Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

No declarations of interest were made.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 3 December 2015, and 15 March 2016.

            That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 3 December 2015 and 15 March 2016 had been circulated to Members with the agenda.

            RESOLVED:

            That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive a presentation from Mr. Alex Thomas, Headteacher of the Post 16 Education Centre.

That the presentation be received.

The Chairman introduced Mr. Alex Thomas (Headteacher of the Post 16 Education Centre) and Mr. Ian Dickson (Deputy Principal of Coleg Cambria) to the Committee. 

                        Mr. Thomas provided a detailed presentation which covered the following areas:-

·         Deeside Sixth Form Centre

·         Development of Curriculum so far

·         Development of staffing

·         Developing partnerships with schools

·         What could be developed

·         Current applications

Mr. Thomas explained that the £15m centre would provide enhanced A level provision and was a joint development between Coleg Cambria, local partner schools and Flintshire County Council.  The ultimate aim of the centre was to be the best A level provider in the United Kingdom.  The process started some time ago to plan the best A level provision and meetings which included all partner schools helped to plan and develop the strategic route and to share good ideas and best practice.  Mr. Thomas said that it was important that there was a smooth transition into the new centre from local schools and a commitment had been given that the students would have the same teacher in year 13 as they had in year 12.  He circulated a guide about the Sixth Form centre and advised Members that 29 subjects were on offer to the students and spoke of the importance of including subjects that had run successfully in schools along with addressing the areas that employers were looking for.  It was anticipated that the number of subjects would increase to approximately 40 as the centre grew.  Mr. Thomas provided details about the staff appointed to work at the centre and commented on the open evenings and parents evenings that had taken place.  He advised that nearly all 11-16 schools were actively engaged and it was hoped that opportunities to share information with all Flintshire High Schools could be developed.  Mr. Thomas explained that 205 applications had been received for places at the centre from September 2016 with 171 being active applications and the remainder being for students who had decided to study elsewhere or did not meet the entry criteria. 

            In response to a query from Councillor David Healey about particular aspirations, Mr. Thomas spoke of the enrichment programme which would provide guidance and support to enhance the student’s applications for universities.  Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer asked about the maximum number of students that the centre could accommodate and the target for next year.  In response, Mr. Thomas said that that maximum was 750 and it was anticipated that there would be approximately 250 pupils in the first year.  Councillor Colin Legg expressed concern that French was the only language offered at the Centre and suggested that German, Chinese and Russian could be languages that could be offered.  Mr. Thomas noted the comments and agreed with the idea to increase the number of languages offered but said that currently only Welsh and French were undertaken at A level in the consortium schools and of the 205 applications, two students had applied for French and one for Welsh.  In response to a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

            That the update be received.

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced a report to provide the Committee with relevant sections of the Improvement Plan for consultation and input, along with the proposed targets for the national performance indicators. 

                        He highlighted page 21 on the sub priority of Apprenticeships and Training and said that this was a key indicator for young people in education and training.  He also referred to the impact of improving learning provision and opportunities to achieve better learner outcomes under the sub priority Modernised and High Performing Education.  The Chief Officer commented about working effectively with partners across the region to secure efficiency and improved outcomes from educational improvement programmes.  He also spoke about the role of Councillors in making more efficient use of education resources through School Modernisation.      

                        Councillor David Healey referred to the priority to reduce the impact of poverty and of the issue of the connection between free school meals and under performance and queried whether there were any schools in Flintshire that went against this trend.  The Chief Officer suggested that this issue could be raised at the meeting in July when a report on GWE was to be considered.  He added that a range of strategies had been put in place that had had an impact on individual learners but there were no schools where the gap had been completely eradicated; this still remained a priority. 

                        Mr. David Hytch raised concern on apprenticeship schemes because of the impact of the significant budget cuts on the Further Education sector.  He welcomed the reference about the impact of cohorts and queried how many other schools were to be reviewed as part of the school modernisation programme.  In response, the Chief Officer said that there were two area reviews being considered under the School Organisation Code, one in Nercwys and one involving Brynford, Lixwm and Rhos Helyg. 

            RESOLVED:

            That the update be received.

            That the report be noted. 

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) introduced a report to present the monitoring of progress for the third quarter of 2015/16 focusing on the areas of underperformance relevant to the Committee. 

                        He commented on the high level (RED) risk area in relation to the limited funding available to address the backlog of known repair and maintenance works in Education and Youth assets.  The risk was showing a continuing pattern of red and the Chief Officer advised that significant issues were being noted in school inspections, particularly in relation to toilet provision. 

                        Mr. David Hytch indicated that he had regularly raised the issue during the budget consultation process.  It was reported that School Modernisation remained a key tool in enabling the Authority to invest appropriately in its school portfolio, and this would involve a reduction in schools within the Council’s portfolio and a reduction of unfilled places.   

            RESOLVED:

            That the report be noted. 

(a)       That the recommendations of the Task & Finish Group be endorsed and submitted to Cabinet for its consideration;

(b)       That the Committee request that Cabinet consider the impact of any change to the existing school network; and

(c)        That the Committee request that if Cabinet agree to take forward any of the proposed policy changes, that the Committee be consulted on the changes with all necessary information. 

The Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator introduced the report which set out the recommendations of the Group, for consideration by the Committee with a view to making recommendations to Cabinet.

The Facilitator explained that Cabinet had approved the engagement of JMP Consultants to assist with the assessment and delivery of the financial benefit that would be derived from the Integrated Transport Unit (ITU).  The areas that had been identified as ones that could be considered for further policy development work were detailed in paragraph 1.05.  The policy change options and any recommendations by the Committee would be presented to Cabinet following this meeting.  The Task and Finish Group met on 14^th March 2016 and had considered the breakdown of information for each policy change option and following a detailed presentation, had made some suggestions for Cabinet to consider when reviewing any operation and policy changes. 

Councillor Dave Mackie expressed his disappointment at the proposals in the report and suggested that the Committee had not been given enough information on the impact that the proposals would have if they were implemented.  Mrs. Janine Beggan concurred and, in referring to the earlier presentation about the sixth form hub, spoke of the possible impact on other sixth forms.  The Chairman sought clarification on the current policy and suggested that if a child who was not a catholic wanted to attend St. Richard Gwyn High School they would need to pay for their transport but those attending the sixth form hub would not.  The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) suggested that Members appeared to be confusing the denominational transport policy for 11 to 16 year olds and the post 16 transport policy.  He added that the post 16 policy referred to the nearest suitable provider of the curriculum options. 

The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) said that the report accurately reflected the outcome of the Task and Finish Group.  He added that the Group had considered a large amount of information and had declined to take a position on issues other than those identified in paragraph 1.08.     

Mr. Bernard Stuart asked if the notes from the Task and Finish Group could be submitted to Cabinet as part of their consideration.  He raised concern at the comment on denominational school transport referred to in paragraph 1.05 and said that following a ruling in May 2015 in relation to Welsh Medium Schools, denominational school transport could not be considered in isolation.  The Chief Officer (Education and Youth) welcomed the suggestion to submit the notes to Cabinet and added that any proposals that Cabinet sought to take forward would need to take account of the judgements Mr. Stuart had referred to. 

Following the discussions, the Chairman suggested that two additional resolutions be included as follows:-

‘That the Committee request that Cabinet consider the impact of any change to the existing school network; and

‘That the Committee request that if Cabinet agree to take forward any of the proposed policy changes, that the Committee be consulted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

(a)      That the Forward Work Programme, as amended at the meeting, be approved; and

(b)       That the Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.

The Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator introduced the report to consider the Forward Work Programme for the Committee. 

            Following a request from the Chairman to hold a future meeting of the Committee in the new school in Holywell, the Facilitator confirmed that she would pursue this, along with the earlier invitation from Mr. Alex Thomas to visit the new Post 16 Education Centre. 

            The Facilitator detailed the items for consideration on the 9^th June and 7^th July 2016 meetings and added that Councillor David Healey had earlier requested the inclusion of an item on the connection between free school meals and underperformance.  Councillor Marion Bateman also asked if a report on the issue of federations could also be considered at a future meeting.  Mr. David Hytch sought clarification on when a report was to be received on incidents of arson, vandalism and burglaries in Flintshire schools.  The Facilitator confirmed that she would discuss this with the officers concerned and send the report out to the Committee for information when it was available.   

            RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme, as amended at the meeting, be approved; and

(b)       That the Education and Youth Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises.

                        There was one member of the public and no members of the press in attendance.