To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from

Members/ Officers.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Officers/ Members for the reasons so stated:

Councillor D B F White – Work Commitments

Councillor R Thomas – Unwell

Mr Tim Calahane – Work Commitments

Mr William Bond – Unwell

Rev Canon Edward Evans – Work Commitments

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 01 September 2008 (including whipping declarations).

Declarations of Interest were received from:

Mr K Pascoe – Personal Interest in Item 5 and 6 as he is a casual consultant with Central South Consortium

Councillor G Phillips – Personal Interest in Item 6 as his wife works as a supervisor for BCBC School Meals

To receive for approval the minutes of a meeting of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee dated 4 November 2015

RESOLVED:                 That the minutes of the Children and Young People    Overview and Scrutiny Committee dated 4 November 2015 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting, subject to the inclusion of Councillor CA Green’s apologies being recorded. 

The Scrutiny Officer presented a report to the Committee on the Forward Work Programme for the Committee.  She presented a list of items that were due to be considered at the Committee’s meeting to be held on 21 January 2016 and sought information required for the subsequent scheduled meeting to be held on 9 March 2016.  She also advised on further potential items for prioritisation by the Committee

Members asked if the issues that were identified relating to Children and Safeguarding in the Annual Improvement report 2014/15 could be linked into the Committees Forward Work Programme.  The Scrutiny Officer confirmed that she would look to see how the issues could be linked in

RESOLVED:                 That the Committee:

1.   Noted the topics due to be considered at the meeting of the Committee for 21 January 2016 and confirmed any specific information to be provided by the invitees listed or the Overview and Scrutiny Unit

2.   Determined the invitees to be invited to attend and any specific information it would like the invitees to provide and any research that it would like the Overview and Scrutiny Unit to undertake in relation to its meeting for 9 March 2016

Revisited and considered the list of future potential items for the Committees Forward Work Programme and reprioritised as the Committee felt appropriate.

Invitees:

Deborah McMillan, Corporate Director – Education and Transformation

Cllr Huw David, Deputy Leader

Cllr Hailey Townsend, Cabinet Member, Childrens Social Services and Equalities

Nicola Echanis, Head of Strategy Commissioning and Partnerships

Sue Roberts, Group Manager – School Improvement

Paul Wolstenholme, Bridgend Link Adviser- Central South Consortium

Robert Hopkins, Head of Service - Central South Consortium

Hannah Woodhouse, Managing Director - Central South Consortium

Cllr Chris Elmore - Chair of Joint Committee - Central South Consortium

Mr Ben Blackwell, Headteacher – Penybont

Mr David Jenkins, Headteacher – Brynteg

Miss Andrea May, Assistant Headteacher - Brynteg

The Scrutiny Officer introduced a report to Committee that provided Members with feedback on the school standards report for foundation Phase, Key Stage 2,3 and 4 outcomes for 2015

Members questioned the fluctuation in the three year trend and noted that there was information for improvement but questioned how this would be implemented.  They  questioned Officers on how the stats compared to other areas in the Consortium  and asked also if the Foundation Phase had been identified as an area for further improvement.  The Bridgend Link Advisor Central South Consortium advised that Key Stage 2 was not improving as rapidly as they had hoped but they were continuing to develop and build on the achievements.  He added that they were looking at ways to build on strength from infancy.  He further added that he did not have the exact figures at the meeting, however he confirmed that Bridgend were better overall than the Consortium and Wales average.  He would also clarify the point about the Foundation Phase back to Committee in writing.

A Member added that it would be helpful to see UK wide results as a comparison to see where Bridgend were in the table.  The Bridgend Link Advisor stated that it was difficult to provide a comparison of figures as England do not have assessments whereas Wales does.  He added that in England students can only sit exams once they have completed their course, in Wales they sit them throughout the academic year.  He further added however that a national model, Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS), was used by schools to compare with other parts of the UK.  The Committee therefore requested that this information be shared in future reports.

Members questioned the reliability of the Teacher Assessments from the Challenge Advisors and if they were robust and reliable enough.  The Bridgend Link Advisor stated that the Consortium were developing a national programme to improve the reliability of the Teacher Assessments and there would be a national report on this where they would look at schools outside of the Consortium to compare the approach and systems used in completing the assessments. 

A Member noted that there was no improvement in post 16 stats and what was being prepared to address the issue.  The Bridgend Link Advisor, Central South Consortium advised that a lot of work was being undertaken for post 16’s and they were working closely with head teachers to discuss how they could work collaboratively delivering sixth form with Bridgend College. 

Members advised that it would be helpful to demonstrate that the support from the Central South Consortium was robust enough as there had been criticism that there was not enough support from them.  The Committee suggested it would perhaps be beneficial if there were specific case studies that demonstrated where they had intervened and given support to a school that had now shown signs of improvement. 

Members queried whether sickness absence in teachers was a contributing factor to poor school performance as children achieved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 205.

Invitees:

Deborah McMillan, Corporate  Director – Education and Transformation

Cllr Huw David, Deputy Leader

Cllr Hailey Townsend, Cabinet Member, Childrens Social Services and Equalities

Nicola Echanis, Head of Strategy Commissioning and Partnerships

Sue Roberts, Group Manager – School Improvement

Paul Wolstenholme, Bridgend Link Adviser- Central South Consortium

The Scrutiny Officer introduced the report to members which provided them information on the work that was being undertaken and the support that was being provided to target and raise educational performance for children from socially deprived backgrounds. 

A member asked what impact the new cashless catering system that had recently been implemented in some schools in the Borough had on families eligible for free school meals.  The Head of Strategy and Commissioning Partnerships advised that not all schools had implemented the cashless catering system and some schools outsource their catering so the system was not a possibility for them.  She advised that where it had been implemented it had removed the stigma attached to having free school meals.  She added that she would bring a more detailed report to the Committee on this.  A Member added that the implementation of cashless catering at a school in Maesteg had been very successful with pupils and parents being pleased with its benefits. 

The Deputy Leader added that BCBC are encouraging more schools to implement the system as it was better all round for pupils and parents and also dramatically reduced the administration around collecting and banking dinner money fees from pupils.

The Head teacher at PenyBont School added that he had not introduced the cashless catering system as the school were uncomfortable that only one days grace would be given to a pupil if there was no credit in their account. Members asked if further information could be brought to a future Committee on how the system dealt with arrears on an account.

A Member questioned if free school meals for all pupils was a possibility.  The Deputy Leader advised that cost was a massive issue and the Authority needed to reduce budgets too much which would not able them to offer free school meals to all.

The Chairman Children Young people and Overview Scrutiny Committee asked if the Authority could assist primary schools in deprived areas in looking at schemes such as Cloud Nine which helps children get access to PCs at a heavily subsidised rate, as not all pupils had access to a computer at home.  The Head of Strategy and Commissioning Partnerships agreed and stated that poverty excluded the equality of access which made it difficult for a lot of pupils as IT was well embedded in all schools in the Borough.  She added that research had found that the issue however was more about access to the internet rather than the access to equipment.  A member recommended that the Authority could use section 106 opportunities to implement broadband for their local community.  Members also stated that Town and Community Councils may be able to assist to provide free WIFI access to its residents and could even approach key employers in the Borough to do the same.

Members questioned how many primary and secondary schools in Bridgend provided a free breakfast club for pupils and asked also if free breakfast clubs were available post 16 as this would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 206.

The Scrutiny Officer informed the Committee of the work of the Member and School Engagement Panel during 2014-15.

Following discussions over the key findings of the Member and School Engagement Panel, the Committee determined to send the report containing these findings to the Corporate Director – Education and Transformation and to the Managing Director – Central South Consortium requesting their response, for consideration at a future Committee meeting.

RESOLVED:        Members noted the content of the report

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None