Wrthi'n llwytho
Does dim crynodeb o'r cyfarfod hwn eto. Caiff crynodebau eu hysgrifennu pan fydd y cyngor yn cyhoeddi'r cofnodion, sef ei gofnod swyddogol o'r hyn a benderfynodd cyfarfod. Maen nhw fel arfer yn ymddangos ychydig wythnosau ar ôl y cyfarfod.
1.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Jon James and Councillor Lucy Williams. 1.2 There were also apologies given for Councillor Richard Clark, Executive Member for Children, Families and Education.
2.1 The following declarations of interest were made: • Councillor Cowles declared a personal interest as a Governor at both Abersychan School and Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School. • Councillor Cowles declared a personal interest as his brother attends Abersychan Comprehensive School. • Councillor D Thomas declared a personal interest as a Governor at Llantarnam Primary School. • Councillor D Thomas declared a personal interest as his children attend Croesyceiliog School and Llantarnam Primary School. • Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as a Governor of Blaenavon Heritage VC Primary School. • Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as her Grandson attends Abersychan Comprehensive School. • [GT1] Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as her Niece attends Ysgol Bryn Onnen. • Mr. Cunningham declared a personal interest as a Governor at St. Albans Roman Catholic High School. • Victoria Horlor declared a personal interest as a Governor at Ysgol Panteg. [GT1]Deleted as it was a duplication
3.1 Following Members’ questions and comments, the Early Years Manager, Team Manager, Family Support and Early Intervention, Head of Learning and Achievement and Director of Education made the following main points: • The Regional Gwent Best Start in Life group was established as an outcome of the transformational work that had been completed in March 2024. This group had met twice and was led by a Public Service Board Health lead and looked at a wide range of areas, including identified Early Years priorities. • Early Years provision was highly prioritised within the County Plan and the Education Improvement Plan as early identification and prevention work was a focus of the Local Authority currently. • The full priorities list and aims of the Regional Gwent Best Start in Life group could be seen at the end of the report. This included the delivery of the core health programme of work. • When referrals are made into Families First, there is an investigation into what support has been, or currently were, involved with the family to ensure there is not a duplication of work. This helps ensure that the correct identified services are involved with the family based on their needs. • Flying Start was an option of intervention offered to eligible families and entitled a family to enhanced Health Visiting, Child Care, Parenting Support and Early Language support. There had been additional reach of aspects of this programme outside the flying start area due to the use of joint practitioners. This could be either accessed via self-referral or a referral by a professional. • The possibility of duplication of work throughout pathways within early years had been looked at as a section of the transformational work and there was work undertaken to ensure that this was avoided which could be attributed to the strong collaboration of working between professionals across the borough. • Flying Start began in 2007 and covered Blaenavon, Thornhill, Penygarn, Trevethin and South Cwmbran. • There had been no timeframe given by Welsh Government in respect of the submitted draft proposal for Phase 3 Delivery. • There was no contingency in place if this proposal was not approved as the delivery was grant funded. This proposal would need to be revisited entirely in this circumstance. • The Flying Start guidance within the report was used to ensure that quality provision was procured. There are Childcare Network meetings held in which existing flying start providers are in attendance to discuss the Flying Start offer. • The report highlighted the issues that providers tended to raise around sustainability. Therefore, an individual approach was taken with each provider in order to meet their needs. • There has been work completed with the Core Admissions team in respect of the Flying Start admission process. Health professionals would usually notify parents that they were able to apply for Flying Start and parents were asked to give two to three options for provider. • Transitions were one of the key focuses for early years to ensure each child had a transition into an education placement. These transitions were actively monitored within the team. Supporting transition guidance had been provided by Welsh Government. • The transition period included a 6-week period in which the provider and the receiving school would work together and have sessions where the child would visit the school. • There were developments continuously being made surrounding Additional Learning Needs (ALN) cluster meetings and it was felt this could be developed further to overcome existing challenges within Early Years transition. • There had been an increase seen in children with speech and language challenges which often would be linked to behavioural issues. • There had not been a specific issue raised around toileting and this tended to be raised or supported through different avenues rather than Early Years provisions, such as Health or Families First. Families would be provided extensive support through these available avenues if required. • There weren’t currently any waiting lists for intervention in respect of Speech and Language. • If a setting is placed into Estyn monitoring, they receive extensive support from EAS and all progress updates are compared to the recommendations originally made by Estyn. • There were regular Foster Carer Support groups run by Social Services that were attended by Flying Start professionals. • There were good relationships between Early Years and Children’s Services to ensure that any gaps are identified and met. • There had been work undertaken with the regional lead surrounding retention and training as well as training accessed via Coleg Gwent and key stakeholders. Part of this work included looking at the quality of training being provided. • A celebration event had been held recently to celebrate the role of childcare services. • Information and videos were consistently added to social media to promote childcare roles. • There were career officers in schools and there had been particularly successful outcomes in respect of Welsh-medium childcare with Ysgol Gymraeg Gwynllyw learners. • There was close working undertaken with the Play Service and peer volunteers were used. • The next review structure had a focus on community response. • The target for Phase 2 had been set based on the target that Welsh Government request. In order to achieve this, there is an order of priorities set. • The take up rates were wholly dependent on parent preference. Within the submitted phase 3 proposal, there was a suggestion to look at these low coverage areas in order to improve these uptake rates. This would be a significant piece of work that would look at making the offer more accessible. • There was best practice shared with other Local Authorities in all aspects. • The proposed expansion by Welsh Government would be a phased proposal over a three-year period. There were challenges with ensuring sufficient childcare places and the sustainability of these that would need to be carefully managed. • Torfaen’s plans for further phase expansion was felt to be achievable. • Health had been worked with closely to support the health visitor role and vacancies. • There would be further information sought from health representatives, on the reason behind the falling percentages at the older age groups. Officers would relay this information to the Committee in due course. • Evidence surrounding groups and intervention is requested from all parents that attend. • The response rate percentage was representative of those who completed the programme. • Within the table in 4.45, families could be included in more than one data set due to accessing more than one type of intervention. • There was support for each group in respect of emerging needs. This would be looked at in more detail as a part of the ALN scrutiny session that was due to take place 06.02.25. • The ALN formula had recently changed which allowed for more resources to be accessible to primary schools. • Data and performance information was shared with Leadership for further review and planning. These were also reviewed against Welsh Government requirements. • Early years was linked to the first objective within the County Plan which placed it as a high priority in terms of funding. • Early intervention did not receive ALN funding, however if there was an alternative suitable, this was sought for a child. • There was to be a move away from ALN funding being allocated to a child and instead 5% of school funding was ringfenced for ALN. • The recommendations from the Efficiency Assessment were embedded within the annual childcare action plan. These would continuously be worked to on a priority basis. • There were consistent approaches in place to lessen any barriers that families may have when they accessed early years provision such as facilitation across Gwent and looking at transport options. • There had been barriers accessing early years provision through Welsh-medium as this was not a statutory requirement, therefore transport was unable to be provided. However, there was a lot of work being done across all available sites to support parents to access Welsh-medium early years provision if wished. 3.2 The Chair thanked all officers for their contributions to the meeting and they left the meeting. 3.3 On completion of their scrutiny activity, the Committee concluded by offering the following comments and recommendations for consideration: Recommendation 1 – The joint committee recommended a link be formalised between the ALN Forum for childcare providers and ALN Forum for schools, to support cluster work and transition. Recommendation 2 – In consideration for supporting issues where we have identified a trend for increasing presentations, it was recommended there be increased messaging and greater communications promoting and signposting to guidance and the range of support offers for parents and carers. Recommendation 3 The joint committee welcomed the recent celebration events, recommending this work continue, in addition to exploring alternative avenues for promoting the positive messages and benefits of working in childcare, including the training and development opportunities, in order to improve recruitment and retention. This could include greater collaboration with the Play Service, voluntary sector and the potential for apprenticeship schemes. Recommendation 4: Members recommended officers review the recording and presentation of performance data, with particular reference to the table in para 4.45, to ensure data presents an accurate reflection of outcomes and contributes effectively to service improvement. Recommendation 5: Members stressed the importance of collaborative working in delivering early years provision, and to ensure this is as effective as possible, recommended we continue to build upon the initial efforts around a stronger sharing of data amongst the Children & Families and Education directorates. Recommendation 6: In order to further improve equality and access to services, the committee recommended the Executive Member make representation to WG to consider the introduction of a regional hourly rate for childcare provision. 3.4 The Joint Children & Families and Education O&S Committee commended officers present and the wider team for the extensive work and efforts to deliver an effective and impactful Early Years provision. For future reports where there is significant reference to the work and collaboration of partner agencies such as the Health board, it was requested that relevant representation be present at the meeting. Considering the wide-ranging nature, importance and impact of Early Years provision, members suggested it would be of significant benefit for this item to be considered at a Members Seminar.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.