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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED – That, subject to the aforementioned, the work programme be agreed.
AGREED – (i) That Officers be thanked for the report and the data sharing session held earlier in the day. (ii) That a further report be scheduled for 12 months’ time.
AGREED – (i) That Committee endorse the report, recognise the level of work being done by Officers and welcome the progress achieved. (ii) That Committee Members receive an update as soon as possible following the Estyn visit in July.
AGREED – That the update in respect of the work of the School Improvement Monitoring Group be noted.
AGREED – (i) That the current membership of the Groves Task & Finish Group be retained to ensure continuity and to note that Councillor Corin Jarvis was also a member of this Group. (ii) That the current membership of the School Improvement Monitoring Group be retained.
An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Dana Davies.
AGREED – That the Minutes of the Meetings held on 20 April 2023 and 11 May 2023 be signed as a correct record.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That, subject to the aforementioned, the work programme be agreed.
The Chief Officer Governance & Customer submitted a report to consider the work programme of the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee. Presenting the report the Scrutiny Facilitator drew Members’ attention to the following matters: · School Transport – Members of the Hazardous Routes Appeal Group to be invited to the meeting when the review of Hazardous routes is considered. · Noted that the update report on School Transport, including the further recommendation regarding Post-16 transport would be considered by the Executive Board at it’s meeting of 11 July 2023. · The Groves – Assets officers had advised that they were still awaiting the outcome of the bid, details of which could be found using the link to the press statement in the work programme schedule attached to the report. AGREED – That, subject to the aforementioned, the work programme be agreed.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That Officers be thanked for the report and the data sharing session held earlier in the day. (ii) That a further report be scheduled for 12 months’ time.
The Lead Member for Education submitted a report (COEEI/13/23) to aid Members’ understanding of how service areas across the Education and Early Intervention Department (EEID) engage with young people and correlate the work to support pupil’s wellbeing. The Chair welcomed to the Meeting Mr Richard Hatwood, Headteacher at All Saints School, Gresford and Mr Simon Ellis, Headteacher at The Maelor School, Penley. The Lead Member for Education presented the report to the Committee referring to the importance of the quantitative and qualitative data collected which provided an overview of the general wellbeing of children and young people in Wrexham whilst also allowing for a greater understanding of pupil need at school and individual levels. The Health & Well-being Lead provided further information in respect of the sources of well-being data, the robustness of the data and how that was analysed and used on a local authority and school level. He further referred to areas of progress and areas for developments and the workshop session provided to Committee members earlier which had provided reassurance in terms of the strength of the data collected. The Chief Officer Education and Early Intervention reminded the Committee that the focus on well-being remained at the heart of the work of the Education service in partnership with schools. The Chair invited Mr Richard Hatwood and Mr Simon Ellis to address the Committee. They provided Members with detailed examples of how the data collected was used in planning interventions and areas which required action and further attention. The Committee welcomed the report and considered the evidence provided by the Headteachers. During debate the following matters in particular were referred to: · The level of pupil engagement. Noted that data had been collected from 78% of secondary pupils. Officers confirmed that whilst this provided a robust sample level they continued efforts to improve on that return. · The importance of parent/carer involvement. · Problems in accessing CAMHS. Committee were reassured that schools worked alongside the service in order to provide an appropriate level of support and intervention in order to mitigate risk whilst pupils were on the waiting list. · Food and nutrition issues had been identified as requiring further attention. It was noted that a joint task group had been established which would be undertaking further consultation with student groups before implementing actions to improve this area. · Concerns regarding substance misuse and vaping. Officers confirmed that there was a range of proactive services to engage with pupils and to support schools in providing a tiered approach, both preventative and responsive as required. · The proportion of young people in Wrexham going to sleep after 11.30pm. Whilst this remained higher than the national average the gap was closing. Noted that this would remain as an area of focus in the Healthy Schools Action Plan 23-24. AGREED – (i) That Officers be thanked for the report and the data sharing session held earlier in the day. (ii) That a further report be scheduled for 12 months’ time.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That Committee endorse the report, recognise the level of work being done by Officers and welcome the progress achieved. (ii) That Committee Members receive an update as soon as possible following the Estyn visit in July.
The Lead Member for Education submitted a report (COEEI/12/23s) to provide an update to the Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee on the Estyn Post Inspection Action Plan (PIAP). Presenting the report the Lead Member reminded the Committee that Wrexham Local Government Education Services (LGES) had been inspected by Estyn in October 2019. Their report, published on 20 December 2019, had provided an overall judgement that the local authority was an authority “causing significant concern”. He reported that Estyn was due to return to Wrexham next month to reassess their judgement. The Lead Member was confident that LGES are no longer causing significant concern as a result of the significant improvements that had been made which would benefit all learners. The Chief Officer Education & Early Intervention provided further information taken in respect of the action plan developed in response to the inspection and confirmed that the monitoring visit would take place 4 – 6 July 2023. Today’s report provided evidence of the actions for each recommendation and every action was supported by a piece of evidence to be presented to Estyn. An evaluation of the impact of the actions taken had been undertaken and it was noted that outcomes, attendance and exclusion data and the profile of secondary schools in terms of inspections had improved. Finally, she reported that consideration had also been given to the next steps, the strengths of the service and the areas for progress. Members considered the report and asked questions of the Chief Officer and Lead Member. During debate reference was made to the following matters: · The report was welcomed by the Committee. Tribute was paid to the hard work of the Chief Officer and her team in preparing and delivering the action plan. The Chief Officer thanked the Committee for their support, robust challenge and recognition of the pressure that the service had been under. · Attendance. Noted that as a result of the pandemic the analysis of data and comparisons with like schools to inform Local Authority (LA) challenge to schools had been suspended. · Well-being. Noted that the proposed action to revise LA Well Being guidance in order to integrate plans to improve attendance had been superseded by the emotional and well-being framework developed by the government and the associated requirements placed on schools. · Exclusions. The Chief Officer reported that the service was focussing on how to provide support in order to reduce the level of permanent exclusions by taking preventative actions. As part of the restructure of the service a team had been developed to work with schools and pupils to provide support. Further work was needed to ensure that the right interventions were in place to address inappropriate behaviours that may result in fixed term exclusions. · The restructure of the work of the PRU service in intervening at an earlier stage, ideally for fixed periods of time, with a view to reintegration back into mainstream schools was noted. · Schools had been supported to look at their own provisions internally to support pupils at risk of permanent exclusion. · Further information was requested in relation to the way that schools were engaged in the process of the Estyn inspection. It was noted that Head teachers were invited by Estyn to complete a questionnaire and they would engage with them through that process. In addition as part of the monitoring visit Estyn would meet with a group of education professionals. AGREED – (i) That Committee endorse the report, recognise the level of work being done by Officers and welcome the progress achieved. (ii) That Committee Members receive an update as soon as possible following the Estyn visit in July.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – That the update in respect of the work of the School Improvement Monitoring Group be noted.
The Chair provided Committee Members with an update in respect of the recent meeting of the School Improvement Monitoring Group which had been held to consider the outcome of the Estyn visit to Minera Aided Primary School. The Chair advised that it had been a valuable meeting and the group were assured that the school understood the improvements required. A robust plan had been put in place, based on the School Development Plan priorities, which were being appropriately progressed. The Head teacher had also reported that they had been appropriately supported by the LEA throughout the process. AGREED – That the update in respect of the work of the School Improvement Monitoring Group be noted.
Decision as recorded
AGREED – (i) That the current membership of the Groves Task & Finish Group be retained to ensure continuity and to note that Councillor Corin Jarvis was also a member of this Group. (ii) That the current membership of the School Improvement Monitoring Group be retained.
The Chief Officer Governance & Customer submitted a report (COGC/54/23s) to consider the membership of the Groves Task and Finish Group and the School Improvement Monitoring Task & Finish Group. Noting that these were long-standing Groups it was suggested that the existing membership be retained to ensure continuity. It was noted that Councillor Corin Jarvis as local member was a member of the Groves Task & Finish Group. AGREED – (i) That the current membership of the Groves Task & Finish Group be retained to ensure continuity and to note that Councillor Corin Jarvis was also a member of this Group. (ii) That the current membership of the School Improvement Monitoring Group be retained.
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