Invitees

Councillor Jon-Paul Blundell – Cabinet Member Education

Lindsay Harvey - Corporate Director – Education and Family Support

Nicola Echanis - Head of Education and Family Support

Susan Roberts – Group Manager (School Support)

Clara Seery - Managing Director - Central South Consortium

Louise Blatchford – Deputy Managing Director – Central South Consortium

Darren Jones – Principal Improvement Manager – Central South Consortium

Kathryn John - Headteacher, Brackla Primary School and Chair of Primary Federation

Ravi Pawar – Headteacher, Bryntirion Comprehensive School

Ryan Davies – Headteacher, Brynteg Comprehensive School

Tracey Wellington – Headteacher, Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen

The Group Manager, School Support presented the report, the purpose of which was to update Members on the ‘School Improvement Guidance: Framework for Evaluation, Improvement and Accountability’ (Welsh Government, 2021) and the implications for the local authority and regional processes and systems.

The Chair thanked the Group Manger, School Support and Members discussed the following:

·       Self-evaluation evidence being used to focus on school improvements and individual learner progress moving away from the narrow measures, focus on progress rather than attainment, meaning data, the schools use themselves was focused on what progress the children made since starting school or the year.

·       Schools publish a summary of their curriculum on the school websites along with their school development plan for parents / prospective parents to see. Moving away from a narrow data set and looking at what the curriculum the children will receive, the strategic priorities of the school based on the school self-evaluation and how they are meeting the needs of those vulnerable learners.

·       Training that is provided for school Governing Bodies:

-        New Governor induction training;

-        Chairperson induction training;

-        Coaching as part of the role;

-        Curriculum for Wales question and answer sessions;

-        Sharing of Estyn Inspection experiences;

-        Introduction to the Self Evaluation Toolkit;

-        Wellbeing.

·       Short term support for Governing Bodies was delayed and Improvement Partners had yet to attend the Governing Body meetings to support that process. It would be ongoing and fully developed in the coming months.

·       It was schools’ responsibility to work on making sure they had all School Governor vacancies filled. It was suggested by Members that an outstanding list of positions could be shared with local Community and Town Councils.

·       Additional support for schools being determined; the School Improvement Framework stated that schools would as part of their development plan identify where they were accessing support, whether that be from an external provider, CSC or bespoke support. Any additional support would then be discussed with the Improvement Partners as part of their meetings in the autumn term.

·       The funding for the Bridgend Governors’ Association had been removed and although not coordinated directly form the Local Authority going forward, the Corporate Director of Education and Family Support and Officers could attend to represent the Authority and provide input if required.

·       Ensuring responses provided to all Scrutiny Recommendations.

The Chairperson advised that Members of the Committee who wanted to ask questions had all spoken, so as there were no further questions for the Invitees, thanked them for their attendance and advised that they may leave the meeting.

RESOLVED:            Following detailed consideration and discussions with Officers and Cabinet Members, the Committee made the following Recommendations:

1.     With School Governor Training being amended in line with the new curriculum, there could potentially be Governors who had not had the new data and induction training required. The Committee therefore recommended training for existing School Governors be offered and made available to them as soon as possible.  

2.     Members expressed concern over the number of current vacancies on school governing bodies within the County Borough and the impact this could have on the effective monitoring of school performance and driving forward improvement. The Committee therefore recommended that a list of the outstanding positions be made available to local Town and Community Councils for them to circulate with their own Members and within their communities to potentially increase the pool of candidates for the governing body posts.

and the Committee requested:

3.     Following discussion and consideration of the Headteacher views expressed during the meeting, regarding self-evaluation evidence and its use for school improvement and individual learner progress, Members wished to see the documentation on data and learner progress provided by Estyn.

4.     Members requested that the information that had been produced by schools and presented to their Governing bodies providing an overview of the new curriculum and the school’s plans, be shared with the Committee.

5.     The Committee requested further detail on the £929,392 total collaboration funding allocated to Bridgend schools to support participation in collaborative working within and beyond their school and how this funding was spent.