The meeting agreed its membership, terms of reference, dates of meetings, work program and scrutiny topic for the 2024-25 municipal year. The committee also noted the 2023 SACRE Annual Report and Quarter 3 performance report.

Scrutiny topic

The committee agreed to undertake a scrutiny review on the topic of attendance, with a particular focus on secondary schools. It was noted that while attendance was a national issue, it was still a major concern for Islington, particularly for girls in secondary schools who were experiencing emotional-based school avoidance. This included one school where 20% of one year group had been identified as experiencing this issue. The committee also wanted to understand the waiting times and waiting list for referrals to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)¹. It was felt that poor mental health might be contributing to poor attendance.

The committee felt that this topic would inevitably touch on other issues such as SEND, exclusions and the youth offer in Islington. However, members agreed that the review would focus on attendance, with the view that other concerns could be addressed in subsequent reviews.

SACRE Annual Report

The committee noted the 2023 SACRE Annual Report, which detailed the work of Islington Council’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE). The report highlighted that 96% of Islington schools were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted and there had been an increase in the number of pupils taking GCSE Religious Studies, from 497 in 2019 to 611 in 2023.

The committee raised a number of questions and concerns about the report. This included how the religious education curriculum was delivered in the 40% of schools not required to follow the locally agreed syllabus. This included Free Schools and Academies.

The committee were also concerned about the number of children achieving a grade 3 or lower in their GCSE Religious Studies. It was acknowledged that pupils who achieve a lower grade will still have benefited from their studies. However, the committee requested a breakdown of what a student achieving a level 3 in GCSE Religious Studies would have gained from the experience.

The committee also raised the need for greater collaboration with governors on attendance, and noted that the report referenced 2011 census data rather than the most recently available figures from the 2021 census.

Quarter 3 Performance Report

The committee noted the Quarter 3 Performance Report, which provides a snapshot of the performance of children’s services during the period January to March 2024. This included a range of performance indicators such as the number of children who are looked after, the number of children who are subject to a child protection plan, the number of children who have been excluded from school, and the number of children who are persistently absent.

The report identified a number of challenges facing the council, including the continuing rise in the number of children who are persistently absent from school, the impact of the cost of living crisis, the rise in the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities, and the increase in demand for children’s social care services. There was also a rise in the number of children being re-referred to Children's Social Care.

The committee noted that the number of exclusions and suspensions in the borough were still higher than in other inner London boroughs, but also acknowledged that this had improved significantly since the previous year. It was noted that a small number of schools, with particular demographics, were disproportionately affecting the overall borough figures. Members expressed an interest in finding out if there were economic or geographical factors that correlated with poor attendance, but officers responded by stating that there was no such correlation and that it was an issue facing every school in the borough.

There was some discussion about the effectiveness of Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), including how their role was changing to incorporate more preventative and outreach work.

The committee heard that 10 victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)² had been supported by the council during the reporting period. Members were reassured by this, as they felt that this was likely to be a small percentage of the actual number of victims and that this figure indicated that the council were successfully engaging with victims of this practice.