Venue: Virtual Meeting - Zoom
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
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ELECTION OF CHAIR To elect a Chair
for 2021/22. Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED to elect Councillor Beth Lawton as Chair of this committee for
2021/22. |
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ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR To elect a Vice-chair
for 2021/22. Additional documents: Decision: To
elect Councillor Cai Larsen as Vice-chair of this
committee for 2021/22. Minutes: RESOLVED to elect Councillor Cai Larsen as Vice-chair of this committee
for 2021/22. |
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APOLOGIES To receive any
apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors
Rheinallt Puw and Dewi Roberts. |
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DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any
declarations of personal interest. Additional documents: Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To note any items
that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chair for consideration. Additional documents: Minutes: None to note. |
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The Chair shall
propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 15th
April, 2021 be signed as a true record. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous
committee meeting held on 15 April 2021 as a true record. |
|
Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams To consider a
report on the above. Additional documents: Decision: To accept the report and ask
the Education Department and Cabinet Member for Education to consider the
observations of the committee, and that the scrutiny committee receives a
further report on this when more details are available. Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Education and
officers from the Education Department were welcomed to the meeting. Submitted - the report of the Cabinet Member
for Education inviting the scrutinisers to give observations on the proposed
vision for the immersion education system towards 2032 and beyond. The Cabinet Member set out the context,
noting that the new vision was intended to build on the good work achieved by
the language centres over the last few decades, acknowledge the hard work of
the staff, and update and modernise the provision. The Head of Education noted: ·
That he believed that this was an exciting vision,
which laid the foundation for a celebrated service to do more good work, thus
updating the service to be part of the 21st century schools programme. ·
That the Department and the staff of the language
centres were anxious not to lose sight of the lessons learned as a result of
re-purposing the service and reaching more children in a different way during
the pandemic, and that there was a desire to build further on those strengths
and approaches. ·
That members had already received a copy of Estyn's
letter to the Chief Executive which highlighted the Authority's work in
supporting schools and children during the pandemic period, and in particular
commending the work of the language centres in re-purposing the service. Members were given an opportunity to ask
questions and make observations. During
the discussion, the following observations were noted: ·
The success of the language centres over the years was
recognised in ensuring that learners acquire the Welsh language. ·
There was agreement with the intention to strengthen
accountability as part of the new vision. ·
The proposal to equip schools' workforce to support
learners to make further progress in building confidence and acquiring the
Welsh language was supported. ·
The proposal to establish an immersion education
provision in Bangor was supported. ·
The Education Department was asked to provide more
detail on the immersion education system when it becomes available. ·
Opinion was divided on the funding source for the
immersion education system, with some members supportive of the intention that
schools would contribute, thus increasing accountability and shared ownership
of the system between the Education Department and the schools, but the wish
was also expressed for the Council corporately to be funding the budgetary gap
due to the fact that the Welsh language was one of the Council's main
priorities. In response to the observations and
questions from members, it was noted: · In terms of the schools' input and contribution to the revised vision and service, it was proposed to engage informally with schools' headteachers on the new vision. Also, if the new system came into force, it was likely that a management board would be established for the new system which would include representation from the school system. This meant that the schools could contribute and jointly own and shape the provision, to ensure that the system responds to the needs of the schools, while simultaneously keeping up to date with ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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COVID EDUCATION GRANTS TO SUPPORT PUPILS PDF 602 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams To consider a
report on the above. Additional documents: Decision: To accept the report and to note the
observations received, while also hoping to have an update on this later on in
the year. Minutes: Officers of the Education Department and GwE
were welcomed to the meeting. Submitted – the report of the Cabinet Member
for Education detailing the Accelerated Learning Programme Grant received by
schools to assist pupils as a result of Covid. The Senior Manager for Schools detailed the
background and conditions of the grant, noting that the total funding allocated
to Gwynedd schools was approximately £2,220,440. The GwE Core Leader - Primary, referred to
the Regional Grant Planning Dashboard created by GwE to support schools to plan
effectively for the spending of the grants, whilst also providing an overview
of the primary school schemes. Then, the GwE Core Leader - Secondary, gave an
overview of the secondary school schemes. Members were given an opportunity to ask
questions and make observations. It was suggested that once the schools have
had the opportunity to fully utilise the grant, it would be beneficial to
receive a summary of the views of headteachers, teachers and pupils who have
benefited from the additional support, so that the impact of the grant can be
quantified. It was also suggested that
it would be useful to have a summary of the good practice highlighted by GwE
Core Leaders. In response, it was explained that the
headteachers were expected to submit information to the Education Department
and GwE in the autumn term about the impact of the grants, and that this could
be brought before the scrutinisers at that time. It was also noted that the Welsh Government
was keen to obtain examples of the good practice referred to, so that it could
be shared nationally. In conclusion, the Cabinet Member for
Education emphasised the importance of ensuring consistency of provision across
the county. He expressed his
appreciation of the work carried out, but agreed that neither GwE nor the Department
was in a position to provide a full update at this time. He further noted that he was aware of the
activities that had been conducted, and that sharing good practice was a very
important element of this. RESOLVED to accept the report
and to note the observations received, while also hoping to have an update on
this later on in the year. |
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SCRUTINY DRAFT WORK PROGRAMME 2021/22 PDF 305 KB To submit the
scrutiny draft work programme 2021/22 for adoption. Additional documents: Decision: To adopt the scrutiny work
programme 2021/22. Minutes: A draft scrutiny work programme for 2021/22
was submitted for adoption. It was noted that one item from this meeting
had slipped. RESOLVED
to adopt the scrutiny work programme 2021/22. |