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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Linda Ann Wyn Jones, Peter Read and Gareth A. Roberts, Ann
Williams, W. Gareth Roberts (Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and
Well-being). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: Gareth James, Member Support and Scrutiny Manager
stated an interest in Item 5 - the Education Service's Annual Report, because
his daughter was a Foundation Phase teacher at Ysgol Bethel, Caernarfon. The officer was of the opinion that it was a
prejudicial interest, and he withdrew from the Chamber during the discussion on
the item in question. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To note any items that are a
matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration. Additional documents: Minutes: There were
no urgent matters arising. |
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The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held
on the 26 January 2017, be signed as a true copy. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: The Chairman signed the
minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 26 January 2017 as a true
record subject to the following amendments: (a) Item 2 (a) - Statement from the Chair
Councillor Alwyn Griffith
stated that the minutes should specifically refer to the fact that the Head of
Education had been appointed to manage GwE on a temporary part-time basis, in
addition to referring to the work of investigating GwE's
organisation. (b) Item 6 - Welsh-Medium Education Scrutiny Investigation - Progress Report Councillor Alwyn Gruffydd expressed: (i)
his wish to include the
fact that he had noted in the previous meeting, when discussing references and
different observations in the report by Mr Alun Charles, an external
Consultant, deriving from his investigation into the Council's language policy,
"that it was ridiculous that Welsh-medium education was available from the
Foundation Phase up to a degree in Cardiff but that this was not the case in
Gwynedd." (ii) his
dissatisfaction with using the word "approve" in the decision and the
report being "accepted" would be most appropriate because the above
investigation had not extended the argument at all but, rather, justified the
"status quo". In response, the Senior Corporate Support Manager
noted that his understanding was that the Committee had expressed gratitude for
the report and had approved the recommendations apart from one recommendation,
namely 9.1, regarding defining Gwynedd secondary schools by the language of the
education under one category, namely bilingual schools - and that further work
was needed in this field. This had been tested with the Scrutiny Committee on
the day and the report's content had been approved. An opportunity was given to the Chair and Scrutiny
Committee Members to respond to the above observations and, if different
proposals were not submitted, the previous meeting's decision on this matter
was accurate and in accordance with the Scrutiny Committee's decision on that
day. Following a further discussion, the Scrutiny Committee
confirmed that the record was correct. (c) Item
6 (ii) point (i) To remove the words "It was felt that Popdy - Bangor Language Centre ......." and to change
the wording of the comment made to explain it to read as: "That the role of Popdy - Bangor Language Centre, was to develop a community
language initiative to address the language in all types of contexts. It was
noted that the purpose of the discussion was that an Immersion Centre involved
with education was needed in Bangor."
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EDUCATION SERVICE'S ANNUAL REPORT Cabinet Member:
Councillor Gareth Thomas To consider the Education
Cabinet Member’s report on the above. (Copy enclosed) Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the Education Service's annual report by
the Education Cabinet Member, drawing attention to the following main points: (i)
Performance ·
Significant increase in the
TL2+ indicator ·
Improvement in the
performance of Free School Meals pupils and the gap had reduced between pupils
receiving FSM / not receiving FSM ·
The performance of learners
at the end of key stage 3, especially in the core subject indicator ·
Increase in learner
attendance in secondary and primary In terms of
performance development, it was noted that it was necessary to: ·
Give immediate attention to
the Foundation Phase ·
Improve performance in the
Welsh language at every key stage ·
Improve performance of Free
School Meals learners ·
Improve performance of
post-16 learners in specific courses (i)
Education Provision ·
Promote the well-being and
safety of pupils ·
Support leaders and
managers ·
Leadership models that
would offer conditions to remove the enormous pressure placed on Headteachers ·
Profile of surveys had
highlighted an improvement with no schools in a statutory category ·
Submit a Modernising
Education programme at good pace ·
The County's Language
Policy - ensure resources to extend the Language Charter into the secondary
sector ·
Further improve ICT
infrastructure ·
Performance Data - tracking
was all important in identifying pupils who were falling behind ·
Support governors to be
effective The recommendations regarding ensuring the highest possible standards at
every key stage were referred to, and attention was drawn to what GwE was
required to do on behalf of the education authority with regard to the
education provision, additional learning needs and inclusion strategy and
school leadership and management. During the ensuing discussion, the following points
were made by individual Members: (i)
From recent experience by Elected Members shadowing GwE Challenge
Advisers, evidence was seen that schools received much assistance and support
from GwE. It was further noted that the experiences had been very beneficial to
Members and in maximising their understanding of the work and arrangements of
GwE (ii)
By avoiding using the word
"challenge", it was seen that schools were willing to collaborate and
the importance of continuing to improve the relationship between GwE and the
schools was noted (iii)
That
the county's teachers were to be congratulated for the high standards. Clarification was
requested for on some of the points below, which also needed further attention,
and the Head of Education responded to them: (iv)
The comprehensive report was welcomed and the
progress made was praised, but there was concern that some schools were in the
red category and an enquiry was made about the steps taken to support these
schools. ·
That
the report's culture identified strengths and also identified room for
improvement in terms of the process, so that the development work could address
these matters that need improvement. Findings were seen here that would form
the specification for a business plan between the authority and GwE for the
coming year · That the report identified the Service's strengths and set a firm foundation to work as a team and in partnership. It was further noted that Members ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Cabinet Member: Councillor Gareth Thomas To consider
a report on the above. (Copy
enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted
– a report on the review of the findings commissioned on GwE's
operational procedures. The
Head of Education explained that the departure of GwE's
previous Managing Director had offered an opportunity to revise the
effectiveness and consistency of the current procedure in terms of improving
the region's schools and also to investigate into how fit for purpose the
leadership and governance procedures were.
From
the evidence, it was seen that there was: ·
Uncertainty
in terms of GwE's strategic direction ·
Uncertainty
in terms of the current accountability on officer level ·
Inconsistency
in the performance of individual authorities ·
A
change was needed to the current model for the secondary sector to focus on KS4 ·
Inconsistency
in teacher assessments across local schools and authorities ·
A
clear strategy was needed for working with the sector of Special Schools and
Pupil Referral Units In
response to enquiries from individual Members, the Head of Education noted as
follows: ·
That
some processes in terms of the recommendations were easy to achieve and the
bulk of the work was in addressing the inconsistencies ·
The
importance of sharing good practice between authorities was noted ·
In
terms of the capacity of GwE, consideration needed to be given to what would be
needed to support schools, and the local authority must secure a team of
individuals who could deliver priorities. ·
With
regards to the long term, creating one service across the six authorities was
not anticipated Resolved: To
accept and thank the officers for the report, and to wish the Head of Education
well for the future in his new post as the Managing Director of GwE. |
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SCRUTINY INVESTIGATION INTO CARERS' PROVISION Cabinet Members Councillor W. Gareth Roberts Councillor
Mair Rowlands To receive the final report of the Scrutiny Investigation into Carers’ Provision. (Copy enclosed) Additional documents:
Minutes: Submitted - the final
report of the Scrutiny Investigation into carers' provision, and the Chair of
the Investigation, Councillor R.H. Wyn Williams, took the opportunity to thank
the following members and officers for their contribution to the comprehensive
report: Cllr E. Selwyn Griffiths Cllr Siân
Wyn Hughes Cllr Linda Ann Wyn Jones Cllr Eryl Jones-Williams Cllr Ann Williams Cllr Eirwyn Williams Gareth James - Member
Support and Scrutiny Manager Bethan Adams - Member
Support Officer The Member Support and
Scrutiny Manager elaborated that the work that had been undertaken by the
Investigation was concise but, nevertheless, contained much useful information.
Attention was drawn to the fact that 227 individuals had responded to the detailed
questionnaire and that this helped give credibility to the findings of the
Investigation. It was noted that the contribution of approximately 20
individuals who were interviewed had been very valuable and that the
Investigation welcomed the opportunity to work with the Executive in terms of
developing a policy that would contribute towards improving the provision for
carers in the County. In response, the Cabinet
Member for Children and Young People thanked the officers for the work that was
achieved by the Investigation and she noted the following main points: (i)
It
was not completely clear whether all recommendations referred to two Cabinet
Members, namely the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and the
Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being. (ii)
With
regards to recommendation 1, whilst agreeing that there was much work to be
achieved, she noted that work was being carried out in an attempt to identify
hidden carers. (iii)
In
the context of recommendation 4, it was noted that a comment was needed in
terms of the wider picture, it was questioned whether commissioning the work
would achieve this. It was trusted that information could be shared / promoted
more effectively and that, through this, we would have better arrangements for
identifying the carers. (iv)
In
terms of engaging with everyone, especially the parents of disabled children,
it was noted that more work needed to be done on this. The additional points below
were highlighted by individual Members: ·
Although
the investigation had been completed in a short period, more investigations of
the same type were welcomed for the future. ·
There
was concern for the cuts to the vehicle service to transport individuals to
respite care, and an example was noted, namely Plas Pengwaith Residential Home, Llanberis. ·
Ensure
that the service was bilingual, and it was possibly appropriate for the
Council's Language Committee to carry out a further investigation to this end. ·
The
Department was thanked for the expenditure for the extension at Llys Cadfan, Tywyn
for day care and respite service. ·
Local
colleges should be collaborated with closely to promote careers in the field of
care. · Early intervention was vital and agencies / authorities should be worked with in partnership so that arguments could be presented jointly to the Government to ensure that sufficient resources were available to respond to ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |