This meeting was scheduled to receive reports about the educational inequality and disproportionality affecting students in Newham, school attainment and attendance, and child protection policies. It was also scheduled to scrutinise the performance data of the Children and Young People’s Services, and review and note the Commission’s work programme for the municipal year 2024/2025.

Educational Inequality and Disproportionality

A report¹ was scheduled to be considered that provides an overview of educational inequality and disproportionality in the Education system in Newham.

The report uses disproportionality ratios to illustrate disparities. For example:

if an ethnic group (as defined by the DfE) makes up 10% of all pupils but accounts for 25% of the exclusions or suspensions, their disproportionality ratio would be 25/10 = 2/5. This indicates that members of this group are 2.5 times more likely to face exclusions or suspensions than would be expected if these actions were evenly distributed among all ethnicities.

- Scrutiny Education Inequality Disproportioanlity CYPS Feb 2025

The report breaks down the disadvantage faced by students of different ethnic groups in Newham by a number of factors, including:

• Deprivation, measured by whether students are eligible for pupil premium grants²
• Special educational needs and disability (SEND), measured by whether students have an EHC plan³ or are receiving SEN support⁴
• School absence, including persistent absence. Persistent absence is defined as more than 10% of sessions missed (PA10) or more than 50% of sessions missed (PA50).
• Suspensions and permanent exclusions.
• Early years attainment, measured by the percentage of pupils achieving a good level of development.
• Key stage 2 attainment, measured by the percentage of pupils at the expected and higher standards in reading, writing, and maths.
• Key stage 4 attainment, measured by Attainment 8⁵, Progress 8⁶, and the percentage of students achieving at least a level 5 in English and maths.

The report concludes that White and Black Caribbean pupils are disproportionately disadvantaged against every factor. Other groups of children and young people are also disproportionately disadvantaged by multiple factors:

• Black Caribbean: deprivation, SEND, suspensions and exclusions
• Black African: deprivation, suspensions and exclusions
• White British: deprivation, SEND, school absence, attainment
• Gypsy/Roma: SEND, school absence

School Attainment and School Attendance

A report⁷ was scheduled to be considered that summarises school attainment and attendance in Newham in 2024. The report analyses data on:

• The percentage of pupils achieving a good level of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)
• The percentage of pupils passing the phonics screening check
• The percentage of pupils achieving the expected and higher standards in reading, writing, and maths at Key Stage 2
• Progress 8 and Attainment 8 scores, and the percentage of pupils achieving a level 5 or above in English and maths at Key Stage 4
• Average A-level point scores and the percentage of students achieving at least two A-levels at Key Stage 5
• The attainment of disadvantaged pupils, defined as pupils who are eligible for free school meals or have been looked after
• The attainment of children looked after at Key Stage 2
• The attainment of children with EHC plans

The report finds that attainment levels in Newham are above the national average in every stage of schooling for every measure except phonics. Newham's performance in phonics has fallen below the London average in recent years, potentially due in part to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

School Attendance

A report⁸ was scheduled to be considered that provides an overview of school attendance in Newham. The report provides data on attendance and persistent absence, broken down by primary and secondary school, and by different groups of pupils.

The report also describes the attendance support strategies used in Newham. This includes targeted attendance support meetings with schools, training and development for staff, simplified attendance procedures, a new Children Missing Education (CME) code of conduct, and a borough-wide attendance campaign.

Child Protection

A report⁹ was scheduled to be considered that provides an update on the progress being made in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in Newham. The report provides an overview of the number of children being supported by children's social care services, including children in need plans, child protection plans, and children in care.

The report also describes the governance arrangements for safeguarding children, including the Safeguarding Assurance Meetings, the Corporate Parenting Board, the Practice and Outcomes Board, and the Newham Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP).

The report goes on to describe the Circles of Support practice framework used in Newham. The report states that:

Circles of Support supports our vision for Newham to be a beacon of practice excellence, where social work practice is community-based, curious, confident, co-produced, compassionate and has a clarity of purpose. The Circles of Support practice framework has been developed to enable practitioners to work alongside families ensuring we privilege family group decision making, doing with and not to our families. We aim to ensure children are supported whenever possible in their family or kinship systems.

- ECYS Annual Child Protection Report 2023-24 Final

The report also provides information on performance management and quality assurance. The report finds that the quality of safeguarding and children in care services in Newham is good. The report states that:

This report provides assurance about the quality and effectiveness of safeguarding and children in care services provided through a range of performance and quality assurance measures that are in place to ensure that services to Newham's most vulnerable children are as safe as they can be.

- ECYS Annual Child Protection Report 2023-24 Final

Performance Dashboard

The Commission was also scheduled to consider the Children and Young People’s Services performance dashboard.¹⁰

Education Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission Work Programme

The Commission was scheduled to review and note its Work Programme for the municipal year 2024/2025.

ECYP Annual Work Programme 2024 2025

The Commission was scheduled to note the ECYP Annual Work Programme 2024 2025.