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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Councillor Chris
Bithell (Flintshire County Council), Diane Chisholm (Primary Schools
Representative), Alison Fisher (Governor representative) and Iwan Evans (Host
Authority Head of Legal Services - Cyngor Gwynedd). |
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WELCOME Minutes: The Chair extended a welcome to Mrs Rita Price of Wrexham
Diocese to her first Joint Committee meeting |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declaration of personal interest was received by any
Members present |
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MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 309 KB (copy enclosed) Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of
this meeting, held on 15 July 2015, as a true record. |
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THE JOINT COMMITTEE'S FINAL ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2015 AND RELEVANT AUDIT PDF 142 KB (copy enclosed) Additional documents:
Minutes: A report by the Head of Finance, Cyngor Gwynedd outlined a
statement of the post-Audit Accounts, a report by the Wales Audit office along
with a representation letter The Wales Audit Office representative reported that the
context for the accounts is set out in the report and attention was drawn to a
summary of amendments made to the draft financial statements. The attention of
the Joint Committee should be drawn to these.
Details were provided on the
accounts and Joint Committee Members had an opportunity to ask questions It was decided to: (a) accept, note and approve the
information in the (i)
ISA260
report by the Wales Audit Office (ii)
Statement
of 2014/15 accounts (post-audit) (b) ask the Chair and the Cyngor
Gwynedd Head of Finance (as the statutory GwE Financial Officer) to certify the
Representation Letter |
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GwE PROGRESS REPORT (oral report) Minutes: Statistics were presented to the
Joint Committee outlining results, main outcomes and issues for
consideration The GwE Managing Director led the
Joint Committee through the report, noting as follows: (a) Foundation Phase ·
GwE
performance is the lowest of all the regional consortia. However, national
steer has highlighted the need for a plateau in performance along with a robust
process of standardisation and verification across Wales. ·
teacher assessment continues to be a matter of
concern ·
there has been progress in the performance of FSM
pupils in 4 authorities since 2014, significantly so in Gwynedd and Môn. ·
there has been progress in performance since 2014
across all indicators on the higher level. However, regional progress in Welsh
is less than national progress. ·
some schools have performed below the median of
FSM benchmarks in key indicators over a rolling three year period and these
schools need to be robustly challenged In response to a query, it was
confirmed that the above issues are expected. (b) Key Stage 2 ·
there has
been progress in GwE’s performance; however, as in
the Foundation Phase, national steer has highlighted the need for a plateau in
performance across Wales and a robust process of standardisation and
verification ·
teacher assessment continues to be a matter of
concern ·
there has
been progress in the performance of FSM pupils; however, there was a slight
decline in performance in Gwynedd and Môn ·
there has
been progress in performance since 2014 across all indicators on the expected
level, and progress is above the national average for every core subject ·
the above is in line with expectations, but,
again, some schools are performing below the national average and need specific
attention as part of the system of challenge The following points were
highlighted during the subsequent discussion: (i)
how firm is Welsh Government regarding
inconsistency in teacher assessment and do the Teachers’ Unions challenge the
Government on this? In response, Mr Geraint Rees,
Welsh Government explained that an agreement was put in place for the 4 regions
to work together this year as the process is in place for the first time. It
was noted there is considerable variance between the 4 regions in Key Stage
2. With regard to KS4, it was reported
that the gap is closing. It was further noted that the categorisation process
requires strong implementation and the next step would be to tighten moderation
of teacher assessment. The process must take place and, as a result, lack of
confidence will have to be eradicated. (ii)
Are Unions in agreement and are some Counties
facing problems? If so, would a discussion with the Minister for Education be
beneficial? In response, it was noted that a
meeting with the Trade Unions is imminent so as to gather input on how things
are progressing. In addition, there will be an opportunity for the Chair of the
Joint Committee to raise the matter with the Minister in a meeting arranged for
16 October. (iii) Lack of confidence creates uncertainty amongst learners and teachers ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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GwE 2015-16 BUDGET REPORT - SUMMER TERM REVIEW 2015 PDF 302 KB (copy enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: A report by the GwE Managing Director and the Host Authority Head of Finance on the latest
financial review of GwE budget for 2015-16 financial year was presented. Reference was made to Appendix 1 of the report that includes full financial information Attention was drawn to the two underspend headlines: (i)
“building”, which refers to the new GwE
offices in Caernarfon and Conwy, due to a change in the date of moving to the
new locations; and (ii)
“travel”, which refers to the decision to reduce
the budget for travelling costs to be closer to that of actual expenditure It was noted that the report does
not include consideration of possible savings in the management and
administration element of some specific grants.
With regard to the underspend
fund, the fund total at the start of the 2015/16 financial year was £266,829,
with the GwE Joint Committee having already committed £135,000 to specific
plans. On adding the 2015/16 underspend of £29,903, the estimated non-committed
fund is £161,732. Joint Committee members had an opportunity to question any
elements of the report The GwE Managing Director
confirmed that the deprivation grant has been allocated to schools It was decided to: Accept and
note the report |
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2015-16 MEETING DATES PDF 242 KB (copy enclosed) Minutes: A calendar of GwE 2015-16 Joint Committee meetings was presented Ian Budd (Lead Director – Chair of Management Board) (Flintshire County Council) noted that the frameworks are operational and there would be further reporting on feedback and supplying information in the next Joint Committee meeting in November. It was decided to: Approve
the following dates for 2015-16:
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