Agenda item

To receive the report of the Director of Children and Community Services. 

The Board reviewed the report of the Director of Children & Community Services presenting Members with the list of actions selected from the City of London Corporation’s new Education Strategy 2024-29, for implementation in the 2024/25 academic year. 

In response to a Member request that each meeting agenda item be linked to an element of the Strategic Plan, the meeting heard that each agenda item would be linked to its relevant strategic point in future reports. 

A Member asked whether measures of success and/or impact could be built into the actions set out in the paper. The meeting noted that a measurement matrix with KPIs was shared with the Board at the June 2024 meeting. 

A Member commented that some priorities appeared to be the responsibility of schools, particularly ‘Educational Excellence’, and that the CoLC can deliver added value to other priorities, especially around engaging the whole CoLC in playing a part in improving employability and improving life chances, referencing in particular section 11 of the report.

The meeting noted that ‘Educational Excellence’ areas of strategic action and outcome specify the CoLC’s input potential rather than encroaching upon schools’ areas of responsibility.

Referencing section 9 (funding), a Member asked for an update on the involvement of the City Premium Grant (CPG) on the strategy actions.  The meeting noted that initiatives are under way at CoLAT to ensure that the CPG application process is more systemised and better rationalised and optimised to generate efficiencies and additionality via the newly created partnerships co-ordinator position at CoLAT.

Members noted that the CPG is partly needs-based and that some schools have asked whether there should be a metric that recognises the increasing number of EHCPs in a school, noting that Local Authority funding for EHCP children does not cover the cost of handling those needs and is not provided in a timely manner, and that schools that acquire a reputation for excellence in special needs tend to experience rising demand for those services thereby incurring further costs and eroding schools’ capacity to deliver additionality. Members noted that any alteration to CPG scope and remit would involve revisiting the Tomlinson Review.   

The meeting noted that no activity would be eligible if it is not aligned with one of the priorities as set out.

Members commented on the urgency around the need for the CoLC to co-ordinate a joined-up strategy focussing on City-based employers providing more opportunities for students. The meeting noted that conversations are ongoing within the CoLC to convene key entities to deliver better opportunities for City school children through a more focussed centralised initiative, including work placements, and that the issue has been live for many years with little clear progress being made so far for a range of reasons, though good work is under way to deliver significant improvements in that space.  A report on CoLC’s new capacity for this work will be provided to Education Board meeting by HR Officers.

A Member commented on the potential benefits of asking Common Councillors to bring forward a relevant business contact for those purposes, and suggested that there is merit in arranging for students to spend time in a workplace while doing school work or undertaking work-related activities as a way of experiencing the workplace in a different way.

A Member thanked the executive for organising such a successful Leavers’ event in spring 2024.