This meeting of Bradford Council's Children's Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee is expected to receive updates on a range of topics. The committee is likely to be asked to approve its work programme for the rest of the municipal year. It is also expected to consider reports on educational attainment across the district and the performance of the Holiday Activities and Food programme.

Raising Attainment

The committee will receive a report on educational attainment in Bradford. The report pack includes statistics on the results achieved by children in the district at Key Stage 2, 4 and 5¹. The report acknowledges that the overall results in Bradford are not good enough, but says that:

It is clear that the strategies outlined in the Next Steps sections of this paper, in conjunction with the strategies that schools themselves employ, are having more of an impact on primaries than on secondaries.

The report attributes the relative success of primary school pupils to the work of the Bradford Priority Outcome Area Group, the success of initiatives like the Launchpad for Literacy programme and the continued work of the Maths and Literacy Hubs. It says that attainment at Key Stage 5 is now in line with national averages and that the Council intends to:

...work with our post-16 providers to support them with Ofsted inspections.

The report also highlights the work that has been done in Bradford as part of the national Priority Education Investment Area (PEIA) programme. It says that many solutions to underperformance start in the classroom and are already being implemented in schools .

Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF)

The committee will receive a report on the performance of the Holiday Activity and Food programme. The programme is funded by the Department for Education and aims to provide free holiday club places for school children in families that receive benefits-related free school meals. The report pack says that the programme was delivered across the district in the summer of 2024, and that 12,641 children took part in a wide range of activities including:

• 1,241 Sport Related
• 170 Nature Related
• 561 Art Related
• 721 Social Related
• 311 Education Related
• 250 Food Related
• 31 Culture Related
• 59 Music Related
• 652 Family Related

The report says that there are 30,000 children in Bradford who are eligible for free places on the programme. It goes on to discuss the challenges the programme faces, particularly that funding is due to run out at the end of March 2025:

In the event that the funding does not continue for 2025, our disadvantaged children will miss out on fantastic opportunities and some of our VCSE providers may cease to operate.

The report also highlights the problem of non-attendance:

...providers experience issues with non-attendance. To mitigate this, they subscribe an additional 10% over their planned cohort size. This does not fully resolve the issue and during the summer of 2024 841 children booked a place and subsequently did not attend the provision.

Work Programme

The committee will consider its work programme for the rest of the municipal year 2024/25. The report pack includes a draft work programme for the committee that covers a wide range of topics, including the following:

• Bradford Children's and Families Plan. This sets out the Children's Trust's plans for improving the lives of children and families in Bradford.
• Persistent Absence across schools in the Bradford District. The committee has already agreed to conduct a scrutiny review of this issue.
• Health Services to Looked After Children. This report will examine the quality of healthcare received by children who are looked after by the local authority.
• National Review Action Plan. This is the plan produced by the Council in response to the recent national review of children's social care services.
• Sufficiency Strategy. This will cover the Council's plans for ensuring there are enough places for children in care in the district.
• Supporting Families Programme. This is a national programme that provides support to families with multiple problems.
• Raising Attainment Strategy. This is the Council's strategy for raising educational attainment in Bradford.
• Holiday Activity Programme. This is a report on the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
• Home School Transport. This report will look at the Council's provision of home-to-school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
• SEND Services. This report will examine the quality of SEND services in Bradford.
• Outdoor Education Centres. This report will look at the Council's provision of outdoor education centres.
• Audit findings relating to the quality of Social Work Practice. This report will present the findings of an audit of social work practice in Bradford.
• Bradford District Children and Young People Strategy. This is the Council's strategy for improving the lives of children and young people in Bradford.
• Children's and Young Peoples Mental Health and Well Being. This report will examine the provision of mental health services for children and young people in Bradford.
• Educational Standards - Early Years to Key Stage 4. This report will look at the standards of education in Bradford from early years to Key Stage 4.

The report pack says that best practice suggests that:

...work programming should be a continuous process

It goes on to say that the committee will regularly review its work programme throughout the year. This is so that:

...important or urgent issues that arise during the year are able to be scrutinised.