Name

Minute

Reason

Interest

Councillor Alison Casey

46.  Plymouth Adult and Community Learning Service (PACLS

Son has an apprenticeship with PACLS

Private

(a)

an initial meeting with secondary school Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) had been held in October 2013, which represented most secondary schools;

(b)

the meeting had identified that there was a need to develop a more consistent approach to recognising and providing for students with dyslexic difficulties across the city;

(c)

a working group (Dyslexia Best Practice Group) had been established, comprising secondary school SENCOs, Councillor Jordan, the Principal Educational Psychologist and a secondary Leadership Associate SEN (Special Educational Needs);

(d)

a large amount of work was being carried out in secondary schools to identify dyslexia, however each school dealt with the issue in a different way;

(e)

some schools were not aware what help was available;

(f)

a leaflet which gave information and advice to parents was being developed;

(g)

a diagnosis of dyslexia had to be made by an Educational Psychologist, even though a substantial number of SEN teachers, in the group’s view, had the experience and qualifications to make the diagnosis.

Following discussions, it was noted that –

(h)

there was a possibility that deafness and dyslexia were connected;

(i)

the Dyslexia Working Group wished to stress that dyslexia was not a learning difficulty, it was ‘learning different’.

Agreed that Councillor Jordan would e-mail a draft copy of the dyslexia information leaflet to all Ambitious Plymouth members.

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PACLS had been inspected by OFSTED 12-15 November 2013 - one day’s notice had been given;

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the inspection covered all provision that had been delivered by the service, as well as the learning delivered by their Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) partners;

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the service had been graded overall as a 2 (a ‘good’ provider).  This was the first time the service had received higher than three;

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the service achieved ‘good’ grades across the board in areas including –

·         outcomes for learners;

·         quality of teaching, learning and assessment;

·         effectiveness of leadership and management;

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PACLS had high success rates in comparison with further education colleges in Plymouth;

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the reasons given by OFSTED for the service not yet being outstanding included –

·         teachers did not record the promotion of equality and diversity sufficiently in teaching and learning;

·         attendance was low;

In response to member’s questions it was reported that -

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the issue of equality and diversity was being addressed by PACLS;

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low attendance was due to a variety of factors outside the control of PACLS;

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a Quality Improvement Plan was in place, and a training day had been planned for February 2014 to address the shortcomings highlighted by OFSTED.

Agreed that the Quality Improvement Plan is provided to all Ambitious Plymouth Panel members.

The Chair thanked Tracy Hewett for her report and congratulated her on the recent successful OFSTED inspection.

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PACLS had now developed a full business plan for the establishment of a PSM;

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the business plan was positive, viable, and offered Plymouth the best chance of sustaining and growing adult learning in light of financial constraints on public services;

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formal approval for the establishment of the PSM had not yet been received from the Council:

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approval had been given by the Assistant Director for the new Company to be registered to meet the implementation timetable should the Council wish to proceed with the proposal;

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the Cabinet Office had provided legal support to identify the correct legal entity;

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it had been agreed that the new organisation would be a community interest company;

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if the plan to become a PSM was delayed beyond the implementation date of August 2014, the dynamics of the proposal would need to change considerably and it was unlikely the current proposal of full employee transfer could go ahead;

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there was concern amongst the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) partners about the progress of the proposal that may occur for them, if it did not meet the milestones outlined, to ensure adult learning could be sustained in the city.

In response to members’ questions it was reported that –

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PACLS worked alongside nine learning providers, who delivered 27 per cent of the training.  These providers instituted a Community Learning Trust.

Agreed that a further update would be provided to Ambitious Plymouth in August 2014.

The Chair thanked Tracy Hewett for her report.

(a)

the team had been re-named REACH Plymouth (Reducing Exploitation and Absence from Care and Home);

(b)

the BWise 2 Sexual Exploitation (BWise) programme trial with Year 9 students at Stoke Damerel Community College had been successful, and it was planned to continue this with other groups within the school;

(c)

the REACH team had met with ACE (Alternative Complementary Education) to discuss trialling the programme with them;

(d)

a leaflet entitled ‘Missing Child? Advice for parents and carers’ had been produced and members were given a copy for their perusal.

In response to members’ questions it was reported that –

(e)

a policy to deal with human trafficking was in place, but there had been no requirement to implement this yet.

Following a discussion, it was noted by Harry Samuels that the ‘Missing Child’ leaflets had been circulated at a Youth Parliament meeting and had received positive feedback. 

Agreed that any further information that was forthcoming from the team would be provided to Councillor Mrs Beer and the Democratic Support Officer.

The Chair thanked Elaine Shotton for her report.

(a)

Dr Clare Hamon, co-opted representative on SACRE, had been nominated to act as a non-statutory co-opted representative on Ambitious Plymouth.