Agenda item

Quarterly Performance Data

·       Quarter One (for information and questions)

·       Virtual School Head Update

Minutes:

The Executive Director for Children’s and Families presented the Quarterly Performance Data reporting to July 2024 noting that in their new role they are undertaking a review of what data is captured and reported upon stating all data must be meaningful and actionable.

 

As part of the ensuing discussion, the following questions and comments were noted:

 

·       The number of children in care is being reviewed regularly, particularly the number of high-cost placements and will be presented this Board as part of the quarterly reporting.

·       The Executive Director is reviewing the approach to foster carer recruitment to understand if improvements can be made to the offer. However, the Directorate is also a member of the North East Fostering Hub and are reviewing the impact of this work.

·       The Department for Education expects each region to develop a fostering hub, the Executive Director will be mindful of this within the review. 

·       Key indicators the Executive Director will be focusing upon include the stability of placements.  This will include a review of young people who have endured 3 or more placement moves.  Interestingly, the indicator for 2 or more years is positive, the Directorate are understanding the differences between the two indicators.

·       Young people in care who are in education, employment or training is critical data and another key performance indicator which contributes to a young person having positive experiences which are key to leading a thriving adult life. 

·       There is ongoing work to ensure that Separated Migrant Young People have access to suitable accommodation.

·       A Board member queried if there is a particular age range which require additional support more so than another age range.  The Executive Director replied that the data indicates a higher number of children aged between birth and 4 years old being looked after.  The initiation of the pre-birth assessment team is working hard to support these families, and the initial work is delivering positive outcomes.  The highest costing age range currently is adolescent's due to several high-cost placements. 

·       A Board member noted that data from Darlington Borough Council appeared positive and queried if any lessons can be learned by reaching out to discuss best practice.  The Executive Director or a Service Manager will reach out to Darlington Council as an ACTION and report back to the Board; NOTED.

 

The Virtual School Head provided an update to the Board informing members that their role is to work alongside children in our care/social care and educational establishments, to ensure all areas work together for the best interests of the young person in care.  A Personal Education Plan (PEP) is devised for every young person which the Virtual School manage and monitor this process.

 

As part of the ensuing discussion, the following questions and comments were noted:

 

·       The PEPs are quality assured internally by the Virtual School Team.  The team established a PEP quality group which includes officers from service areas outside of the Virtual School to add an additional layer of scrutiny ensuring a thorough and robust review of each PEP.  The quality and completion rate of PEPs is close to 100%.

·       Attendance at secondary up to the end of July was positive.  The team have worked closely with the Head of Post 16 Progression and Careers and upskilled all staff within the Virtual School giving them the skills to challenge schools regarding a young person in cares school attendance.  This has led to a significant improvement in attendance across reception to post 16 of 3%.

·       Secondary Schools and Academies across the borough do not have a standardised attendance end date.  Therefore, the Virtual School established a data cut off point of the 25 June going forward to ensure all data is comparable.

·       Concerns have been raised regarding the number of ‘lost learning days’ due to suspensions, these are either Fixed Term Exclusions (FTEs) or Permanent Exclusions (PEXs), brief details were shared with the Board.  The Virtual School work closely with schools to mitigate any PEXs where possible and overall PEX rates in this borough are low compared to national data.  Schools are undertaking lots more positive work to support young people in care such as identifying the need for trauma support.

·       The Chair asked for an explanation of what is meant by the ‘Quality of PEP’ ranking system.  The Virtual School Head explained the system ranks the robustness of each PEP and the timeliness of its completion.  For example, a gold PEP would be completed within deadlines and include smart targets that are measurable and achievable.

·       A Member further queried if this robust quality assurance system can be cross referenced to the young person’s outcomes, to establish if the new system has any impact upon their outcomes/results.  It was noted that this could be analysed after this academic year however the system is more focused upon best practice to ensure systems and processes are working effectively.  The Virtual School Head will report at the next meeting upon the number of PEPs within each ranking, ACTION.

·       The Virtual School Head informed the board about current vacancies within the team and movement of positions internally, this includes the appointment of a Data Manager which will support the team with more robust collection and analysis of data.

·       The portfolio of the Virtual School has expanded to include Children in Kinship Care.

·       The Vice Chair queried what work is taking place to support young people in care when they transition from primary to secondary school.  Historically a young person’s Year 6 Primary School transition plan was well supported but was not monitored from Year 7 Secondary school to ensure support continued.  Therefore, the Virtual School Head is working closely with colleagues in secondary schools to ensure those young people continue to be monitored, supported and any interventions required are actioned early.  This is now included within each PEP, NOTED.

Supporting documents: