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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED to: 1. Agree the issues for inclusion on the Education and Inclusion Services Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme for the 2022/23 Municipal Year as set out in Appendix A; 2. Request that the Service Director Democratic Services & Communications notifies the appropriate Cabinet Member and responsible Officer, of the matters identified for pre-scrutiny in advance of Cabinet consideration; 3. Agree that the Work Programme be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure the items identified for inclusion are relevant and that any additional referrals are incorporated; 4. Consider and determine any other matter that Members may wish to scrutinise over this period; Acknowledge the draft Terms of Reference as attached at Appendix B, to the report.
RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the report considered by Cabinet at its meeting held on 26th September 2022, having considered matters contained within that report.
RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the presentation.
RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the presentation.
Apologies of absence were received from County Borough Councillors J Cook, M Maohoub and C Preedy and the Cabinet Member for Education and Inclusion, County Borough Councillor R Lewis.
In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the following declarations were made pertaining to the agenda: Agenda Item 4 - Update on the implementation of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal Act 2018 in Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Ø County Borough Councillor S Hickman – Personal – ‘My son has Additional Learning Needs’ Ø Mr L Patterson, Co-opted Member – Personal – ‘I have a child with Additional Learning needs within RCT’ Ø County Borough Councillor S Evans – Personal – ‘My son has additional learning needs and is a statemented child attending a school in RCT’ Agenda Item 6 - The implementation of the Curriculum for Wales in RCT Schools – Readiness and support for Schools County Borough Councillor S Evans – Personal – ‘The School that my son attends is named in one of the Central South Consortium presentations’
Members acknowledged the information provided through the consultation links in respect of open consultations, Welsh Government consultations and those matters being consulted upon by the local authority.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to: 1. Agree the issues for inclusion on the Education and Inclusion Services Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme for the 2022/23 Municipal Year as set out in Appendix A; 2. Request that the Service Director Democratic Services & Communications notifies the appropriate Cabinet Member and responsible Officer, of the matters identified for pre-scrutiny in advance of Cabinet consideration; 3. Agree that the Work Programme be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure the items identified for inclusion are relevant and that any additional referrals are incorporated; 4. Consider and determine any other matter that Members may wish to scrutinise over this period; Acknowledge the draft Terms of Reference as attached at Appendix B, to the report.
The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications presented his report which sought Members’ approval on the Committee’s draft Work Programme for the 2022/23 Municipal Year, which identified a number of initial items from discussions with the Chair and Officers, along with the Terms of Reference for the Committee, as agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, for acknowledging. In response to a greater emphasis contained within the Local Government & Elections Act (Wales) (2021) Members were advised, there was a requirement for key or strategic decisions of the Cabinet to be scrutinised, with a number of items identified from the Cabinet Work Programme. Additionally, because of the changes to the Terms of References, for scrutiny committees, there was a need to provide flexibility and capacity to scrutinise matters which may be identified, either in terms of service deliver, or performance, from the considerations undertaken, by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Members had the opportunity to identify subject matters themselves, in line with the Terms of Reference for the committee and to promote public participation in scrutiny, members were also advised to provide sufficient capacity within the work programme to accommodate matters identified for scrutiny by the public. A Public Participation Strategy would be developed, which would provide a mechanism for stronger participation by the public and residents, following determination by Council. The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications finished his presentation by advising Members that it was important to note that in the context of the subject matter contained within the Medium-Term Financial Plan, that there would inevitably be the need to necessitate additional meetings to consider business being presented to Cabinet, where appropriate, and therefore a need to factor in additional committee meetings to accommodate that business. Following discussion between Members and Officers the following amendments / additions to the FWP, were agreed: 29th November 2022 · The item on Elective Home Education Update, to reflect the implications of the Curriculum for Wales, within the report. · The report on Curriculum for Wales and school transitions from the primary to secondary sector, to be broadened, to cover the whole of the transition process. 19th January 2023 · The report on Sustainable Communities for Learning – Band B Update, to include an update on the diversity in school buildings and facilities across the Borough and the lack of parity due to varying investment schemes, as well as an overview of outdoor learning environments. 30th March 2023 · The report on School based Counselling, to be amended to include a broader look around Post-Covid well-being encapsulating information around the raft of wellbeing initiatives put in place to support learners and staff as well. · The report on the Post 16 curriculum offer in RCT, to include any implications of the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (CTER), following which Members to consider if they want a more in-depth report. Additions · The report on the proposal for a new special school in RCT to be added to the FWP and to include contextual information about ALN across RCT. · Members requested sight of any updates that are provided by CAMHs to the Community Services Committee, whilst acknowledging that if, in the future, there are any specific subject matter related to CAMHs which members, in the context of the TOR of this committee feel, that they would like to consider, there is an opportunity to have a joint meeting of the two committees to consider that subject matter. CAMHs to be added as a reminder to the FWP. · Members requested an informal meeting to be arranged in respect of a factual review, including facts and figures, with a presentation from members of the senior leadership team, in terms of roles and responsibilities and what department they have responsibility over, to provide an overview of functions of the education directorate. Following consideration by the Committee it was RESOLVED to: 1. Agree the issues for inclusion on the Education and Inclusion Services Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme for the 2022/23 Municipal Year as set out in Appendix A; 2. Request that the Service Director Democratic Services & Communications notifies the appropriate Cabinet Member and responsible Officer, of the matters identified for pre-scrutiny in advance of Cabinet consideration; 3. Agree that the Work Programme be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure the items identified for inclusion are relevant and that any additional referrals are incorporated; 4. Consider and determine any other matter that Members may wish to scrutinise over this period; Acknowledge the draft Terms of Reference as attached at Appendix B, to the report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the report considered by Cabinet at its meeting held on 26th September 2022, having considered matters contained within that report.
The Head of Inclusion Services advised Members that the report provided an update on the implementation of the new Additional Learning Needs (ALN) legislation, in place, which was the Additional Leaning Needs Education Tribunal Act (ALNET) and the new statutory ALN Code 2021, and also to look at the potential risks and additional resources needed by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) to ensure the local authority could meet the new statutory duties fully at the end of the three-year national ALN implementation timetable. Members were advised that the report had been presented to Cabinet on the 26th September 2022, following which the Head of Inclusion Services gave Members a brief overview of the contents of the report. Members were also advised that Cabinet had provided approval for the Access and Inclusion Service to progress with phase three proposals during years, two and three of the ALN implementation timetable. The Chair thanked the Head of Inclusion Services for the comprehensive report and sought questions from Members. A Member agreed that this was a very comprehensive and well summarised report, but felt that one thing missing was comparators e.g., how was RCT doing compared with everybody else across the consortium, across Wales, or the things that could be learned from elsewhere. The Head of Inclusion Services advised Members that under the new ALN system, there were no national benchmarks or consortium local based benchmarks, although the local authority had developed internal performance indicators. In terms of comparing with other local authorities, there was the ALN readiness survey that had been undertaken, so there was local data to compare across the five local authorities with RCT comparing favourably. On a national basis, at present, it was not known whether there would be any particular performance indicators. The Member felt it would be useful to have anonymised case studies to come back to the committee, in the future. A Member asked for clarification in terms of enhanced capacity, around the educational places that meet the needs of pupils, particularly with a wide range of ALN, including those struggling in those formal settings e.g., Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) provision. The Head of Inclusion Services advised Members, that in terms of ALN the Enhanced Capacity Funding (ECF) would be used to support schools or settings, maybe even EOTAS settings, e.g., group tuition, individual tuition, or Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) settings, that would support the ALN provision identified via the Individual Development Plan (IDP) process. These could be discrete outcomes but would reflect what support and additional learning provision children needed to develop within the new curriculum framework, with specific outcomes e.g., social, emotional needs or literacy needs within the IDP, which was what the ECF was primarily intended to be for. Whilst it couldn’t be totally divorced from the curriculum, it was an enhancement to what would be provided through the universal provision in classes. If the children did have an IDP this was sort of a differentiation plus, plus, and something very bespoke, through the IDP, with EOTAS settings following the same ALN processes as mainstream settings. A lot of support was being provided, at the moment, for special schools and EOTAS settings, who primarily had statemented pupils who were going to move through the transfer period from statement to IDP. A Member raised a concern, whilst acknowledging the new constraints on budgets with individual schools, that staff taking on ALN responsibilities, would need time outside of the classroom to provide these functions effectively e.g., meet with parents, external bodies, etc. She felt it would be useful to revisit this when budget constraints became clearer within schools. The Head of Inclusion Services advised Members of the requirement for the Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCo) to be more strategic, which had been emphasised to school leaders, advising of the survey undertaken last year, acknowledging there was a significant variability in the amount of non-contact time, which was something constantly being reinforced with headteachers. Whilst the ALNCo was strategic, it was the responsibility of all staff to be able to be upskilled, to take on the responsibilities, for supporting children with ALN and liaising with families, which incurred a cost in terms of time and budget but was something that underpinned the whole ethos of the new ALN legislation. She continued that one of the priorities identified, this year, was looking at how schools’ provision map, not just in terms of the interventions, but looking at what they considered to be universal learning provision. It was going to take time, but those messages were certainly, being reinforced to headteachers and ALNCo’s, on a continuous basis. A Member acknowledged the new process and procedures but raised concerns about ALN children on a reduced timetable, highlighting the Autism and Us parent support group, based in the Cynon Valley. The Head of Inclusion Services advised Members there were rigorous processes around reduced timetables, with a new policy introduced last year. She explained the electronic portal recording system, where schools were required to report each child, on a reduced timetable, including the reason, detail, in terms of the amount of time the child was in school, and the review date, then using the system to track when the review date was supposed to happen, whether the review happened or not. Key heads of service met monthly to review reduced timetable data, and challenge schools, where there were concerns. It was a valid mechanism to encourage some schools to enhance their time, but there was an expectation that reduced timetables were reviewed on a 6-weekly basis, and that the time that they spend in school, increased. The Head of Inclusion Services acknowledged the Autism and Us group and the survey carried out. The Director of Education and Inclusion reinforced that there were clear duties on local authorities and on schools to meet the requirements of the Equality Act and children had to be treated in the same way, based on their protective characteristics, as their peers, so a reduced timetable was intended to be a short-term intervention. To reinforce expectations on schools and governing bodies, guidance and exemplar policy on strategic equality plans and also accessibility plans, was provided as part of the Directors report for the autumn term governing body meeting, to reinforce that every school and governing body were complying with legislative requirements to have those plans in place and to reinforce responsibilities around the Equality Act. A Member highlighted that there was an 133.3% increase in the numbers of children aged 0 to 3 identified as having ALN, acknowledging the implications of Covid-19, and asked whether any analysis had been carried out in terms of children’s attainment and whether it differentiated between different areas. The Head of Inclusion Services explained to Members that cases that came through the early years’ forum were analysed and there were some very young children who appeared to have emerging needs, but it was unclear whether those needs were due to the impact of Covid-19, deprivation or a specific ALN. Numbers had increased because these early years processes were now in place, and it was anticipated they would continue to increase; however, these cases were being monitored to determine whether they went on to have an ALN and require an IDP. The Head of Inclusion Services explained to Members about the early years’ language pilot project, around the effective universal provision around language development, to support those children who may not yet be verbal, which it was hoped would see accelerated progress, which would determine what the impact, possible of other factors other than an innate ALN, had been on Children’s development. The Member also highlighted the ALP co-ordinator and the family liaison roles, and asked for clarification around parental and carer engagement, as she felt some of this was quite confusing for them. The Head of Inclusion Services explained to Members that it was important for parents to have that engagement to have a sound understanding of the new ALN system, as opposed to the SEN one, and highlighted the posts in place. There were 2 tiers of support, including complex cases, where pupils had been referred and parents needed support to understand the ALN system, and maybe issues where there were disagreements between the local authority and parents, however the main area of focus was around family engagement, with a plan drawn up that would be operational after half term. There would be a range of activities e.g., coffee mornings, evening activities for parents, etc, on a range of subject areas, such as basic understanding of the new ALN system, introducing parents to members of access and inclusion and understanding what the function was, in addition to collaborating with SNAP Cymru to have joint events. The family engagement plan would be advertised via the website, by sending flyers out to schools and activities in each of the district areas, with some held in public buildings. Members agreed that a further update to the Committee should be forthcoming within the next 6 months to include the priorities outlined, tying in with the status quo, case studies and best practice examples, monitoring and evaluation of early years growth, and the parental engagement plan. Following consideration by the Committee it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the report considered by Cabinet at its meeting held on 26th September 2022, having considered matters contained within that report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the presentation.
The Managing Director, Central South Consortium (CSC) advised Members that this was an opportunity to share the WG guidance on theframework for evaluation, improvement and accountability and set the work and the expectations on regional consortia, local authorities, and scrutiny committees. The Principal Improvement Partner, for Primary Schools in RCT then took Members through the presentation highlighting the key areas including expectations for those contributing to school improvement, purpose of school improvement, the summary of implications / major changes, accountability – the role of local authorities and the role of the consortia. The Chair thanked the Principal Improvement Partner for the comprehensive presentation and sought questions from Members. A Member referred to the local authority reviews / monitoring, pre-Covid, and wondered whether that would still be happening or would now be kick started again, as a support mechanism for schools as a precursor to inspection or whether that was happening through the CSC and through School Improvement Partners. The Principal Improvement Partner explained that they were currently seeing a cyclical approach to schools that hadn't been inspected for 6 - 8 years, and were now being picked up in the latest round, so it was about supporting those schools in terms of preparedness for inspection, so Improvement Partners (IPs) were working closely with schools and having, pre inspection preparation meetings to enable Headteachers to be aware of what they needed to be prepared for, in terms of the process, as well as in terms of identifying any risks or schools that needed additional support. He continued that part of the framework implemented, post categorisation, was that there were schools in a core category where they were having normal CSC support, but also those that needed enhanced support and there was a fluidity of movement between the two, so there is an interface between the two and that was very much part of the parcel of the discussions with the local authority to support those schools appropriately. The Director of Education and Inclusion added that even during the pandemic, progress meetings continued for red and amber schools, in accordance with the historical categorisation model and CSC frameworks. She continued that schools were not coached to be ready for inspection but worked closely with and supported where necessary. PIPs and IPs shared intelligence about how schools were performing routinely, which was an ongoing process, and sometimes a school would move from core to enhance support because there might be fragility around leadership, for example, if there was a newly appointed Headteacher, and they needed that frontloaded support to enable them to take a school forward and would look creatively about putting those support systems and mechanisms in place. A Member asked how the CSC Joint Education Service (JES) Joint Committee fed back into RCT, and back into this Committee. The Managing Director, CSC, explained to Members that the Joint Committee was made-up of the Lead Education Member from each of the five local authorities and which was the conduit of information coming back into the local authority, with all of the Joint Committee materials. She continued that moving forward there was a need to ensure that there was a closer alignment between the Joint Committee and this Committee, so there was a better sharing of information / double checking the communication, around that. It was acknowledged that there was an annual progress report scheduled for the 19th of January meeting. The Director of Education and Inclusion acknowledged that within the body of the CSC annual report, there were lots of links to supporting documents, and these were often to reports shared in the joint committee. It was explained that if there were any other reports that Committee required following the CSC annual report update, these could be presented, at a later date, so that transparency was there whilst also ensuing there was not duplication in reporting. Following consideration by the Committee it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the presentation.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the presentation.
The Assistant Director Curriculum, CSC began taking Members through the Curriculum for Wales presentation including the journey to roll out, implementation in RCT, professional learning, bespoke support, and the writing project, before handing over to the Principal Improvement Partner, who explained to Members about the Aberdare Cluster Project and the Curriculum for Wales Project. Following this Members heard from the Headteachers of Gwaunmeisgyn Primary School, Cwmlai Primary School and Oaklands Primary School who detailed the collaborative working they had been involved in. The Chair thanked Officers and Headteachers for their contribution and felt there was definitely an Estyn best practice, if not a WG best practice case study, to take forward, because the passion and the joy of those in the room, around this project, had really come through. The Director of Education and Inclusion thanked Headteachers for attending the meeting and their contributions and felt it would be lovely to capture the learner voice in relation to some of the excellent work that had been undertaken, which could potentially shared at future scrutiny meetings. A Member highlighted the work of the school’s twinning association, in terms of global citizenship, and wondered if there was an opportunity, with the more flexible curriculum, to deliver similar sorts of engagement, in a slightly different way, rather than just clusters. A Member asked the Headteacher, what they would say the feeling was on the ground, around the curriculum, at the moment. The Headteacher - Cwmlai Primary School explained that her own school was ready for that challenge, and staff were relieved to be shed of the restrictions of the previous curriculum and had ignited a new love of teaching, and in the children, a new love of learning, which she hoped would be reflected in those visiting the school. The Headteacher - Oaklands Primary School explained that there was a real excitement and teachers were planning exciting topics that engaged the children, although if there was a line of concern at the moment, that was based around assessment and progression, but that was the next steps. The Headteacher - Gwaunmeisgyn Primary School explained that his learners were thoroughly enjoying school, the immersion activities, then the build up to the learning and then the celebration at the end of it, highlighting the health and well-being topic, across all years. He acknowledged though the challenge, in terms of competition, and changing the mindset, to be able to see the benefit of projects, like the one rolled out, so it was about how to break down those barriers, of competition and how to collaborate as effectively as possible, with an open-door policy. The Managing Director CSC explained that this was a really important point about the competition and developing that different mindset with schools. It wasn't about league tables, or who was the best at something, it was about working together to provide the best education for all children and the cluster way of working, had demonstrated that. It was the intention to move to a self-improving system, and that could only be done by working together, so CSC’s role was about sharing that practice and bringing schools together and facilitating those partnerships. It was agreed that a further update to the Committee would be useful, particularly to hear from the learner voice, perhaps in recorded clips, etc. Following consideration by the Committee it was RESOLVED to acknowledge the contents of the presentation.
The Chair thanked Members for their attendance and contributions, and Officers for answer questions and thanked external colleagues around the room from CSC and the Headteachers, for attending and reminded Members that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday 29 November 2022, at 5pm.
None.
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