Agenda item

To hear from Councillor Jasmine Ali, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, Nina Dohel, Director of Education, Children and Adult Services on Keeping Education Strong Strategy and also independent consultant Helen Jenner to discuss the review of falling school rolls and outcomes.

The commission first received a presentation (Appendix 1. Minutes) from Nina Dohel, Director of Education on Keeping Education Strong strategy

• Southwark Context pupil places 2021-2022; 74 primary schools, 97% Good or outstanding schools according to Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), currently 924 surplus places at reception age which would be monitored until September 2023 when children start school, 5,850 surplus places from reception to year six which is 22% surface capacity, ideal target is to keep 5-10% surplus capacity in the system i.e. 27 students out of a class of 30 students.
• Southwark Planning Areas; PA₁ –Borough, Bankside & Walworth, PA₂ -Bermondsey & Rotherhithe, PA₃ – Peckham & Nunhead, PA₄ - Camberwell, PA₅ - Dulwich
• Borough-wide actions taken and impact; Surplus Capacity 2018/19:19 % Reception 14% school places, changes implemented since 2019 have resulted in reduction of 570 reception places with the impact carrying through to 2028 resulting in reduction of 1395 Primary School Places, 2022-23 surplus capacity: 22% reception 22% School Places
• Borough wide actions taken, such as reduction of Pupil Admission Numbers (PAN) have been outstripped by the high rate of falling pupil numbers.
• Planning Area Meetings with Headteachers from autumn 2021; scale of difficulty and specific area challenges, Pupil trends, Falling birth rates, reduced PAN and point of closures, St John’s Walworth
• Head Teachers Schools Strategic Board (HTSSB) developed criteria for making recommendations about action, 49 schools for further evaluation, Criteria templates: Pupil Roll Trends and Projections, Quality of Provision, Budget Health, Quality of Building and Estate, Local Issues
• Recommendations with help of independent consultants for schools, PAN reductions and amalgamations
• Free School Meals (FSM) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) graphs for  schools; FSM is provided from Nursey to year six for eligible children

The commission then asked questions on the following points

• The commission asked for desegregation of FSM, SEN and Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) data on the graphs in the presentation to better understand Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) of schools in scope for further change.
• Criteria for FSM, School budgeting for FSM preparation and subsidies
• Converting schools into academies, amalgamations and mitigation process.
• Lack of mention of staff employment rights and union discussions as result of redundancies in Local Authority services.
• Disproportionate impact on BAME children and language barriers

Nina explained to the commission that there is an income level eligibility for FSM and she will get back to the commission on the exact criteria. On paying for FSM, the schools get reimbursed for FSM through a FSM allocation budget provided, however the schools have to pay for kitchen staff and maintenance of kitchen equipment.

Nina informed the commission that school governors are entitled to explore conversion into academies and amalgamation of schools through a Department for Education (DfE) process. The Council’s role is to propose the amalgamation or conversions based on the algorithms from the research conducted in that area. The study indicates that no schools are exempt from the impact of falling school rolls. Academies and trusts go through a due-diligence process carefully before decisions are made for the conversion into academies or amalgamation of schools.

The commission heard from officers that Keeping Education Strong strategy is primarily focused on resolving the issue of falling schools rolls and does not cover employment rights during the redundancies in Local Authority Services. On the impact on BAME children and their families the commission heard from Nina that schools that have PAN reduction are already operating at lower numbers of children so there is no impact on such schools. However the schools that are amalgamating or were facing closure such as St Johns Walworth had all the required children and families support services present in the room before any discussions with parents, ensuring that each and every child is placed in an alternative school, bespoke to their needs such as SEN.

The commission then asked further questions around the following themes

• Communication with School Leaders; all catholic schools to be converted into academies Archdiocese of Southwark commission
• Strategy for secondary schools that might be affected in the future
• Specific EIA for schools with reduction in PAN, amalgamations and closures

Nina explained to the commission that communication with school leaders involved, Chairs, Governors and Head teachers, decisions to convert into academies are a mixture of schools themselves coming to the conclusion and proposals by the Councils and there has not been any recent communication on the conversion of all catholic schools into academies.

On secondary schools Nina informed the commission that out of the 20 secondary schools in Southwark 19 are part of very large established trusts and the 20^th School is affiliated to the network of trusts. There have been regular meetings with CEO’s and head teacher networks of secondary schools to keep them abreast of the projection numbers coming into year 7, however there hasn’t  been any significant downturn in pupil numbers in secondary schools; academy trusts making their own decisions.

The commission learnt from officers specific EIA’s for schools will be a part of discussions and consultation with schools and parents once the initial conversations on the council’s proposals have been conducted.

The commission then received a presentation (Appendix 2. Minutes) from Helen Jenner, independent consultant discussing falling school rolls and outcomes

• Establishing an effective schools organisation strategy; clear communication with the governing body with regards to timelines and strategy
• Planning areas data and analysis based on Keeping Education Strong Strategy
• Challenges with parental preference and geographical divides
• Stress testing options before publishing findings; Equity, Quality, Sustainability and Deliverability

The commission then asked questions on the following points

• Geographical locations of schools parental preference
• In-year vacancies in secondary schools
• Budget for redundancies and moving allowances for schools
• National media reporting of the issue of falling pupil numbers in London.

Helen explained to the commission that the strategy does not propose amalgamation of schools that geographically are two or more miles apart as that might be unfair to parents. On in-year vacancies in secondary schools, there is sometimes a decline in numbers; where there is a good state school next to a private school and the parents move their children to try and get admission into the better secondary school with early moves in years 3, 4 or 5.

Helen expressed to the commission that mitigating the HR impact and having robust processes for redeployment, retraining etc. especially for teaching assistants is an important area that the council needs to review.

Nina informed the commission that the budget for redundancies and moving allowances are recovered from the remainder of the school budget and any remaining costs covered by the council. Academies are directly funded by the DfE.

Nina explained to the commission that it has been disappointing to see the lack of early media coverage on falling pupil numbers in London and nationally and the current media coverage has journalistic factual inaccuracies in pupil numbers data.

The commission then asked further questions around the following themes

• Challenges in enforcing caps of 27 pupils in a year across Southwark due to parental choice
• Social inequality in working class and disproportionate impact on BAME children; Effectiveness of the strategy in mitigating such wider trends
• Good practices from other boroughs in proactively tackling equality issues in school closures and amalgamations

Helen explained to the commission that in instances where schools have been asked to reduce PAN but parental preferences show otherwise, the schools adjudicator will rule in favour of reduction of PAN. Instances where schools that can fully support inclusion with SEND and are based around schools that lack the expertise, officers have then worked with the school to expand from two form entry to three form entry.

Helen informed the commission that no other borough have significantly countered the disproportionate impact on equality issues, with BAME children it is difficult to mitigate the disproportionate impact in some communities plainly because of the market approach for schools in certain areas.