Scrutiny driving forward to enhance services for local children

Shropshire Council’s Safe and Confident Communities Scrutiny Committee have agreed to set up a task and finish group to look at ways to help improve the attainment of pupils receiving free school meals.

A learning and skills report highlighted at last week’s scrutiny committee meeting  explained that overall, there were high standards of educational attainment in Shropshire.  It had been noted that the attainment of some pupils on free school meals had not improved at the same rate as in other areas. 
 
For this reason it was suggested that a task and finish group be established to look at matter in detail and come up with recommendations to improve this. 

Members of the committee welcomed the suggestion and requested that the task and finish group also look at the take-up rates for free school meals, particularly in small rural primary schools.   Although Shropshire’s take up is high (80%), the committee agreed that the council should not be complacent, and agreed it was important for those families entitled to receive free school meals registered for them, even if they did not have them. Registration would also trigger the additional pupil premium, which would mean additional funding for schools from Government for disadvantage children. 

The committee also considered a report highlighting the overall performance of children’s social care and the work being done in addressing recommendations from the recent positive reports from Ofsted for children’s services including social care, schools and early years.

Members offered congratulations on the good news contained in the Quarterly 2 report. Chair of the committee, Councillor Joyce Barrow, also drew attention to the significant improvement in the timeframe of completing children’s assessments.  This quarter, 95% of initial and core assessments were completed, exceeding the quarterly target of 92%.

Councillor Joyce Barrow, Chair of the Safe and Confident Communities Scrutiny Committee, said:

“Our services for children and young people have made significant achievements considering the pressures we are facing, and I would like to say a big thank you to the staff for their hard work and dedication in such challenging times.

“However, there are always areas where we can improve. This is why our committee has unanimously agreed to form a task and finish group to address issues around the attainment of children who are receiving school meals.”

“The health, well-being and education of Shropshire’s children and young people is an absolute priority and the Safe and Confident Communities Scrutiny Committee are committed to ensuring that services for children and young people are as good as they can possibly be.”

A prospective member of the Youth Parliament also attended the meeting and wanted to know what the council was doing to encourage smaller businesses to take on young people as apprentices.  The Corporate Director – People gave an example of a project underway in Ludlow to address these issues.

Notes to Editor

Over the last year Shropshire Council has received several positive reports for children’s services from Ofsted.  This included excellent Ofsted reports received in the last few months for the council’s three children’s homes.  One was rated outstanding, with the other two rated as good, with some areas outstanding.  The council also received a 3 out of 4 rating in its annual assessment for children’s services, exceeding the national minimum requirements.  The council was also given a ‘good’ report for services for looked-after children.