Agenda, decisions and minutes

At the Annual Meeting, Council determined that the Labour Group will chair this Committee.  The Committee is advised that Councillor Teresa Carberry is the Chair of the Committee for the municipal year.

That the appointment of Councillor Teresa Carberry as Chair of the Committee be noted.

The Facilitator advised that at the Annual Meeting, Council determined that the Labour Group would chair this Committee. The Committee was advised that Councillor Teresa Carberry was the Chair of the Committee for the municipal year. 

RESOLVED:

That the appointment of Councillor Teresa Carberry as Chair of the Committee be noted.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the Committee.

That Councillor Carolyn Preece be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Councillor Gladys Healey nominated Councillor Carolyn Preece as Vice-Chair of the Committee.  This was seconded by Councillor Mel Buckley.

            There were no other nominations.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Carolyn Preece be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

None were received.

None were received.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 23 March 2023 were approved as moved and seconded by Councillor Gladys Healey and Councillor Dave Mackie.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

(a)      That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(b)      That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)     That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

In presenting the report, the Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator outlined the items which were being presented to the annual joint meeting with the Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Committee on the 29 of June.  Referring to the Forward Work Programme she confirmed there was one change, the GwE Annual Report, which was now being presented to the September meeting of the Committee.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) said she hoped to bring three additional items to the July meeting, these were Healthy Schools, the School Meals Services and an update on the IT issues around the PSPA and national infrastructure.

The Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator referred to the Action Tracking Report confirming that most of the actions had been completed.  Referring to the School Parking Task & Finish Group, she confirmed that an email had been sent seeking nominations to both the Environment & Economy and Education Youth & Culture Overview & Scrutiny Committees.  Cabinet had been supportive of the formation of the Task & Finish Group but had suggested that the membership should cover a number of areas across Flintshire and include rural and urban areas.  This was currently being reviewed and the Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator would be contacting Members with information on the first meeting of the Task & Finish Group once formalised.

Councillor Andrew Parkhurst referred to the response provided to his questions raised during the last meeting on the Council Plan 2023/28 Development report around fixed term and permanent exclusions.  He thanked officers for the response but said that it did not answer the questions he had raised.  He explained that his questions had been around the baseline figures for 2021/22.  The Senior Manager (Inclusion & Progression) suggested that she provide this information as part of the discussion on the Attendance & Exclusion report later in the meeting.

The recommendations, as outlined within the report, were moved by Councillor Dave Mackie  and seconded by Councillor Gladys Healey.                  

RESOLVED:

(a)      That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(b)      That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)     That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

(a)       That the attendance and exclusion data for Flintshire schools and the actions undertaken by officers to support increased engagement and the safety and wellbeing of children and young people be noted; and

(b)       That the Committee were pleased to learn that the attendance figures for Flintshire schools were within the upper quartile in terms of comparative data across Wales.

            Introducing this report, the Chair commented that the figures may seem concerning, but this was not just a Flintshire issue, it was a national one.  Children were finding it difficult to re-engage with education with some not wanting to go back to school.   Schools were working hard to address those problems with creative working and establishing better links with the Education Welfare Service and GwE.

                      In presenting the report the Senior Manager (Inclusion & Progression) provided an overview of the key points for 2021/22, which were based on the data held in Flintshire as the national data from Welsh Government (WG) had been paused during the Covid restrictions.  Attendance in Flintshire remained below pre-pandemic levels which was a concern across all authorities with officers and schools working hard to re-engage with those learners.   Flintshire had a slight rise in attendance levels across primary schools with a drop in secondary schools, because of high levels of anxiety and mental health difficulties.  Illness was still the main criteria for absence and discussions had been held with Head Teachers to ensure they challenged parents appropriately on whether, or not, to accept the reasons given for their child’s absence.  The lack of availability of school nurses was challenging and work was ongoing with health colleagues to ensure that appropriate provision was made in schools. 

                      The Senior Manager referred to point 1.04 of the report which highlighted the creative ways that some secondary schools were working to help pupils to make that first step back into education, with alternative provision provided in schools and in external community sites such as the Community Hub. Schools were not able to do this alone and point 1.05 of the report provided information on the range of services who were working to support them.  Referring to the previous 2019 Estyn Report, the Senior Manager provided an update on the pupil data for attendance and the targeted interventions with those pupils who were at risk of reduced attendance or exclusion. An example was given of the piloted work from years 6 to 7 which had resulted in attendance levels being maintained with an overview of the changes made located at point 1.07 in the report.

The Senior Manager confirmed the Fixed Penalty process had been re-established this year and used to support attendance. 10 Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued with some progressing to court proceedings and been upheld. It was hoped that this would impress upon parents that attendance was important and taken seriously by schools and the local authority. Attendance levels were concerning with mental health and anxiety the biggest challenge moving forward and she provided information on the different services supporting schools which included CAMHS. Trauma Informed Practice was being promoted across schools and services to support an understanding of the challenges faced by young people during the pandemic and the long-lasting impacts of it together with other social factors. Referring to the data received from WG the authority was currently in the upper quartile of attendance nationally  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

That the Committee confirms that it had received an appropriate level of assurance regarding the work of the Education & Youth Portfolio in supporting schools who have Service children.

            In presenting the update report, the Senior Manager (School Improvement) confirmed this followed a report which had been presented to the Committee in December 2021 and included information on the national and local work being undertaken to support service children in schools. 

            The Senior Manager reported that the authority worked closely with Supporting Service Children in Education (SSCE) Cymru, and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and she was pleased that Jane Borthwick (Senior Primary Learning Adviser) was present at the meeting. She explained that the Senior Primary Learning Adviser led on this, working closely with schools, SSCE and the Regional Schools Liaison Officer and through this work it was possible to maximise the grant funding which supported professionals in schools to better understand their roles in supporting service children. This also enabled resources and engagement activities for those learners. Although there was only a small amount of funding available, it was possible to see the positive impact that this was making. The Senior Manager provided information on the work carried out over the last three years to understand the needs of service children and enabled targeted support to be provided.

            The Senior Primary Learning Adviser commented on the excellent day held at Ty Calon in Deeside which was attended by several schools with children from the age of 5 to 11 enjoying playing games together.  It was also pleasing to see service parents attending too.  Following on from this event a pen pal project was being set up so that the children could keep in touch, especially those moving up to high school.  Work was continuing to raise the profile of service children in education and to provide support to them and their families.  This was very positive, and another event had been arranged for June at Flint High School with more secondary learners taking part.

            Councillor Bill Crease thanked officers for the report and was pleased to see the positive impact the support had made to service children and provided an outline of his own personal experience.

            The Chief Officer thanked the Senior Manager and Senior Primary Learning Adviser for their work with service children in schools.  She also extended an invitation to Members of the committee who would like to attend the event in June and the Senior Primary Learning Adviser agreed to liaise with the Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator to circulate the information to Members.

            The Senior Primary Learning Adviser also offered the opportunity for Members to join the meetings which were held with the other stakeholders.  Councillor Dave Mackie and the Chair put their names forward.

The recommendation, as outlined within the report, was moved by Councillor  Gladys Healey and seconded by Councillor Arnold Woolley.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee confirms that it had received an appropriate level of assurance regarding the work of the Education & Youth Portfolio in supporting schools who have Service children.

That the Committee confirms that it had received an appropriate level of assurance regarding the work of the Education & Youth Portfolio in supporting schools to tackle the impact of poverty and disadvantage on their learners. 

            In presenting the report, the Senior Manager (School Improvement) explained that the report provided an overview of the impact of poverty and the achievement gap for learners across Wales between those from more affluent households with those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.  This had been a challenge across Wales for many years and had been highlighted since the pandemic with Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage a key theme for the portfolio in the Council Plan for 2023/28. 

The Senior Manager referred Members to section 1 of the report which highlighted the national indicators which measured progress and the key findings from the recent research on the impacts of educational inequalities.  Point 1.07 in the report provided information on the national focus and the research from the impacts of the pandemic, with points 1.08 and 1.09 providing information on how schools were able to use the Pupil Development Grant to access funding to support these pupils.  Estyn were evaluating how schools used this funding and the authority had a strong profile in this regard.  The Senior Manager then reported on the examples of good practice from the Adult Community Learning Team, the Healthy Schools Team and the commitment for all primary school children to receive a free school meal by 2024.

In response to a question from Councillor Dave Mackie, the Senior Manager agreed that ensuring that correct information was available to enable the authority to undertake support effectively was important.  Comparing England with Wales was difficult as Wales had slightly different processes, outcomes, examination processes and the new curriculum.  The key theme was that both nations needed to improve with both starting from a point of disadvantage with learners having more barriers and not achieving the same levels as those learners who were not disadvantaged.   Welsh Government (WG) had revisited this and were looking at ways to accelerate progress across Wales.

Councillor Andrew Parkhurst referred to the ONS data which stated that disadvantaged children who had the same educational qualifications did not achieve the same in terms of higher wages and opportunities later in life.  The reason seemed to be the engagement with the labour market, and he wondered if more could be done with regard to work experience and engagement with industry to enable disadvantaged children to obtain the social skills together with education to enable them to succeed.

The Senior Manager agreed with the comments made by Councillor Parkhurst saying work was being undertaken to revisit all these areas, linking with colleagues across North Wales on the Regional Skills Partnership Board, the Post 16 Learning Advisor and Secondary Heads Federation.  This would enable a better understanding of the labour market,  job opportunities and career aspirations which also included the Seren Network for progression to university for more able learners.  It was also proposed to build stronger links with the Regional Skills Partnership Board to ensure Flintshire had stronger representations to work with schools. She agreed to provide an update to Committee on this work to a future meeting.

The Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

There were no members of the press in attendance.