Venue: Virtual Meeting - Zoom
Contact: Eirian Roberts 01286 679018
No. | Item |
---|---|
APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Colette Owen (The Catholic Church) and Karen
Vaughan Jones (Parent / Governor Representative Dwyfor). |
|
DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declarations of personal interest. Minutes: Councillor Selwyn Griffiths declared a personal interest in item 5 - Unemployment
Levels and Support back to Employment - as his son was the author of the report
to the committee. He was of the opinion that it was not a prejudicial interest,
and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the discussion on the item. Councillor Dewi Roberts declared a personal interest in Item 6 - School
Dinners - as a member of his family was a Governor at Ysgol Dyffryn
Nantlle. He was of the opinion that it was not a
prejudicial interest, and he did not withdraw from the meeting during the
discussion on the item. |
|
URGENT BUSINESS To note any
items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chair for consideration. Minutes: None to
note. |
|
The Chair shall
propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this Committee held on 21st
October, 2021 be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair
signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee that was held on
21 October, 2021 as a true record. |
|
UNEMPLOYMENT LEVELS AND SUPPORT BACK TO EMPLOYMENT PDF 268 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Gareth Thomas To consider
a report on the above. Decision: To accept the report, noting the observations made during the meeting. Minutes: The
Cabinet Member and officers from the Economy and Community Department were
welcomed to the meeting. The
report of the Cabinet Member for Economy and Community was submitted, at the
request of the scrutiny committee, outlining the changes in unemployment and
what support the Council offered to the people of Gwynedd. Members
were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. Individual
members submitted the following observations:- ·
Concern was expressed that so many of the county's
young people left every year, there was also concern that the statistics
presented to the committee could not be relied upon as there was so much
outward migration. The Welsh Government had a target to get a million
Welsh-speakers by 2050, and if these plans were dependent on a grant from the
Government, there was an opportunity here to resolve past outward migration,
particularly due to the county's demography and the importance of the Welsh
language in the county, by informing the Government what could be done to
strengthen the Welsh-speaking areas and to try and prevent outward
migration. ·
The importance of looking at future employment needs
was emphasised to ensure that those young people currently going through the
education system possessed the required skills for the jobs that would be
available at the end of their time in education. Concern was expressed that young people in
rural areas such as Pen Llŷn had to travel far to attend college courses.
It was also noted that there were people with different expertise who may be in
a position to provide training to local people to assist them to get work, and
it was suggested that these people should be targeted. ·
It was noted that the jobs/housing situation in the
county was a vicious circle. Jobs were
needed, however, to attract good employers, housing was needed. There was a lack of housing, however, houses
could not be built in the hope of attracting employers. It was noted that
Brighter Foods in Tywyn were anxious to expand significantly as a result of
receiving an investment of £42m, however, they were having difficulty to
attract staff due to the lack of housing in the area. It was added that south Meirionnydd had
seriously suffered since the demise of the Development Board for Rural Wales
some years ago. Reference was also made to a farm shop, that was eager to
expand and relocate to an empty unit on Tywyn High Street, but could not get
planning approval for this, it was suggested that the Council should relax the
planning restrictions and encourage more house building in the area. ·
Concern was expressed that recruitment campaigns in
several sectors, such as care, hospitality, school assistants and the Health
Board's vaccination programme, were all fishing in the same pool, and success
in one sector may be at the expense of the rest. · It was noted that there was an opportunity here for a career pathway for people who came to work for the Council, particularly in the care sector, ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
|
Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams To consider
a report on the above. Additional documents:
Decision: To accept the report, and ask the Education Department for regular
updates as the new plans move forward. Minutes: The
Cabinet Member and officers from the Education Department were welcomed to the
meeting. The
Cabinet Member's report was presented providing information on schools'
arrangements to seek to ensure that no child faced a day without a dinner at
school, as well as the situation with school dinner debts and the processes
that were underway in order to respond to that situation. Prior to
commencing the discussion, the Cabinet Member referred to the recent letter
sent from Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle
to parents regarding school dinner payments, noting that he wished to give
assurance to members that the Council had not refused a school dinner to any
child in the county, whatever their circumstances. He further noted that the Chair of the
School's Governors had asked the Department to re-visit their processes, and he
confirmed that the Department would respond to this. Members
were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. Individual
members submitted the following observations:- ·
Enthusiastic support was expressed to the Government's
intention to extend free school meals to all primary pupils. It was noted that
this had several advantages, e.g. children would learn better in the afternoon
following a healthy lunch, it would tackle obesity, it did not discriminate
between those who got free school meals and those who paid as well as removing
the problem of families who were eligible for free school meals, but did not
claim them for different reasons. ·
Referring to the situation that had arisen at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, disappointment
was expressed that this had not been reported to the previous Full
Council. There was wide and general
concern amongst councillors regarding what had occurred, and each one should
have had an opportunity to ask questions. It was further noted that the report
referred to a 'lack of clarity', however, it did not explain what this 'lack of
clarity' was and did not offer an apology for what had happened. Claims had
been made by the head in charge that the Authority had used him as a scapegoat,
and the report did not address the serious questions that needed answers. ·
Concern was expressed regarding any proposal to
externalise the service and create regional kitchens and closing school
kitchens would lead to unemployment. ·
The importance of providing nutritious, quality meals to
schoolchildren was emphasised and it was suggested that there was an
opportunity here to use, e.g. vegetables grown on school land / in the
community, in school meals. · It was noted, although it was obvious that what had occurred at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle had caused pain and embarrassment to the Authority, the Authority had responded to the situation quickly and appropriately, to correct any misapprehension. They had to be sensitive to poverty in responding to the situation, and it also had to be accepted that a small minority would take advantage of any weak systems in terms of collection of school dinner money. The most important principle was that it was not the child's fault if parents did not pay, ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
|
EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORTS Decision: To accept the reports, noting the observations made during the meeting. |
|
EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21 AND THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'S PRIORITIES PDF 373 KB Cabinet Member – Councillor Cemlyn Williams To consider
a report on the above. Additional documents: Minutes: The
Education Department’s Annual Report for 2020-21 was presented. Before
commencing the discussion, the Cabinet Member thanked the schools,
headteachers, staff and teachers for maintaining, not only the educational provision,
but also provisions such as catering and cleaning during an extremely
challenging year. He added that it was also important to recognise the
appreciation of the schools and headteachers of the support given by the
Education Department during this period, and he was of the view that the
relationship between the Department and schools had strengthened during the
pandemic. These
comments were supported by the Head of Education and he noted that he also
wished to pay a tribute to the Department's officers who supported all the
work, and also to the Environment Department's staff for the invaluable advice
and support given by health and safety officers and the prompt and effective
joint working to keep things going. He
noted that the disruption to the education and welfare of children had been
kept as low as possible because of the resilience and perseverance of a great
number of Gwynedd residents, and the elected members could be proud of our
schools and their role as governors supporting schools across the county. Members
were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. Individual
members submitted the following observations:- ·
The Department was thanked for providing a summary
report, that clearly conveyed the messages. ·
Referring to paragraph 3.8 of the pre-report, the fact
that the word 'bilingual' had disappeared from the narrative was welcomed, as
the emphasis should be on learning through the medium of Welsh, and the hope
was expressed that this could be built upon over the years in our schools. In
response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted: ·
Regarding the current situation in schools, data
changed daily, however, it now appeared that the situation had reached a peak
in some circumstances, with many staff and children returning to schools. The
situation had been incredibly difficult with up to 30% of the staff and
children away from school in some classes. In those cases, there had been a
move to virtual education and Department officers, together with health and
safety officers, had to make very swift and far-reaching decisions at times.
The situation by now had stabilised in some pockets, and the Department did
everything within its ability to keep the schools open and as safe as possible.
It was also noted that headteachers who were off school due to Covid had
continued to run those schools from home. ·
The Government had asked the Additional Learning Needs
Service to provide a figure of the additional expenditure seen in the field
thus far, and where additional expenditure was expected to be in the
future. · That some of the discussions regarding post-16 education had not been held as regularly as desired recently due to the pressure on schools to deal with keeping open, however, it was proposed to re-commence the discussion fully in January to move forward as soon ... view the full minutes text for item 7a |
|
GWE ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21 PDF 496 KB To consider
a report on the above. Additional documents:
Minutes: Officers
from GwE were welcomed to the meeting. The GwE
Annual Report for 2020-21 was presented.
In
presenting the report, the GwE Assistant Director (Standards) noted that he
wished to acknowledge the outstanding work undertaken during a very challenging
time in schools. Then the
Core Leaders gave details of developments for the new curriculum that would
commence in primary schools in 2022. Members
were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. Individual
members submitted the following observations:- ·
It was welcomed that the title 'Challenge Officers'
had disappeared and the key words now were 'support', 'development',
'improvement' and 'assistance', etc. ·
Concern was expressed that children, e.g. Year 10, who
received formal weekly tests, did not know if the results of those assessments
would contribute to their final grades or otherwise. In
response to the observations and questions from members, it was noted: ·
Although performance data would not be available from
now on, the practice of going into classrooms, book scrutiny and talking with
teachers and children was of benefit to the Service to ensure that they had a
very good knowledge of the schools. It was not believed that focusing on a
narrow set of performance indicators at the end of a key stage gave a full
picture of the school, and in moving forward without this data, it was
important to get the full holistic picture of a school around the 4 purposes of
the new curriculum. The Service also looked at children's welfare, how learners
developed towards the 4 purposes, and by forming a baseline, the Service would
prepare a report for every school in Gwynedd, together with a regional report
with a local flavour as an appendix, summarising where the schools were, and
what the standards were. Obviously, it was necessary to be sensitive to the
current situation in schools, and the Service worked very closely with
Authority officers, who had a picture of the situation of schools in terms of
attendance, inclusion, ALN, etc., to get the fuller picture. There was
consistency across the region in terms of the method of operation and
identifying schools, and it was necessary to identify any slippages early on
and to respond and give support to the schools. By taking co-ownership for the
outcomes and working with the schools to put a support plan in place, full
support could be secured to ensure the required improvement. It was further noted
that Gwynedd had taken a lead role and had implemented this very early. As for
every regional plan, a local flavour was required and some minor changes had
been made to the plan in Gwynedd in cooperation with the Schools Improvement
Service. ·
A teacher leaving, who had been responsible for
developing an element of the new curriculum locally, should not be a problem as
the local curriculum had been prepared by the whole school. · The intention of the Inspectorate in Wales was to re-commence school inspections in the Spring term. Regular discussions took place with Estyn, and the Service ... view the full minutes text for item 7b |
|
REVISED SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME 2021-22 PDF 312 KB To submit a
revised scrutiny work programme for 2021/22. Decision: To approve the amended work programme. Minutes: The
revised scrutiny work programme for 2021-22 was presented. Reference
was made to this committee's decision at its previous meeting to refer the item
regarding Ysgol Abersoch back to the Cabinet to
re-consider. It was noted that they had not managed to convince the Cabinet to
change its mind on the matter, as it had confirmed its own decision. It was
emphasised that this was not fair on the county's residents, and matters
referred from the Cabinet for scrutiny should be forwarded to the full Council,
rather than refer them back to the Cabinet, for a final decision. Referring
to the item 'Support for teachers with online abuse', the Head of Education
noted that Estyn had published a report this week based on thematic work they
had, and our recommendations would be incorporated with Estyn recommendations
to ensure that the Authority led on this, and that we did our best to remove
this problem from our schools. In response to a question, it was explained that
the main focus of the report to committee would be the suggestive element of
sexual abuse on social media, however, it was a matter for the committee to
determine if they wished this item to be broader. RESOLVED to approve the amended work programme. |