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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 5, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services - 636923 

Items
No. Item

23.

Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.

Minutes:

In accordance with the code of conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

24.

Minutes. pdf icon PDF 110 KB

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

 

 

Minutes:

Resolved that the Minutes of the Education & Skills Policy Development Committee held on 10 October 2018 be agreed as a correct record.

 

25.

After School Clubs.

Minutes:

The Chair indicated that further to the issue being highlighted at the previous meeting, the item had been placed on the agenda for further discussion by Members and the input of relevant Officers from the Education Department.

 

Sue Edgar indicated that the primary sector places great value on after school clubs (ASC). She stated that in the majority of primary schools, the after school provision will be carefully co-ordinated at the beginning of the school year by the senior leadership group.

 

She indicated that teachers, teaching assistants and other support staff all provide a vital role in the provision of ASC. Some external assistance maybe provided by parents/grandparents/volunteers etc, but the vast majority of clubs and activities are provided by school staff on a voluntary basis.

 

Rob Davies indicated that in the secondary sector the provision of clubs will be split between after school and lunchtime. There will be various different types of clubs and groups such as revision, study, catch up, homework, sporting, drama etc. He indicated that at secondary level ASC and intervention/catch-up activities are generally separate entities, notwithstanding a degree of overlap.  After-school study/revision sessions would generally be informal and attendance would not be compulsory.  However, attendance for intervention/catch-up sessions would be expected, sessions would normally run in the school day and pupils’ progress would be tracked more closely.

 

He also emphasised that the vast majority of provision at secondary level is also provided on a voluntary basis by staff, this can include revision classes during school holidays.

 

He indicated the move to improve quality of “first teaching” and the need to better track pupils who are falling behind, in order to better target support and assistance for them.

 

He indicated that particularly for older pupils, there is more emphasis will be placed on revision/study clubs to assist with preparation for examinations.

 

Members discussed the issues and topics arising from the officers input and asked various questions and queries, including the following areas:

·       What is the balance and spilt between the provision of clubs across the County in the 3 following areas – social skills, curriculum enrichment & study support;

·       Impact of private tutoring on exam results and the subsequent impact on pupils and their results who are unable to afford private tuition;

·       Need to encourage children that need additional help to attend study/revision clubs;

·       Cost and hours of operation of ASC;

·       Importance of maintaining the current goodwill and co-operation of teachers and other school staff and the need to outline and promote the gratitude that the authority/parents/pupils have for the huge amount of voluntary duties undertaken and provided;

·       Availability of free school transport following ASC and its impact on attendance if not available;

·       Need to get higher achieving pupils involved into mentoring and support roles for fellow pupils;

·       Possible need to develop cluster networks and identify good practice and/or expertise to enable schools to provide clubs/activities that they otherwise wouldn’t;

·       What is provision like in other authorities compared to Swansea;

 

The Officers discussed the issues raised and responded accordingly, and indicated they would aim to coordinate information on the level of provision in each school via both their professional networks and meetings and their contacts in schools, and report back in due course.

 

 

 

 

26.

Review of Evidence/Information Provided to The Committee To Date.

Minutes:

The Chair referred to the various meetings held since the start of the municipal year in May and outlined the issues discussed and the information received by the Committee, particularly the following areas:

·       Data Trends for Pupils on Free School Meals;

·       Pupil Development Grant(PDG) and Pupil Premium;

·       Need for Evidence Based Approach by Schools;

·       Education Endowment Toolkit;

·       Whole School Approach;

·       Pupil Approach

 

Members discussed the need for better monitoring of how the PDG money is spent in schools and the need to contrast and compare how the money is allocated across the Authority.

 

The possibility of making PDG spending a standard item on Governing Body agendas, and/or making a governor responsible for the issue, similar to current arrangements for looked after children, bullying etc was outlined and discussed again.

 

The possible development of “good practice” guidelines and information for Governing Bodies on both PDC spend and the Use of the Toolkit was discussed as a potential outcome for the review. Members accepted that any good practice guidelines could only be advisory in nature for schools.

 

The Chair indicated he would have further discussions with the Director of Education on the issues raised during the meeting and report back to future meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

27.

Workplan 2017/2018. pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Minutes:

 

The Chair outlined the Workplan for the Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2018/2019.

 

The after school clubs topic to be discussed further in the new year following the necessary research and consultation by Officers

 

Resolved that the Workplan as shown in the report be noted.