Agenda item

To consider a joint report by the Head of Education, Head of Customers and Education Support, Partnerships and Communities Manager and Planning and Performance Officer (Business Planning and Performance)                          (copy enclosed) which presents the action plan drawn-up in response to the recommendations of the recent inspection on the quality of the Council’s education services for people and young people.  The report also seeks members’ views on the appropriateness of the actions and timescales in the action plan

A copy of a joint report by the Head of Education, Head of Customers and Education Support, Partnerships and Communities Manager and Planning and Performance Officer: Business Planning and Performance, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

The report presented the action plan drawn-up in response to the recommendations of the recent inspection on the quality of the Council’s education services for people and young people.  It also sought Members’ views on the appropriateness of the actions and timescales in the action plan report by the Head of Education.   It was explained that effective monitoring of implementation of the Action Plan would ensure that any weaknesses identified would be addressed and provide for a better quality service and better outcomes for pupils.

Estyn had aimed to answer three key questions through an analysis of self-evaluation, performance data, lesson observations and meetings with stakeholders. 

Judgment on all three questions had been good.  All other aspects had also been judged to be good, except for Leadership which had been judged as excellent.

            Denbighshire had made education services for children and young people a high priority, with a clear vision and high aspirations for the Authority.

The reorganisation of the scrutiny arrangements had resulted in Scrutiny Committee Members having a better overview across the whole Council and a wider range of Members understanding education issues. 

To ensure continued improvement, Estyn had recommended that Denbighshire would need to:-

(i)   Improve the accuracy of teacher assessments at end of key stage 3; and

(ii)  Identify all services for children and young people in Denbighshire and establish an effective system to measure their impact to help the authority and its partners know whether these services offered good value for money.

Denbighshire had produced an Action Plan indicating how it would address the two recommendations, and it was confirmed that recommendation 1 was on track.  The Plan, currently in draft, had been completed within the required 50 working days and would be implemented pending being approved by the pastoral HM Inspector. 

Dr D. Marjoram referred to partnership working arrangements across North Wales and explained that there was a need to identify and clarify special needs levels within the County, and to include flexibility in the system to meet demand with Denbighshire leading other Authorites if necessary.  It was explained that there were 6 Authorities in the consortium and agreement on working practices would have to be sought from all the respective schools in North Wales to ensure a consistent approach.  Dr Marjoram referred to the good partnership work arrangements adopted at Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, Denbigh.

The officers provided the following responses to questions from Members:-

-  It was explained that reading and writing standards had improved in the County, however, in comparison with other authorities Denbighshire had not improved enough.  This problem had been recognised in relation to the free school meal (FSM) indicator with standards in Key Stage 2 and 4 being very good, but assessment standards implemented at the end of Key Stage 3 seemed to have been too harsh.  Councillor E.W. Williams explained that the Welsh Government (WG) Minister had, in view of the marked improvement in stage 2 level results, questioned the reliability of the Key Stage 3 assessment process.

-  The Head of Customers and Education Support highlighted the importance of aligning budgets and prioritising resources to meet priorities.  She explained that this could be attained through focusing and thinking creatively to achieve the best for the children and ensuring a sustainable infrastructure within the schools. 

-  In reply to issues raised regarding liaison and interaction between primary and secondary schools, the Head of Customers and Education Support confirmed that there was a clear transitional relationship between the schools.  She referred to the cluster arrangements which had been adopted and the robust structures in place to ensure positive interaction.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Head of Education provided an outline of the MCA database in respect of partnership working, together with, confirmation that work was being undertaken with the Partnerships Team to ensure that the systems utilised were synchronised.  She highlighted the importance of regularising the data collection systems and agreeing service provision with regard to the subsequent impact on standards achieved.  Following further discussion, it was:-

RESOLVED:-

(a)                                       to receive the report, and note the appropriateness of actions and timescales in the post inspection action plan in response to the recommendations from the Estyn inspection (Appendix 1); and

(b)                                       that a progress report on the implementation and delivery of the Action Plan be presented to the Committee in six months time.