Agenda and minutes

None

The minutes of the meeting held on 15^th January 2019 were approved as a true and accurate record.

Attendee:

-              S Morgan (Chief Education Officer)

-              J Harris (Strategic Director – People)

-              K Rees (Assistant Head of Education – Inclusion)

-              A Powles (Deputy Chief Education Officer)

-              Councillor Gail Giles (Cabinet Member for Education)

-              C Phillips (Assistant Director of Estyn),

The Cabinet Member for Education presented a brief overview to the Committee and highlighted the key areas for consideration.

‘The Newport Education Service Estyn inspection report was published on 31st January 2019.  It was the first inspection to be carried out under the new Local Authority inspection framework introduced by Estyn in September 2018. It was also the first inspection of the Local Education Authority since the formation of the Education Achievement Service for South East Wales (EAS), which now leads on improvement across the five local authorities of South East Wales. 

A briefing on the report has been provided to all Elected Members, Head Teachers and has also been issued as press release.  The briefing has also been provided to EAS Governor Support to circulate to all Newport school governors.

The report highlights a number of positive features including that during the last three years:

-              The proportion of primary schools in Newport judged to be at least good for standards   compares favourably to inspection outcomes nationally;

-              The number of primary schools receiving excellent judgements for standards in this period is significantly higher than across Wales as a whole;

-              Improved performance at key stage 4 (GCSE) over the last three years in key indicators including English and mathematics, now compare favourably to local authorities across Wales. 

Other positive features include:

-              Senior Elected Members and Officers have a clear vision and high expectations of outcomes

-              Officers across a wide range of services ensure that they adapt their provision effectively to meet the changing wellbeing priorities of children and young people;

-              The percentage of pupils who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) has fallen sharply over the last four years and is now below the Wales average;

-              There is a good range of projects across the local authority supporting this reduction well, due to the valuable services they offer for vulnerable pupils, particularly in secondary schools;

-              Leaders respond appropriately to key financial pressures and are flexible in their approach to delivering priorities.

-              Estyn made five recommendations for the Education Service including:

-              Improve wider performance within secondary schools and outcomes for learners eligible for Free School Meals (FSM);

-              Adjust central education self-evaluation activities to have a greater focus on outcomes and value for money;

-              strengthen opportunities at a local authority level for children and young people to influence decisions that affect them;

-              Deliver the strategic plans to develop Welsh-medium education further. 

Actions to address the recommendations are already being implemented and will be incorporated into the Education Service Plan for 2019/20

Meanwhile, Estyn has requested that Newport Education Service write a best practice case study, which Estyn will share with other Local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Attendee:

-              T Pead – Additional Learning Needs Transformation Lead – Gwent wide

-              K Rees – Assistant Head of Education - Inclusion

The Transformation Lead presented the Committee with an update on the work being undertaken on Additional Learning Needs in Gwent.

The Committee thanked the Transitional Lead and Officer for their time and discussed the importance of the changes in the ALN sector in coming years. The Committee agreed to forward any questions to the Assistant Head of Education – Inclusion.

a)      Forward Work Programme Update (Appendix 1)

b)      Actions Arising (Appendix 2)

c)      Referral letter (Appendix 3)

d)      Information Reports (Appendix 4)

Attendees:

·                Daniel Cooke (Scrutiny Adviser)

a)         Forward Work Programme Update

The Scrutiny Adviser presented the Forward Work Programme, and informed the Committee of the topics due to be discussed at the next two committee meetings:

9 April 2019, the agenda items include;

o   Transition from Children to Adults Social Services – Verbal update

11 and 25 June 2019, the agenda items include;

o   End of Year Service Plan Reviews – Education and Social Services

b)        Action Arising

The Scrutiny Adviser informed the Committee on the updated actions one by one. The Committee requested no further information.

c)         Information Reports

The Scrutiny Adviser discussed each of the five information reports with the Committee. The Committee made the following requests, comments and recommendations;

·      Request for Interim Report

·      Members raised concerns around using the initials LAC, feeling that children would become labelled by other children. The Committee would like to use the full title ‘looked after children’

·      The Committee requested a report on the Primary School Categories 2018/2019 and to include Estyn Report  

·      The Committee requested Information on the role of the Looked after Child Mentor and if only 4 clusters have a LAC Mentor in place, what do the other clusters have for support.

·      The Committee requested the reports or outcomes of the reviews, Barnardos carried out in the Summer of 2017. 

·      What support is available for Tier One Young people that are not in education, training or Employment

·      Members raised concerns for Primary school aged children attending the Pupil Referral Unit. The Members requested more information on what support is available for these young people in particular and if the young people are required to attend the Pupil Referral Unit?

d)        Scrutiny Letters

The Committee received a Scrutiny topic referral letter from the Adults and Community Social Services Department. This referral requested that the Committee receive the new Newport Carers Strategy 2019 – 2022.

The Committee requested that the Carers Strategy be presented at the April meeting to allow the Committee to be included in the strategy consultation.