Agenda and minutes

None.

The minutes of the Meeting held on 25 April 2018 were approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

Attendees:

- James Harris (Strategic Director – People)

- Sarah Morgan (Chief Education Officer)

- Clare Coff (Head of Governor Support - Education Achievement Service (EAS))

- Hayley Davies-Edwards (Principal Challenge Adviser for Newport (EAS))

- Mr Alan Speight (Chair of Newport Association of School Governors

The Head of Governor Support (EAS) introduced the report to the Committee which included the level of support in place for Governors, responsibilities for funding for this support and an assessment of the adequacy of resources for Governors. The overview of the report included 3 key areas: Professional Clerking Service; Statutory Committee Support and Specialist Advice (Governance), and; the Governor Specific Support and Intervention Framework.

The Chair asked the Chief Education Officer for any comments. The Chief Education Officer advised that from a Local Authority point of view it was important to carry out regular quality assurance, which is carried out in a number of ways, including meetings that the Chief Education Officer attends with Principle Challenge Advisors, HR and representatives from Finance to exchange information about schools that are causing concern.  HR report specific issues, whether challenges were to correct and to identify any training needs. The team were looking at broker governor support on a termly basis which describes the training of each governing body. Health checks were also conducted on governing bodies to ensure they are accessing the right support, which allows support and challenge at the right time. It was also advised that over the course of years that the EAS had worked in partnership with the Local Authority, its relationship had grown and improved. There were Representative directors based around the region, with Mr Alan Speight being the Representative for Newport.

At the Chair’s invitation Mr Alan Speight; Chair of Newport Association of School Governors, introduced himself to the Committee. He explained that he saw both sides of the support provided as he sat on both a Green and an Amber school. Initially, he advised that he had not been in favour of the move to a consortium as the Local Authority had provided excellent support, but the support had not diminished and the training provided had been developed and improved.  The Strategic Group had input into the Business Case.  There were a number of Clerks providing service to governing Bodies and if a complaint was received support was provided.

Discussions included the following:

·        Members discussed the decrease in the number of survey outcomes, with responses being over 300 lower in 2017 than they were in 2015-16. Members were advised that this was due in part to general survey fatigue, however those who had issues responded to the surveys and the responses received were quite passionate and were all acted upon. This year the survey itself would be reviewed, to improve it and introduce an opt in and opt out option.

·        It was queried whether the same issues were being raised despite the dip in responses? It was advised that there were a range of issues. The support received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Attendees:

- James Harris (Strategic Director – People)

- Sarah Morgan (Chief Education Officer)

- Geraint Willington (Company Secretary - Education Achievement Service (EAS))

- Hayley Davies-Edwards (Principal Challenge Adviser for Newport (EAS))

The EAS Company Secretary presented an overview of the report to the Committee. The Education Achievement Service (EAS) provides a Regional Business Plan on an annual basis. Alongside this the EAS provides a mid-year review on progress towards the plan and the Annex for NCC. In addition, a number of reports were provided to Members throughout the year to enable scrutiny in a number of key areas. The EAS had provided Value for Money (VfM) reports to all local authorities across the region for the last 2 years. The EAS would be reporting VfM on a regional level set against the previous year Business Plan.

Members asked the following:

·        With regard to Value for Money, a Member was concerned at the number of Red Schools in the categorisation table on page 40.  Members were advised that 25 days are allocated in Challenge Advisor time to schools, which might be partially driven by categorisation, partially by inspection. A bespoke detailed support plan was delivered in partnership with the Local Authority. Advisers could also come to the school to coach a Head teacher or spend time with middle leaders. A fund had also been created to bring in Head teachers from another local authority.

The Chief Education Officer advised that to ensure EAS was delivering, trends and Challenge Advisor reports were examined by the Local Authority to get a feel if they were written accurately and appropriate for the school. She advised she was looking for pace, progress and impact, and if progress was not happening quickly enough she would question EAS and ask them to change what they were doing. She would also consider whether the school was accessing the appropriate training and consider warning notices.

The Principle Challenge Advisor advised the Committee that schools causing concern were held on a statutory register and have intervention plan monitoring to provide a forensic view of the impact, which adds value and things improved with the frequency of checking.

·        Members referred to the regional report received with no breakdown of how many schools in Newport are in the red category and asked why there had been a move towards regional value for money rather than value for money in individual authorities. Members were advised that previously there had been a breakdown for local authorities, however an external consultant recommended a regional value for money report as resources are shared and balanced out and so it was more meaningful to look regionally.

·        A Member enquired whether there was an area of most concern which was a Cluster of Red schools.  Members were advised that there was not a cluster of red schools and advised there were a number of reasons why schools are in red measures. The common factor is usually that leadership needs to be improved.

The Chief Education Officer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Attendee:

-        Tracy McKim (Policy Partnership & Involvement Officer)

The Policy Partnership and Involvement Officer introduced the final Well-being Plan 2018-23, which had been adopted by the Public Services Board following consultation with the Committee and stakeholders.

A short animation video charting and explaining the development journey of the Well-being Plan was presented to the Committee, which would be made available to the public in Welsh and English. 

Members asked the following:

·        A Member raised the need for a sustainable travel plan. Members were advised that this is included as one of the 5 Integrated Interventions of the Well-being Plan and that the Committee would receive update reports upon the progress of the delivery of the Plan.

·        A Member enquired which other organisations had been involved.  It was advised that Sustrans and Natural Resources Wales had been involved and ideas were being discussed including bike sharing which had been successful in Cardiff.

·        How had the Plan been received - Members were advised that the Plan had been well received by partners and the Future Generations Commissioner is very happy with it. The buy-in was strong and more would be done to publicise the plan and communicate it widely.

Actions:

The Committee agreed to formally receive the plan.