Agenda and minutes

To welcome Members and Officers to the Meeting, and receive apologies for absence from the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee.

Apologies received from the following County Borough Councillors S Evans, L De- Vet and M Griffiths

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:

1.     Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and

2.   Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, the following declaration of personal interest was received:-

In relation to Agenda Item 8 , Eye To Eye Counselling  County Borough Councillor J Edwards  - “ representatives from eye to eye  service sit on the board for her main employment”

To receive the minutes of the previous meeting of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee held on 18^th November 2020.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the 18^th November 2020 as an accurate reflection of the meeting.

Information is provided in respect of relevant consultations for consideration by the Committee.

The Service Director Democratic Service referenced the consultaion lonks which were avilable through the RCT Scrutiny website. Members were reminded that the indformation is provided in respect of relvant consultaions for considertaion on a monthly basis by the Scrutiny Research Officer.

To consider and agree the forward Work Programme  2020/2021.

The Service Director Democratic Services and Communications presented Members of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee with the forward 4 month work programme (January 2021 to April 2021) for their consideration.

Members were reminded that given the current climate the forward work programme would focus firstly on the impact of the pandemic and its associated plans for response and recovery, whilst still trying to ensure a balance of scrutiny within their work programme.

Members discussed various item for the agenda, a Member made a comment relating to the Report of the FPN Working Group, in response officers explained that due to the pandemic we would look to reconvene the working group to finialise any out standing

Another Member wanted clarity on the 21^st Century School Programme and asked for more information to come back to the Committee in respect of reviewing the impact on the schools that had been subject to the review of Band A as there had now been some Estyn outcomes.

The Chair explained that the Committee had already received information relating to the impact of the Band A 21^st Century Schools form both a Building perspective and a pupil and staff perspective.

The Director of Education and Inclusion reminded Members of the meeting and explained that Estyn Outcomes are provided in performance reports which come from the Central South Consortium and covers all school with R

Rhondda Cynon Taf rather than individual schools.

The Chair explained to the Member that she was in agreement that Committee needs to assess the impact of the 21^st Century Schools however at present there is nothing to compare them to.

The Chair and Officers agreed that this would be discussed in the Cabinet and Scrutiny Engagement Sessions and will bring back this information when appropriate.

Another Member thanked Officers for all the hard work that has been carried out during these unpecidented times.

After further discussion Members RESOLVED to:

·         Acknowledge the content of the Work Programme;

·         21^st Century Schools update when available .

To receive a verbal update from the Director of Education and Inclusion in respect of the Education response to Covid since December 2020.

To receive an update report on the actions outlined in RCTCBC’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan(WESP)

The Director of Education and Inclusion Service provided Members with an update on the actions outlined in the RCTCBC’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) for the period between 2017 and 2020 as approved by Welsh Government on the 15^{th of} March 2018. It was explained that the previous 2019- 2020 annual update was due to be the last annual update for this WESP, however due to the Covid 19 pandemics, the WESP has been extended to cover the period between 2020-2021.

The Director of Education continued and provided Members with an overview of the actions taken to date against the following seven outcomes that the local authority is expected to improve Welsh medium and Welsh Language education in the locality:

1.    More seven-year-old children being taught through the medium of Welsh.

2.    More learners continuing to improve their language skills on transfer from primary to secondary school.

3.    More learners aged 14 to 16 studying for qualifications through the medium of Welsh.

4.    More learners aged 14 to 16 study subjects through the medium of Welsh, in schools, colleges and work-based learning.

5.    More learners with advance skills in Welsh

6.    Welsh medium provision for all learners with additional learning needs (ALN)

7.    Workforce planning and continuing professional development.

The Director of Education and Inclusion Services continued and informed Members that RCTCBC has the highest percentage statutory school aged learners who access their learning through Welsh Medium primary, middle and secondary schools in each of five Local Authority areas that comprise the CSCJES. This has been the case for the previous three academic years. It was explained that the majority of Welsh medium schools in both primary and secondary sector with RCT had surplus places, however there are a few primary and secondary schools where growth in capacity is needed and the authority is currently addressing the situation through its existing investment programme.

Members were informed of the commitment that RCTCBC has made to increase the quality of early years Welsh medium provision by spending £4 Million on several projects.

In respect of complex needs the officers explained that an evaluation of the provision was undertaken in the autumn term of 2019 and this showed that this inclusive model that has been adopted in the Welsh medium sector had been very positive.

Looking ahead to the new WESP, which will be consulted on later in the year, the Director of Education explained that there will be several initiatives to facilitate and support the growth of the Welsh language in the County Borough.

After further consideration of the report Members presented their questions and observations. A Member thanked the officer for a very informative report and commented that she was pleased to see the development of provision in early years settings.

The Member continued to ask questions regarding the 21^st Century development and what is being done for north of Pontypridd for families wishing to send their children to Welsh medium schools especially those who live in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

To Recevie a report from Eye to Eye Counselling Service in respect of Children & Young People in RCT.

The Head of Inclusion Services provided Members with an overview of the provision and effectiveness of counselling services for children and young people in Rhondda Cynon Taf during the academic year 2019/20.

The Head of Inclusion Services gave Members the background to the Service. It was explained that within schools counselling complements other approaches to support the health and wellbeing of learner, such as school-based wellbeing interventions and pastoral support or more specialist interventions from teams such as the Educational Psychology Service or Behaviour Support Service as well as services provided externally by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

It was explained that the appointment of a counselling service in the local authority is carried out via a tendering process every three to five years and in RCT, the Eye-to-Eye Counselling Service is currently contracted to provide the statutory service within schools and in the community.

Members were informed of the current position with RCT along with several graphs which demonstrated the number of young people who accessed counselling during the last three-year period. Analysis of the data suggests the overall decrease is due to a reduction in the number of referrals received during summer term 2020.

It was highlighted that that in addition to providing formal counselling sessions, school counsellors also made 714 recorded contacts with school staff over the lock down period and provided additional wellbeing and emotional support to families and young people.

Once again Members noted that when comparing males and females completing counselling during this three-year period significantly more females than males had counselling which is a common across Wales.

The Head of Inclusion Services explained to Members that this area is one which the Local Authority is looking to target intervention and development and recruitment.

Officers explained that it is important to note that due to Covid 19 providing a range of enhanced support to support the wellbeing of children and young people has been a high priority for both Education and Children’s Services. Protocols were put in place to ensure regular contact between schools and leaners and their families with a focus upon supporting wellbeing and identifying at an early stage whether additional support would be beneficial.

Members acknowledged that concerns which had previously been discussed regarding counselling services for primary school aged children had been addressed and there is now provision for primary children aged 7 -10 years.

Further data and information were presented to Members relating to waiting times, the number of CLA accessing the service, the number of young people self-referring and the reason for referrals.

Members scrutinised the data in detail and put forward their questions to Officers.

The Chair thanked the Officers for the report and raised concerns regarding the decline across the summer term and asked whether there were any figures showing the uptake from September to Christmas for the autumn term and had there been an increase since children returned to school. The Officer will look for the data and come back with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

To reflect on the meeting and actions to be taken forward.

The Chair thanked Members and Officer for a very productive meeting and reminded Members that the next meeting would be on the 3^rd of February 2021 and it will contain reports from the Children Services portfolio.