Agenda and minutes

Councillors Stephen Marshall and William Routley

Page 17, Item 7 Councillor Trevor Watkins declared an interest as Chair of Governors of Tredegar Park School

Attendees –

-       Sarah Morgan - Head of Education

-       Andrew Powell -  Deputy Chief Education Officer

-       Deborah Weston - Service Manager Resources

-       Katie Rees - Assistant Head of Education- Inclusion

The Cabinet Member for Education introduced the report and reported that the Education Service continued to develop and deliver effective leadership and provision, which had been reflected in the response of the service to the Covid 19 pandemic. Central Education worked with schools to provide childcare and support for children of critical workers and to vulnerable learners. In September 2020 schools reopened in line with Newport City Council recovery objectives and Welsh Government guidance linked to school operations and the development of blended learning. Central teams had continued to work with individual schools to review school finances and ensure value for money.

Members asked the following:

·         What was the situation regarding the grant provision for GEMS?

The Head of Education explained that throughout Wales, including Newport, the Council were allowed a grant for supporting pupils of GRT background or who had English as an additional language. Welsh Government had announced that the calculation of the grant would be reviewed and we were therefore expecting a reduction in WG contribution. This was expected to cause issues as we would be unable to support our current levels of staffing in this area, currently 100 % supported by grant income. However, in light of Covid, this recalculation had been delayed so we had managed to continue for now with the same level of grant. Head of Education said we had a good representation on the working party for Welsh Government and so hoped additional money would come through the system

·         A member asked if attendance levels had dropped significantly during the period of the  pandemic

The Deputy Chief Education Officer reported that attendance levels were very low at the start of September but had increased steadily up to half term in October, with the best attendance rate being around 83%. Although levels were still much lower than pre-Covid, we were 9^th in ranking of the 22 Local Authorities. A media campaign had been launched to encourage families to send their children back to school but at the moment we were still not allowed to issue fines for non-attendance.

·         A member asked what measures were being taken to support Additional Learning Needs (ALN) children and to ensure that all schools were operating ‘on an equal playing field’

The Assistant Head of Education (Inclusion) responded that at the start of lockdown the Service worked with all schools to complete risk assessments for vulnerable pupils to ensure they were tracked and supported. Throughout the Summer a helpline was available to provide extra support to ensure pupils weren’t dropping behind. Also set up were education psychologist support groups to ensure any pupil with ALN needs had their well being and learning checked. There had also been a grant to set up a heath and support team that all schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Invitees

-          Neil Barnett – Governance Officer

The officer presented the Forward Work Programme, and informed the Committee of the topics due to be discussed at the next committee meeting:

19^th January 2021/22

-          Draft Budget Proposals