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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3A, Guildhall, Swansea. View directions

Contact: Michelle Roberts, Scrutiny Officer 

Items
No. Item

1.

Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.

Minutes:

None

2.

Notes and Conveners Letter/s pdf icon PDF 161 KB

Notes and Conveners letters/response from panel meeting on 19 November, 11 and 17 December 2018

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Notes, Conveners letters and responses received by the Panel.

3.

Public Questions

10 minute public question time.

Minutes:

None

4.

Annual Education Performance Data (including verified data) pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cllr Jennifer Raynor, Cabinet Member for Education Improvement, Learning and Skills and Helen Morgan Rees, Head of Achievement and Partnership Service attended the Panel to present the report and answer questions.  Key points noted include:

 

·         Performance measures in Wales are changing which have and will continue to impact the data provided.  For the first time pupil’s at foundation phase are being measured on revised areas of learning.  In primary schools, there is a greater emphasis on progress made by pupils, rather than the end of key stage performance.  In the secondary sector new qualification have been introduced.

 

·         A dip in performance at foundation phase of 10% following a positive trend between 2014 and 2017.  The Panel heard, however, that this is due to a change in the foundation phase descriptors and that this is also reflected at a national level.  Councillors agree that a continued focus on this area is required.

 

·         Progress at key stage 2 has shown a positive trend over the last five years and that Swansea is on par with the national average. 

 

·         At key stage 3 there has been year on year improvement for the past 5 years but Swansea does fall below the national average for the core subject indicator although it shown a faster rate of improvement.    

 

·         Performance at key stage 4 for the last five years has been outstanding with Swansea schools showing continuous improvement in all main indicators.

 

·         Gap in performance between free school meal (FSM) and non-free school meal pupils is still evident.  The Panel heard that FSM pupil’s performance has improved slightly but that the gap at key stage 4 is still at 32.8%.  Councillors agreed that this should continue to be a focus for improvement and a key priority for Swansea.

 

·         Gender gap in performance outcomes and that this is smaller than 2017 but with a widening trend remaining.  The panel heard that some schools are doing better at targeting the underperformance of boys and that there are good mechanisms in place to share good practice around this issue.   Cabinet Member said a campaign targeting literacy in boys, including reading with a male family member was positive.  Panel agreed that running this again along with some more intergenerational work on this issue would be beneficial.

 

·         Pupil achievement at 6th form in Swansea is showing improvement and agreed that work still need to be done in this area to strengthen performance.

 

·         Panel pleased to hear that performance of our English as additional language pupils is strong.

 

·         Panel understand that the data for Looked After Children can be difficult to access as it can be based on a small cohort of pupils.  The Panel therefore plan to look at this aspect in a bit more detail at a future meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.

Workplan 2017/2018. pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

The panel agreed that the deferred item on Looked After Children educational outcomes will be discussed in conjunction with the Child and Family Services Scrutiny Panel.  A joint meeting to be arranged.

6.

For Information Item pdf icon PDF 58 KB

Minutes:

The panel received the Estyn individual school Inspection outcomes summary.

Letter to the Cabinet Member pdf icon PDF 146 KB