Agenda item

Executive Interviews with Councillors Lisa Rajan, Executive member for Children’s Services, and Nicholas Stanton, Council leader.

5.1  Cllr Nicholas Stanton drew Members attention to the written answers emailed to Members and tabled at the meeting.

5.2  A Member asked Cllr Stanton a supplementary question on Q14 (How is the Council ensuring a smooth transfer of all post 16 education from the Learning and Skills Council to Southwark Education?)and asked for his view on the role of Southwark College in providing post 16 education?  Cllr Stanton commented that Southwark College is on special measures and is currently reviewing its focus and purpose.

5.3  Concern was expressed regarding the number of NEETS in Southwark and the Local Authority’s place in the worst performing 3^rd of Councils. Cllr Stanton explained that given Southwark’s level of deprivation it would probably be expected that Southwark would be faring worse than many other Local Authorities; however the proportion of NEETS is reducing year on year. Pauline Amour; Assistant Director (Inclusion and Access),elaborated that there have been a higher percentage coming out of Southwark College but a relatively lower number overall.

5.4  Cllr Stanton commented that there is a new non-governmental body, the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA), who will work with Academies, Sixth Forms and other providers.

5.5  A Member asked a supplementary question arising from Q15 (How is the Council coordinating all the many agencies offering post 16 work experience and placements; and how are the Council ensuring good quality placements and teaching). The Member asked how young people who had left school would access appropriate information about the many opportunities that are available as these are often advertised and promoted through a variety of media.

RESOLVED Cllr Stanton said he would take this away and come back with an answer.

5.6  A supplementary query was raised on Q17 (What remedial measures are now in place to ensure that KS 2 English and Maths results improve in those Primary Schools where results have not been as good as the previous year). The Member queried if the Primary School results were out yet? Pauline Amour confirmed that they were.

5.7  A Member asked if there were any further issues in relation to Q18 (What does the Executive member see as the biggest challenges to the department over the next 24 months for Southwark primary schools?). Cllr Stanton commented that there is an ongoing problem of parents navigating the application process and turning up at School at the start of term with out making a prior application.

5.8  A question was asked on how well Southwark performs at accurately estimating changing demographics. The problems in the Dulwich area are well known but it is unclear if this is to do with more children in the area or caused by the recession fallout whereby more parents opt for a state school whom would have previously chosen a private school.

5.9  Cllr Stanton replied that Southwark uses demographic data, and while usually very reliable is has sometimes been inaccurate. There is anecdotal evidence that a number of factors have affected raising demand for primary schools  in Dulwich including less parents leaving for the countryside and the increased pressure as schools improve. For example Heaver has restricted its catchment due to rising popularity. There is more pressure; however this could change. There could also be something about East Dulwich becoming a more popular area for families.

5.10  There are measures in place to deal with hot spots like East Dulwich. This year, three schools, including Goodrich Primary School in Dunstan’s Road, East Dulwich, agreed to open extra classes temporarily to help cope with demand. There are ongoing temporary and permanent measures to increase capacity at St Anthony’s Primary School and Lyndhurst Primary School.

5.11  A Member commented that they are receiving anecdotal stories of this still being a big issue; will these measures be enough? Cllr Stanton replied that they will look at admissions data and will then consider working with local schools to open a bulge class. Also Bessemer Grange has capacity so there is something about it marketing itself. Goose Green is in special measures, so it is understandable if there is reluctance by parents to apply, but there is now a fantastic new head and if and when it comes out of special measures the schools appeal will further increase. There is capacity; but it is a question of these schools raising their cache so that parents want to send their children there.

5.12  There was a query raised about the catchment areas of primary schools. Cllr Stanton explained that these are not fixed and can change as the popularity of a school fluctuates and capacity alters. There is a 2 mile rule; however Southwark aims for an offer within a mile as this is more suitable for a dense urban environment. The rules refer to the ‘nearest community school’ followed by the nearest school; however we are scrapping this as it is so confusing. We will be looking at plain distance.

5.13  There was a question raised about disappointed parents who applied to Heber or Goodrich Primary Schools. Cllr Stanton commented that they may have resided in the Peckham Rye end of East Dulwich. Although Southwark was able to offer every child a place there were some unhappy parents who did not get their school of choice. People were disappointed as perhaps in previous years might have lived close enough to Heber or Goodrich, but this year the schools were unable to accommodate these families. There were also a lot of parents who applied late and this caused problems.

5.14  Admissions processes are changing. Formally parents applied to three local schools; now there is a form where you put down four schools. The new national initiative means you can apply all over London. The common admission procedure will help the administration process and also with forward planning.

5.15  Pauline Amour explained that all Early Years providers have been contacted to check that parents have applied for school places. Cllr Stanton commented that parents still think that if they have siblings in the school that they can turn up at the gates at the start of term, but they still need to follow the admissions process.

5.16  A Member made a comparison between Southwark and Lewisham and the perception that they had been able to be more flexible with catchment areas and so had less of a problem

5.17  Cllr Stanton replied that there is a national criterion that everybody applies. They probably did a better job with communication. We have now increased our staff capacity and made it more user friendly so we will have an ongoing dialogue with parents. Pauline Amour elaborated that they have recently seconded staff to deal with the increased demand Southwark have in January to deal with applications for September places.

5.18  A Member commented that changes to the admissions process delay the speed that Schools can accept children; they used to be able to accept children Friday for a Monday start but now the process can take three weeks. Cllr Stanton agreed that recent changes to government policy mean the Local Authority now have to coordinate mid year admissions . The new application process does delay admissions; it is now a maximum of 3 weeks whereas before it could take a matter of days.

5.19  A supplementary query was raised on Q19 (this question asked what measures are being taken to reduce the negative impact on children‘s education in light of the continuing financial crisis and the number of homes being repossessed). The Member asked if there any figures on the number of successful interventions.

5.20  Cllr Stanton answered that although he looked into this issue there is no data and commented that this is not the kind of information that schools would normally collect. The Homeless Unit did not report a huge rise; but then they would not always be involved.