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RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 27th October 2022 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
RESOLVED to agree amendments to the Work Programme for 2022-23, attached as Appendix A and submit the amended Work Programme for 2022-23 to the Overview and Scrutiny 2022 - 2027, for approval.
RESOLVED to acknowledge that having scrutinised the contents of the report, the Committee wished to revisit this as part of their work programme for next year. This included how things had progressed over the year with the opportunity to hear from learners in their school environment, at an appropriate point, who had transitioned from Year 6 to 7, on how that learning and transition of learning, had worked for them.
RESOLVED to acknowledge the positive impact of the work undertaken, and having scrutinised the contents of the report, the Committee wished to revisit this as part of their work programme for the next year. This included having a further update on the work of the Community Schools Officer and an update on the survey results, in order to see that good practice.
RESOLVED to acknowledge, that having scrutinised the contents of the report, Members wished to have a further update next year, however, being mindful of the significant increase in the number of children being home educated over the past two years, that a separate piece of work would be considered, if this trend was static or increased.
Apologies of absence were received from County Borough Councillors J Cook, S Hickman and M Maohoub, Co-opted Member, Mr L Patterson the Cabinet Member for Education and Inclusion, County Borough Councillor R Lewis and the Director of Education and Inclusion, Mrs G Davies.
In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the following declarations were made pertaining to the agenda: Agenda Item 6 - Community Focused Schools Ø Mr M Veale, Co-opted Member – Personal – ‘My daughter attends the school specifically mentioned in the report’ Ø County Borough Councillor S Evans – Personal – ‘My son’s school is named in the report’ Agenda Item 7 – Elective Home Education Update Ø County Borough Councillor D Wood – Personal – ‘I home educated my own child for several years, and I was also a home educator for 3 1/2 years.
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RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 27th October 2022 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 27th October 2022 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.
Members were reminded that that the consultation links were distributed monthly and Members wishing to make a request for any further information could do so by emailing the Scrutiny inbox. A Member noted that there weren’t any consultation links for November and December, at the present time and a key consultation missed was with regard to the Estyn Inspection of RCT. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications explained that this was duly noted and apologised that the consultation links for the previous month, were not included. In terms of the Estyn Consultation, this had been communicated on the Council’s social media channels and publicised on the Council’s Consultation pages. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications agreed to look into to what extent this was communicated to schools but was aware that the Council had looked to extend the opportunity to engage in that consultation to parent groups and also staff of the local authority, as well. The Chair clarified that there was specific meeting for herself in January with Estyn, so there would be an opportunity to query anything there, and the Chair had also been made aware that there would be an opportunity to take a look at the draft inspection report when it came back, as part of this Committee. A Member explained that it was really helpful to know what consultations were on and asked how the loop was closed in terms of the Council’s responses to consultations. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications explained that in general, the purpose of the consultation links, was often scrutiny time was taken up in responding to high level national consultations, so the general purpose would be for the Committee to identify anything they wished to explore in greater depth, and could take advice from Officers, and provide a substantive response. The Chair reminded Members that they could also respond themselves, individually.
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RESOLVED to agree amendments to the Work Programme for 2022-23, attached as Appendix A and submit the amended Work Programme for 2022-23 to the Overview and Scrutiny 2022 - 2027, for approval.
The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications advised Members that the report was self-explanatory and was to seek Members formal agreement for the amendments and additions, set out in Appendix 1. Members were referred to the substantive detail contained within Appendix 1, and the Service Director Democratic Services and Communications explained, in relation to the new special school, the timeline had been delayed within the Cabinet work programme, so there was need to be flexible in terms of how that matter progressed, before re-emphasising the opportunity to undertake joint work with the Community Services Scrutiny Committee in respect of CAMHs. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications continued that it was important to ensure the work programme provided that opportunity to focus upon scrutiny and challenge of service delivery and add value, referencing the opportunity for information sharing through informal briefing meetings, because of the breadth of responsibilities within this service area, and avoids scrutiny time being used for information sharing, with this looked to be built into the Member development programme, post the next AGM. With the Estyn Inspection in January, sufficient time would be needed later in the year, to consider and scrutinise the feedback. There was a reference in Appendix 1 to Learner Voice, and it was hoped to hear more from Young People, over the course of the next year, and build those opportunities in, during the term of this Council. The Chair reminded Members about the Education and Inclusion Services: Overview of services, relating to the Estyn Inspection, on 10th January 2023 and acknowledged that the Factual Review needed to be pencilled in. A Member asked when the additions will be added in. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications explained that the particular items that were referenced, were dependant on the Cabinet Work Programme and through the Chair, and the Director of Education and Inclusion, recognising the demands upon the service, would look to co-ordinate those with appropriate dates. Following consideration by the Committee it was RESOLVED to agree amendments to the Work Programme for 2022-23, attached as Appendix A and submit the amended Work Programme for 2022-23 to the Overview and Scrutiny 2022 - 2027, for approval.
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RESOLVED to acknowledge that having scrutinised the contents of the report, the Committee wished to revisit this as part of their work programme for next year. This included how things had progressed over the year with the opportunity to hear from learners in their school environment, at an appropriate point, who had transitioned from Year 6 to 7, on how that learning and transition of learning, had worked for them.
The Head of Wellbeing and Achievement began by explaining that the purpose of the report was to provide an overview on the legal expectations of schools when implementing the CfW on school transition and to also inform Members of the work schools were doing to ensure learners had a good transition to secondary schools, particularly those schools who had deferred CfW implementation until 2023. The Head of Wellbeing and Achievement then provide Members with some background, highlighting the change in regulations, before taking Members through section 5 of the report, which provided an update on the regulations and new guidance provided by WG, in respect of Transition Plans. The Head of Wellbeing and Achievement then took Members through section 6, in respect of RCT cluster working, but noted at 6.1, there were currently 10 secondary/through schools who had opted in, to deliver the CfW to year 7 from September 2022, and not 11, as indicated in the report. The Head of Wellbeing and Achievement then highlighted the Case Studies at Appendix 1a, by the Aberdare Cluster, before Members heard from the Head of Primary Achievement, in relation to Appendix 1b, the Treorci Cluster, and the Headteacher of Y Pant Secondary School and the Headteacher of Ysgol Nantgwyn, regarding their own cluster transition plans. A Member asked in respect of the CfW and the thematic approach particularly, primary to secondary, what sort of challenges were envisaged or had been encountered. The Member also, asked, if in the future there would be a need, in terms of resourcing. The Head of Primary Achievement agreed that the transition from Primary to Secondary was complicated, although there hadn’t been challenges but had been an opportunity to come together and explore, which is what WG wanted. The biggest resource in schools, were the staff, as they were the most successful part of it. The advantage of a curriculum like this, was looking at what used to be done historically, and thinking whether that really needed to be done. What was needed was staff who were able to see the advantages of this curriculum. The Headteacher of Y Pant Secondary School explained her school had adopted the thematic approach strategically, because it would be judged on its results, and wanted students entering Secondary, to benefit from the expertise of having subject specialists. In Humanities, they were looking at maybe the Wall Street Crash as the business element, looking at it from a historical perspective, or the influence of immigration in Geography, etc, Some subject areas naturally flowed, Humanities being an example, where there were three very strong heads of department, so a temporary TLR was put in charge of Humanities for 2 years and Humanities was probably one of the strongest ones now, however that didn't need to be done across the board. A Member noted the reference to the carrying through of data from one key stage to another and sought clarification around what data was being referred to and testing. The Member also asked if utilising of older children, in mentoring or reading support was more possible, because of the all-through status. The Member also asked what was being done to ensure no gaps in learning were created. The Headteacher, Ysgol Nantgwyn explained that in terms of carrying through of data, that was something agreed with the cluster, as to which specific points would carry through. Members were advised that testing was carried out, but also looking at teacher assessment, of a small set of agreed specific points, called non negotiables, which gave a bit more information. ALN status was shared, about any additional needs, but one of the most important parts of data transferred, was the qualitative data that sat around the child and tied the different numbers together, with those conversations started early on to get key members of staff, in year seven, working with those children at an earlier point so they were able to build that into a sensible picture of the child. In terms of utilising the older children, there was a need to be really careful about minimising curriculum impact and being clear about what the expectations were in terms of outcomes and outputs for the children. The most successful example of older children working with younger children were some Year 8 and 9 pupils, working with Year 4 and 5 pupils, in a parallel way. Their reading ages were quite similar, but the Year 8 and 9 pupils had the confidence boost of reading successfully with the younger child. In terms of gaps in learning, one of the most important and useful pieces of work done as a cluster was to map out the themes across the full cluster to make sure that topics weren’t repeated, 5 or 6 time, in their academic career, but more importantly was designing the curriculum around knowledge and skills and providing the opportunity to build knowledge, skills and experiences without having that overlapping content unless it was specifically planned. A Member enquired how the Headteacher went about monitoring the impact to the transition plan and how it had actually achieved continuity of learning and supported individual learner progression. The Headteacher, Ysgol Nantgwyn explained that an incorrect version had been shared, and there was another table that pulled out the five legal requirements that it specifically addressed, and contextualised and made sense of it. Monitoring mechanisms were working together as Headteachers to monitor the impact in their own school and then contribute to a collective cluster monitoring and evaluation. A Member asked how the local authority was reassuring itself around upholding the standard and that consistency for all. The Head of Wellbeing and Achievement explained that it was the job of herself and the Head of Primary Achievement, in conversation with the PIPs in CSC, and the IPs to ensure that triangulation, and that it was not just a piece of paper and that it actually made a difference to children. The Head of Primary Achievement added that Primary IPs had been allocated, in the main, on a cluster basis, which gave an advantage in just having one person going in to review how the work was progressing across each of the primary schools and into the secondary school. What also needed to be shared was that the strategic side of the consortium had responsibility for the implementation of CfW, which included transition planning, and meant frequently going out to the schools to have a look at what was happening in terms of the curriculum development, the progression, the assessment, with all of that information feeding back to the local authority. Conversations happened with IPs and PIPs on a regular basis, so any schools highlighted that might not be meeting their mandatory requirements, could be picked up at the earliest opportunity to ensure they were supported. The Chair thanked the Officers and Headteacher for attending, which was very much appreciated and explained it was really important to hear from practitioners who were on the frontline, as well as Officers. Following consideration, it was RESOLVED to acknowledge that having scrutinised the contents of the report, the Committee wished to revisit this as part of their work programme for next year. This included how things had progressed over the year with the opportunity to hear from learners in their school environment, at an appropriate point, who had transitioned from Year 6 to 7, on how that learning and transition of learning, had worked for them.
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RESOLVED to acknowledge the positive impact of the work undertaken, and having scrutinised the contents of the report, the Committee wished to revisit this as part of their work programme for the next year. This included having a further update on the work of the Community Schools Officer and an update on the survey results, in order to see that good practice.
The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation, began by explaining the purpose of the report was to update Members on the Community Focused School approach in RCT which highlighted how, Cabinet and Welsh Government (WG) funding, had been utilised to support the area since 2020. The recent focus by WG was on promoting Community Focused Schools and RCT had been a champion of work around family engagement and could therefore be seen as an early adopter of some of the most recent recommendations and focus. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation then provided Members with an overview of the background to the report, at Section 4, and the approach to Community Focused Schools, at Section 5, before concluding that the enhanced focus since 2020, had been on Family Engagement Officers and the funding received initially by Cabinet had placed RCT in a strong position to take forward WG’s Community Focused School agenda. The survey undertaken in the summer term 2021/22 had shown areas of strength but also provided a baseline for improvements to better link schools and communities together and these findings would be used alongside wider work to create bespoke action plans within Cluster areas, within Communities, to focus and drive the agenda in this area. A Member asked whether as part of the new programme, there was any conversation to be had about youth programmes based in Primary Schools, within individual communities. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation explained that the really important bit, was about the linkages and connections with all youth services and colleagues across RCT, as there had to be a joined-up approach. After school clubs were really important for children to get together in their friendship groups and there was a huge request for those activities. There was a need to be smart with additional funding so as not to forget primary schools. The Community Schools Officer advised it was about looking at the needs of the community, as it was bespoke to each and every school and highlighted the work at Trehopcyn Primary School. The Member stated that rather than just seeing it as an afterschool development, there was a need to be mindful about putting someone in charge to open it, from 6.30pm to 9pm, as it was as much about the ‘time’ that was needed, than ‘what’ was needed. A Member sought clarification around the Big Bocs Bwyd scheme and what the current role of the Family Engagement Officers in schools, were. The Member also observed that she would like to see facilities taking place in schools, however this could only be done if the funding was sustainable. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation explained that the Big Bocs Bwyd scheme was a WG school-based initiative that provided children and families with a mini food bank whilst supporting education and authentic learning experiences through cooking and potentially growing food, working with the Council’s food banks and Supermarkets. Some schools had taken it further than others, highlighting the example in Treorchy Primary School. It was important to link in with existing food banks, to ensure projects weren’t being duplicated and supermarkets/retailers were not being put up on. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation then went on to explain that the current role of Family Engagement Officers was very much bespoke to individual schools, but focus had been on supporting vulnerable families, which schools knew better than anybody, how they could get those children to school, get good attendance and how to support those children, with their learning, and learning at home as well. There had been some real movement forward, with children in attendance so it was critical, with appointments, to get the right people in those posts as well. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation noted the Members observation and explained it was always a challenge with resources, but it was about being really inventive about opening and closing schools and focusing on the sustainability moving forward. A Member raised concern having 100% attendance prizes, noting some children, due to illness or family circumstances would never get that prize, so wanted to hear about new ways to encourage pupils and families to feel like they were achieving. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation acknowledged that there needed to be a confidence in schools that they know their children and families well, they quietly encourage and reward children who experience challenges, on an individual basis. The Family Engagement Officers have been working with our vulnerable families and children and, it was hoped in time, there would be a big improvement in terms of attendance. A Member asked regarding the Big Bocs Bwyd scheme whether any statistical information was provided to organisations, in order to get a combined approach and the extent of the issue. The Member was concerned about increasing food poverty also asked about providing more warm spaces for children for socialising in their friendship groups out of school hours. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation noted in relation to the Big Bocs Bwyd, the Service liaised with RCT officers, and local food banks, to enable a co-ordinated approach. In relation to further food poverty coming forward, the roll out of the universal free school meals, was helping families, and would ensure children attending school during the day would have the option of a healthy meal. The Welsh Government’s community school’s agenda will have schools playing an important role in the community in the future in supporting community groups, families and young people. The council will need to look holistically at what we provide, opening schools to communities, providing safe, warm environments that encourage lifelong learning, sports, arts and social spaces. It is a fantastic opportunity for schools to play a pivotal role in providing facilities at the heart of our communities. A Member raised the point, in regard to 21st Century schools, about around having the appropriate provision in place with more pupils having free school meals. The Member also felt schools weren’t yet back to pre-pandemic in terms of having extracurricular activities, so should be looking at providing more, although recognised that availability of resources and staff, was an issue. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation explained in relation to the point about the design of 21st Century Schools, the Council was acutely aware of the legislation and had adapted existing designs, since the announcement from WG for the universal free school meals, as part of the council's ongoing capital programme. The Service Director for 21st Century Schools and Transformation acknowledged that it was a challenge getting children engaged back into social activities but was seeing positive engagement, up to pre-pandemic participation, particularly in sport, but there was a need to really focus on some of the social activities, which would help with wellbeing and mental health. We have started with some good examples of engagement however, we need to gather that intelligence to ensure we are providing services and facilities that our young people identify, to get them engaged and back to pre-pandemic levels. Following consideration, it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the positive impact of the work undertaken, and having scrutinised the contents of the report, the Committee wished to revisit this as part of their work programme for the next year. This included having a further update on the work of the Community Schools Officer and an update on the survey results, in order to see that good practice.
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RESOLVED to acknowledge, that having scrutinised the contents of the report, Members wished to have a further update next year, however, being mindful of the significant increase in the number of children being home educated over the past two years, that a separate piece of work would be considered, if this trend was static or increased.
The Head of Inclusion Services began by explaining that the purpose of the report was to provide Members with an overview of those pupils Elective Home Educated (EHE) within RCT, whilst providing some trend data over the last few years. The Head of Inclusion Services then provided Members with a brief summary of the report, acknowledging in Section 3, the background to the rights of children to receive an education and also the rights of their parents to ensure that their children were educated, and brought up, in a manner which conformed with their religious, philosophical and cultural beliefs. Section 3 also provided information regarding the flexibility parents had when home educating their children. In terms of the local context Section 4 provided a range of data relating to the cohort of children being home educated in RCT, highlighting at table 1, the PLASC data. Paragraphs 4.6 - 4.8 provided data in relation to academic years and paragraphs 4.9 - 4.11 provided the reasons cited by parents for deciding to home educate. Paragraphs 4.12 - 4.19 provided an overview the patterns for becoming home educated within key stages, and national curriculum year groups with paragraphs 4.20 - 4.22, providing information regarding the local authority’s process for escalating concerns regarding children not accessing a suitable education and issuing of school attendance orders. Paragraphs 4.23 - 4.26 provided information on access to services, which were available to EHE children and information on the WG grant funding for EHE learners, was provided in paragraphs 4.28 and 4.29, with an overview of national development in paragraphs 4.31 and 4.32. The Head of Inclusion Services concluded by explaining that Section 11 provided a range of actions that would be undertaken by Access and Inclusion to ensure that it could undertake its duties so that the children within RCT, that were home educated, received a suitable education. A Member asked in terms of socialisation, what opportunities there were for young people to meet with and engage with other young people. The Member also asked if there was any data on academic outcomes as well as what was being done to be able to address any child at risk. The Head of Inclusion Services explained that in respect of the opportunities for socialisation, the Service did try to engage EHE families in coffee mornings and certain events, and group activities, however the take up was quite low, so there was a need to consider how to publicise them more, although many of the home educating parents, actually ran groups themselves. In terms of data and academic outcomes, there was no requirement upon the Service to collate that, as it was purely up to parents whether they wanted to inform the Service. There was a duty, within the non-statutory guidance, to ensure that a child received a suitable education, however the parameters for defining suitable education were very broad. The Service engaged with parents, at least once a year, as the guidance stipulated but the range of information provided, wasn't necessarily as robust as the Service would like it to be. There was proposed statutory guidance, to replace the non-strategy guidance, and the suggestion was that all local authorities would have to keep a database of all children of compulsory age, but the level of detail wasn't currently known. In terms of children at risk, there were very robust procedures in place at a school and local authority level if children were absent, with schools following protocols in terms of making contact with families. The Service didn't have that same level of scrutiny, with EHE children, as parents took full responsibility for their child’s education and the Service were not involved, with contact with parents, purely through monitoring. There was strong links with children’s services and safeguarding, so the Service was able to access the database and when a child became home educated and the parent informed the school, the Service were able to have that information as to whether there were safeguarding concerns about a child, at that particular point. If children services become aware of safeguarding issues, then they would inform the Service, but when a child was home educated, they didn’t have the same level of contact, with local authority services, as children who attend a school setting. A Member noted the summary at paragraph 11.1, of the report, with regard to the small number of hard-to-reach families who did not engage with the local authority and asked if a percentage or the numbers, that might be, could be provided, to get an idea of the scale. The Head of Inclusion Services confirmed she would come back to the Member with that information. A Member raised concern and sought clarification around the reasons, cited in Section 4, of the paper, for parents choosing to home educate their child, in particular with regard to attendance/prosecution and lifestyle/ philosophical/ideological. The Head of Inclusion Services acknowledged, in terms of the reasons, it was concerning. The figures were very high, in RCT for attendance/ prosecution. Lifestyle/philosophical/ideological, although getting higher, was much lower. In terms of Family Engagement Officers, there was a need to consider being a lot more pro-active, in looking at the reasons, children were becoming home educated with possibly dispute resolution, a way forward with families, to try and resolve the issue, if they were fearful of prosecution. Other reasons that could be cited were in terms of bullying or a parent feeling there was no appropriate ALN provision. A crucial role for Family Engagement Officers, was unpicking those reasons and working with the local authority, because when it became involved, it was often too late. The school was informed and told a parent was going to home educate their child, so there was a need to intervene earlier. A Member referring to the low uptake of learners taking accredited examinations at paragraph 4.26, whilst acknowledging the Covid pandemic, asked if it was known how many were considering entering, from this year’s co-hort and whether some statistics could be provided. The Head of Inclusion Services agreed it was concerning but explained it was difficult to say because there may have been more parents who had entered their children for qualifications, but without parental engagement, regarding entering children for formal qualifications, the local authority wouldn’t know. The local authority offered some financial assistance for certain GCSEs, but the uptake was low. The Head of Inclusion Services confirmed she would come back to the Member with the information. A Member explained that she had home-schooled her own child and had also worked as a home-school educator and felt it was important to keep contact with all families, that had made the decision to home educate, and have continuity with them, so the door was always open if a child decided they wanted to go to mainstream school. A Member asked if there was any evidence of learners, who were now being home educated, had specific additional learning needs (ALN). The Head of Inclusion Services explained that in terms of ALN what had been seen, was low percentages who had reported their reasons for becoming EHE, due to SEN. There was a spectrum within those children, under the old SEN system, with 19 currently statemented, or were statemented, when they became EHE, so it had doubled over the last 2 academic years, so where it wasn’t significant previously, it was becoming more prevalent, so some data analysis needed to be done to see if it was purely perception or whether there were some grounds, and look at what the barriers were to making that provision. With the Family Engagement Officer, within Access & Inclusion, and Complex Case Manager, working in collaboration with the school’s own Family Engagement Officer, and ALNCOs, the Service should be able to unpick that. Following consideration, it was RESOLVED to acknowledge, that having scrutinised the contents of the report, Members wished to have a further update next year, however, being mindful of the significant increase in the number of children being home educated over the past two years, that a separate piece of work would be considered, if this trend was static or increased.
Members were advised that the Youth Engagement and Participation Service: Overview of Additional Funding 2020-2022 report, was reported for information but were reminded if they had any queries in relation to this report, they could contact the scrutiny mailbox.
The Chair thanked Members for their contributions, and the excellent reports from Officers, to what had been a long meeting. The Chair reminded Members that the next meeting of the Committee, would take place on Thursday 2nd February 2023 at 5pm. The Chair concluded by wishing everyone well, for the festive season.
None.
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