Agenda item

To consider a report by the Partnerships and Communities Manager regarding progress made in addressing Estyn’s recommendations following the 2012 inspection.

9.35 a.m. – 10.10 a.m.

The Partnership and Communities Manager (PCM) submitted a report (previously circulated) updating members on progress made in addressing Estyn’s recommendations arising from the 2012 inspection since the last report submitted to the scrutiny committee in January 2014.

Members were reminded of the positive outcome of the inspection with only two recommendations for further improvement –

(1)          Improve the accuracy of Teacher Assessments at the end of Key Stage 3

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

The Head of Education (HE) reported upon the work carried out to address the first recommendation and members were pleased to note that the validated Key Stage 3 results indicated that this recommendation had been addressed.  The Core Subject Indicator had risen for a seventh consecutive year – rising from 75% in 2013 to 83.3% in 2014.  It was important for the Council to ensure that pupil outcomes at the end of primary and secondary education were sustained and improved.  In light of the improved outcomes the Committee agreed that future monitoring of this recommendation could be undertaken through annual scrutiny of external examination results and teacher assessments which the Committee undertook in the autumn of every year.  This year the report would be submitted to the Committee’s October meeting and a representative from GwE (Regional School Improvement Service) would also be attending to present an annual report on progress.  In responding to issues raised by Co-opted Member Dawn Marjoram the HE confirmed that special schools were supported in the same way in terms of scrutiny and systems in place but data was not measured against mainstream schools.  She accepted there were difficulties in terms of comparative data and acknowledged that special schools were working hard to track pupil progress.

The Committee accepted that the second recommendation was much more difficult to define and quantify.  Officers advised that in an attempt to address this recommendation a mapping exercise was underway to draw up a database of services to children and young people in the county and identify any gaps in provision.  Concerns were raised regarding the lack of provision in the Dee Valley area for those with special needs and officers agreed to consider the provision for special needs children and young people in that area, including options for inclusion in existing child and youth activities.  Questionnaires would be completed by the organisations in the presence of Family Information Service officers who would emphasise the need for honest answers about services currently provided to ensure that any gaps identified could be considered for future provision.  In responding to further questions officers elaborated upon the monitoring process in place, involvement of other partner organisations within the process and timescales for the collection and analysis of data.  The importance of promoting the availability of services was highlighted and it was agreed to receive a further report once the mapping work had been completed.

RESOLVED that –

(a) the information provided with regards to progress in addressing Estyn’s recommendations be noted;

(b) as a result of the maintained improvement in the accuracy of teacher assessments at the end of Key Stage 3, further stand-alone reports on this matter were not required.  In future this aspect would be monitored through the annual report submitted to the Committee on external examination results and teacher assessments, and

(c)   once the mapping work had been completed, a further report be presented to the Committee in early 2015 outlining the results of that work and proposals on how the impact and value for money of the services to children and young people across the county could be measured.