Minutes:
The Chairperson welcomed Mr Andrew Williams, Assistant Director for Partnerships and Improvement and Ms Clara Seery, Managing Director from Central South Consortium and invited them to give their presentation to members which provided the following to members:
• Changes to performance measures and reporting measures
• CSC Framework for School improvement - based on Welsh governments Draft Improvement, Evaluation and Accountability document
• How we are supporting schools
• How we are measuring progress
A Member asked what pathways were in place so pupils can build on their strengths
The Managing Director CSC replied that all of the reviews involve pupils and their opportunities to engage. The majority of schools spend lot of time gathering information from pupils through various channels such as the school council.
A Member referred to the embedding of ALN into the and asked how the individual schools situation is taken in to consideration and how much flexibility there was when applying the objective standards as some schools had felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic more than others.
The Managing Director CSC agreed and stated that the model is designed to be as flexible as possible and acknowledged that they were not taking a business as usual approach during the pandemic. She added that they have communicated to all staff that they take pace from the school and they were not applying rigid deadlines. She added that they are adopting a much more flexible approach to support schools. She reassured however, that support and challenge was being provided as sensitively as possible and that no school was expected to have a polished curriculum by 2022 as it will be an evolving process.
The Director of Education and Inclusion Services added that the School Improvement agenda remains a high priority for the Authority and with strong leadership we will continue to see an improving position. She added that the Authority, together with CSC are effective in identifying schools that are struggling and therefore can provide early support at the right time.
A Member asked how the Scrutiny Committee could support and provide challenge.
The Managing Director CSC stated that they were looking at the format in how to provide the information to members. She added that they want the Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise the information provided to them and challenge the format and how the information is presented to them. She added that there was lots of systems across the LA and CSC where they were held to account.
The Director Education and Inclusion added that they have regular meetings with CSC together with schools causing concern and discuss improvements and progression plans. Regular progress meetings are also held with red and amber category schools and they are closely monitored. Half termly meetings, chairs of governors etc. The Scrutiny is there and dialogue. CSC also present in January every year, including outcomes. Members could decide what information is helpful.
A Member commented that it would be helpful if the next time representatives attend Scrutiny if they could share the presentation in advance with members to give them the opportunity to read through before the meeting. The Member asked how they can support the Local Authority and Central South Consortium in their role as a member of Scrutiny to improve the standards in schools. He commented for example that Scrutiny had not had the opportunity to scrutinise red category schools before the categories were suspended by Welsh Government to reduce pressures on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The member also questioned officers comments around what information should be shared on their schools with members and asked for clarification.
The Managing Director Central South Consortium clarified that the comments around information sharing were around the format of the information and how this should be presented to members. She agreed that members should be afforded all information in relation to schools in their area and welcomes members support and scrutiny on them.
She advised members that there were many mechanisms in place for the CSC and the Local Authority to be held to account on the support they are providing to schools and this can be developed.
The Director education and Inclusion added that the Local Authority holds regular meetings with CSC where schools causing concern are discussed with Leadership teams at the schools so they can assess what additional support is required if necessary and monitor their progress. She added that CSC present a report in January every year which details Estyn inspection outcomes and analysis of previously red and amber categorised schools. She added that at this meeting members could decide which information is presented to them is helpful and how they would like it presented in the future.
The Chairperson thanked the officers from Central South Consortium for attending the meeting and looked forward to welcoming them back in January 2022. Thanked officers, see you in January.
RESOLVED: To note the presentation and update from Central South Consortium