Agenda item

24        WORK PROGRAMME

24.1     The Chair introduced the report which outlined the Committee’s latest work programme. The Chair of the Scrutiny Review of Use of Digital and Technology in ASC reported that the Review was concluding, having considered a range of evidence and would be reporting to the Committee’s next meeting. The Chair of the Review Board added that they were supportive of the Committee’s work programme, which was balanced, and that they welcomed the opportunity scrutiny reviews provided for the Committee to act a critical friend to work taking place and give a greater profile to that work.

School Attendance Data

24.2     Following a request of the People Scrutiny Board that scoped a potential review of School Attendance in March 2022, an update on school attendance data was considered to assist the Committee with work programming of this planned review. The Director of Children’s Services introduced the latest data that was appended to the report, outlining that in line with a national trend post- coronavirus pandemic, the rate of school absences in East Sussex had not improved. The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding added that the Department had recently received national comparator data for autumn/winter 2021/22 which showed that East Sussex had overall absence and persistent absence rates closer to the England average than its statistical neighbours. Despite this, improving school attendance was a very high priority for schools and the Department.

24.3     The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding also outlined that new national guidance on attendance had been published and was due to come into force as statutory guidance in 2023. The Department was looking at how to organise its services to deliver on new expectations this created. The guidance created a new category of attendance; children with attendance at 50% or lower would be classed as having ‘severe absence’. Early analysis indicated that there would be significant numbers of children in this category in East Sussex, who would need to be supported by the Council as a result of the new expectations.

24.3       The Committee asked questions on the following areas:

·                     Reasons for absences – questions were asked on whether the Department looked into the reasons for absences from school and ensured the interventions taken in response addressed those reasons, noting that sometimes a family’s lifestyle or situation could be a cause. The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding responded that the reasons for school absence were varied, and layered, and it could be challenging to unpick the causes unless the Department was already working with families. When working with children or families, the Department would explore the reasons for school absences and make an intervention tailored to the cause. Causes of poor attendance could range from anxiety and mental health issues, including parental anxiety about school, to Emotionally Based School Avoidance, to a children’s Special Education Needs or Disability (SEND) (for example instances of children with autism who struggled at school).

The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding added that the Department was working to improve data gathering on school attendance, including automating gathering of data from all schools, to provide a better picture of reasons for absences. It was important to acknowledge that attendance in East Sussex had been below the national average for some time, and that responses to previous communications campaigns the Department had undertaken on this had shown different attitudes to school attendance in different parts of the county, so the response required a range of approaches and solutions. A comment was made from the Committee on the important role parents and carers played in ensuring good school attendance of their children and the Director confirmed that this was absolutely recognised. The Assistant Director, Education added that the Department was also working hard to ensure school attendance was ‘everyone’s business’. This included working closely with Early Help and Social Care Teams to ensure that where those teams were working with families, school attendance was high on their agenda.

·                     Mental Health Support in Schools – in light of mental health and anxiety being highlighted as one of the causes of school absence, a question was asked about whether schools have staff in mental health first aider roles who could provide, and signpost to, support. The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding responded that promoting good mental health and wellbeing was a priority of schools. A range of approaches to providing support were taken, and it was down to individual schools to decide the approach. Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) (a nationally funded scheme providing high-quality, professional mental health advice to children and young people) were embedded in around 50% of East Sussex schools. The Department also provided, jointly with health partners, a programme for all schools looking at whether schools could employ professionals to be mental health first aiders or design a whole school system that promoted good mental health and wellbeing.

A follow-up question was asked on whether there was quantifiable evidence of an improvement in the mental health of children in schools that had MHSTs. The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding responded that although they did not have this data, because the teams worked with schools in more deprived areas, they would be addressing mental health challenges from a baseline of higher need. The Assistant Director added that MHSTs did good data analysis of issues arising for children they worked with to identify ways to get upstream of issues affecting children’s mental health in all schools. The Director added that MHSTs disseminated learning to all schools, including through an annual conference.

·                     Home working – a question was asked on whether the Department had identified a connection between parents working from home and reduced school attendance. The Head of Education: SEND and Safeguarding responded that they did not have any evidence to suggest that was a factor, but did know that attendance had dipped post-pandemic and attachment issues were a cause of non-attendance so this may have had an impact on some families.

Forward plan

24.3     The Committee considered the Council’s Forward Plan of executive decisions and agreed there were no issues that required more detailed scrutiny.

24.4     The Committee RESOLVED to agree the work programme.