20 February 2018 weekly update

Dear colleagues

The Education People

As we draw ever closer to April, the launch plans for The Education People are well under way.

A team has taken The Education People, Kent County Council’s new educational services company, on the road. From Ashford International’s Early Years Conference, to Manchester’s Northern Education and Academies Show, the reception to the new brand, exciting opportunities and the focus on our relationships with schools, settings and further education establishments has been very well received.

It is the aim of the company to work closely with Kent schools, settings and further education establishments to ensure it is providing the best quality at a reasonable price. With responsive staff and innovative ideas, the company will be able to ensure longevity of the services valued the most.

Between now and April, the company are working on a new website to make searching much more straight forward, to access both traded and statutory services, as well as reading latest blog posts, accessing online resources and logging into CPD.

I know that the Education People is looking forward to continuing the great relationships with Kent schools, settings and further education establishments, by providing reliable high quality products and support.

Please share information about The Education People with your peers and colleagues, and keep an eye out for newsletters and social media updates from The Education People Services over the next few months. In the meantime, if you have any questions or queries around The Education People, please contact the team at hello@theeducationpeople.org.

Kent County Council and Kent Police resume operation to tackle truancy and gangs

Kent County Council's School Attendance Officers and Kent Police Officers have resumed their joint anti-truancy operation, which had not been carried out in Kent for nearly 10 years.

The operation of regular truancy sweeps started again this month with the first day of the operation stopping 16 school-aged children in the Folkstone area during the school hours. Among them, seven children were with their parents when they were stopped. The reasons given for missing school included illness, exclusion and medical appointments.

One grandparent was challenged by officers as to why her grand-daughter was shopping with her when the child’s mother had told staff the pupil had flu and was too ill to attend school.

A Year 12 pupil was found in the town centre after he was excluded from a local Secondary School. The youngster was warned by the officers that by law an excluded student must not be in any public place during school hours. KCC is considering taking legal action against the parents for allowing him to be in the town centre while being excluded. For such an infringement, parents can be fined by the Local Authority.

A six-year-old girl was found with her mother, who explained the child had headlice and was therefore unable to attend school. The mother was advised by the officers that it is not necessary to keep a child off school for this reason. The Local Authority’s School Liaison Officer later also advised the school about this.

In the past three years, school attendance rate in Kent has improved with an overall Primary attendance rate of 96% and Secondary schools of 95%.

In a local press article last week, I was quoted: “Maximum attendance is key to benefiting from the good teaching and learning opportunities provided by the schools. Government research indicates a significant negative link between overall absence and attainment, with every day missed associated with lower attainment outcomes.

“Pupils at Key Stage 2 (School Years 3 to 6) and Key Stage 4 (School Years 10 and 11) with no absence were found to be 1.6 times more likely to achieve level 4 or above, and 4.7 times more likely to achieve level 5 or above, than pupils that missed 15-20% of all sessions. We believe children’s good attendance record is integral to enabling children to fulfil their potential. We support schools’ efforts to improve pupils’ attendance.”

Sergeant Simon Drew from Kent Police added: “Children who miss school and frequent public places during school hours do not only miss the educational opportunities, they are also at risk of being drawn into crimes, drugs and anti-social behaviours.

“Some young people who are excluded or are truanting become the target of criminal gangs. They are the most vulnerable young people. Kent Police has the shared interest with the Local Authority to reduce the number of school children missing education or being excluded from school.”

I would like to thank you for your continued support in tackling this important issue.

Matt Dunkley CBE
Corporate Director
Children, Young People and Education