The Children's Select Committee met on 16 July 2025, to discuss Ofsted judgements, school attendance, the Schools Forum, the Corporate Parenting Panel, youth homelessness, educational performance, out of county education and the committee's forward work programme. The committee agreed to continue to receive the school Ofsted judgements as a regular report, and also agreed to receive a briefing on the new inspection framework. The committee also agreed to continue to receive the Working Together to Improve School Attendance report, and requested that longer term trends and a separate report on exclusions and trends be included.

School Ofsted Judgements

The committee discussed a report on school Ofsted judgements¹ in Wiltshire. Louise Lewis, Head of School Effectiveness, presented the report, highlighting key areas. The report included published outcomes for Section 5 inspections², showing that the quality of education judgements were above the national and south-west averages. However, the percentage of schools with outstanding judgements was lower than the national average, which was an area of focus for the council. Behaviour and attitudes were above the national average, and personal development outcomes were within the outstanding and good range. Leadership and management grades were also above the national average.

Councillor Jo Trigg asked about early years Ofsted inspections, where 20% of inspections required improvement. Louise Lewis responded that this was a priority for the south-west, and that she and Emma Cook, service manager for early years, were working on strategies to improve outcomes in word reading, writing, and maths.

Councillor Waitman asked about long-term trends in the data. Louise Lewis explained that changes in Ofsted's grading system made it difficult to compare data over time, but that she would look into how to get some continuity with the data.

Councillor John Hawkins asked about the support available for schools needing improvement in specific aspects of early years learning. Louise Lewis explained that the council had the capacity to work directly with maintained schools and that academy schools were the responsibility of the academy trust. She also said that the support could be delivered both in the classroom and through training courses.

Councillor Bates asked how a school with a Section 5 inspection showing improvement in some areas but weakness in others would be addressed under the new Ofsted framework. Louise Lewis explained that maintained schools would receive direct support from her team, while academy schools would be the responsibility of the academy trust. She also said that Ofsted would conduct monitoring visits to check that standards were improving.

Councillor Laura Mayes, Chairman of the Council, raised the issue of the low percentage of schools with outstanding judgements in Wiltshire. Louise Lewis responded that the council was focusing on schools with the potential to be outstanding and was taking headteachers to visit outstanding schools in other counties.

The committee resolved to continue to receive the school Ofsted judgements as a regular report and to receive a briefing on the new inspection framework. They also requested a glossary of terms to be included in future reports.

Working Together to Improve School Attendance

The committee discussed a report on working together to improve school attendance. Councillor John Hawkins introduced the report, summarising the activity that had taken place in the last year in response to changes to guidance that attendance is everybody's responsibility. He noted that the Education Welfare Service was key to this work, but that it extended well beyond that across education and skills.

Councillor Waitman asked about long-term trends in the data and whether there was a functional number at which the council could say that was the maximum achievable attendance. Councillor John Hawkins responded that the council had trend data for a significant period of time and compared itself to national averages as a benchmark.

Councillor Ross Henning asked about children who were excluded and suspended. Councillor John Hawkins responded that there was work focused on those children, including a behaviour support service and a subgroup that met every six weeks to review cases of young people who had been suspended with high rates of suspension.

Councillor Jo Trigg asked about safeguarding those young people who were persistently absent but just under the threshold for intervention. Councillor John Hawkins responded that schools were well placed to support those young people and that the Education Welfare Service would flag those cases and support the school in taking appropriate action.

Councillor Laura Mayes asked if there was any mechanism whereby attendance was generally reviewed and patterns picked up early, before intervention was required. Councillor John Hawkins responded that schools had a statutory obligation to have processes in place to pick up those children who started to be absent.

Councillor Fine asked about attendance figures for full days absence and what was done about pupils who were given a soft start. Councillor John Hawkins responded that absence was recorded over two sessions a day and that schools had to clarify when their registers opened and closed.

Councillor Mike Phillips asked if the council was doing any work to understand and record the reasons for absence, particularly in relation to bullying. Councillor John Hawkins responded that schools had to apply the statutory guidance and listen to the child and family to understand the barriers to attendance.

Councillor Denise Bates said that attendance data was looked at in detail in local schools and that she would be very interested to see the exclusion figures and the trend within Wiltshire, particularly compared to south-west and national figures.

Councillor Laura Mayes asked what was being done about the schools that were not engaging with Groupcall. Councillor John Hawkins responded that the council could still see a significant amount of attendance data for those schools and that he would be writing to the remaining schools to encourage engagement.

Councillor Laura Mayes asked about pupils with an EHCP³ and whether they were not attending school because the council had not got the right provision for them. Councillor John Hawkins responded that the attendance of children that attended special schools was really strong and that there was a lot of analysis that was done at a pupil-based level around those rates of EHCPs and their attendance. The committee resolved to continue to receive the Working Together to Improve School Attendance report, and particularly to include longer term trends and a separate report on exclusions and trends.

Department for Education Updates

The committee noted the Department for Education Updates.

Schools Forum

Councillor Stuart Palmen, Portfolio Holder for Schools, introduced the role of the Schools Forum, explaining that it was a statutory body that the council was required to consult on school funding, contracts and financial issues. He noted that the majority of the forum members were school members and that he and Councillor John Hawkins had attended a meeting where they had discussed the underfunding of Wiltshire relative to other areas.

Councillor Dominic Muns asked about the stakeholders for Lifting Wiltshire. Catherine responded that it was not a substantive group in its own right and that she would find some more information.

The committee resolved to continue to receive updates on the Schools Forum.

Corporate Parenting Panel

Councillor Sam Pearce-Kearney, Portfolio Holder for Safeguarding and Young People, introduced the role of the Corporate Parenting Panel, explaining that it was a multi-agency group that provided strategic oversight and worked to improve outcomes for children in care and care leavers. She highlighted the five strategic priorities from the council's 2023-26 corporate parenting strategy: relationships, a good place to live, fulfilling potential, being heard, and successful adulthood.

Councillor Laura Mayes said that she could highly recommend the Corporate Parenting Panel and had seen the changes that had been brought in to improve the lives of children who came into the council's care.

The committee resolved to receive an annual report on the Corporate Parenting Panel.

Voice and Participation Annual Report 2024-2025

The committee discussed the Voice and Participation Annual Report 2024-2025. Councillor Jo Trigg commented that the breadth of the work that the voice and participation team were doing was phenomenal and that she was particularly impressed with what was happening with the youth justice voice work and the additional work happening with young carers.

Councillor Laura Mayes said that she hoped that the new administration would continue to support the early intervention programme, as it had been proven to work in Wiltshire.

The committee resolved to receive an annual report on the Voice and Participation Annual Report 2024-2025.

Rapid Scrutiny - Youth Homelessness

The committee was asked to approve the final report of the youth homelessness rapid scrutiny group, which had been endorsed by the committee on 12 March 2025. The report had found that the support provided to a small number of children aged between 16 and 17 who were homeless or at risk of homelessness was not effective. The committee approved the report to enable it to be progressed to an executive response.

Executive Response Update - Educational Performance Outcomes Rapid Scrutiny

The committee received a progress report on the executive response to the report of the Educational Performance Outcomes Rapid Scrutiny Group. The committee requested that the separate primary and secondary education outcomes report comes in October for primary and EYFS⁴, and in March for secondary (GCSEs and A levels).

Rapid Scrutiny - Out of County Education Update

The committee discussed the rapid scrutiny of the out of county education update. It was agreed to receive a briefing in line with the recommendations in the report, with the time to be confirmed.

Forward Work Programme

The committee discussed the forthcoming work programme and agreed to wait to hear from the executive on their priorities before agreeing on the committee's forward work programme.

Urgent Items

There were no urgent items.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting was scheduled for 3 September 2025 in Kennet.