Newcastle Schools Forum
Minutes and Actions
1 December 2015
Members
Name
Position
In attendance
School Members
Academy Group
Philomena Marshall
Executive Principal, Excelsior Academy

Hugh Robinson
Principal, Gosforth Academy

John Foster
St Mary’s Catholic School
Craig Taylor
Excelsior Academy
David Pearmain
Kenton School
Diocesan Rep
Barbara Redhead
(Chair)
Central Walker

Early years Private, Voluntary and Independent Sector
Claire Robson
Cooperative Childcare PVI Sector

Governors

Anne-Marie EllisonWardlaw
Atkinson Road Nursery School
Sheila Ross
Secondary Maintained

Anne Stoker
Ashfield Nursery School

Anne Humble
Monkchester Rd Nursery
Nursery
Primary Maintained

Deborah Ashcroft
(Reserve)
Regent Farm First School
Judy Cowgill
Headteacher, Hawthorn Primary School

Aidan Duffy
Headteacher, St John Vianney

Gary Wallis-Clarke
Headteacher, West Jesmond Primary
School

Heather Campbell
Canning Street Primary School
Lee Gallon
Farne Primary
Pupil Referral Unit
Jeff Lough
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Headteacher, Linhope PRU
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Name
Position
In attendance
Secondary Maintained
Neil Walker
Headteacher, Benfield School
Tim Stout
Gosforth East Middle School

Apologies
received
Special School
Margaret Dover
Headteacher, Newcastle Bridges

Diane Scott (Reserve)
Thomas Bewick School

Jo Chalder-Wood
NASUWT

John Hall (reserve)
NASUWT

Lori Ashbridge
Unison
Non-school Members
Trade Union
In attendance
Ewen Weir
Director of Wellbeing, Care and Learning
(Local Authority)

Dean Jackson
Commissioner for Curriculum and Learning
(Northumberland Council on behalf of the
Local Authority)

Ged Gray (In
attendance for item 4)
HR (Local Authority)

Anne Calvert (In
attendance for Item 4)
HR (Local Authority)

Anna Snowdon
Finance Partner (Local Authority)

Deb Tyler
Education School Services Manager (Local
Authority)

Gemma Gill
Minute Taker (Local Authority)

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Minutes
No.
Item
Action
1
Apologies
1.1
Apologies were noted from Tim Stout. It was also noted that Nicola NelsonTaylor has stepped down as a Primary Rep for Newcastle Schools Forum.
2
Minutes of the previous meeting
2.1
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a true and accurate
record.
3
Matters arising
3.1
There were no matters arising.
4
Living Wage
4.0
G. Gray gave a presentation in relation to Living Wage which outlined the
following
 Historical context
 Current position on pay
 Understanding the “new” National Living Wage
 Foundation Living Wage v Newcastle Living Wage
 Data Analysis – Impact on schools based jobs
 Emerging issues
 Considerations for the future
It was agreed that working groups will be formed for Primary, Secondary
and Special heads to work alongside HR colleagues to look at evaluating
jobs that are to be affected. A presentation will be delivered to all
Headteachers and information will be sent to all Governing bodies in spring
term.
Presentation is attached below
Agenda item 4 Pay
briefing workshop slides.pdf
5
Falling Rolls
5.0
D. Tyler presented the report and noted that the Forum are asked to
approve the establishment of a Falling Rolls Fund, agree the proposed
criteria for schools and academies accessing funding allocated for Falling
Rolls and approve the funding required within the schools block for 2016/17.
5.1
The following queries were raised
 Can an overview of surplus capacity in Newcastle schools be
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provided and what is the longer term picture?
 Is the proposal about falling rolls or maintaining surplus capacity?
 How many schools would meet the criteria?
The Forum felt that further clarification was required therefore, the decision
will be deferred to the January meeting.
6
Syrian Refugees
6.1
D. Tyler presented a report on the Vulnerable Family Resettlement
Programme. Newcastle City Council have publicly committed to taking in
Syrian refugee families as part of the national commitment to rehome
20,000 Syrian refugees over the next 5 years, with overall numbers coming
to Newcastle to be confirmed.
D. Tyler noted that initially 8 families have just arrived in Newcastle which
include up to 30 children from ages 0 – 18. All school age children and
young people up to Y11 will be placed in a school as soon as possible. This
will follow the usual in-year admissions process and managed to find the
most appropriate place for family groups based on distance to their
proposed housing and the support available from those schools. Young
people aged 16+ will be supported by Connexions and are likely to be
enrolled on ESOL provision at Newcastle College. Home Office funding has
been allocated and the first year costs are covered (details regarding year 2
and beyond awaited but government has confirmed some additional funding
will be made available).
It is proposed to split the funding available to support education between
schools and central education services. The allocation to schools would be
made in line with the elements linked to relevant “additional need” elements
within the school funding formula plus the equivalent of pupil premium and
for the provision of free school meals (all families will be registered for and
entitled to benefits on arrival). The amounts proposed are shown in the table
below.
Pupil
premium
(FSM 6)
Primary
(R/KS1/2)
£1,320
Secondary £935
(KS3/4)
EAL
FSM (190 x
FSM cost)
Total
Proposed
allocation
£518.99
£437
£2,275.99
£2,300
£518.99
£503.50
£1957.49
£2,000
For pupils with identified special educational needs (following assessment),
there will be an opportunity to apply for additional funding from within the
Council’s overall allocated funding or directly to the Home Office.
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The following comments and queries were made:

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
7
We want to and should be a city (and schools) that welcome refugees
Funding from Home Office welcomed but also underlines existing issues
about the fact that there is no funding for schools who take in pupils all
year round outside this programme who have similar needs until the
pupils-led funding kicks in which could possibly be up to 18 months later
Discussion regarding period for which funding to schools intended to
cover – if more than a year but only 1 year funding. There is a potential
period of between 6 and 17 months (2 - 4.5 terms) before pupil-led
funding based on October Census would be allocated via the school
funding formula. Funding could therefore be applied as a single full year
allocation regardless of the start date or allocated on a pro rata basis
linked to the start date. The advantage of the former method is that it
would allow schools to plan more effectively and address the short term
needs of pupils arriving but either model could be applied. Information
about the way funding will be allocated to the City Council has only
arrived today but indicates that the initial allocation (only a child is
registered at a school) would be 22% of the total amount with the
remainder being paid over the following 6 months. We need to consider
how to ensure that schools have security about their funding to
employ/buy additional support but that the risk of not getting the full
allocation (e.g. if families left/pupils moved school) could be managed.
Disapplication from Performance tables – query whether what was
stated in the report was correct. This has been followed up and
confirmed that it is current DfE guidance that pupils arriving after the
start of Y5 or Y10 (who meet the relevant criteria) can be discounted
from KS2/KS4 performance tables if the school applies to do so
Others noted that while disapplication was OK for published performance
tables, Ofsted used provisional RAISE on-line data to identify schools
that they view as a risk regarding reinspection, as we are currently
experiencing. This could still have a negative impact on schools
Positive response that we would need to retain some funding centrally
and that as the scheme expanded Kaleidrascope were likely to need
more resources as already stretched
Early Years funding – query about no allocated funding for 0-3 year olds
from Home Office so how would 2 year old places be funded? There is a
different funding mechanism for EYs for 2,3 and 4 year olds, therefore
pupils would be funded anyway via termly headcount so providers would
not experience the same funding time lag as is the case for school
places
Post-16 provision –query about why ESOL/Newcastle College identified
as likely option for post-16 pupils as schools could provide a better offer.
This will be fed back to Education services involved in support to ensure
that all appropriate provision considered.
Director’s Update
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7.0
E. Weir noted that he is aware there are significant concerns within the
Newcastle Schools around the current changes within the Education
Division, he assured the Forum that he is fully committed to working in
strong partnership with the Schools and by the end of the week he will be in
a position to provide an update on how we move forward with the
outstanding issues that have been raised.
7.1
E. Weir gave a presentation which outlined the Local Authority’s budget
savings over the next year. (Copy of the Presentation is attached)
E. Weir highlighted that overall the Local Authority have already taken a
cumulative total of £191m out of its budget to date and it is anticipated that a
further saving of £100m is required over next three year, £30m of this is
anticipated for 2016/17. E. Weir stressed that this is a huge task and
presents us with some difficult challenges and choices ahead.
E. Weir also highlighted the Wellbeing Care and Learning Directorate
budgets and proposed savings for 16/17.
Dean Jackson then gave an overview of Northumberland’s approach to the
Government Spending Review and provided a more detailed overview of the
Spending review in Newcastle.
Agenda Item 7
Directors Update. Presentation.pptx
7.2
At the last Schools Forum meeting a concern was raised in relation to a
drop in FSM entitlement that Schools have been experiencing. D. Jackson
explained that a shift in government policy that encourages employment has
resulted in an increase in the number of people in employment in
Newcastle. It was also highlighted that people whose income is topped up
through receipt of working tax credits are not eligible for FSM.
While the numbers of pupils ceasing to be entitled to FSM has decreased,
the impact on pupil premium due to pupils coming off FSM would be less
severe as FSM6 is used for pupil premium entitlement.
The following work is also being undertaken by the Local Authority to
increase the FSM take up
 Improving the quality of the data we collect from families to ensure that
all eligible families can access FSM.
 Simplifying the application process for all passported benefits.
 Looking at families rather than individuals to ensure that all eligible
children are claiming, e.g. by cross referencing across EYPP, UIFSM
and FSM claims.
 Working with revenue and benefits section to try to target families that
are eligible but not claiming.
D. Tyler noted that in response to the introduction of UIFSM, a different
approach to eligibility checking was introduced so that as long as schools
collected relevant data from parents, including NI numbers, these could be
batch processed and checks carried out for ALL pupils. As a result of this,
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significant numbers of additional pupils eligible for FSM had been identified
who would attract more pupil premium funding into the city’s schools. Other
LAs have seen a reduction in eligibility due to parents not applying because
of universal entitlement.
8
Quarter 2 Budget Monitor
8.0
A. Snowdon spoke to the report highlighting that the overall position for
quarter 2 is a deficit of £1.312m then noting the breakdown below –
Schools block and Early Years block are currently projecting a year end
breakeven position
High Needs Block is projecting a net deficit position of £1.312m. This can be
covered by the carry forward from 2014/15. Of the projected deficit, £0.405
relates to Post-16 activity and specific teaching support to High Needs
pupils. It was also noted that the final DSG allocation for 15/16 has not
changed and remains at £196.759m which is in line with projections used
when constructing school budget allocations.
B. Redhead noted that discussions have taken place with the Local
Authority regarding the urgency of the work required around the High Needs
Block, PRU and ARCs. It is important that work takes place to make these
budgets sustainable before the new financial year.
9
S251 Budget Data Benchmarking
9.0
A. Snowdon presented the report detailing top-line figures from the annual
Section 251 budget return to the DfE. Appendix A to the report provides a
summary to the main sub-totals within the benchmarking tables and
compares the figures for Newcastle to the England Average, Statistical
Neighbour average and North East average.
A. Snowdon noted that while the Individual School Budget figure was ranked
2nd highest out of 12 North East authorities this is consistent with the fact
that in comparison to other authorities Newcastle has a lower level of
centrally retained budgets with more funding distributed through the School
and Early Years formula process.
10
Central Budgets
10.0
Clarification was requested on membership voting rights, therefore, all
decisions will be deferred to the January meeting.
Action G. Gill to email B. Redhead the Schools Forum membership and voting
rights sheet to review.
11
Any other business
11.0
B. Redhead noted that it was Margaret Dover’s and Philomena Marshall’s
last ever forum meeting, B. Redhead thanked them both for all their hard
work and contribution to the work of the Forum over the years.
11.1
B. Redhead also thanked all Local Authority Officers who were involved in
collating the reports and who have recently been providing support to the
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Forum.
Date of next meeting: 19 January 2016
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Actions Summary
1 December 2015
Actions from Current Meeting
Date Raised
1.12.15
Ref
Action
Action
Owner
10.0
G. Gill to email B. Redhead the Schools Forum
membership and voting rights sheet to review.
GG/B
R
Progress
Completion
Status
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