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There is no summary of this meeting yet. Summaries are written once the council publishes the minutes, which are its official record of what a meeting decided. They usually appear a few weeks after the meeting.
1.1 1.2 Apologies were received from Councillors Alfie Best and Caroline Price. The Chair welcomed Officers to the meeting.
2.1 Councillor Colette Thomas declared a personal interest due to being a Governor at Nant Celyn School.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 13th September 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record.
4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 4th of October 2023 were confirmed as an accurate record.
5.1 The action sheet was noted by the Committee.
6.1 The Chair provided thanks to Lyndsey Smith and her colleagues in respect of the Committee’s recent visit to Penygarn school. It was noted that this was useful in the Committee’s preparation for this meeting. 6.2 Officers provided an overview of their roles. The DoE gave a brief introduction to the report, highlighting the following: 6.3 The report was focused on alternative provision options for learners struggling to attend mainstream education whilst retaining the long-term goal of reintegrating these learners back into mainstream education. 6.3 Following Members’ questions and comments, the following main points were made: • There were a limited number of placements within the PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) therefore it was expected that evidence of school-based intervention was provided by school prior to a PRU referral being made. The aim of the PRU was to provide learners with short-term intervention in order to reintegrate learners into mainstream education. • The referral system was currently being reviewed in order to remove some of the complexities that currently existed within it. • The ALN panel was made up of headteachers, school representatives, outreach representatives and education psychologists. The decision at these panels was ultimately made by the local authority, but it was ensured there was a comprehensive discussion undertaken in order to come to this decision. • There were provisions for learners who struggled to access mainstream education due to medical reasons, such as anxiety groups. • Welsh Government advised that schools should not use modified days long-term for behavioural issues but rather use alternative provision with full-time curriculum. • Welsh medium alternative provision presented a challenge, it was being investigated whether a specialist provision could be provided on a regional basis. In the event that a learner required Welsh medium provision, there would be staff commissioned from Welsh medium schools to support this. The Welsh in Education Strategic Plan would continue to address this need. • Coleg Gwent were to offer an early access course for Year 11 pupils which would ensure that learners had the option to undertake their Welsh GCSE. • Schools were able to provide learners with a reduced timetable or “modified day” for six weeks with the objective of increasing back to full time education after this period. In complex cases, this plan would be reviewed after the six-week period. Parent involvement was crucial within this period to successfully re-integrate the learner into full-time education. • The revised modified day process had been in place since September and this had a positive impact on managing the learners who needed alternate provision. The number of learners on a modified day plan was reducing and schools seemed to be embracing this new process. This new process would continue to be reviewed and any improvements would be made if necessary. This new process allowed an accurate overall number of exclusions to be seen as these learners were no longer being informally managed with modified timetables. • The majority of EOTAS provision was focused on secondary school level. Whilst there were processes for primary school it was felt that these needed to be improved, especially in respect of Early Years. There were not many referrals made in respect of primary age children, therefore there was not a Pupil Referral Unit. If there was a need for alternative provision for a primary age learner this would be commissioned by the school. • The PRU was managed by the Local Authority which ensured any staff member had been DBS checked. In respect of all schools, this was managed internally and schools were expected to undertake their own due diligence. Any alternative provision that learners did attend that was not within the school or at the PRU would be supervised by a member of PRU staff. These processes had been identified during an Estyn report which gave an overview of good practices surrounding safeguarding and due diligence. • The deadline for the EOTAS survey had been the end of the summer term. The survey had provided a snapshot of providers available and the quality assurance arrangements that were currently in place. • If a primary age learner needed alternative provision, the initial step would be outreach support. If it was felt further support was needed there was a small alternative provision for primary school children at Pont Fach Assessment Centre. This would typically be a part time placement in which a learner would develop their skills prior to transitioning back into mainstream school. In complex cases there may be consideration into alternative pathways such as specialist provision. There were currently 16 pupils accessing this provision on a part-time basis. Currently, there was only capacity for 6 learners at a time but there were plans to increase this to 12 learners. A number of the learners at Pont Fach were accessing this provision for social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, leading them to access out of county specialist schools if extra support was required as Crownbridge School could not always provide the correct support for these difficulties. • Several providers offered accredited qualifications, however, there were a number that were solely wellbeing provisions that did not offer any qualifications. There had been meetings held with Coleg Gwent in order to discuss support for learners accessing alternative provision to attain qualifications. • The three schools that commission EOTAS provision independently were secondary schools. The providers could be seen in the table in paragraph 5.5 and these were primarily used in the case of behavioural issues. • Seven learners accessing school commissioned EOTAS appeared low. However, providers often access the school which suggested that in-school provision was potentially not being accounted for. There were an average of 60 learners per term accessing the PRU. Whilst The Nook was currently only being used for tuition, there were discussions that the building may start to accommodate anxious and phobic learners as it was currently underused. • Inspire to Achieve identified learners that were at high risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) and offered them a number of courses in order to reintegrate the learner into mainstream education. Data had been gathered at the end of October and it was believed this would show a decline in learners who had become NEET. • The home tuition group was an online offer for learners by the PRU. Before the learner is given permission to attend virtually, the learner and parent would need to attend the New Inn Centre or a home visit would need to be undertaken. Learners’ microphones and cameras had to be on in order for them to be marked in attendance. The school would inform the PRU of any safeguarding concerns and Children Services would also be notified. The online provision had also been provided to learners in long-term hospital placements, with co-ordination with the hospital to ensure continuity. • The PRU were only able to offer the six GCSE subjects referred to within the report due to limited resources. There were not enough specialist teachers to offer the full range of GCSE’s typically available within secondary school. However, as the majority of learners accessing the PRU were dual registered, they would still have access to these GCSEs within their mainstream schools. • The Essential Skills Wales qualification was a level one qualification for learners who were struggling to complete their GCSEs. Within the 2022/2023 year there was only one child identified to undertake this course. • Historical data regarding the amount of NEET learners would be shared with the Committee. The Inspire to Achieve team worked closely with 6th forms and colleges to help ensure potential NEET learners had appropriate pathways offered to them. ACT training, a work training provider, had recently moved into the area which would also be beneficial in lowering the number of NEET learners within Torfaen borough. • The increase in learners accessing the PRU could be attributed to the success of short-term interventions. It was suggested that a stable number of learners would suggest a lack of progression. The number of learners increases throughout the year as Year 11 students leave in time for the Autumn term prior to the new academic year referrals commencing. • A behavioural conference was being planned in order to develop and upskill the school staff which would in turn help reduce the demand for the PRU. • Parents are involved at every stage of EOTAS provision and are expected to attend meetings to discuss learner behaviour and potential alternative options. The learner’s view is also sought and no alternative provision is undertaken without parent consent. The Managed Move process had been updated. This involved an agreement signed between the school, parents and the Local Authority in order to provide a learner a fresh start. • There had been more regular monitoring and performance monitoring pre-covid, however, this had been recognised and a regular survey was in development. • There was scope to create an EOTAS Quality Assurance Group on a regional basis. The majority of providers were used by all Gwent Local Authorities. Therefore, a shared quality assurance document would be a practical and logical approach. Although this was not currently in place, all Local Authority and school-based provisions had been quality assured and schools were expected to undertake their own quality assurance work on their commissioned providers. • The Rhondda Cynon Taff portal fed into their management information system. This, alongside the EET team (Education, Employment and Training Team), was under consideration to be adopted by Torfaen County Borough Council. • Transport costs were considered when learners attend EOTAS provisions and this had been increasing lately. There was consistent consideration into reducing these costs where possible. The PRU had recently used a grant to purchase their own minibus to transport learners to offsite provisions. 6.4 The Chair thanked the officers for their contributions to the meeting and they left the meeting. 6.5 Recommendations Recommendation 1:- Members recommended that processes be reviewed, and improved where possible, regarding Early Years settings (including non-maintained settings) and working closely with colleagues from Health, in order to expedite the notifications received regarding early identification of learners’ needs. Recommendation 2:- Members were pleased with the quality of EOTAS provision available to primary schools; however they were concerned by the limited amount of provision in place to cater for the level of need amongst learners within primary schools. Members recommended that officers explore the potential to increase the amount of EOTAS provision available to primary schools in Torfaen. Recommendation 3:- Members recommended that officers explore the potential to upskill the workforce within schools, which would reduce the demand on the PRU and allow the PRU to focus on more complex cases. Members recognised that budgetary issues and the size of school buildings could impact on whether this was possible in some cases. Recommendation 4:- Members supported the intention of officers to review and implement use of the Alternative Provision Questionnaire for schools and the PRU, to ensure quality assurance at LEA level. Members recommended that officers explore a regional approach to quality assurance, as the majority of providers were used by all Gwent local authorities. This approach would ensure consistency in the quality of all EOTAS providers procured by schools and the PRU. Recommendation 5:- Members were pleased to hear that transport costs and links to learners’ communities were considered when placing learners in EOTAS provision. Members recommended that officers explore the locations of provision, to ensure they are geographically linked to where need is greatest, where possible.
7.1 The SO presented the report and invited members to review the information contained in the appendices to the report and agree an item for scrutiny at the next meeting. 7.2 The Committee agreed to scrutinise “Pupil Attendance & Exclusions (inc. Mental Health & Well-being, Behaviour, Elective Home Education, Children Missing in Education)” at the next meeting held 01/02/2024.
8.1 The date of the next meeting was noted. 8.2 The meeting ended at 11:42.
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