The Committee gave consideration to a report of the Director of Education which provided an update on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on schools in Trafford and the response to this during the autumn term. The report also included an overview of remote learning which schools were required to provide and the strategies schools adopted to address lost learning.

The report author, accompanied by the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, the Virtual Head Teacher for Children in Care and the Strategic Lead Practice, Improvement and Learning attended the meeting to present the information and address the questions of the Committee.

Officers informed of the organisational, operational and financial difficulties schools encountered following the announcement of the first lockdown in March 2020 and the reopening of schools in September 2020 to ensure that pupils could be safe and continued learning.

Members learned about the number of positive cases in school and children isolating. Since January 2021, the number of cases had reduced due to the reduction of children and young people attending schools. The Public Health Team continued to support schools through a fortnightly meeting with school leaders to share good practice, lessons learned and support in scenario planning.

Officers reported that school attendance remained strong with vast majority of schools reporting attendance level at least in line with national expectation averaging at 92%. A Department for Education (DfE) Portal recorded the requests for school places for those pupils entitled to attend school during the latest lockdown. Officers also reported an increase in number of families who, for different reasons, opted for Elective Home Education for the current academic year.

Officers informed members of the remote learning offer in Trafford and the measures and resources in place to ensure that classroom curriculum, length of work, pupils’ engagement, assessment and feedback were delivered consistently. Officers also outlined how the remote learning offer was diversified to provide support to all parents and pupils. The School Improvement Quality Assurance process was ongoing to further develop and improve the remote learning offer. Although the Ofsted suspended its inspections during the pandemic, the regulator visited school settings to ensure that measures had been put in place to continue formative activities remotely.

Officers informed of the Government funding to address the impact of the pandemic and lost learning. Although schools had autonomy on how to spend the funding, the main focus had been on basic skills in primary schools and literacy and mathematics in the secondary sector. However, officers reported that particularly pupils eligible for pupil premium funding had fallen behind with reading as an area of concern. Officers shared with the Committee the Curriculum Recovery Toolkit to support schools with their curriculum recovery planning.

With regard to children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), officers continued to respond to requests for Needs Assessments or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and 81% of plans had been issued within the 20 week timescale. 

Members sought and received clarifications on several matters such as the contingency plans in case of absence of Welfare/Education Support Officer, the number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who received home education and how the provision linked to “catch up” funding was being accessed by children at home, the waiting list for accessing support services for children with mental health issues, attendance of school representatives at Children in Need meetings, Covid-19 vaccination for members of staff at special schools, availability of Students Premium, measurability of personal educational plans.

RESOLVED: -

1.    That the content of the report be noted;

2.    That information about accessibility of services for children with mental health issues be brought to a future meeting of this committee;

3.    That evidence of how personal educational plans support children to achieve be brought to a future meeting of the committee.