Agenda item

That the update be noted.

The Chief Officer (Education & Youth) provided an update on School Modernisation.  Following the closure of Ysgol Maes Edwin (Flint Mountain) and Ysgol Llanfynydd at the end of the summer term, he took the opportunity to thank the leadership teams of both schools for their support to learners, their families and the school staff.  He also felt it was important to recognise the partnership working with primary schools in Sychdyn and Treuddyn.

On the federation between Ysgol Mornant and Ysgol Maes Garmon, work was continuing to support governors and build the partnership.

In respect of John Summers High School, the decision made by the Welsh Government (WG) was to remove 6^th form provision from 31 August 2016 and to discontinue 11-16 provision which meant that the school would close from 31 August 2017.  This was on condition that the Council would continue to work on the business case to WG to obtain approval for capital refurbishment works at Connah’s Quay High School.  The Chief Officer expressed disappointment that the decision had been issued by WG on a Bank Holiday weekend and assured Members that he had contacted the Head Teacher as soon as possible to make arrangements to meet with staff at the first available opportunity.  The Chair of Governors had given a commitment that support would be provided through the transition period and the senior leadership team was contributing positively towards implementing the transition plan which had been shared during the decision-making process.  Neighbouring schools had demonstrated a high level of ownership and commitment to collaborate with John Summers High School on the transition, including aligning examination options to support GCSE learners.

The Chief Officer would continue to update the Committee on progress with the transition arrangements and gave a reminder that decisions to close schools were subject to significant analysis and only where Members and the Minister felt satisfied that the continued quality of education would, at the very least, be maintained.

Councillor David Healey welcomed plans for curriculum alignment and asked whether the progress of Year 10-11 pupils who transferred to other schools could be tracked to compare their GCSE achievements with predicted outcomes.  He referred to Members’ concerns that the decision issued by WG had been leaked on social media before local Members could be informed.  The Chief Officer spoke about the well-established protocol used to inform key stakeholders of such decisions during term time, but said that everything possible was done given the timing of this particular decision by WG.  He intended to write to WG to convey the challenges in supporting communities under these circumstances.

On tracking pupils’ progress, the Chief Officer said that detailed analysis would be provided and that school systems were followed up where results differed significantly from tracking.  The Level 2+ target set by John Summers High School was 40.3% to achieve a minimum of five GCSEs including English and Maths.  Tracking throughout the year had decreased to 37.9% before Easter, with the final data at 22.4% much lower than the county average of 61.2% and that of a neighbouring secondary school at 65.8%.

Councillor Chris Bithell agreed that the timing of the decision issued by WG and subsequent leak on social media was unfortunate.  Following this decision, the transition plan could now be implemented, incorporating the links with Connah’s Quay High School.

On the closure of Ysgol Maes Edwin, Councillor Marion Bateman said that Ysgol Owen Jones in Northop should also be recognised for their work in helping with the transition of pupils.

Councillor Nancy Matthews requested details of the number of students enrolled on courses at the Deeside sixth form centre at the start of term along with the number of post-16 courses available.  It was agreed that this information would be included in the next School Modernisation Update at the October meeting.  Councillor Bithell commented that around 120 courses had been reported when the Committee was last updated.  He went on to explain that previous enquiries about a particular course not being available had been due to a lack of demand.

In response to a query by Councillor Paul Cunningham, it was explained that the closure of Ysgol Maes Edwin meant that the building was now surplus to education requirements and would be under the guardianship of the Property Services team and the Council’s Asset Board.

Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer sought an update on the area reviews in Brynford, Lixwm and Rhosesmor, and was informed that the results of the informal consultation would be reported to Cabinet.

Mrs. Rebecca Stark commended those involved in the transitional arrangements for school closures.  She referred to the disparity in tracking and outcomes at John Summers High School and asked whether this could have been affected by any change in cohort numbers during the year and if the school had sought support from GwE.  She felt that a review of the approach to tracking outcomes may be needed if a similar level of disparity was evident at other schools.  The Chief Officer reminded the Committee that as a ‘red’ support school in the national categorisation model, John Summers High School was amongst the most vulnerable schools and was therefore subject to intensive support from GwE.  In addition, vulnerable schools and those with significant performance issues were identified and monitored by the School Performance Monitoring Group.  He added that cohort numbers at John Summers High School had not changed significantly so this was not a major factor for the difference in outcomes.

Councillor Dave Mackie spoke about the need for additional support for Year 11 pupils who had moved to other schools during their final year.

The Senior Manager, School Improvement assured the Committee that tracking was part of the detailed transitional arrangements and that progress had been made in correlating curriculum subjects to ensure continuity of studies.  As part of the arrangements, a meeting had been held to gather the concerns of parents of pupils at John Summers High School to enable the Council to collate and share the responses.

With reference to Ysgol Llanfynydd and other schools in general, Councillor Carolyn Thomas asked that the Property Services team work with local Members to seek alternative uses for empty buildings as opposed to boarding them up.  She also asked whether funding was available to improve parking provision at the school campus in Treuddyn.  The Chief Officer agreed to find out and respond separately on the parking issue.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.