Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed the new Co-opted Members to their first Committee Meeting.

No apologies for absence were received.

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 referred the Committee to the ‘Central South Consortium (CSC) Commitments to Raising Aspirations Raising Standards Strategy (RARS)’ Report and welcomed Emma Willmott to the Meeting.

Sue Walker then introduced the report to the Committee.

Emma Willmott gave an overview to the Committee in relation to ‘Raising Aspirations, Raising Standards’ – Working in Partnership with Central South Consortium and how the Consortium were supporting blended / hybrid learning and led the Committee in detail through the document attached at Appendix 1 of the report.

The following questions were then raised by the Committee and were responded to by Emma Willmott and the Officers:

·       Are the objectives in the plan Covid proof – Is the expectation timetable the same

·       Have the dates been signed off by the Headteachers or have they been set by the Consortium

·       What are the school years and how will it be rolled into schools

·       When will the Welcome Assessments be done

·       Appendix 1 -Our approach – ‘Plans may need to adapt and change to deal with the high level of uncertainty which faces us due to Covid 19’ – Has this been shared to date with the Headteachers

·       Objective 1 – Stakeholder buy in – Is this the response to the previous question

·       What we will deliver and when – Objective 1 – Leadership – Governance / Middle Management - Is the date of 2020 correct

(Emma Willmott advised that it was an error and should read 2021 and that it would be amended)

·       Welsh Government Child development Fund – Will a bid be made for this money

·       How will blended learning be approached – Is there a pathway of evaluation or is it too early to evaluate

·       Paragraph 5.0 and 6.0 – To ensure that all Children have the best possible learning experience

·       The role of the Consortium in RARS

·       Judgement targets

Resolved that:

(a)  The content of the report be noted

(b)  Members consider if further information is needed to understand the support for the RARS Strategy from CSC or other service areas.

The Chair then thanked Emma Willmott for attending and the update to the Committee.

To consider the attached report

The Chair referred the Committee to the ‘Corporate Self-Evaluation – Key Question 2 (Incorporating Inspection Area 2 of Estyn Framework)’ report.

Sue Walker then led the Committee in detail through the report.

A Member stated that there had been a lot of improvements but felt that adequate was a fair judgement.

Resolved that:

The report be accepted.

To consider the attached report

The Chair referred the Committee to the Forward Work Programme 2020/2021.

A Member then recommended that the Department’s response to Covid 19 be added to the schedule for the 15 March 2021 Committee Meeting as it would be a good opportunity to reflect on a year of the pandemic.

This recommendation was agreed by the Committee.

Resolved subject to the foregoing that:

The Draft Forward Work Programme be approved.

The Scrutiny Officer advised that there was no update on this item.

To receive an update from the Chair

The Chair and the Committee reflected on the issues that had been considered at the Meeting

The Chair advised that there was no business deemed urgent.