Agenda and minutes

Minute of the meeting of 11 June 2015 to be approved and signed by the Chairman. (Copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of 11 June 2015.

DECISION

NOTED for signature by the Chairman.

Presentation by the Service Director Children and Young People.  (Copy of Government Guidance on Home Education attached.)

2.1       With reference to paragraph 6(a) (vi) of the Minute of 26 March 2015, the Chairman welcomed Ms Donna Manson, Service Director Children and Young People and Ms Christian Robertson, Senior Education Officer who were present at the meeting to give a presentation on Non Schooling and Home Schooling.  There had been circulated copies of the Scottish Government's Home Education Guidance.  Ms Manson explained that the document was issued under Section 14 of the Standards in Schools etc Act 2000 and it formed the basis of Home Schooling policies which had been developed at a local level at SBC.  There were circulated at the meeting copies of a document entitled "In our sight: in our mind" and Ms Manson explained that this reflected the approach being taken across the Council area in terms of educating school age children.

2.2       Primary school attendance had shown an improvement during the academic year 2014/15, particularly throughout March and April 2015 and the department was continually working to achieve further improvements in the attendance levels.  The period leading up to the summer break in June 2015 showed a drop in attendance and Ms Manson explained that this was due, in the main, to family holidays being taken outwith school term time.  Members noted that Scottish Borders Council compared favourably at a national level.  Statistics showed that attendance in 2012/13 was just above 95% and SBC had been successful in maintaining that position nationally.  Statistics demonstrated an increasing trend in unauthorised absences during May and June of the academic years from 2012/13 to 2014/15.  Ms Manson confirmed that parents were challenged in relation to any instances of non-attendance and the department was working towards a position where all non-attendance was authorised appropriately.

2.3       Secondary school attendance showed a similar pattern, with high attendance in May 2012/13 of almost 96% dropping to below 92% in June of the same year.  It was noted that a substantial drop in school attendance during December 2012 could be linked to a serious infection which affected the whole of the Scottish Borders Council area.  Ms Manson went on to explain that the attendance figures for May of any year related, in part, to the pupils sitting national examinations whilst the lower attendances in June coincided with an increase in the number of unauthorised absences. On a national level, Ms Manson was pleased to report that Scottish Borders performed well with an attendance level in 2012/13 of just over 95%.

2.4       Ms Manson advised Members of the work that was in progress and which had been undertaken previously to improve attendance levels in both primary and secondary schools, noting that the way in which absences were monitored and analysed on a monthly basis had contributed to the high attendance levels across schools.  Future actions to be taken forward included more engagement with parents, access for all schools to Home Link, multi-agency involvement and early intervention in the pre-school, early learning and childcare centres.  Members were advised that the number of exclusion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

·                Religious Observance Policy;

·                Faith Schools;

·                Attainment Levels in Schools in Deprived Areas;

·                Mainstream Schools and Children with Severe Learning Difficulties.

With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of 26 March 2015, there was circulated at the meeting an updated list of subjects which the Scrutiny Committee had been asked to review and which included the source of the request, the stage the process had reached and the date, if identified, of the Scrutiny meeting at which the information would be presented.  In addition, Members were also asked to consider further subjects for inclusion on this list for presentation at future meetings of the Committee.  When deciding whether subjects would be reviewed by the Scrutiny Committee, Members required a clear indication from the initiator of the request as to which aspects of the subject they wished to be reviewed.  This would enable the Committee to determine whether the subject was appropriate for consideration.  It was agreed that guidance should be made available to ensure that requests for Reviews contained sufficient information to enable the Committee to make its decision.

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     the proposed list of subjects for review by Scrutiny Committee, as appended to the Minute, and any further actions detailed against particular reviews;

(b)     that guidance would be made available to anyone submitting a request for a Scrutiny Review to ensure that the request contained sufficient information to enable the Committee to make its decision.