Venue: Remotely via Teams
Contact: Michelle Roberts, Scrutiny Officer
No. | Item |
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Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests Minutes: None |
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Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips Minutes: None |
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To receive the minutes of the previous meeting(s) and agree
as an accurate record. Minutes: The minutes of the 14 February 2022 where accepted by the Panel. |
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Public Questions Questions must be submitted in writing, no later than noon
on the working day prior to the meeting.
Questions must relate to items on the agenda. Minutes: No public questions were received. |
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Verbal Update - Asylum Seeker and Refugee Pupils Invited to attend are Cllr Robert Smith (Cabinet Member for
Education Improvement, Learning and Skills) and Pam Cole (Senior Lead for
Minority Ethnic Learners and Equalities)
Minutes: The Panel
thanked Pam Cole, Senior Lead for Minority Ethnic Learners and Equalities for
giving the Panel a verbal briefing and answering questions. The following was noted. ·
The Panel heard that this service is funded by
Welsh Government and is part of the wider service for pupils who have a first
language other than English/Welsh, as English as an additional language (EAL
learners). That EAL learners are a hugely diverse group and include settled
families, economic migrants, Roma, asylum seekers and refugees. Also Swansea is a
very diverse city with over 140 languages and dialects spoken amongst our
school population. The Panel were told
that the key support lies within individual schools and the role of the central
service was to guide and advise schools. ·
The Panel asked about the provision that was
being made for the arrival of families from Ukraine. They were informed that what we have in place
currently and how we can best prepare in advance for any arrivals was being
considered. Also, that it is difficult
to know at this stage how many children will come into the city, which is
different of other schemes the council has managed as we are usually in
informed of numbers in advance. It was
recognised that this will be challenging because of the unpredictability of
where families may be hosted in the city.
This could impact on some schools that are not traditionally used to EAL
pupils. The Panel agreed sharing of good
practice across schools will be important. ·
Swansea has been a Refugee and Asylum Seeker
dispersal area for over 20 years and it is a City of Sanctuary. Swansea Council has the experience to and
many systems in place for supporting families and their children which should
provide a good grounding in this challenging time. The Panel were pleased to hear about the work
currently being done across the city. |
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Additional Learning Needs Reform and Implementation PDF 268 KB Cllr Robert Smith, Cabinet Member for Education Improvement, Learning and Skills and Helen Morgan Rees, Director of Education Additional documents: Minutes: The Panel thank
Alison Lane, Head of the
Additional Learning and Inclusion Team for attending the meeting and supplying
the Panel with a written report. The following
was noted. ·
The
Panel heard that this is a wide-ranging reform and the biggest shake up for
many years in ALN. Also, that the
Council had been concerned about implications of the pandemic on making
progress but that staff need to be congratulated on the huge amount of work
that has been completed in the last two years in keeping this on track through
such a difficult time. They were told that the biggest challenge will be
managing expectations and working together on a shared vision to get the very
best model for our ALN pupils. ·
The
Panel welcomed the overall progress that has been made in relation to ALN
reform. They are reassured that although
we are in the early stages of this legislative reform, we are well positioned
to face the challenges that lie ahead. |
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Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) PDF 254 KB Cllr Robert Smith Cabinet Member Education Improvement, Learning
and Skills and Amanda Taylor, Head of Pupil Referral Unit and Behaviour Support
Unit Additional documents: Minutes: The Panel thanked Kate
Phillips, Head of Vulnerable Learner Services, for attending the meeting and
suppling the panel with a detailed report.
The following was noted. ·
The
Panel heard about how the service is now being reviewed and this has included
looking at the following key areas:
A
new EOTAS policy - this
is being finalised giving refinement to recommendations made to Cabinet in 2016
which is needed as five years have now passed. During the intervening years, it
has been recognised that only referring children and young people with the most
severe Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (SEBD) needs to EOTAS
provision may not be sufficient to meet the needs of Swansea. The effectiveness
of prevention and early intervention by Swansea schools and central services
mean that there are less children and young people requiring Pupil Referral
Unit (PRU) provision. However, there are a greater number of children and young
people with long-term SEBD needs and an increase in pupils with Autistic
Spectrum Disorder (ASD) presenting with challenging behaviours. The new EOTAS
task and finish group has identified the need to develop provision to meet the
needs of this complex cohort above and beyond the current curriculum offer
which is tailored to a reintegration model.
Delivering
improved outcomes within Maes Derw - this includes attendance, exclusions
and the part time provision at Maes Derw. It has been
identified that all these are all areas can be improved. The need to ensure all
pupil placements at Maes Derw
are appropriate in order for learners’ needs to be met has also been
highlighted. Now that it has been a whole year since the opening of Maes Derw, it is appropriate to
consider how well the changes are in meeting the needs of Swansea children and
young people.
EOTAS
funding - there is a
continual need to ensure that the funding available for EOTAS provision in
Swansea is targeted at need. Currently, the majority of the funding for EOTAS
provision is with Maes Derw
PRU, however, as needs change and those learners who meet the remit of Maes Derw reduce, there is a need
to look at bespoke, multi-agency packages of support, which do not currently
have dedicated funding. It would also be beneficial to target resource at
earlier intervention and prevention. The effectiveness of the devolved money to
secondary schools suggests targeting resource early is effective in reducing
the number of learners requiring EOTAS provision. · The Cabinet Member told the Panel that
the 2016 report had provided a firm foundation for this service and we are now
starting to build upon that. The Panel
did recognise that the needs of pupils in Swansea will change and evolve, so
were pleased to see the ability to flex and review our model of delivery. |
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New Curriculum Update including progress with implementation PDF 156 KB Cllr Robert Smith Cabinet Member Education Improvement, Learning and Skills and Damian Beech, Head of School Improvement Team Additional documents: Minutes: The Panel thanked Damien
Beech, Head of School Improvement Team for attending the Panel, providing a
report and discussing progress. The
following was noted. ·
The
Panel welcome the overall progress that has been made in relation to the
introduction of the new curriculum for Wales but they were still concerned with
regard to the readiness of all schools to introduce the new curriculum. The Panel were told that the Welsh Government
do recognise that curriculum design is an ongoing, cyclical process of
engagement, design, planning, trialling, and evaluation. Also, that it is an iterative process with
each school’s curriculum continuing to evolve to meet the needs of their
learners. The Panel agreed and
emphasised the importance of the role of School Improvement Advisers and
Curriculum Advisers in advising and getting those schools who may be finding it
more challenging, up to speed with their curriculum development. They also agreed with officers when they said
school to school collaboration will be particularly beneficial in relation to
curriculum development. |
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End of Year Report - Education Scrutiny Minutes: As this is the
final meeting of this municipal year, the Panel was invited to reflect on the
year’s scrutiny work, experiences and effectiveness. Including any ideas that
will improve the effectiveness of the scrutiny of education are welcome. The Panel agreed
that seeing work happening on the ground had been missing this year due to the
pandemic and were keen that visiting schools and meeting Headteachers staff and
pupils should resume as soon as it is safely possible. The Panel paid
tribute to both schools and the education department in how they have dealt
with education through the pandemic agreeing they had done a magnificent job. The Convener of the
Panel thanked Officer and fellow Panel members for their commitment to the
Panel feeling that it has made a positive difference this year. The meeting ended at 3.45
pm
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