Agenda and draft minutes

Members of this group are asked to consider if they have any interest in any of the matters on the Agenda and if so to formally declare that interest.

Councillor Walsh declared an interest as she is the Acting Head of Learning Support at Holy Cross.

Minutes of the meeting held on 07^th July 2020 are attached.

It was agreed:

The minutes of the meeting held on 07^th July 2020, be approved as a correct record.

It was agreed:

1.   An action tracker is produced for future meetings

2.   To re-circulate the report on recovering the Education System to members.

3.   To circulate the report on summer activities

Presentation covering the following topics to be provided by Sandra Bruce, Assistant Director Early Help & School Readiness, Tony Decrop, Assistant Director, Social Care & Safeguarding and Julien Kramer, Interim Assistant Director Education & Inclusion.

•         Impact of Covid-19

•         Early Help

•         Education

•         Social Care

•         Ofsted Update

Julien Kramer, Interim Assistant Director Education & Inclusion, Sandra Bruce, Assistant Director Early Help & School Readiness and Tony Decrop, Assistant Director Social Care & Safeguarding provided a presentation to the Safeguarding Sub-Committee.

The presentation covered the following topics; Impact of Covid-19; Early Help; Education; Social Care and Ofsted Update.

Following the presentation the Committee were invited to ask questions and the following themes emerged:

Private Nurseries:

Questions were raised regarding private nurseries and how they are coping through COVID-19. They have been supported to bid for grants and no settings have had to close due to financial difficulties at this moment in time. Private Nurseries and their sustainability is continuing to remain a high priority for the Council and has been flagged to the Department for Education when suitable.

Participation with Parents:

The justice system throughout lockdown has been an issue as many parents have limited access to facilities to adequately participate in online meeting. Tony Decrop confirmed that this was an issue in March 2020- May 2020 however as the pandemic progressed the meetings which are deemed reasonable to do so are now taking place in person with robust risk assessments.

Safeguarding:

Child Protection Conferences are taking place in Knowsley Place with TV screens to engage with partners digitally to ensure everyone is in participation where needed. The hybrid hearings are now established so parents and all needed participants are in attendance.

Learning and Inclusion:

When the Distance Learning Review takes place to consider both the pros and cons of following a Teams Style Google Classroom approach for every school. This can then ensure if groups or year groups of students have adequate access to an online platform should they have to isolate.

Risk Assessments:

Inconsistency and difference of Risk assessments was also discussed. The risk assessments were done early and some schools have regularly updated these and this is why there are different practices across schools.

It was agreed:

1.   Sandra Bruce to find out more information on the Mosses and Sure Start Centre as Nursey Provision to update on.

2.   Sandra Bruce to provide the Committee with information on the summer activities offered to children in the Borough.

3.   Councillor Walsh and Julien Kramer to pick up any specific issues surrounding the online learning platforms outside of the meeting

4.   To note the hard and difficult work that teachers currently face around protocols and dealing with children and young people

5.   To note thanks to staff and Head Teachers in schools

Items for the next meeting were discussed. The following items are to be brought to a future committee.

It was agreed:

1.   An update on the OFSTED Report to be brought.

2.   Distance Learning Review

3.   Update on School improvement

There was no urgent items.