Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence received from Michelle Symonds and Karl Jones (Co-optees).

Members are reminded of their personal responsibility to declare any personal and prejudicial interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 relating to Council Tax, the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct

Note:

(a)  Members are reminded that they must identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest and

(b)  Where Members withdraw from a Meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chair when they leave

No declarations of interest were made.

To consider the attached report

The Chair welcomed Emma Willmott from the Central South Consortium to the meeting. 

Sue Walker and Emma Willmott advised members that this report sets out the attainment of Foundation Phase, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 in 2019 where the overall attainment in Foundation Phase is adequate and good at Key Stages 2 and 3.   They then took members through the report in detail as follows:

·         An overview of the changes made by Welsh Government on how performance measures are reported and presented.

·         Schools reporting data to Welsh Government.

·         Sharing data with Local Authorities and Consortia who have systems in place to analyse data, but comparison with other Local Authorities/Consortia will not be possible. 

·         What needs to be done next in relation to:

-       In the foundation phase, improve the performance of boys in the FPOI and at the higher outcomes in all three core subjects.

-       At KS2, improve the performance of boys and eFSM pupils at the higher level in all core subjects.

-       At KS3, improve the performance of boys and eFSM pupils in the CSI and improve performance of boys at Level 6 in English.   In addition, improve performance at Level 7 in all core subjects.

-       Continue to work with school leaders including governors to support and challenge them to deliver the best possible outcomes for our children and young people. 

-       Continue to hold Central South Consortium to account for the delivery of school improvement activities across our schools.

·         Overview of performance in Merthyr Tydfil Council Schools including strengths and areas of development.  

·         Involvement of challenge advisers.

·         Sharing good practice across all Schools.

·         Pupil Deprivation Grant.

·         Performance levels of boys and girls in the Local Authority Schools. 

·         Performance of pupils on Free School Meals.

Sue Walker and Emma Willmott provided background information in relation to the following questions:

·         Clarification was sought in relation to KS3 that although the performance across the main indicators is good, Merthyr Tydfil’s performance has dropped this year but is now above the national average.  

·         Concern over the recurring decrease in boys’ performance, and what needs to be put in place to improve this?

·         Members restricted in scrutinising performance data as a result of the new reporting arrangements in place. 

·         Setting of Schools’ measures  -  how can we clarify any changes to these measures?

·         Is there a strategic plan in place to help and support schools that are not doing so well?    

·         Involvement of Governors to support and challenge their Schools.

·         The possibility of a Member led sub group of the Scrutiny Committee visiting schools’ leadership teams to have a better understanding of some of the issues within the Schools.

RESOLVED that:

·         The contents of the report be noted.

Councillor Brent Carter left the meeting at 4.40 pm

To consider the attached report

Chris Hole referred members to the report on the Impact of Flying Start and Registered Education Providers on Outcomes in Maintained Schools and took members through the performance outcomes of the Flying Start Programme for 2018-19 in detail, as follows:

·         Update on where we are now on performance data in relation to Health Care, Childcare and Education and Foundation Phase Profile (Compact) Outcomes.

·         Where we want to be in relation to Vulnerability Profiling, Capita One and Early Years Strategy.

·         Further work and consultation in relation to what we need to do next. 

·         Review of the Childcare Commissioning Model.

·         Involvement of Health to see what more can be done on a county wide basis.

·         Scrutiny to be updated on any possible approaches and implications of the commissioning model, any future vulnerability profiling and structural changes on flying start.

Chris Hole and Sue Walker provided background information in relation to the following questions from the Committee:

·         Do we have resources to develop the Capita One System?

·         What is the Health Board’s involvement in driving this forward?

·         Wider Health team engagement with families  -  priority for early intervention and parental support.

·         Data in relation to pre-school information.

·         Foundation Phase Profile Compact Outcomes. 

·         The possibility of inviting Health Teams into Scrutiny to look at engagement.

·         Involvement of School nurses in future developments/strategies. 

RESOLVED that:

·         The contents of the reported be noted.

·         Consideration be given to the Health Team attending a future scrutiny meeting to discuss engagement.

Alan Rees (Co-optee) left the meeting at 5.15 pm

To consider the attached report

The Committee considered and agreed the Work Programme.  In addition the following was considered for inclusion within the Work Programme:

·         Members of the Committee visiting Schools around the County Borough.

·         Updates on Flying Start to also be added into the work programme  -  the Scrutiny Officer to liaise with Chris Hole on this. 

The Chair advised that there was no update on this matter.

To receive an update from the Chair

The Chair and the Members reflected in detail on the items discussed in the meeting.

The Chair advised that there was no business deemed urgent.