Minutes:
At the end of last term I briefed this committee about the return to school: at that point, there was a return to school for three weeks at the end of the summer for ‘staying in touch’ contact sessions, with no more than 30% of pupils in school at any one time. This three-week period was very successful. We had one of the highest participation rates in Wales, with the pupils and staff reportedly very happy to be back. Over the summer, the headteachers and leadership teams, colleagues in catering and transport, etc., have put a huge amount of work in to make sure that we could fulfil the guidance provided by Welsh Government for the return to school this autumn. As CYP staff, we met with headteachers every Friday during the last 3 weeks of the holiday to work through questions and queries. We also met with trade union reps and teaching bodies each Friday to ensure that they are comfortable with how things are progressing.
We have also seen significant changes to the guidance: we are now on version 3. It sets out quite clearly that schools have 2 weeks to build up to full school occupation. We had discussed this locally, deciding that it was appropriate for schools to have 2 days without any pupils on site, in order to prepare their facilities and processes adequately. These two days of preparation were subsequently adopted nationally, and would be additional to the 6 inset days for staff development due to be taken throughout the year. The return to full occupation will be achieved by all schools by Monday 14th.
The vast majority of primary schools will have reached full occupation before 14th, with many doing so in the coming days. 3 out of the 4 secondary schools are working through a rolling admission programme: most started last week with years 7 and 12 (transition years), moving perhaps to years 13 and 10 after that, and so on. One school is taking a different approach, having years 7 and 12 in last week, followed by 11 and 13 this week, so that they can work with them as key exam groups to catch up where needed, with the rest of the school receiving a blended learning offer i.e. working from home until 14th.
We have worked very carefully with HR colleagues to ensure that members of staff who had been shielded can return to school safely. The guidance is clear about measures which should be taken, all being premised on prevention as the most important aspect: as expected, anyone who is symptomatic, or who has a symptomatic household member, shouldn’t be in school; measures such as hand cleaning, increased cleaning in communal areas, “catch it, bin it, kill it”, etc., are also stressed. Minimising contact between individuals and maintaining social distancing are also key considerations. Welsh Government made it clear that social distancing did not have to exist between children, but it did between contact groups. Typically, in a primary school a contact group would be a class. Staggered starts to the school day were introduced, and there would be no communal time in school halls. Lunch is provided in the classroom, and those lunch breaks are staggered. There are distinct play areas per group. Such contact group management is easier at primary level than at secondary because for the curriculum to work in secondary there needs to be many more teachers, teaching a broader range of subjects. To manage this, year groups have become the contact groups. Teachers and other staff must maintain 2-metre social distancing.
There has been additional guidance about how children should be managed within the classroom e.g. children in rows facing the front, rather than facing each other. Protective equipment has been discussed where needed, and the important role the Test Trace Protect strategy plays in maintaining confidence. The one area of school life that has been more challenging is home-to-school transport. We have moved to a position that on our school transport any child over the age of 11 must wear a face covering. We have taken the approach that we will act as guides – signing off on all of the risk assessments – but we can’t set countywide approaches because so many schools are different in the nature of their estate: Raglan, with open plan classes, compared with Cantref, an older school with traditional classrooms, for example. Face coverings are another example of this. 2 of the 4 secondary schools have taken a risk-based approach to face-coverings. King Henry VIII took the decision early that, because their halls are not very wide and they therefore couldn’t guarantee social distancing, their pupils will wear face coverings. Conversely, Chepstow feels comfortable in its risk assessment. I am in contact with all of the Heads on this matter, and understand their positions. This mixed picture is repeated throughout Gwent. Caerphilly has taken the decision to have face coverings in the classroom, though that is not in the guidance. We had a very good conversation last week with Steve Davies, Director of Education in Wales, confirming that everything should be about caution and ensuring that measures taken are proportional to the risk, while allowing room for escalation, if needed.
Challenge:
We have tried to ensure that parents don’t congregate when collecting their children from primary schools; do we have a picture of that across the county?
Yes, this will need to be reinforced. I have a meeting this afternoon with our headteachers in which this matter will surely be raised. Two schools have raised the possibility of road closures in order to manage the parents queueing more effectively. If it determined that something needs to be done then we will certainly ensure that the message is issued on a countywide basis.
Perhaps, once parents get used to the idea of not taking their children directly to the school door we can address the concept of the ‘school run’ itself – mostly for considerations of safety.
Yes, we are out for consultation on our Active Travel measures at the moment – schools are a fundamental part of that. Having spoken to several headteachers, I know that they are trying very hard to engage their children with questions of how they can come to school safely without a car. This is a key consideration for us, particularly in the broader scheme of climate reduction and adaptation ambitions.
Are school bus drivers wearing masks? Is there a different mask for buses and communal areas? If there are no masks, does the school provide them?
Bus drivers must wear a mask unless they have a medical condition which precludes them from doing so. It is the same for children on the bus. The information has been communicated clearly to the contractors and drivers. The same mask can be worn in both settings. A small supply of masks has already been made available to the schools, if children need one to be provided. Yesterday, Welsh Government announced funding that will allow all local authorities to provide all secondary schools with a supply of face coverings.
What are the specific workings of a lockdown such as the one in Caerphilly – is an entire year group locked down together for 14 days, for example?
It depends on how the contact is made. The advice around self-isolation comes from the Test And Trace advisers, not from our interpretation of guidance. We understand the point at which we have to communicate with our colleagues in T&T, and that’s also around the fact that they are advised of any positive tests by the testing regime as well. The case in Caerphilly was a teacher who tested positive: their contact with the class had been determined as being a close one, so that class was asked to self-isolate for 14 days. At that point, those individuals have to self-isolate but family members don’t. If one of those children becomes symptomatic, they should have a test, as should their family members.
What has been our allocation of extra teaching assistants provided to help children to catch up on the time they have missed?
Yes, Welsh Government allocated £28m for the Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP). Monmouthshire’s share of that over the full year is about £517,000. We distributed that to schools this week, with the terms and conditions: that is to recruit teachers for this academic year to help interventions in schools. There’s a range of different approaches to doing that; headteachers are working through what they see as the best approaches in their schools for children to receive that accelerated learning, where it is needed.
How was our ALP allocation determined? How many teachers does that represent on a yearly basis?
The allocation was predicated on total pupil numbers, percentage of pupil numbers in receipt of free schools meals, student numbers from a BAME background, and the number of learners who are in Welsh medium education but are from an English medium home – clearly, not being in school has been identified as a key risk for those learners. Welsh Government determined funding on a 50/50 split between those two factors. In discussion with headteachers and in terms of our aspirations and commitment to our FSM and closing the gap, we slightly adjusted that so that it was a 60/40 split: 60% of funding allocated on the number of pupils who are FSM, BAME and taught in Welsh but from an English medium home, and 40% on the total school numbers. We discussed that with the headteachers; one thing we did in response to the headteachers’ request was to use the most up-to-date FSM numbers we had, which were obtained from our Benefits service, as we’ve been paying FSM payments directly since the lockdown began.
Will there be a programme to help FSM children who have fallen behind, in addition to the additional teachers etc. which have already been allocated?
Sharon Randall-Smith answered this question:
In any conversations with schools, those learners are always a key focus. In addition to the ALP that schools will be able to access, they have their own Pupil Development Grant, which they are targeting towards the needs of our vulnerable pupils, including FSM pupils. Those plans are currently being developed and worked through with their challenge advisers. Our schools are as aware as we are that there is a gap in attainment, and that this group needs a lot of support. In many cases when schools are looking at who will come back and when, it is with an eye on those vulnerable groups to see who will need the longer time back in school to become used to being in school again, before everyone joins on 14th September. We, and EAS, will continue to work with schools to ensure they do their best to support these pupils.
Breakfast Clubs have been cancelled and there is no provision of hot food at lunchtime, what are the considerations for the impact of this on FSM pupils?
We know how important breakfast clubs are for parents. We are working closely with our schools to ensure that they are back up and running from 14th September. What’s happened in the last few days in terms of management of contact groups will mean that there are further questions around breakfast clubs. But the clubs will certainly be another key area in my meeting this afternoon with headteachers. Until the end of this week, we are continuing to pay families for those children entitled to FSMs. Because of the broken nature of the return-to-school, with not everyone in at once, we didn’t want to risk children not being able to access food on the days when they aren’t in – so everyone is being paid during these two weeks. Welsh Government is supporting us in this. Our catering colleagues have worked very closely with schools to provide what is best for each school, which in most cases is a ‘grab-and-go’ sandwich bag, with a couple of choices each day. My understanding is that twice a week there’s a hot baguette offer. As we look to the short-to-medium term, we are considering how hot meals can return, as it is so important those FSM pupils are supported as the colder months begin.
Afterschool clubs are also very important for supporting parents returning to work, is there an update on those?
Yes, the challenge is very similar to breakfast clubs. For example, one school has over 100 pupils in its breakfast club: these children have to stay in their contact groups, socially distanced. There might not be a large enough space for them all, but once more than one room is used, supervision must be doubled – the difficulties continue to multiply. These issues are replicated exactly for afterschool clubs. We need to work through these difficulties. Sue Hall, who works with our early year providers, and the partners who provide some of our afterschool clubs, is a key part of our discussions. We are really keen for both clubs to resume, but there are many practical considerations, including cleaning down the areas after groups have used them, the increased risk of transmission from groups potentially mixing, etc.
Chair’s Summary:
Thanks to Officers Mclean and Randall-Smith for updating the committee, and many thanks to the school, transport, catering and cleaning staff for their work. The committee has been reassured on a number of points, though we will undoubtedly return to these topics in future meetings. Contingency plans relating to any future lockdowns will be a major concern.