Agenda item

A report from the Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group, which met on 14 November 2013, is attached. This,

·         reports the outcomes of a progress review undertaken by the Further Education in the Salisbury Area Task Group 18 months after its final report was endorsed by Committee.

·         presents further recommendations from the Task Group, based on the latest position, for Committee endorsement and referral to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services for response.

This agenda item was included on the Committee’s 3 December agenda. However, when a draft version of the Task Group’s progress report was circulated to providers for comment, some of their responses impacted on members’ initial findings and recommendations quite significantly. It was therefore decided that more time was required to consider the report’s content and this was approved by Committee. A revised version of the report was subsequently circulated to providers and a number of further  comments received. Members considered these and the final version attached reflects their conclusions.

The Committee is asked to endorse the report and refer it to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services for response.

The Chairman introduced the item and reminded members that the item had been included on the agenda for previous Committee in December 2013. The Committee deferred the item to allow additional time to consider the draft report and its recommendations.

Dr Mike Thomson, Chairman of the Task Group, outlined the findings of the follow up from the Task Group’s final report. It was noted that some comments provided by the Wessex Partnership were received too late for members to consider them as part of the report. The following comments were therefore made to the Committee:

- Grammar schools have a large scale and highly successful collaboration in place, providing a very broad Level 3 curriculum, catering for approximately 700 students. The curriculum offer and student performance, results in a considerable net influx of post 16 students to the Salisbury Area from other parts of Wiltshire and from other counties too.

- Cross partner working exists across Grammar Schools which already provide Careers and HE Fairs to which all local post-16 providers are invited to attend for both KS4 and KS5 students, including an Oxbridge Evening, periodic lectures and workshop events. Wiltshire College also provides HE Fairs to promote HE options.

- Avon Valley College and The Stonehenge School had agreed a vision for a collaborative sixth form in the Salisbury Plain area for the young people of Amesbury and Durrington and the neighbouring communities. The two schools agreed that a proposed collaborative Sixth Form Centre would enable more Avon Valley College students to stay on and would also encourage students from The Stonehenge School to access their local provision. The schools noted that the population of the local area would increase significantly in the coming years due to local developments.

- Due to the planned significant military influx, greater pressure will be placed on local providers to deliver post-16 provision. The aforementioned joint venture between AVC and Stonehenge will be difficult to achieve without major capital investment. Schools (and in particular 11-16 schools) find it difficult to maintain accurate, up-to-date data regarding post-16 students and would benefit from a formalised mechanism for returning data to us that ensure its detail and accuracy.

- Wiltshire College reported that every year they contract an external company to survey new students regarding the route they followed to the College. Many of the students report poor experiences of Independent Advice and Guidance (IAG), with the Apprenticeship route being particularly neglected in the guidance students have received. The College suggested that, in this light, the take-up of Apprenticeships in the south of the county as compared with the national average deserves investigation.

The Committee discussed the comments that had been made by Schools, focussing in particular on the number of students that commute to out of county providers for post 16 provisions. The Committee discussed how providers could innovate and work together to ensure the breadth and range of provisions available across the region. The Committee discussed information sharing exercises with independent schools to identify best practice arrangements. The Committee then discussed the payment of travel expenses to those students who travel out of/ into county. It was confirmed that a 16-19 bursary, was available to support young people who travel to receive their provision.

The Committee discussed curriculum planning arrangements and it was noted that a recent OFSTED inspection had found this area to be lacking across the county, with regard to the necessary independent advice that young people require.

Resolved:

1.     To refer the following recommendations to the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services:

a.     Wiltshire Council to produce a statement detailing its specific responsibilities as a school sponsor, as opposed its general educational responsibilities as a local authority.

b.    The local authority work with Avon Valley College and The Stonehenge School to develop joint local post-16 provision.

c.     Because the disparity in funding received by Wiltshire and Hampshire for post-16 education remains, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Chairman of the Children’s Select Committee to write a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Education and the Secretary of State for Skills and Lifelong Learning to draw attention to, and request a review of this situation.

2.     That the Children’s Select Committee explore the role of the local authority in helping providers to coordinate their post-16 marketing, Independent Advice and Guidance (IAG), and curriculum planning and delivery.

3.     To receive an Officer report at the first meeting of the Children’s Select Committee in 2015, to update against the original objectives of the Task Group and recommendations 1 a-c (above).