Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Annual Report from GwE be accepted; and

(b)       That the positive impact of the regional service on the standards of education being achieved in Flintshire schools be noted.

The Chair welcomed Mr. Arwyn Thomas, GwE Managing Director, and Mr. Marc Berw Hughes, to the meeting.

          The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced a report to receive an update on progress with the development of the regional school effectiveness and improvement service and how the new model was being received and embedded.  She provided background information and advised that the GwE Annual Report for 2018-19 provided a detailed overview for members of the work of the Regional School Improvement Service over the last year across the North Wales region.  It covered a range of areas including standards, provision, the contribution of the service to the national transformation agenda, partnership working, and business matters. The appendices to the report provided some specific information related to learner outcomes and standards of education in Flintshire.  They also provided an analysis of responses from Flintshire school leaders on their views of the effectiveness of the Regional School Improvement Service which were recently collected through a questionnaire. The main areas for development, identified from the self-evaluation processes undertaken within GwE, are priorities in the Business Plan for 2019-2020.

The Chief Officer advised that the Annual Report should also be read in conjunction with the Authority’s own self-evaluation report which was presented to members at the last meeting of the Committee. She explained that officers from GwE had worked very closely with the Local Authority on the development of that report which provided a comprehensive view of the quality of education services in Flintshire and demonstrated the effective partnership working being undertaken to support all the Authority’s schools on their improvement journey to secure the best outcomes for Flintshire learners.

The Chief Officer referred to the recent Estyn Inspection of the local authority education services and said that the outcome of the Inspection would be publicised on 9 August 2019.  She expressed her thanks for the significant contribution made by GwE to the Inspection process and commented on the close working relationship between officers from GwE and the Authority.  The Chief Officer invited Arwyn Thomas to present the GwE Annual Report 2018-19.

Mr. Thomas advised that, as stated in the GwE Inter Authority Agreement, GwE would report annually on the performance of the Service in delivering the Service functions and key aims.  He reported that the GwE annual report provided an overview of the following areas:  background and context, standards, provision, the reform journey, partnership working, business, and business plan priorities for 2019-20.  Also included in the report were several appendices which referred specifically to the support work that had been undertaken in Flintshire schools.

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Education commented on the work between the Authority and GwE to improve schools if assistance was needed and address relationship and model management.  He also commented on the close work undertaken with Cabinet members across North Wales and Chief Officers following the concerns raised around the GCSE English exam results.  Councillor Roberts thanked Mr. Thomas for his detailed presentation.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14