Agenda item

26.1     Councillor Adeniji, Chair of the Review Board, introduced the report. He outlined the remit of the Review, the evidence considered by the Board, including talking to young people and visits to local schools, the key findings contained in the report, and the Board’s recommendations. The Chair of the Review Board thanked the members of the Board for their engagement in the Review, the supporting officers for their work, and witnesses for their time.

26.2     Councillors Howell and Maples and John Hayling (Parent Governor Representative), members of the Review Board, also thanked the Chair of the Review Board, schools, officers, and witnesses, including the young people involved, and commented that the Review had been far reaching and complex and that they had found the Review worthwhile. They recognised the impact schools were facing from the pandemic and welcomed the approaches local schools had adopted to support pupils’ needs.

26.3     The Committee welcomed the report and asked about the data in the report showing the number of permanent exclusions in primary and secondary schools in East Sussex and asked if the Department was expecting to see the situation in primary schools improve. The Assistant Director - Education clarified that the data showed that although the rates were lower in primary schools than secondary schools, East Sussex was excluding at a higher rate in primary schools than in other local authorities. The Strategic Lead: Inclusion and Alternative Provision informed the Committee that although full data from the last academic year was not yet available, recent data (over the previous three years) showed a reduction in the number of secondary permanent exclusions due to the implementation of a new strategy aimed at reducing exclusions and increasing schools’ awareness of the causes of behaviour and appropriate support needed. Work was now underway to expand this to primary schools. The Strategic Lead told the Board that, in line with a national trend, the number of permanent exclusions over the last academic year had increased due to the effects of the pandemic, however, the Department was working with schools to address this and identify any gaps in support and had also prevented a high number of permanent exclusions.

26.4     The Committee heard that the restructure of the Education Department was bringing together expertise across the local authority to share with schools and develop understanding on the reasons for higher rates of permanent exclusion but that it would take time to embed the strategies recently put in place. The Strategic Lead noted the challenges in implementing some of these, including the need to increase the sense of belonging for pupils in schools which was difficult with a high staff turnover, however these strategies were based on a wide range of evidence and data, including the use of youth voice, and there was an opportunity for schools to reduce permanent exclusion.

26.5     Councillor Maples, member of the Review Board, requested that some of the findings from the Review be further explored by the Committee, including better use of inclusive, affordable after school programmes and making schools more community friendly. The Assistant Director - Education noted that these linked with the current Early Years Reforms and proposals for wrap around care and a short briefing note on this could be provided to the Committee.

26.7     The Committee RESOLVED to endorse the report of the Review Board, subject to an amendment to the introduction to include more recent East Sussex data and make recommendations to Cabinet for comment and County Council for approval.

The meeting ended at 14:58.