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1.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Ron Burnett and Michelle Jones.
2.1 Councillor Jessica Powell declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 as she was the Chair of Governors at Maendy Primary School. 2.2 The CLO left the meeting.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 6th October 2021 were confirmed as an accurate record.
5.1 The COE gave a brief introduction to the report. 5.2 Following Members’ questions and comments, the COE and HoL made the following main points: • Aside of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two critical areas for schools at present were the new curriculum and the new Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Act. In order to ensure that the Self-Evaluation Report (SER) lined up with the new curriculum, the Local Authority (LA) had a formalised process where priorities were discussed with schools as part of developing their School Development Plans (SDPs). This included how they were positioned in terms of the new curriculum and what support they required from the Education Achievement Service (EAS). The process was dynamic, and support needed to be tweaked as individual schools were at different points of their journey. • The LA was in the process of discussing priorities with the EAS as part of the EAS Business Plan. The new curriculum, ALN and closing gaps in attainment, particularly due to the pandemic, were some of the main priorities. The LA was able to pull reports together regarding individual schools, which was more appropriate than pulling an overall report together to include all 33 schools in Torfaen. • The LA and all other stakeholders feed into the EAS Business Plan. The LA requires the Plan to meet its needs and the COE reminded everyone that the LA was a part owner of the EAS. The LA was keen to look at impact statements and assess what difference interventions were making, and this was an area where the Committee played a role, not just officers within Education. • Over the years, the EAS had shifted its focus towards more school-to-school work and the School Improvement Partners (SIPs) in place were individuals who typically had very recent experience of being headteachers. Headteachers within Torfaen recently agreed that the model was strong overall and there was evidence of it working; however some work needed to be tailored more individually to schools. • Sharing of best practice was vital and this took place between schools, the LA and the EAS, as well as on a school-to-school basis. • The SER aligned with and was meeting the recommendations within the Partnered Review. The HoL kept a regular monitoring update, which he agreed to share with members of the Committee. The monitoring update fed into management meetings. • The SER was a ‘bottom up’ process, which involved a wide range of partners, starting from one-to-one meetings with staff through to performance management objectives. The above gave the LA a really rich picture of education within Torfaen. Headteachers, the Executive Member and the Council’s Leadership Team were consulted regarding the SER and officers were keen to involve the Children and Young People Parliament, which had been stalled due to the pandemic. Officers had taken opinions from children and young people via various questionnaires during the pandemic; however they acknowledged that more could be done. • With regards to involving the wider community in the SER process, officers would welcome the Committee’s feedback in terms of what should be shared and to whom. • Progress against improvement priorities identified within the SER would be reviewed as an ongoing process. Officers within the Education senior leadership team were updating the document very regularly and a termly update was typically produced. Dialogue with schools and other stakeholders was very important in terms of offering support and monitoring its impact. • Evidence regarding impacts and progress could be found in the right hand column of the SER, including all reviews and relevant reports. Communicating the above to all members of the Council was vital in order for well-informed decisions to be made. A high level summary document of the SER would be beneficial to members going forward; however careful consideration was required in terms of what information could be shared with members via such methods as a virtual inspection room. Officers always sought to find the right balance in terms of the amount of information shared with members of the Committee; however they saw no issues in sharing the minutes of the Headteacher Strategic Group with members. • Officers were confident that the SER reflected the aspirations set out within the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) and the SER was updated in light of feedback from working with Welsh Government (WG); however officers encouraged feedback from all stakeholders regarding any possible gaps. • The LA held monthly quality assurance meetings with the EAS, and this provided an opportunity to discuss all of the schools within Torfaen via information that was collated on a spreadsheet basis. A collaborative approach was in place between the LA and EAS regarding providing support and monitoring the impact of support. • Some schools, such as St Albans RC High School acknowledged that they needed to streamline their school improvement process and were working to remedy this with their SIP. The LA was now in a position where all of its schools were able to drill down into their development priorities and have dialogue around support. • Wellbeing of pupils and staff had been a priority during the pandemic, and it continued to be a priority now. Social reintegration required attention on returning to school and very detailed plans and extra support were in place, which included partnership working with teams such as the Play Service and Youth Service. • Officers were not aware of a borough wide issue regarding an increase in the number of pupils within Year 8 being placed within School Action Plus category and they explained that different schools had different issues in various pupil groupings, such as gender or Free School Meal pupils. It was a positive that the LA had a responsive system in place, as this put the LA in a well-informed position to act. • Assumptions were not made regarding any schools, regardless of their previous categorisation prior to the pandemic, and lots of dialogue and monitoring occurred with all schools. • With regards to the Schools Counselling Service, one of the biggest pressures existed around the complexity of casework, rather than the volume of casework. The LA was still learning about the demands caused by the pandemic and this was part of an ongoing process around support, particularly regarding pupils at risk of exclusion. • The Schools Counselling Service was a self-referral system and the longest waiting times were approximately six weeks; however this was being considered and additional resource was available. A holistic approach was required, involving other Council colleagues, as the mental impacts of the pandemic affected those not in employment, education or training (NEETs), families and wider communities too. • With regards to the possible expansion of the Pont Fach Primary Assessment Centre in order to cater for secondary school pupils too, this area required more exploration and included more demand and complexity of needs. • Officers agreed to take on board any feedback from the Committee regarding the wording within the SER, particularly in terms of use of resources for school support and its value for money. • The HoL had completed an analysis of the Headteacher’s Survey which was carried out during 2021 and he agreed to share it with members of the Committee, alongside the follow-up presentation that was shared with headteachers. • The Torfaen Autism Support Service was a small service; however it was very highly rated by all schools. • The LA was happy with the overall progress that schools were making, but the LA was working with a number of schools in order to improve the pace of progress. • Other than the fairly recent corporate restructure regarding finance, officers were not aware of any unusual patterns around staff turnover within the LA and schools. The situation was considered to be stable. • With regards to financing school support, such as executive headships and governors, reserves had been built up in previous financial years in order to cater for this. The LA was also talking to WG regarding additional support. • Individual school plans were the responsibility of headteachers and governing bodies; however the SER involved discussions with the Council’s Chief Executive and Leadership Team and would form part of the wider performance management processes of the Council. • As well as the above, discussions were ongoing with the EAS around the roles, responsibilities and functions of both the LA and EAS, and the EAS Business Plan would provide clarity around this. • Monitoring of the LA, EAS and schools was an ongoing process and what could be seen by some outsiders as replication, officers believed that this gave the LA a level of assurance and allowed the partners to triangulate their processes and was therefore a good use of resources. 5.3 Officers confirmed that the following question required a detailed response and the Committee agreed that officers could supply this via email: The report comments on the work of the Youth Service with young people who are referred by schools due to experiencing mental health issues. This would seem to be youth work reacting to situations. Has the Youth Service lost its impact on preventative work? The 2007 Youth Strategy by Welsh Government refers in its opening page by the Minister to Youth Service being responsible for the 51 minutes in every waking hour averaged throughout the year that every young person spends out of school. It states that the Youth Service should be offering all young people, ensuring a focus on those who are potentially vulnerable, have activities and support during those times which help them enjoy their youth, learn, prepare for adult life, participate in issues that interest them and avoid later difficulties. How does a Youth Service which has experienced severe reductions in the Youth Clubs and centres offer that level of work when it seems to spend much of its time working with schools in school time? 5.4 The Chair thanked the COE and HoL for their contributions to the meeting and they left the meeting. 5.5 On completion of their scrutiny activity, the Committee concluded by offering the following comments and recommendations for consideration: Recommendation 1 – Members felt that the SER needs to go out to consultation on a wider scale to obtain views from pupil voice and wider community. Members therefore recommended that the following groups be consulted such as, School Councils, Children and Young People’s Forums, relevant Parent/Community Forums, Governing Bodies and elective members, asking for their views and comments on the SER. Recommendation 2 – Explore development of a Virtual Inspection Room for Members so that they are able to view appropriate information, similar to what has been set up for Estyn, when they carry out their inspections. Recommendation 3 – To review narrative under section 3.5 of the SER – use of resources – to better demonstrate how well the local authority ensures that the support being provided to schools is good value for money and takes into account how well the authority manages its resources. Members felt this section could be better explained and evidenced, highlighting specific issues that have been raised previously with regards to issues recruiting and staffing ALN/welsh medium teaching staff. Recommendation 4 – To ensure that all secondary school teaching staff are made aware of the self-referral counselling service and to ensure they make young people aware that the service is available and know where to access the service, should they require it. Recommendation 5 – Members expressed their concerns over excessive waiting lists being experienced by schools when referring young people to the counselling service. Members therefore want reassurance that appropriate timely intervention and preventative services are taking place. Recommendation 6 – Members commented that the SER is a large document and expressed concern over having to read the entire document each time it has been updated. Members therefore requested that a solution be explored as to how those updates can be made easily identifiable and accessible to members. Recommendation 7 – Members expressed their concerns over current pressures facing school and education staff. Members requested that a questionnaire be sent out to schools, if not already done so, and that this information be provided to members so that they are able to see what the specific concerns are. Recommendation 8 – Members requested that clear actions/priorities be developed arising from the self-evaluation, which they are able to monitor appropriately, going forward. Recommendation 9 – In light of concerns being expressed over Youth Service provision, Members requested further scrutiny to be carried out on the Youth Service in the near future. 5.6 Whilst discussing the recommendations, members also requested the following additional information: • Termly high-level summary of judgements / impact statements of school progress, when developed. • Future updates on progress and impact of improving learner’s regression and social skills, particularly in years 1, 2 and those who transition to secondary school.
6.1 The SCI&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. 6.2 The Committee agreed to scrutinise the EAS Business Plan.
7.1 Cllr Kathy Evans raised an issue regarding the provision that the Youth Service offered around ALN youth clubs. The SCI&SO agreed to forward Cllr Evans’ concerns to the COE. 7.2 The date of the next meeting was noted. 7.3 The meeting ended at 12.25pm.
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