by the impact that living in poverty had upon the attainment and wellbeing of children and their families.   Tackling Child Poverty was not simply a school issue and the work of the Area Partnerships, the Reducing Inequalities CPP Strategic Group and the Children’s Leadership Group were noted to signal the broader role being played by partners and Council staff across Directorates; this work would be subject to more detailed reports in other forums.  There was considerable work taking place within and across schools to ‘close the poverty related attainment gap’.  The work was in its infancy and the challenge was significant.  However the approach being taken and the commitment being demonstrated evidenced that very robust processes were in place to address this challenge.  The work was being closely monitored by Attainment Officers and Quality Improvement Officers and high quality professional learning had taken place so far.  This work would be complemented by the work of broader partnership groups moving forward.

4.3       Ms Manson was joined by the two Attainment Officers, Mr Macklin and Ms Wharton, to present the main points in the report and provide clarity around the data supplied.   Ms Manson advised that ‘closing the poverty related attainment gap’ was not just an educational responsibility, but that a community owned, collective solution was required.  Community groups and Area Partnerships would play a key role in developing this work going forward.   Referring to Hawick and Kelso High Schools she explained the range in data, and highlighted the difference in the percentage of families claiming free school meals in comparison with those claiming clothing grants.  This indicated that low income families were not always claiming the benefits they were entitled to because of cultural stigma and this was one of the challenges schools had to address.  The statistics also showed that areas perceived as affluent, such as Coldingham, Coldstream and Yetholm, when analysed portrayed a different view, the data providing an understanding of impact in terms of fuel, digital, accessibility and ‘in work poverty’.   She gave as an example, a working family living in Coldstream who wanted to attend their child’s parents’ evening at Berwickshire High School.  This could entail a five hour journey, if public transport was available, with additional cost for the family.

4.4       Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) was then discussed and Ms Wharton explained that this was not for the whole school but targeted to specific pupils, regardless of their attainment level.   She gave as examples three PEF projects, the first of which was Edenside Primary Schools’ PATHS programme.  The programme’s aim was for ‘Better friendships, happier children, better ready to learn in the classroom’.  The Headteacher had reported that the programme had achieved a measurable impact and that children were calmer, happier and their learning had improved.  Earlston High School and associated primaries had pooled their grant within their cluster.  The cluster supported a numeracy intervention, and as a result provided additional 1:1 support for targeted pupils, four times a week. Progress was tracked on a weekly basis and every child in the intervention had achieved their targets.  A small number of children, who had previously sat below their peers, were now achieving the highest scores in their maths class.  The final example given was Chirnside Primary School, were spelling and reading had been identified, the school could now demonstrate the narrowing of the gap between reading and spelling. 

4.5       In response to questions, Ms Manson explained that they had trialled some work in early years to maximise benefit entitlement and this had been positive. They were also investigating models from other authorities.   The Leader added that the Council were reforming the Welfare Advisory Service to form a one stop shop.   This meant that anyone claiming a benefit would also receive advice on other benefits they were entitled to claim.  With regard to obesity in children, Ms Manson advised that the Council were working with NHS Borders, leading a programme which linked to type 2 diabetes.  Schools were also starting emotional and wellbeing programmes.  Mr Robertson added that the Council would also be raising the issue around funding through COSLA and the need for a greater share of resources in view of the challenges a rural authority faced.   Members commended the report and the work of the team in providing the statistics.   Ms Manson advised that she was pleased to provide sessions to Members to discuss further, if required.   She also extended an invitation to Members to attend their local schools to observe ongoing poverty proofing activities and PEF in progress.       

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)        to commend the work taking place at all levels to address the poverty related           attainment gap in schools;

(b)     to note the significant change in the levels of children living in poverty            within the Scottish Borders; and

(c)     that the Director, Children and Young People making an approach to the appropriate Ministers and Learning Directorate Senior Officers in the Scottish Government, to discuss the possibility of innovation funding in recognition of the increasing child poverty levels in the Scottish Borders.  

MEMBER

Councillor Mountford left the meeting.

CHAIRMAN

Councillor Haslam chaired the meeting for consideration of Other Business.