Agenda item

The Chief Officer presented his report. The purpose of the report is to inform the council of the education system’s progress in the last 12 months. In 19/20 significant milestones were reached. Many schools are on a continuous and secured improvement process. Estyn outcomes are improving – ‘Good’ is the most common outcome, but there are too few ‘Excellent’ outcomes. There has been an emergence of significant grant funding through Welsh Government.Attendance is very strong, but exclusions is an area of concern. There is an increase in the days lost per pupil at primary level.At Secondary, there is a significant increase in episodes of fixed-term exclusions and days lost in total. Richard Austin, Principal Officer for Inclusion, will come in to give further detail and explanations of what is driving them. Note that individual schools are not named in the data/graphs.

Challenge:

Since the work has taken place with Cluster primary schools, are Key Stage 3 pupils better off with the change from primary to secondary – has the gap lessened?

Yes, the Councillor is referring to the work between King Henry VIII and its cluster of schools. We are seeing a concerted effort across that learning continuum in establishing the right types of skills very early in the primary schools that then allow a much smoother transition, and a continued rate of progress through secondary school. We want children to be doing really well up to the end of Key Stage 2 and transition well – it’s important not to underestimate how huge the transition can be from primary to secondary, especially emotionally. There is a good example with regard to maths in King Henry and its cluster: there were children in one of our primary schools who were achieving a level 6 in maths at the end of primary, but the teacher didn’t feel confident in declaring that they were performing at that level in a sustained fashion – but having the maths expertise from the secondary school allowed them to do that. Once that is then modelled into the next level of their education, we can begin to raise expectations i.e. if a child is working at Level 6 at the end of primary, you can expect that they will be A*/A when they come to GCSEs.

Are schools which are doing well being taken as models for how to achieve higher than expected standards elsewhere?

There is a huge amount of work on this across the region. EAS has established ‘Leading Network Schools’: they advise and support other schools, there are visits to see how they work (including those outside the county). The new approach to the curriculum is predicated on that, with significant success. Many of our schools are becoming leading network schools, and are now reaching out to help others.

Is there more liaison with Gwent schools, or is it generally for SE Wales? Where’s the focus?

The focus is very much on the work in SE Wales. In education terms, ‘SE Wales’ is the 5 Gwent authorities. They own the EAS, which is our school improvement, so that’s the vehicle for identification and arrangement for many of those support agencies which are brokered between schools. There are times when we look outside the region; for instance, the Executive Headteacher at Caldicot is also the Executive Headteacher at The Bishop of Llandaff in Cardiff. The Challenge Advisor in Chepstow School is also the Headteacher at Cardiff High School, which is a very high-performing school. We are drawing in a plethora of talents to support all of our schools. Secondary at EAS is not our strength currently, and there are schools that find themselves in challenging situations – therefore we sometimes have to look outside the region to find that support. But for primary, it’s almost entirely geared within the EAS footprint.

Is there a lot of liaison between EAS and the central consortium covering the Cardiff area?

Yes, the 4 managing directors of the regional consortia area meet regularly. Since Christmas, I and the Managing Director of the EAS gave evidence in the Senedd, alongside the Managing Director and Lead Director of Central South. As Directors of Education we meet as 22, and as 5 in SE Wales as well.

The report mentions improving the rates of progress for ALN, in particular, in the next period. Can you outline how you intend to do that?

One of the interesting things as we prepared and presented through our Estyn inspection (which will be published on 21^st April), was that our learners who are in our SNRBs make good progress. We want to maximise the values that our SNRBs as a system within Monmouthsire can bring to bear on the wider system as well. We are continuing to discuss regional approaches to the very high tier needs that exist within our population, and we will continue to do that in collaboration, for all of our children. The ALN piece, as we transition into the new legislation, is about understanding the impact of that and making sure that our schools are prepared for that. It would also be a good opportunity for this committee to have a presentation from the Regional Lead on preparedness for the new legislation, because there will be a significant change for parents: we’ve seen a huge increase in parents requesting statements. The whole landscape of ALN is changing very significantly. We want to make sure our whole range of ALN learners make that progress. We need to make sure we’re meeting the neurodevelopmental need which we’ve identified.

What is the latest regarding Coronavirus?

There is a tele-conference tomorrow for all 22 Directors about Coronavirus. The first consideration had been children returning from foreign travel, following Public Health Wales advice. We met all Headteachers last Tuesday to discuss business continuity and shared contingency plans amongst all schools. There’s been escalation just since yesterday, so we’re continuing to support schools, and discuss ratios of teachers to children. Pregnant women self-isolating will be a challenge for some schools. There’s been a spike in children and staff absences. The decision to close schools will be led by Welsh government. Provision for FSMs is being discussed with counterparts in Gwent. The Joint Council for Qualifications will make a decision around exams. Google Classroom and Hwb are being supported for learning from home. The key concerns for us are around the ratios, and when it’s safe to have children in school, vulnerable learners, exams, and special schools.

How is learning for primary children being ensured? Home learning seems to make more sense for secondary children.

Hwb is a very good resource for primary children, and we’re continuing to work with all of our schools to make sure that that work is accessible to everybody. Clearly, there is a concern that vulnerable learners/FSM need to have access to the necessary kit for that learning. That’s one of the things that will be discussed further today, and as the situation proceeds.

What support is being put in for lost pay for supply teachers?

The Chief Officer doesn’t have that information.

Chair’s Conclusion:

Members need to scrutinise this report further and think of any other points that will add value before it goes to council. We need to commend schools for attendance, and those which are high performing. It is a concern that there are schools with very low numbers of FSM which are not hitting that level. Another area of concern is finance, which is a concern for people in our wards, as well as the matter of exclusions. Exclusion needs to be near the top of the agenda. We will welcome Richard Austin coming in.