SOUTHERN TEST VALLEY LOCAL CHILDRENS PARTNERSHIP
NOTES OF MEETING 27 JANUARY 2011
Present:Peter Warburton (Interim Leader)
Lyn Penny
Tony Lee
Janet Blann
James Moody
Verna Brown
Martin Smith
Alli Williams
Richard Watson
Jan Lefley
Sarah Couch
Mollie Antrobus
Julie Lawrence
Mike Wickenden
Samantha Severe
Jonathan Prest
Caroline Carter-Frost
Lesley Clark
Jo Cottrell
Joanna Scott
Jonathan de Sausmarez
Jenny Pitman
Linda Clarkson
Lucy Cardy (Clerk)
- Welcome and Apologies
Peter Warburton opened the meeting and welcomed all. Lyn Penny is leaving soon and Tony Lee is her replacement. Jonathan de Sausmarez, the newly appointed Executive Head of Romsey School, joined the meeting.
- Declaration of Pecuniary Interests
He asked if there were any pecuniary interests but there were none.
- Notes of Meeting of 24 November
Miss Conception is actually Myths and Miss Conception (hopefully correct now!)
- The Spirit Level – Presentation by Steve Cottrell
Unfortunately Steve was not able to attend the meeting and will now be located in a different area so won’t be attending these meetings any more.
- Effectiveness of Sex and Relationships Education – Feedback from pupil survey
Jenny Pitman provided a handout regarding feedback following a survey of Romsey School pupils. About 20% of the cohort in each year group was surveyed via discussion groups, tutorials, SRE lessons and with lead teachers. Romsey School currently incorporates SRE into Drama for Key Stage 3. It’s an exciting way for pupils to be taught and older year groups present their findings to the younger groups.
The upper school (Yr10 & 11) like the fact that they could talk about things together and ask questions. They could not always remember detail from years 5, 6, 7, 8 and sometimes there was a need to repeat things. The pupil voice showed what pupils can remember which is not always the same as what they are taught.
Upper School talked about Youth in Romsey and how good that is. They liked it being in the centre of Romsey and it’s well attended and complements information from school. Youth in Romsey also come into Romsey School so pupils can access them there too.
Lower School pupils (Yrs 7-9) enjoyed learning in Drama lessons and in particular groups. Year 9 pupils were fully engaged and benefitting from practical advice and solutions. Key year 9 pupils had been to Youth in Romsey for advice and condoms.
In the future the school would like to put in a clearer plan so there is a complete package and SRE is not just in Drama – it can tie in with science, RE etc. Other thoughts were about holding a health day, linking up with other subjects such as science and having mixed and single sex sessions to see which works better. The school is looking at citizenship too for covering RE, moral issues and citizenship. Jenny would like to provide INSET for staff so they can deal more confidently with questions and raise awareness of issues such as internet conduct.
Things to consider in the future would be:
- Sharing specific feedback with primary schools.
- Considering training needs for staff, possibly in conjunction with Mountbatten
- Sharing of resources
- Surveying young people in South Test Valley
Peter thanked Jenny for her report and said this shows the importance of listening to young people and highlights the value of that. There is a need to see how effective the learning is. He asked if there were any questions:
Tony Lee asked if there was a link with parents and what the school is teaching? Jenny said that there are Hot Topic events that parents come too to discuss issues and receive information.
Lyn Penny asked if primary schools get engagement early with parents? Jo Cottrell replied that largely parents are ok and on side but a significant minority are not ok with it and their worries and concerns translate to the children. There are incidents where children are not allowed to be involved as part of their cultural beliefs. Maybe a primary – secondary transition could be discussed with parents.
Jenny Pitman said that Romsey School hold a Positive Parenting Workshop for year 6 parents when they are joining the school where parents are encouraged to talk in groups.
Sarah Couch said that some secondary pupils have an electronic baby that they take home. Mountbatten use this in their child development group – this is a relatively new thing introduced in the last year.
Mollie Antrobus asked whether parents were invited to attend drama sessions. Jenny said that they hadn’t been yet but she thought this might be a good idea. It was noted that children sometimes don’t want parents involved when they are learning about sensitive issues – Jo Cottrell suggested filming their presentations and putting those on the website.
Peter then asked if the SRE education on offer helped to reduced teenage pregnancy? That’s about changing attitudes and whether it is effective – children perhaps know the facts but does it change their attitude?
James Moody said this is something to unpick with youngsters themselves. Youth in Romsey and schools give out the messages but there is something that stops children from heeding it.
Caroline Carter-Frost said even at primary schools you can see some girls who are very maternal, right from the start and there will always be girls who want babies at a young age.
Sarah Crouch said that she sees a lot of women who have baby after baby not necessarily because they want lots of children but because the baby gives them the love that they have missed.
Tony Lee suggested that teenage mums should be the starting point – ask them why there are in that position.
Jonathan de Sausmarez asked if anyone was collecting data on terminations as well.
Jonathan Prest said that they offer counselling for youths but also have NHS staff two days a week who can prescribe in college. Pupils therefore have access to the morning after pill in college. He felt they would need to understand how many pregnancies are to do with prevention and education or down to the emotional need.
Peter Warburton said there is data available on the dashboard but the teenage pregnancy unit have much more detailed information. Verna Brown said that data is not always released but they do have termination rates – usually about 50% of teenage pregnancies end in termination.
Joanna Scott asked if Youth in Romsey will still be funded. Lyn Penny would like to keep it maintained.
Linda Clarkson mentioned a study in Kent which raised activities for teenagers in the evening and locked parks after a certain time and patrolled other areas and this had reduced pregnancies.
Mike Wickenden asked how many pregnancies are mistakes and how many are down to psychological issues if we knew this percentage we could focus on those issues. Could be there’s an intention to have a child because of problems at home. Caroline Carter-Frost said this is what SEAL relates to and it needs to start as early as possible.
Peter Warburton said we need to look at the next steps for Test Valley. Jenny Pitman had suggested some options in her report which were discussed:
- Specific feedback for primary schools to be shared in local meetings – agreed
- Consider training needs – possible twilight briefing on latest issues – agreed
- Sharing resources in schools – agreed
- Consider a South Test Valley survey for young people. James Moody questioned if a survey could achieve this. The Test Valley Partnership has some money available and this could be an opportunity to do something together with the north to explore these reasons. They could set a framework and let conversations develop, would have to be over the next few months. James Moody and Jenny Pitman will discuss.
James Moody left the meeting at this point.
- Partnership finance and decisions re funding partnership Projects
When the partnership was set up it was given £10,000 to set up and facilitate the costs. Each partnership had the same amount of money and this money will be withdrawn at the end of March if not spent. So the group need to decide what to spend it on and also what happens beyond the end of March.
Peter has seen a paper called LCP Co-ordinators Funding Allocation Information talking about an allocation between April and July of £14,000. This is tied up somehow with extended services.
There is also HAT funding available for Test Valley. £10,000 in total split between North and South. In order to qualify for this people would need to be clear about the work to put in a bid.
Jan Lefley explained that the money mentioned above (£14,000) was money taken from extended services clawback and given to the partnership to cement the work and embed it. Lyn Penny said it would be used as they have the network to contact individuals. Tony Lee said it’s to co-ordinate activity of extended services between April and July. Jan Lefley felt it would pay for a major piece of work to involve all and help to achieve targets.
Peter Warburton said that the £14,000 can be parked and discussed in March – but we will need to know what to do with it. He went on to discuss the £10,000 that had initially been given to the partnership and which needs to be spent by the end of March. He said there is between £4,000 and £7,000 to spend. Some money will be taken for the costs of the partnership in room bookings, costs of the Chair etc and they can be paid in advance. There is no funding beyond July at the moment.
Mike Wickenden said that there is HAT funding on offer of £10,000 for the whole area so £5,000 for the south. If they have a project today they will allocate the money – if it doesn’t work out details can be changed but they need to go with a project or the money may be lost.
The monies available to spend were:
£4,000 - £7,000 from STVLCP
£5,000 from the HAT fund
£14,000 in the future
The bids were:
Joanna Scott made a bid to build on emotional resilience for funding to train staff in conciliation skills so they would be better able to deal with difficult meetings. She would hope to be able to include 16 people – leaders from different schools at a cost of £100 each. The Ed Psych service run the course and it could be that people attend that course or hold it at a different venue and invite the course leader in. The bid would be £2,000 and could be spent by 31 March.
Jonathan Prest put in a bid for two workshops. One would be to support pupils with anxiety which could have a significant effect on their mental health and their lives. There would be 10 workshops for 6 pupils at a time. He also proposed an emotional first aid course for people who work with young people. The bid would be for £2,000 in all.
Sarah Couch met a new Headteacher at Wolverdene School and they had discussed an idea to focus on particular pupils to work with them and their families at one to one sessions with the aim of getting that pupil back into mainstream education. She did not have costs for this as the discussion was very recent but would like to know if the partnership would support such a programme. The costs were unknown but the partnership decided they could allocate £2,000 and this could be spent by 31 March.
Janet Blann asked Jonathan Prest how many of the pupils who would be supported by his workshops would be from the Test Valley? He didn’t know and felt this would be difficult to gauge. It is a programme that supports children and helps them so where they are from should not be a consideration. Janet said there may just be a need to be clear about which funding helps which groups.
Peter said the partnership should be voting for and against these projects and where the funding should come from.
Caroline Carter-Frost suggested that the Conciliation training and Jonathan Prest’s bid could be combined to come from the HAT fund of £5,000. Janet Blann thought they would be projects that the HAT group would support and the training could be cascaded on to others. Mike Wickenden said that there was another £1,000 from other Hampshire County Council monies that could go towards Jonathan Prest’s bid.
There was another project from Jan Lefley. She had a proposal for the whole partnership. The idea would be to target up to 6 children in each area of the action plan. There would be a different agenda for each age group. Those groups of young people could then be trained as peer educators. The initial cost would be £3,000 per event and there would be two events. The bid was for £3,000 up to the end of March and then another £3,000 after March.
The partnership would therefore be voting for the following bids:
Project 1 - £2,000 for the Conciliation training suggested by Joanna Scott
– Voted all in favour (22 for 0 against)
Project 2 - £1,300 for the workshops suggested by Jonathan Prest
– Voted all in favour (22 for 0 against)
Project 3 - £2,000 for the behaviour project for Sarah Couch (some of this could be funded from the North - Lyn Penny said that it may be best for the project to be funded by the North entirely.)
No vote was held on this.
Project 4 - £3,000 up to March and a bigger fund up to £6,000 in the new financial year for the project suggested by Jan Lefley
– Voted all in favour (22 for 0 against)
The HAT money is providing £5,000 so they will fund Project 1 and £3,000 for Project 4.
The other money will come from the partnership funds and excess will go to cover the costs of the running of the partnership.
This led to discussion on who would be chair from the end of March as Peter Warburton is currently only chair until then. He offered to leave the room while the partnership discussed this but it was not felt necessary. Peter felt there were two options – one being that he carried on and the other that someone else took it on. Joanna Scott asked if Peter was happy to carry on and he said he was prepared to do so. Tony Lee asked if the partnership could afford him and could he be paid by the end of March? Jonathan de Sausmarez asked what the costs were? Peter said to cover the costs of the steering group, other admin costs and the chair would be £3,000 up to the end of July.
Ruth Linsley arrived at this point although not a member of the group.
Jonathan Prest left at this point.
Peter asked if anyone else wanted to take on the role but no-one did. Therefore a vote was held for Peter Warburton to carry on as Chair until the end of July 2011. All in favour (21 for 0 against).
Lyn Penny mentioned an issue regarding the finance group of the Childrens Services Integrated Grant who meet regularly and support many local groups and schemes. Lyn is leaving at the end of the month and wanted to know if this finance group should be incorporated into the partnership meetings or carry on running as a separate event – their meetings are a good 2 hours long and Tony Lee would be involved instead of Lyn. Their recommendations will have to come to this group. It was decided it should carry on as normal.
- Action Plan update – Impact of actions to November 2010
What impact is the partnership having as a result of working together. Peter asked for any brief highlights since the last meeting and any thinking which says what we need to add in.
Martin Smith talked about the multi agency steering group meeting. He passed out some information about the meetings they have an outline remit and terms or reference and are looking for representation from education. He asked if people could take the paper away and think about who could rep. If anyone wants any more information they should speak to Louisa Rice but the next meeting is on 31 January. Joanna Scott said they are going on to a primary heads meeting after this so would discuss it there.
The BEST and Child Centres are going to work together to deliver a 90 minute workshop to all young parents.
Mollie Antrobus said that Myths and Miss Conception produced a show at Andover Lights – Romsey School took part and did an excellent performance. It was a very well received event.
- South Test Valley data
This will be covered at the next meeting.
- Feedback, Test Valley Partnership Board
Peter went to this meeting last week. They have alternate reporting from North and South and the group is supportive of the work we do. Janet Blann is the chair of the group and she said that everyone had been very pleased with what was going on in this partnership.
- Priorities for the Next meeting (CAMHS support April 11 onwards?)
CAMHS has just been taken over by West Sussex so there should be some more information to come about their future provision. Janet Blann had met Trish from CAMHS who was very keen to get involved with local partnerships. Lyn Penny will talk to her and see if she wants to come and talk to the partnership at the next meeting.
Next Meeting: Friday 25 March 2011 – 9.00am Potters Heron Hotel, Ampfield