Venue: Remotely via Microsoft Teams. View directions
Contact: Democratic Services - 636923
No. | Item |
---|---|
Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. Decision: In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, the following interest was declared; Councillors Mike Durke – Agenda Item 4 - Keeping Pupils On Track: Examples of Best Practice from Pentrehafod and Dylan Thomas Schools – Personal. . Minutes: In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, the following interest was declared; Councillors Mike Durke – Agenda Item 4 - Keeping Pupils On Track: Examples of Best Practice from Pentrehafod and Dylan Thomas Schools – Personal. . |
|
To approve and sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record. Decision: Approved. Minutes: Resolved that the minutes of the Education & Skills Policy Development
Committee held on 20 October 2021 be agreed as a correct record. |
|
Keeping Pupils On Track: Examples of Best Practice from Pentrehafod and Dylan Thomas Schools. Decision: For Information. Minutes: The Chair welcomed Mr Goulding and Mr Payne to the meeting. Ashley
Payne, Deputy Headteacher at Dylan Thomas Community School outlined the various
actions and initiatives that had helped to support the pupils, staff and
parents during the various lockdowns, amongst these were ·
SCASH headteachers group which continued to meet via Teams
throughout the pandemic, ·
regular contact between the headteacher and the heads of all the
primary catchment schools, ·
initial setting up of the health hub in Townhill, ·
availability of free school meals(50%+ of pupils) for children in
the first lockdown and the change to payments system after that, ·
provision of the childcare facility for key workers, ·
delivery of IT equipment to children to enable inclusion in online
work and attendance, ·
checking of online pupil attendance and the follow up visits/calls
by staff to encourage attendance and participation, ·
delivery of work to pupils; ·
particular support and help for vulnerable learners; ·
development of Covid recovery action plan which links to the
schools development plan, ·
good liaison with staff, setting up of well-being groups and staff
helping and supporting each other and covering for absent colleagues was
excellent, ·
mental health/anxiety issues for young people and their families, ·
support and help for young people and families who had lost
relatives – provision of counselling service and bereavement advice from local
authority helped greatly, ·
platform groups for young people with low moods – 6 week programme
has worked well, ·
transition arrangements for current year 8s did cause some
problems due to the various lockdowns and restrictions and the subsequent lack
of contact between school/pupil/families prior to them attending the school,
which has been an issue, ·
TIDE inclusion programme for vulnerable pupils and those with
social problems was well used by pupils, ·
issues with numbers of statemented pupils wanting to attend the
school and lack of availability and access to the SDFs has been an issue which
has led to an investment in nurture classes and significant improvements to the
classrooms and learning provision for SDF pupils, ·
continuing of attendance monitoring and follow up work with pupils
to engage and encourage better
attendance, ·
community use of schools playing fields is protected, new gym been
developed for pupils, and sport/well-being is embedded into curriculum now, recent
appointment of rugby hub officer and links with Swans on ALN football, ·
awarding of gsce grades this year via assessment/no exams, ·
issues around the communications and leak of information from
Welsh Government during the pandemic wasn’t great for schools as often it was
being reported in the media before the local authority/schools had received it
and a lack of leadership and advice/guidance from the WJEC was also an issue, Matthew
Goulding, Headteacher at Pentrehafod School also outlined the various actions
and initiatives that had helped to support the pupils, staff and parents during
the various lockdowns, and gave provide the committee with a detailed and
informative powerpoint presentation which included and
covered the following areas: ·
make of the school – 1000+ pupils on role(11-16), 36.4% of pupils
on free school meals(41.3% if transitional provision considered), 63% of pupils
live in most deprived areas(WIMD), ·
understanding vulnerability and its impact on student progress and
life chances – developing a shared understanding of students who have a barrier
to learning and development which could be from a wide ranging areas such as
social deprivation, attendance problems, mental health issues, additional
learning difficulties, free school meals, English as an additional languages
etc ·
key milestones in a child’s journey through the school system –
links with cluster schools and issues around lack of reading and literacy
skills, inter-generational poverty and lack development of social skills of
children, impact of Covid going forward, ·
impact of new curriculum going forward on teaching and how and
what children are taught, ·
knowing your students – development of a detailed profile of each
student on a both academic and well-being level, including cognitive profile,
impact of adverse childhood experiences, attendance/exclusion etc, ·
development of a “pupil on a page” programme which includes a wide
area of data on topics such as attendance, achievement, conduct, wellbeing,
reading levels etc, ·
development of a “class” and a “year” on a page to compare,
contrast and monitor across a wider cohort, ·
possible need for greater support from local authority on
attendance issues due to the ongoing impact of Covid and ideally each
comprehensive could have their own dedicated education welfare officer, ·
equity starts with achievement – encourage and give children the
opportunity to be successful, ·
Alumni programme – started in Easter 2020 – raising of pupils
horizons and expectations, giving pupils different and life enriching
experiences and taking them to places they have never been both physically and
mentally, welcoming former pupils back into school both individually and via
businesses to provide opportunities for work experience, apprenticeships and
mentoring possibilities, ·
excellent links with Careers Wales and the education business
exchange scheme, careers fairs, employment videos, ·
links with Virgin Atlantic Partnership – one of only three schools
in the world which are involved, ·
“brilliant club” – aimed at more able & talented pupils and
help with university visits and extra tuition, ·
developing whole school health and well-being – including
engagement with community partners, refining of relationship/sex education
programme, pupil survey helps to develop new ideas, development of school
reading programme, ·
impact of Covid particularly on the routines of school, engagement
and attendance initiative and transition issues for current years 7 & 8, ·
broad curriculum and offering of vocational courses – but there
are some issues with students attending college and adapting to the different
“non-school” environment, ·
issues with Cynnydd project, particularly around data collation
and bureaucracy issues, ·
what we need to do going forward – country wide problems with
literacy, development of Swansea wide reading profile, encouragement to
participate in physical activity, pilot schemes with communities on mentoring
and entrepreneurships. Members asked various questions and made comments regarding both the presentations and work and initiatives undertaken by the two schools during the different phases of the various lockdowns, to which Mr Payne and Mr Goulding responded accordingly. The
Chair and Members thanked both teachers for their attendance and input. |
|
Decision: Approved. Minutes: The Chair referred to the workplan as outlined in the report and suggested the following areas for discussion at the next few scheduled meetings: December - Vocational Education. January - Sport, Health & Physical Literacy Provision and Outdoor Education. February - Adverse Childhood Experiences. Members supported the proposals for the future workplan and requested information on the Cynnydd programme be distributed to them when available. Resolved that the updated workplan as outlined above be approved. |