Knowsley’s Cabinet has agreed all the recommendations made by the Children’s Scrutiny Committee’s Task and Finish Review into Education in the borough.
The committee undertook a comprehensive examination of the educational journey from ‘Cradle to Career’ in Knowsley.
Cabinet has welcomed and endorsed all nine recommendations put forward by the Committee, outlining detailed actions and timelines for implementation.
Key highlights of the Cabinet’s response:
- Continue to support school collaborative arrangements and groups and increase communication with Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs)
- The Council school admissions team will encourage schools to actively support parents and carers to confirm free school meals (FSM) eligibility during enrolment to help ensure no child goes hungry and maximize pupil premium funding. Additionally, the Council will model the costs of extending FSM to all primary pupils in years 3 to 6.
- Analyse if increasing school preference options from three to five would improve parental satisfaction with school place allocation.
- Improve the completion rate of Personal Education Plans (PEPs) for children in care through social worker training and better handovers when staff change. Also, prioritise EHCP annual reviews specifically at the post-16 transition point.
- Develop the post-16 offer; promote the 100 new opportunities created through the Knowsley Apprenticeship Programme. The Council will partner with the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) and local Chambers of Commerce to encourage businesses to offer more placements in high-growth industries. Raise awareness of apprenticeships through schools to ensure parents and young people understand the breadth and value of apprenticeships.
- The Council will complete a full mapping exercise of current A-level sites, student travel patterns, and ‘geographic gaps’. These findings will be used by the Learning and Skills Board to support long-term planning and alignment with regional skills priorities.
- Embed school attendance and ‘smooth transitions’ (e.g primary to secondary) as core pillars of the new Education Strategy.
- Launch a Strategic Attendance Board to work with GPs, dentists, and hospitals to prioritize out-of-school appointments particularly for students in Year 6 and Year 11.
- Audit schools to understand the effectiveness of the whole school approach to mental health and ensure schools are aware of the Knowsley Open Gateway Service (KOGS) to help children and families get the care they need from counselling and support to help with mental health and wellbeing.
- Use the Family and Community Education (FACE) service to create specialised training for teaching support staff, particularly those working with children with additional needs.
Cllr David Lonergan, Knowsley Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said:
“We are committed to providing the highest quality learning and education provision to children and young people in Knowsley.
“We welcome and endorse all the recommendations made by the Children’s Scrutiny Committee and they will inform and help shape the new Education Strategy for Knowsley which is due to launch later this year.”
You can read both report on the Council’s website.