Agenda and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosureofinterests

 

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

 

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

 

Resolved that the minutes of the Education & Skills Policy Development Committee held on 12 February 2020 be agreed as a correct record.

 

The Chair indicated that the meeting would reflect and review all the information received by the Committee during the municipal year relating to the New Curriculum.

 

He outlined that all the information and evidence submitted by the school representatives, education department officers and external/partner agencies would be considered in drafting a report to Cabinet.

 

The Committee had been impressed by the range of activity that is currently going on in schools. This includes:

Project work

• Literacy and numeracy
• Transition arrangements
• Focus on lower attaining groups
• Focus on higher-attaining groups e.g. MAT
• Work with cluster groups
• Creation of new posts/leadership structures
• Work to up-skill staff e,g. while school training, attendance at external events
• Implementation of new curriculum structures
• Work to capture learner views
• Teachers involved in teams co-constructing their school’s new curriculum;
• Expansion of vocational training opportunities.

Support

• Events/conferences
• Links with HEIs
• Lead Enquiry Schools Network
• National Network Schools
• ERW electronic newsletters
• NQT sessions
• Partnerships of schools
• Cluster-level working

The Aim of the new policy should be to allow Swansea schools the freedom to develop curriculum content and pedagogy that is tailored to the needs of individual learners.

Irrespective of national and regional structures, what should be the role of the Local Authority. Could it be defined in terms of the following:

• Support
• Influence
• Monitor
• Guide

This should support Swansea schools to prepare, adapt and sustain the new curriculum.

The following areas of work need to be delivered in the context of the PDC’s identified priorities:

• How Swansea meets the needs of its most disadvantaged learners;
• How Swansea ensures its young people are equipped with the skills they will need to fulfil their potential, with due regard to the skills needs of the economy of the Swansea region;
• How Swansea ensures its school workforce has the skills needed to take forward Curriculum for Wales, bearing in mind that this is an on-going process not an event;
• How Swansea ensures it has the required school leadership capacity to take forward Curriculum for Wales, bearing in mind that this is an on-going process and not an event;
• The emerging priorities identified at an all-Wales level by the PISA results (e.g. around the performance of boys in reading etc).

Possible areas to explore further include a means of sharing practice through an on-line tool with support and monitoring to ensure it is used.

 

Swansea Professional Learning Community

• How do we ensure school leaders are engaged in continuous discussion of their school’s curriculum and pedagogy with the LA through the work of Challenge Advisors;
• How do we ensure ensure whole-staff approaches to ensure each member of staff is able to fulfil what is expected of them through a combination of CPD, access to support, and processes to identify and address support needs.

 

Would this be possible through a whole-Swansea professional learning community and if so how would that be structured to address the issues highlighted above.

 

Data Monitoring

• On-going monitoring (and discussion) of pupil-level data by the Local Authority to monitor standards in literacy, numeracy, digital competence, and science.

• Scrutiny of progress of key groups of learners including eFSM (e.g. focusing on pupils who were e-fsm on 90 per cent or more of the occasions that PLASC was taken), boys/girls, with sub-group analysis
• Use of that data to monitor the extent of the challenges, where areas of good practice exist, where the weaknesses are?

 

Dissemination

• Disseminating evidence of good practice
• Close working with schools to address the way they work and the curriculum they deliver to address these issues

 

Process Monitoring

On-going review of school assessment arrangements, including the reliability of teacher assessment, including work of school clusters around moderation and standardisation.

Use of school triads, peer reviews to assist schools develop the curriculum and pedagogy required to successfully deliver the new curriculum alongside meet the priorities identified by the PDC.

 

Coordination

Maintaining a conduit between the PSA and the on-going work of curriculum development in schools to ensure all schools are aware of regional skills needs and priorities.

At the same time, ensuring that a vocational element, including preparedness for the world of work is part of the curriculum of each child to age 14 and beyond.

 

Capacity

It is assumed that this can be achieved with the existing school support staff who will be able to draw on the expertise of serving practioners in schools were and when required. However, the capacity to do so will need to be reviewed. The question of what resources will need to be available will need to be reviewed.

 

The Committee discussed potential topics for discussion in the next municipal year.

 

The Chair indicated that the April meeting would be cancelled and he would liaise with the Democratic Services Officer to arrange a special meeting in early May to consider the draft report to cabinet on the New Curriculum.

 

Resolved that the following topics be added to the workplan for 2020-2021:

·       Cluster Arrangements;

·       Supply Teachers;

·       Additional Learning Needs.