Agenda, decisions and minutes

www.swansea.gov.uk/disclosuresofinterests

Councillor M Durke – Item 4 - personal

In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City & County of Swansea, the following interests were declared:

Councillor M Durke – Item 4 – Personal.

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

Approved

Resolved that the Minutes of the Education & Skills Service Transformation Committee held on 24 July 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record subject to an amendment to Minute 12 – 4^th paragraph – issue should read assure.

For Information

Elaine Sharpling gave a powerpoint presentation to the committee which outlined the background to the Camau i'r Dyfodol/Steps to the Future Project which is a Welsh Government funded scheme between UWTSD and Glasgow University.

Outlined during the presentation were the following areas:

·       Curriculum for Wales (CfW) is based on the principles of subsidiarity and the idea of reverse delegation, and the aim is for teachers and school leaders to build the new curriculum from the ground up, both Welsh and Local Govt should provide guidance, frameworks and advice to support this approach;

·               Findings to date from the project to date include - a balance needs to be

struck between top down and bottom-up approaches – a midway point is needed between the tighter elements of policy which offer signposts and the space for local variation, building understanding of CfW as a purpose-led, process-orientated curriculum requires new thinking around the curriculum, assessment and pedagogy, the current off the shelf approaches to curriculum, assessment and pedagogy do not appear to be aligned with the goals of CfW

·       Warning flags identified include there being too much ‘noise’ in the system currently, the need to develop a shared understanding of CfW will take time and teachers are ‘time poor’, coherence does not mean everyone is doing the same thing and taking similar approaches, and it isn’t always clear how progression is being measured.

·       Progression is defined as increasing sophistication of understanding and skills as young people move from ‘novice to expert’;

·       5 steps of curriculum progress and the fact that progression is not linear and a straightforward process for young people and does happen over time and in time;

·       No definition of progression contains references to grade or age level expectations, instead learning is conceived of as a sequence or continuum of increasing expertise;

·       Notion of continuity and coherence - learning is not a series of discrete events, but rather a trajectory of development that connects knowledge, concepts and skills within a domain;

·       Learning progressions are accommodating and they recognise that students do not move forward at the same rate or with the same degree of depth and progression and see this as an expected part of learning;

·       Pedagogy/Assessment/curriculum – the links between the 3 areas -how are we teaching, is learning happening and being measured, what and why are we teaching;

·       Relation to assessment for learning

·       Learn and not do – all stages are connected and different stages and levels of learning occur for young people

Members discussed the powerpoint presentation and asked various questions around the issues and topics detailed within it, particularly around the post covid impact on school attendance, rise and potential implications of home schooling, cluster working, additional pressure being placed upon teachers by the new CfW, need to support and help teachers with the new way of working that the CfW has brought,

Elaine and the Education Officer responded accordingly to the questions and queries raised by Members.

The Chair thanked Elaine for her attendance and input into the meeting and for the detailed and informative presentation.

For Information

David Thomas provided the committee with a powerpoint presentation which outlined a background and basis for a set of Swansea principles for pupil progression.

Contained and detailed within the presentation were the following areas and information:

•       Role of assessment is based on Welsh Govt guidance and has 3 main overarching areas - supporting individual learners on an ongoing and day-to-day basis, identifying, capturing and reflecting on individual learner progress over time and the understanding of group progress in order to reflect on practice;

•       Assessment should enable each learner to make progress at an appropriate pace, ensure pupils are supported and challenged, contribute to the holistic picture of the learner, support progress along 3 – 16 continuum, support professional dialogue at all levels, inform required teaching & learning, curriculum design and new/innovative effective pedagogical approaches;

•       Supporting individual learners on an ongoing day-to-day basis - by identifying individual strengths & achievements, areas for improvements, barriers to learning, opportunities for practitioners to discuss progress with learners and highlight challenge and support areas required;

•       Supporting individual learners on an ongoing day-to-day basis - should be embedded into teaching and allow practitioners to respond to individual needs on an ongoing basis;

•       Identifying, capturing and reflecting on individual learner progress over time -through the use of assessment records (where appropriate) to support practitioners to identify progress made by individual learners, over different periods of time and in a variety of ways to evaluate how a learner has learned, what they have learned and what they can demonstrate;

•       Identifying, capturing and reflecting on individual learner progress over time - by reflecting on progress will help practitioners to give feedback and help to plan future learning, better inform interventions (support) and identify the challenges required, highlight the immediate next steps and should help to develop both longer-term objectives/goals and reporting to parents/carers;

•       Understanding group progress in order to reflect on practice - by knowing how different learner groups make progress, the curriculum strengths and areas for development, how needs have been met (sharing effective practice), how the school supports disadvantaged learners and through supporting robust self-evaluation and improvement planning;

•       Summary of current position - where the use of assessment is particularly strong, schools can ensure that it has a formative role in improving teaching and helps pupils better understand their learning, effective practice is a clear understanding of formative assessment and utilise a range of strategies that best supports learners in that context, effective assessment practices identify the progress pupils are making across the curriculum, effective assessment informs how teaching can be adjusted in response to information, good systems ensure that professional learning focusses on effective pedagogy in teaching and assessment and have a reflective culture;

•       Next steps – to outline principles of effective formative assessment, reference a range of strategies, develop a better understanding of both feedback and next steps needed by learners and examples of effective practice.

The Committee discussed the issues raised above, made various comments relating to the powerpoint presentation and asked questions around the issues and topics detailed within it, particularly around support to disadvantaged children, adverse childhood experiences, trauma relating to difficult family circumstances & substance misuse etc and their effect on young people, school cluster approaches and need for consistency, pace and monitoring of progress, impact and availability of flying start scheme.

The officer responded accordingly to the questions and queries raised by Members.

The Chair thanked the officer for his presentation and input to the meeting and outlined potential areas for the committee to consider and focus on going forward in the municipal year.

Noted

The Chair outlined the workplan for the committee for the remainder of 2024/2025.

He outlined some minor amendments to the order of the items to be considered by the committee at the October and January meetings.