Agenda item

Report by the Director of Children’s Services.

12.1     The Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee appointed a Scrutiny Review Board to review Educational Attainment at Key Stage 4.   The review investigated the issues and challenges that secondary schools and academies face in relation to the recruitment and retention of teachers and the potential impact this has on educational attainment.   The final report of the Review Board was presented to the Children’s Scrutiny Committee in June 2017.   Following its progress through Cabinet and Full Council, a six monthly monitoring report was considered at the final the meeting of the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee in March 2018.   The latest report provided Members of the People Scrutiny Committee (the successor body to the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee) with a second opportunity to review the Departmental Action Plan.    Following a request from Members, the report also included the revised East Sussex Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy.  

12.2     Elizabeth Funge, Head of Education Improvement, introduced the report and highlighted the Children’s Services Department’s desire to develop a revised Teacher Recruitment and Retention strategy in collaboration with key partners, such as Teaching Schools and Teaching Partnerships.   </AI5>

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12.3       The Committee welcomed the report and then discussed a number of issues in relation to the Action Plan and the revised recruitment and retention strategy document.  Members agreed that it is important that local housing plans include an element relating to Key Worker accommodation.  The Committee also discussed the proposed establishment of ‘The Flagship School’ in Hastings.  In response to this, the Department undertook to provide the Committee with a written briefing on recent developments regarding SEN school provision in the county.

12.4   The Committee asked for more detail regarding what quantitative data the Department had to support the objectives set out in the revised recruitment and retention strategy.  More specifically, the Committee requested more detail as to how the Department identify which subjects have teacher shortages.  

12.5     In response the Department informed Members that it had conducted surveys to establish what the key recruitment and retention pressures are for schools and academies within the county.  However, precise data was difficult to obtain.   The resources are no longer available within the service to conduct detailed data collection processes.   Furthermore there are a wide range of different types of educational establishment in the county and this has made the data collection process more difficult to achieve.   Given this, the Department have developed a pragmatic approach to identifying the key recruitment and retention challenges.   This involves developing and maintaining good working partnerships with all the local educational establishments.  Whilst such relationships do not provide ‘perfect’ data, the Department are confident it provides evidence which is sufficient for the purpose of developing an informed strategy.   One example of the Department’s approach in this respect relates to its programme of external advisers and consultant Head teachers.    The dialogue between these colleagues and schools results in useful data regarding teacher shortages for specific subjects.    The Committee were also informed that the Government provide data to the Department which also influences the recruitment strategy.  For example, that currently there is a surplus of Physical Education teaching staff.

12.6RESOLVED – the Committee agreed to:

i)              To receive the Departmental Action Plan and revised Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy.

ii)             To request a briefing note regarding recent developments regarding SEN

school provision in the county.