Letter - Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning to CEHA - Quarterly Hearing Follow Up - 19 September 2024

19-21 Broad Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3RR

Deputy Catherine Curtis

Chair – Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel Scrutiny Office

States Greffe

Morier House

St Helier

JE1 1DD

Sent by email only 07 October 2024

Dear Chair,

Follow-up matters from the Public Hearing on 19th September 2024

Thank you for your letter of 30th September with some follow up questions from the recent Public Hearing. Please see the answers below and do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.

Data on the Early Years Pilot including, numbers since day one, how numbers are expected to scale up over time, how it is differentiated by schools, and expected start dates.

The pilot programmes currently running have two strands which include the provision of extended hours of nursery care through wraparound provision and targeted provisions that will offer 2–3- year-olds early learning and development opportunities. This is outlined below:

* This will be confirmed by each school following parental engagement survey results

Pilot activity

Further details about flexibility and timing of courses for apprenticeships at Highlands College

Details on whether staff first-aiders have access to epi-pens and if so, are they aware of how to use them. If not, whether all children who require access to an epi-pen are required to carry them while in school.

The CYPES First Aid policy has recently been reviewed and approved and covers training needs.  

CYPES areas base their first aid provision on a needs assessment. which will include anaphylaxis. If this is required, staff should be trained to this level. (CYPES first aid policy 6.1 Implementing a needs assessment)

"This includes both physical resources and enough trained staff to manage injuries and known illnesses of employees, children and young people. The provision should fit the needs of people who work, visit, or use the sites or other locations."  

Each school will have its own policies and procedures for the storage, handling, administering and disposal of medicines. Epi Pens are a prescribed drug and are not part of a first aid kit. In most primary schools epi pens are not carried around by pupils, but stored in a medicine cabinet. Any pupils who may require an epi pen would be expected to have a health care plan in place.

A detailed list of stakeholders who have been engaged in feedback on the Transgender Guidance update

The following have been part of the journey of where we are at with the Transgender Guidance updates:

Working Group

• Victoria Bisson, Head of Vulnerable children ( Chair)  

• Denise Drieu, Project Manager (Denise left Education in May 2024) this is now Pippa Stewart

• Simon Milner, JCG Assistant Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead

• Stuart Hughes, Head Haute Vallee (stepped down from WG in June 2024)

• Tanja Tinari, Student support lead Haute Vallee (stepped down from WG in June 2024)

• Lousie Kedge, Student support lead Hautlieu

• Donna Lenzi, Head FCJ (Faith Representative)

• Kaye Nicholson, Jersey Community Relations Trust, CEO Liberate

• Vic Tanner Davy (Ex CEO of Liberate)

• Kevin Amazona, Lead Nurse, (CAMHS)

• Oliver Toy, Youth Worker LGBTQ

• Vicki Charlesworth, Head Les Landes

• Dr Zainab Kadhim - HCS

• Juliet le Breuilly – HCS

• Annete hope – Social Care rep (left Jersey in July 2024)

 Invited Groups to present to the Transgender working group

• Women's Rights Network (Janice Moore & Rachel Amos)

• Conversation with Lauren Stoner, CEO Mermaids UK and Vic, Scott ish Trans Alliance to understand the issues facing the Trans community

• Vic Tanner Davy of Liberate presented on building a basic understanding of Transgender and context

• George White - Transgender RE teacher at a catholic school in the UK

 CYPES Senior Leadership Team (SLT)

• Matthew Newberry

• Rachel Baxter

• Jane Lancaster-Adlam

• Sean O'Regan

Head teachers – were sent the draft Education Equalities policy to review and this was briefly discussed at Head Teacher meetings week commencing 23rd September.

How data is gathered on children who are not in education, employment or training.

A data sharing agreement is in place between CLS and CYPES which enables the quarterly sharing of information from CLS to CYPES in relation to all 16-24 year olds. This information indicates, for example, if a young person has student credits, has earnings, or was in receipt of benefits such as LTIA, STIA or income support in the previous quarter. Access to the data is restricted to a small team of analysts in CYPES Informatics who review the data and share the list of young people who are potentially NEET with Skills Jersey in order that they can contact the young people to establish which are NEET and offer support accordingly. The results of these conversations are fed back to CYPES Informatics for statistical purposes.

Details on whether long term care contributions are considered for student grant awards The Meaning of "income" is defined in the Education (Grants and Allowances) (Jersey) Order 2018 in Article 3A copied below

3A Meaning of "income"[4]

(1) For the purposes of this Order, "income", in respect of a person ("first person"), means the person's profits, gains, salaries, fees, wages and perquisites of any kind arising from any source, whether in Jersey or elsewhere, and includes –

1. any income applied by another person, under a trust, for or towards the maintenance, education, or other benefit, of the first person or of any other person dependent on or maintained by the first person;
2. any amount payable, whether under an order of a court or any agreement, for the maintenance of the first person or of any other person dependent on the first person;
3. any benefit or bonus or payment (however described) payable to or in respect of the first person under any of the following Laws, including any Regulations or Orders made under those Laws –

1. Social Security Hypothecs (Jersey) Law 2014,
2. Social Security (Jersey) Law 1974,
3. Income Support (Jersey) Law 2007,
4. Long-Term Care (Jersey) Law 2012; and

Minister, can you update the panel on any work to address the needs of children with dyslexia in schools?

Where a school aged child is identified as having difficulty with literacy, the school staff, usually the Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCo), can use the Jersey Literacy Assessment and Intervention Tool (J-LAIT) to assess and provide possible interventions for support.

Advice for Parents developed for SENCO's:

These points should assist you in having conversations with parents regarding concerns around reading difficulties and dyslexia. The aim is to help parents to understand the graduated process implemented by schools and reassure them that a private assessment or diagnosis is not required to initiate and put these arrangements in place.

• In most cases it is not vital to have a diagnosis of a specific learning or reading difficulty.

• It is more important to identify what the specific difficulties a pupil may be facing and what the arrangements are to support these.

• Literacy Difficulties are described in different ways. The terms Dyslexia and Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) are often used interchangeably and usually after assessment through intervention over time.

• Dyslexia is derived from two Greek words, dys' meaning difficulty' and lexicos' meaning words'. The literal meaning is therefore difficulty with words', or difficulty reading and spelling words.

• Dyslexia' has now become a term used to describe a wide range of difficulties within literacy. The overuse of this term may be problematic as a means of describing what the problem actually is when speaking to parents. To focus on the term being more helpful, it was replaced by the phrase specific learning/literacy difficulties or SpLD. This is helpful in conversations when it is used with statements such as pupil A has a specific learning difficulty with reading and/or spelling'.

Does Jersey differ in its approach from other jurisdictions in recognizing dyslexia as a condition, and if so, why?

This is dependent on the local authority in the UK, with some being similar to Jersey. As described above Jersey elects to refer to specific learning/literacy difficulties or SpLD with reading and or spelling as it allows the assessment to be more specific and address these areas for support.

Will the minister outline to the panel the support offered by schools to children who have not yet learned to read or write by years five and six?

All children develop at different stages, and some may not have developed by the age of five their phonological/ physical motor skills to be able to read and or write. Schools follow a range of specific approaches to developing literacy and targeted interventions are put in place for those young people who are identified as requiring additional support following regular assessment.

Yours sincerely,

Deputy Rob Ward

Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning

D +44 (0)1534 440152 E R. Ward 2@gov.je