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Union Street | St Helier Jersey | JE2 3DN
Deputy Catherine Curtis Chair of CEHA Scrutiny Panel
BY EMAIL
20 December 2024
Dear Chair,
Follow-up matters from the Public Hearing on 6th December
Thank you for your correspondence dated 13 December 2024. Please see below responses to your follow up questions.
Further details about the work underway to review compensation and professional development for nursery staff regarding the Early Years Plan
Work is underway, supported by the economy department, with the JEYA committee to understand the costs of nursery provision in Jersey. This will include detail on staff compensation with staff costs accounting for circa 70% of overheads. This will, in time, enable modelling of changes to compensation rates to assess the impact on existing and any new Government funding of childcare places. This supports the development of a universal funding offer for 2-3 year-olds.
The sector continuous professional development (CPD) plan is being developed through the Best Start Partnership. Proposals for 2025 have been received and will be reviewed and approved early in 2025. Recent engagement with the Jersey Association of Child Carers has also provided the opportunity to bring this important group into a supported CPD offer.
Further details about future changes regarding Education Grants and Allowances (Jersey) Order
The following changes will take effect in 2025:
• All income thresholds will be increased by 5.2% with effect from September 2025. Going forward, the thresholds will be reviewed each year by reference to the average (Jersey) income forecast by the Fiscal Policy Panel.
• After the UK CPI rate for December 2024 is announced, officers will review and adjust the maintenance grant amounts for inflation. Any changes will be announced in early 2025 and will take effect from September 2025.
• From September 2025, tuition fee grants will increase by 3.1% across all income bands, raising the maximum grant from £9,250 to £9,535. This adjustment ensures that the maximum grant will cover the full cost of tuition in England following the announcement by the Secretary of State for Education of an increase in the maximum university tuition fee.
• Students enrolled on a distance learning course will be eligible for both tuition and maintenance grants. The income thresholds that currently apply to in-person study will also be applicable to distance learning students. As a result, the maximum grant available to a distance learning student will increase from £7,400 to approximately £18,400. The changes will be put into effect in early 2025 once law drafting and upgrades to the student finance system have been completed.
Confirmation of the number of children in Jersey who have a Record of Need
There were 525 children with a Record of Need in Government schools (from Nursery to Year 13) in the autumn term census of 2024/2025.
An update about developments relating to the Educational Psychology Service
As noted by the Minister in the Scrutiny Hearing. The service is currently subject to an external review. The Minister will consider proposals once the review is concluded, and its report received.
The Educational Psychology Service currently has one (1) vacancy. Interviews took place on 16 December 2024 following an off-island recruitment process. The role was offered to a successful applicant.
Further details about future changes to Jersey's Education Law;
The Minister is giving consideration to changes needed to the Education (Jersey) Law 1999 (as amended). This includes specific areas of policy as well as consideration of language used as it relates to children and young people.
This review will commence in January 2025 and is envisaged to run for an initial six-month period. The Minister will advise the Panel of areas of focus once the initial review has been undertaken.
An update for the Minster on discussions with HCS on prescriptions in relation to EpiPens; We have had extensive correspondence with Health and Community Services through their Director of Improvement and Innovation, and the Chief Pharmacist. There is a considerable difference in the local legal position and that in the UK:
The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 were amended in the UK to allow schools to hold stocks of Adrenaline Auto-Injectors (AAIs) for use in an emergency. What it enabled was the permission for schools to obtain stocks of AAIs which can then be administered in an emergency to pupils who are known to require such medication.
With respect to our domestic legislation:
• Article (57) of The Medicines (Jersey) Law 1995 sets out who can prescribe, sell, supply and administer medicinal products on prescription only. Medicines which are classed as prescription only medicines (POM) – which include AAIs – can only be sold or supplied in accordance with a prescription from an appropriate practitioner, and medicines may only be administered by an appropriate practitioner (other than to oneself).
• Article 14 of the Medicines (Prescription Only) (Jersey) Order 1997 provides an exemption for the parenteral administration of named medicinal products – which includes adrenaline injection – where it is administered for the purpose of saving life in an emergency.
• There are also provisions for the Minister to make an Order to exempt requirements of the legislation around the supply and administration of medicines.
We have scheduled a meeting in mid-January to review the local provision.
Confirmation of the number for school fixed-term exclusions and how these compares to past years.
We do not yet have complete data for the current term. Data provided below is for previous academic years. The data is for Government schools only.
Academic Year | Number of Fixed Term Exclusions | Rate of Fixed term Exclusions |
2023/24 | 1024 | 8.8% |
2022/23 | 814 | 7.0% |
2021/22 | 733 | 6.2% |
2020/21 | 1006 | 8.5% |
2019/20* | 755 | 6.5% |
2018/19 | 1055 | 9.1% |
*Figures for 2019/20 are not comparable due to school closures during Covid Please see the requested responses below to your additional queries.
Minister, how do you plan to ensure that all CYPES policies relating to education are aligned with current best practices and legal standards?
The review and updating of all Education policies is scheduled and these normally follow a 1-4 year cycle of review, depending on the nature of the policy. All policies will reference the relevant Jersey laws, and any relevant policies associated with its practice. During the creation or updating of policies it is standard practice to cross-reference with the overarching requirements of the Jersey School Review Framework. Officers will routinely refer to and compare policies from the UK, both at a Local Authority and National Level, when developing new or updating existing policies.
Statistics Jersey recently reported significant increases in CYPES core jobs. Can you confirm how many of these relate to education?
Increases in headcount and FTE across the schools and college workforce, since 31st August 2022, is due to investment to address identified requirements in the education system for our children and young people with additional needs. This reflects the recommendations of the Inclusion Review and includes direct investment in schools, restructuring and scaling up of existing provisions and development of new provisions.
We have increased and stabilised specialist resources for inclusion across all schools, better reflecting their specific context. These new teaching and support roles included SENCOs (Special educational needs coordinators), DSLs (Designated safeguarding leads), EWOs (Educational welfare officers), ELSA (Emotional literacy support assistants) and RoN Support (Record of need).
Children and young people with the most complex needs, as expressed through their Record of Need, have benefited from increased funding that better reflects the scale and complexity of support they require to access education. The funding was used to provide the necessary additional support required and increased the number of our teaching assistants.
We also increase the number of our teachers and teaching assistants for the new Additional Resource Provisions (ARPs) established to support children with low cognitive ability. These specialist units focusing were repurposed to provide a more general level of support embracing a wider range of needs and increasing the capacity of this provision.
Staffing increases by pay group for previous three academic years (1st September to 31st August) – schools and colleges only
Is there a long-term restructuring plan for CYPES that addresses the continuity of leadership and service provision? Could you share any details on this?
The CYPES Department was required to establish two heads of expenditure that relate to two Ministerial portfolios. The current structure aligns to the new Ministerial portfolios, the Directorates of Education and Lifelong Learning and the Directorate of Children and Families. A third Directorate incorporates additional services and support functions that currently sit under the Chief Officer Directorates.
The Chief Social Work Officer and Director of Children & Families has not changed, we have an Acting Chief Officer of CYPES and the Director for Education will be taking up a new role early next year, supporting law and policy changes to the Education (Jersey) Law 1999. The department has initiated a secondment for 6 months to work with the Interim Chief Officer to develop a new structure for the Education Department and provide policy advice to the Minister.
Your sincerely
Deputy Rob Ward
Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning
D +44 (0)1534 440152 E R. Ward 2@gov.je