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RESOLVED That Members considered the findings from Estyn’s October monitoring visit in conjunction with the Directorate’s post inspection action evaluation and concluded that no additional recommendations needed to be made at this time regarding the next steps.
RESOLVED That the Committee endorsed the action plan as evidence of addressing the Section 175 safeguarding actions required by Pembrokeshire schools and the Local Authority [Councillor Mel Phillips left the meeting at this juncture]
RESOLVED The Committee scrutinised the opportunities and challenges associated with small and rural schools.
RESOLVED (a) That Councillor Alistair Cameron be appointed as the substitute Member for Councillor Huw Murphy (b) That Councillor Anji Tinley be appointed as the substitute Member for Councillor Pat Davies
RESOLVED That the items scheduled for the January Committee meeting be approved as appropriate.
The Following declarations of interest were made in relation to educational matters: · Councillor Huw Murphy declared a personal interest, by virtue of being a Governor at both Ysgol Bro Preseli and Ysgol Bro Ingli. · Councillor Pat Davies declared a personal interest, by virtue of being a Governor at Ysgol Glannau Gwaun, although recognised that the school did not feature in any of the reports within the agenda on this occasion. · Councillor David Howlett declared a personal interest, in Agenda Item No. 7 – Educational Attainment of Small and Rural Schools, by virtue of being a LEA Governor at St Aidens School, Wiston. · Councillor John Davies declared a personal interest, in Agenda Item No. 7 – Educational Attainment of Small and Rural Schools, by virtue of being a LEA Governor at Eglwyswrw School and Cilgerran School. · Mrs Alison Kavanagh, Parent Governor Representative, declared a personal interest, in Agenda Item No. 7 – Educational Attainment of Small and Rural Schools, by virtue of being a Parent Governor at Golden Grove School, although recognised that the school did not feature in the agenda item on this occasion. · Councillor Iwan Ward declared a personal interest, in Agenda Item No. 7 – Educational Attainment of Small and Rural Schools, by virtue of being a LEA Governor at Ysgol Bro Preseli. · Councillor Anji Tinley declared a personal interest, by virtue of being a Governor at Fenton Primary School. · Councillor Alistair Cameron declared a personal interest, in Agenda Item No. 7 – Educational Attainment of Small and Rural Schools, by virtue of being a Governor at Tenby VC School, although recognised that the school did not feature in the agenda item on this occasion. · Councillor Andrew Edwards declared a personal interest, by virtue of being a Governor at Prendergast CP School.
Moved by Councillor John Davies; Seconded by Councillor Pat Davies The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 October 2022 be approved as a correct record. Moved by Councillor Pat Davies; Seconded by Councillor Alistair Cameron The vote, by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting held on 28 October 2022 be approved as a correct record.
There were no public submissions or items of correspondence received.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That Members considered the findings from Estyn’s October monitoring visit in conjunction with the Directorate’s post inspection action evaluation and concluded that no additional recommendations needed to be made at this time regarding the next steps.
The Committee considered an update report by the Director for Education and the Head of Education Improvement on the findings from Estyn’s monitoring visit in October and the next steps. The Chair welcomed the Director for Education, Head of Education Improvement and Commissioning and the Senior Improvement Adviser to the meeting. The key points of the report and ongoing recommendations were outlined and questions from Members were welcomed. The Committee debated the contents of the report and the key points were highlighted as follows: · In relation to recommendation 2, Mr Tom Moses, Parent Governor Representative, requested further information regarding the qualitative and quantitative data that had been gathered in relation to interventions which had been put in place to support improving the outcomes for all learners, including those eligible for free school meals. The Director advised that quantitative data had been more difficult to gather due to the current pause in accountability measures although added that the Authority had concentrated on gathering qualitative data via a range of strands including surveys with schools, learners, senior leaders and challenge advisors and also via case studies. It was noted that as soon as the quantitative data was available again it would be incorporated to ensure a mixed method approach. · In relation to recommendation 2, Mr Tom Moses, Parent Governor Representative, expressed the importance of schools engaging with parents, to which the Director took on board the comment and advised that many schools conduct parent engagement very well via school based surveys and added that the Authority were also looking to engage with parents through alternative methods. [Councillor Iwan Ward left the meeting at this juncture] · In relation to recommendation 3, the Chair queried if Pembrokeshire secondary schools were offering online lessons to pupils who were unable to be in attendance physically. The Senior Improvement Adviser advised that the facilities put in place for remote learning throughout the pandemic had not been removed, and that remote learning was still available if needed. · In relation to recommendation 3, Councillor Alistair Cameron queried why a culture change amongst teachers was needed, to which the Head of Education Improvement and Commissioning highlighted that previous systems in schools, from around 2009 onwards, had been focused on high pressure accountably driven methods, but advised that such methods were not achieving results and that the system needed to move into a development mode. It was noted that schools now had progressive approaches which assisted in developing staff through coaching and mentoring and working with them to improve. · In relation to recommendation 3, Councillor Maureen Bowen queried how the shift to a developmental approach of coaching and mentoring had effected the performance management of teachers and had teaching trade unions been consulted on the shift. The Head of Education Improvement and Commissioning confirmed that the change of approach had been implemented on a regional basis and that unions had approved the performance development phase on a pilot basis. · In relation to recommendation 3, Councillor Pat Davies requested an update on the recent school governors conference to which the Director advised that the first hybrid conference had been held and whilst the face to face aspect of it had not been as successful as hoped, the online aspect had been and therefore the hybrid approach would be carried forward and used in future to enable a range of options for school governors. It was noted that all sessions from the conference could be accessed by governors via HWB. · Councillor David Howlett raised a general question and requested both the Cabinet Member and Director’s view on which areas of education they felt needed additional focus. The Cabinet Member stated that in his opinion it would be continuing to improve outcomes, improving the quality of teaching and the ongoing work with Partneriath to ensure constant support. The Director highlighted that his key areas would be continuing with the improvement in the quality of teaching, effective recruitment of high quality teachers, continuing on the journey of improving outcomes for learners and concentrating on the implementation of the new curriculum. · In relation to recommendation 3, Mr Tom Moses, Parent Governor Representative, suggested that to increase engagement of Governors they could be involved in delivering sections of the training to allow them to portray their expectations of how a governing body should work on a County wide basis. The Director took on board the suggestion and stated that a briefing paper outlining the work which had been done regarding professional entitlements and the professional learning offer which had been released by Welsh Government could be helpful, and outlined a range of other mechanisms which were in the pipeline to provide additional support to governors. The Head of Education Improvement and Commissioning provided further information regarding the plethora of resources that were available to governors. · Councillor John Davies made reference to the new curriculum for Wales and queried if its implementation would undermine the progress that had been made regarding school improvement. The Head of Education Improvement and Commissioning made reference to a recent Members seminar which was held regarding the new curriculum, which covered the potential risks associated with it. It was noted that lessons continued to be learnt from Scotland but reassurance was given that successful engagement had been seen regarding the workshops and training sessions that were provided to schools on the new curriculum and that good coherence between clusters was being seen. It was added that the implementation would be a key focus and would be subject to close monitoring across all areas and it was reiterated that the purpose of the new curriculum was to raise standards and continue to improve outcomes for learners. · Councillor John Davies highlighted the importance of effective immersion for late comers into welsh language education and queried if, despite the current difficult financial pressures being seen, the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) would be given the required resource to provide effective immersion. The Director agreed that the matter did require significant resource and confirmed that despite the current pressures the WESP would still be fully supported by both the Authority and Welsh Government. A range of support tools were outlined. · In response to a comment from Councillor Mike Stoddart expressing the need for accountably needing to be used to measure the methods being used to support improvement, the Director suggested that a Members seminar on the evaluation and accountability system could be beneficial to fully understand the national monitoring programme and to collaboratively shape the Authority’s monitoring systems with the inclusion of comparison data. This was supported by the Committee and the importance of Co-opted Committee Members being invited to the seminar was expressed. · Councillor Mark Tierney requested that Members be provided with a timeline of the short to medium term plans to continue with improvement to allow progress to be monitored and sustained via a work programme. The Director outlined where he felt the Authority currently were and outlined the plans that were being put in place going forward in the form of Directorate and service plans which will set out the work of the next three years. · The importance of effective communication with the general public regarding the improvements that were being made on both a school level but also an internal process level was highlighted by Councillor Marc Tierney, to ensure that the progress being made was being communicated to all with an interest in education within the County. In summing up the Committee expressed their sincere thanks to all teaching and education staff and school governors for the significant improvements that have been made to date during a very difficult climate. Moved by Councillor David Howlett; Seconded by Councillor Pat Davies The vote, undertaken by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That Members considered the findings from Estyn’s October monitoring visit in conjunction with the Directorate’s post inspection action evaluation and concluded that no additional recommendations needed to be made at this time regarding the next steps.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the Committee endorsed the action plan as evidence of addressing the Section 175 safeguarding actions required by Pembrokeshire schools and the Local Authority [Councillor Mel Phillips left the meeting at this juncture]
The Committee considered a report by the Safeguarding in Education Manager on the Section 175 Safeguarding Action Plan. The Chair welcomed the Safeguarding in Education Manager to the meeting. The key points of the action plan were outlined and questions from Members were welcomed. The Committee debated the contents of the action plan and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Following clarification sought by Councillor Alistair Cameron, the Safeguarding in Education Manager advised that Edukey was a school management system used to log and progress safeguarding concerns. It was noted that the next Section 175 Safeguarding audit would be returning for Committee consideration in 2023 and further information regarding the use of such systems could be provided during that update. Moved by Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall; Seconded by Councillor David Howlett The vote, undertaken by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the Committee endorsed the action plan as evidence of addressing the Section 175 safeguarding actions required by Pembrokeshire schools and the Local Authority [Councillor Mel Phillips left the meeting at this juncture]
The Meeting adjourned at 11:56am for a short comfort break and reconvened at 12:06pm.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED The Committee scrutinised the opportunities and challenges associated with small and rural schools.
The Committee considered a report by the Director for Education on Educational attainment of small and rural schools. The Chair welcomed the Director for Education, Chief Officer for School Resources and Governance, and Headteachers from St Aidans VA School and Cosheston VCP School to the meeting. The Director outlined the key points of the report before handing over to the Headteachers who presented to the Committee the challenges and benefits that their schools face on a daily basis being small schools and how triad working had been a positive step in making significant improvements. [Councillor Guy Woodham, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Education and Welsh Language left the meeting at this juncture] The Committee debated the contents of the report and information provided by the Headteachers and the key points were highlighted as follows: · Following a question from Councillor David Howlett regarding what was being done to support the wellbeing of headteachers with such large workload commitments, the Director outlined a range of support mechanisms which were in place which included, the small school network and triad working and added that further tools were being looked at to assist, such as digitalising some of the admin work and additional support as part of the whole school strategy for health and wellbeing. · Councillor David Howlett highlighted the recruitment difficulties for small and rural schools and queried what the Authority were doing to support successful recruitment. The Director outlined a number of recourses which were used when recruiting into such roles and added that the Authority’s leadership programme would also play a large role in future. · Further information was requested by Councillor Pat Davies regarding the shared staff resource. The Headteachers outlined two funding applications which had recently been successful and had enabled the three schools to share a family engagement officer who would assist in taking some of the workload off the Headteachers along with additional learning needs (ALN) funding which would allow dedicated time to be given to the ALN needs of the schools. · In response to a question from Mr Tom Moses, Parent Governor Representative regarding what could be done to raise the profile and share the successful work being undertaken in small and rural schools, the Headteachers outlined a range of methods they use to share their work which included posting information on community link apps and also having a consistent Twitter presence. · Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall raised an interest in how the triad communicate and raise suggestions between each other, to which the Headteachers responded to advise that they know each others schools very well and as they conduct monitoring in each others schools it brings with it a range of opportunities to see what could be replicated/improved across the three schools. · In response to a question from Councillor John Davies, regarding the number of children who join the schools from out of catchment, the Headteachers expressed that each year is different and numbers fluctuate and are often affected by schools within clusters closing and also siblings of existing pupils then also joining. · Councillor John Davies requested the Headteachers views on triad working in comparison to federation models. The Headteachers stated that triad working had been very successful for their schools but added that federation arrangements were very different to triad working and were particularly valuable when there are difficulties in recruiting to a Head post. [Councillor Sam Skyrme-Blackhall and Rev John Cecil, Church in Wales Representative left the meeting at this juncture] · In response to a question from Mrs Alison Kavanagh, Parent Governor Representative, the Director confirmed that no small and rural schools were currently operating with a licensed deficit. Further information was provided regarding schools finances and budgets. · Following a question from Councillor Alistair Cameron, the Headteachers confirmed that transition of pupils from primary to secondary had been successful which was thought to have been assisted with the independence they were given during their primary years. · Councillor Marc Tierney queried whether positive impact on outcomes had been seen since the triad began, to which Members were informed that close monitoring was undertaken and clear improvements had been seen as a result of a number of initiatives, although it was recognised that all learners adapted differently. It was noted that changes made to the teaching and learning policy have also added value. · In response to concerns raised by Councillor Mark Tierney in relation to the current grading of the school buildings, both Headteachers advised that they had been supported by the Authority and improvements had been made to the buildings over time with discussions still ongoing to improve them further due to steady numbers. It was added that St Aidans VA School had also been supported with funding by the Church in Wales. · Councillor Marc Tierney raised concerns regarding the schools currently graded as grade C, which prompted an update from the Chief Officer for School Resources and Governance stating that re-measure reports were currently being undertaken for school buildings currently rated as C and updates as to the result of the reports could be provided in due course. · In response to a question raised by Mr Tom Moses, Parent Governor Representative, the Headteachers confirmed that they had not experienced any issues with connectivity recently after the necessary infrastructure was put in place. · Mr Tom Moses, Parent Governor Representative queried how the successful triad work could be replicated in other schools throughout the County. The Director advised that the work had been shared internally and would continue to be shared where relevant but it was recognised that such work was more difficult to replicate in larger schools. In summing up the Committee expressed their thanks and appreciation to the Headteachers for the roles they, and all other teachers within small and rural schools play in keeping communities together. Moved by Councillor Pat Davies; Seconded by Councillor David Howlett The vote, undertaken by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED The Committee scrutinised the opportunities and challenges associated with small and rural schools.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED (a) That Councillor Alistair Cameron be appointed as the substitute Member for Councillor Huw Murphy (b) That Councillor Anji Tinley be appointed as the substitute Member for Councillor Pat Davies
Following the first meeting of the Partneriaeth Scrutiny Councillor Group where Councillor Lyndon Jones (Swansea Council) and Councillor Huw Murphy (Pembrokeshire County Council) were appointed Chair and Vice-Chair for a two year period, the Group agreed to appoint a named substitute for each of the two Councillor representatives from each of the three Councils. It was stated that the substitutes should be Members of the Education related scrutiny body within each Council and could not be a Cabinet Member. The Chair requested that nominations be made for the two Pembrokeshire substitutes. Councillor Huw Murphy Moved that Councillor Alistair Cameron be appointed as his substitute; Seconded by Councillor David Howlett. Councillor Pat Davies Moved that Councillor Anji Tinley be appointed as her substitute; Seconded by Councillor David Howlett. The votes, undertaken by way of show of hands, were carried. RESOLVED (a) That Councillor Alistair Cameron be appointed as the substitute Member for Councillor Huw Murphy (b) That Councillor Anji Tinley be appointed as the substitute Member for Councillor Pat Davies
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
RESOLVED That the items scheduled for the January Committee meeting be approved as appropriate.
The Chair outlined the items scheduled for the January Committee meeting and provided Members with an opportunity to make any amendments. Moved by Councillor David Howlett; Seconded by Councillor Huw Murphy The vote, undertaken by way of show of hands, was carried. RESOLVED That the items scheduled for the January Committee meeting be approved as appropriate.
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