Issue - meetings

Presentation.

The Head of Education and Learning reported verbally to the Committee on the Return to Schools, highlighting the following in particular:

·         Some schools had opened last week, and 93% of pupils attended. The  majority of schools  were opening this week and a full return was anticipated by 14 September;

·         Initial figures for ECHP attendance was at 88.54%;

·         Figures would continue to be collected on a daily basis for all vulnerable children and daily updates would be obtained as they returned to school;

·         The Council’s website provided parents and families with a lot of online support and guidance;

·         A special Connect Me Back to School Special bulletin had been circulated;

·         School transport had been especially challenging, but 99% of pupils known to the team had transport in place for the first day of term. Any issues tended to relate to late bus pass applications, no notification of new address or a change in time of school day;

·         Interim arrangements had been put in place to transport children to a school just over the border in Cornwall.  This was because the normal bus service for this school had been withdrawn by the bus company.

·         The number of cases of Covid in the County were still very low;

·         Schools had been asked to keep in place all of their arrangements for remote education in case needed;

·         The Department for Education had funded over 2000 laptops for distribution to vulnerable children; and if further were required they could be ordered directly through schools (only for those isolating); and

·         The Government had put in place two funding streams for catchup funding to cover all schools, paid over the academic year, and the other for schools in disadvantaged areas for tutoring/mentoring work.

Councillor McInnes wished to put on record his thanks for the hard work of all the Teams involved in the organisation of the return to school.

Members requested a briefing note be circulated to them detailing the number of laptops already distributed to vulnerable children and where schools could apply for further ones for those children who were isolating.