Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be located here.

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

The following statements of transparency were noted:-

·       Mr Murray made a general statement of transparency, noting that his daughter taught at St Peter’s RC School and he had two grandchildren at St Joseph’s RC School, but he did not consider that this amounted to an interest which would prevent him from participating in the meeting; and

·       in relation to item 9.1 (Inspection Reporting), the Convener advised for reasons of transparency that he was an elder of Fountainhall Church which owned the building occupied by Queen’s Cross Nursery, however he did not consider that this required him to declare an interest for that item, and he would therefore remain in the meeting and participate in the discussion.

The Committee heard from Mr David Willis and Mr Kevin Masson, representing the GMB, in respect of the report at item 10.1 (Behaviour Report).

Mr Willis explained that he was the Convener of the GMB Trade Union.  He thanked the Committee for the opportunity to speak.  He asked that Members note from the report that GMB had welcomed all the commitments agreed in the action plan, however a key demand made by the GMB in response to the unacceptable behaviour that their Members were facing had not been met.  The GMB had called for a working group to be established to review the ASN provision within the city, and Mr Willis asked that the Committee give officers an instruction to undertake that review.  He explained that the GMB were seeing an increasing number of learners with additional support needs, and a limited number of places within specialist settings, meaning that more learners with complex additional support needs were placed in mainstream settings. 

He explained that the GMB were not against inclusion, but there was a need to ensure that the environment was suitable, and the resource sufficient for both the young people and the staff supporting them.  Staff needed to be suitably trained for the situations they faced, and Mr Willis explained that he did not believe that was currently the case.  He noted that he had been horrified when he first learned that bite guards were being issued to their members, and stated that PPE should always be a last resort, noting that it might reduce the risk, but it did not eliminate it completely.  He added that schools were now issuing Kevlar hoodies as staff had had their hair pulled out by the roots, and he was aware of one setting where the Kevlar sleeves had proved insufficient, and thick leather welding gauntlets were being issued instead.  Mr Willis stated that no employee should have to go to work with that level of fear for their personal safety. 

Mr Willis said that there were settings where classrooms were having to be evacuated on a daily basis due to dysregulated behaviour, and entire buildings emptied on a weekly basis.  He added that he understood that dysregulated behaviour could be a form of communication, but asked if the level of disruption would still be seen if the environment was more suitable and the child was being nourished.  He asked if the Council was ‘Getting it Right’ for that child, and indeed for every child.  Mr Willis advised that the GMB had been informed by Education officers that there was no expectation for any staff member to put their hands on a child, which was to be welcomed, and yet there was a dichotomy where members told the GMB that they had received training on how to restrain a child exhibiting dysregulated behaviour. 

Within the behaviour report, Mr Willis noted that the resilience of staff was called into question.  He added that he found this particularly galling, and believed that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 20 February 2024 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to article 7(i), to note that the Clerk would re-share the information circulated from officers on the outline process for the work set out in the Northfield Primaries report with Councillor Blake; and

(ii)       to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the business planner as prepared by the Interim Chief Officer – Governance.

Members asked a number of questions in respect of the delayed items and those recommended for removal.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to agree to remove items 10 (Inspection Reporting – Inspection of Regulatory Care Services); 32 (School Estate Plan - Victorian Schools - feasibility study & options appraisal); 58 (School Estate Plan - Harlaw Academy Improvements - feasibility study); and 59 (School Estate Plan - Ferryhill School - feasibility study) for the reasons outlined in the planner; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities which detailed the outcome of inspection reports published by His Majesty’s Inspectors of Education (HMIe) and The Care Inspectorate on the quality of Aberdeen City schools and Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings since the last meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee in February 2024.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the content of the report; and

(b)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning to continue to support Early Learning and Childcare settings and schools to implement continuous improvement in keeping with the Quality Improvement Framework agreed at Committee in July 2023.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would circulate the Queen’s Cross Nursery action plan to Members outwith the meeting;

(ii)       to note that the link at section 3.8 of the report was broken and that officers would circulate a new link to Members after the meeting; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities and the Executive Director – Corporate Services which presented (a) the status of key performance measures relating to the Children’s and Family Services function and (b) an interim progress update in relation to implementation of the Aberdeen City Council National Improvement Framework Plan 2023/24.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the report and provide comments and observations on the information contained in the report appendices.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

With reference to article 4 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities which detailed the current picture in relation to behaviour in Aberdeen schools; the arrangements in place to promote positive behaviour in schools and outlined procedures currently in place to improve incident reporting.  The report also detailed collaborative work undertaken with Trade Unions to develop a shared Action Plan for consideration by the Committee, and an overview of the January Magpie meet and an update on the work of the sub group of Head Teachers looking at how best to utilise resource, in line with the instruction from the last meeting of the Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the content of this report;

(b)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to work with Trade Unions to co-deliver the Action Plan in Appendix B;

(c)      delegate authority to the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to make any amendments necessary, in consultation with Trade Unions, following the publication of the National Behaviour Plan and update Members of any changes through Service Update; and

(d)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to update on progress against the Action Plan through the established performance management reports.

The Convener, seconded by the Vice Convener, moved:-

That the Committee approve the recommendations in the report, and:-

(i)             acknowledge the challenges related to children's wellbeing, which can impact the behaviour of children and young people in school settings;

(ii)           thank Education staff for their flexibility in supporting children and young people with impaired wellbeing and acknowledge how challenging this can be;

(iii)          thank the EIS, GMB and others for their continuing constructive engagement with Aberdeen City Council on improving our school environments to create safe and nurturing settings for all;

(iv)          instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to continue constructive engagement with Unions and others; such as those with an interest in the provision of supports for those with additional support needs including local organisations and the Northfield Advisors, to allow a continuous improvement journey in all of our schools;

(v)           instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to review the adequacy of the current allocation of pupil support staffing and provision of specialist placements across the city;

(vi)          further instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to consider the output of (iv) and (v) and report options for consideration back to the Education and Children’s Services Committee within three cycles;

(vii)        instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to include in the annual School Estate Plan update a workstream to evaluate the physical ASN provision in individual settings and include a timescale within the plan on when recommendations on potential space for future ASN purposes could be brought forward;

(viii)       instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to continue to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities which set out the findings of the Health and Wellbeing surveys undertaken within Aberdeen City Schools in November and December 2023, and the current support in place for wellbeing, both physical and mental.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the content of the report and the data shared within Appendix A;

(b)      instruct the Interim Executive Director - Families and Communities to consider the findings of the report and plan next steps as part of work being taken forward through the Children’s Services Plan and associated National Improvement Framework Plan; and

(c)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to report the findings of the next Health and Wellbeing surveys to Committee within one calendar year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers were considering issuing communication to parents around social media and the use of devices, similar to the attendance communication which had previously been issued;

(ii)       to thank all involved in the ongoing work to support children and young people in achieving better health and wellbeing;

(iii)      to note and welcome the considerable amount of positive interventions in place which were effectively helping and nurturing young people in the city;

(iv)      to note and welcome the significantly increased participation from young people in the latest annual SHINE surveys and instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to work with Head Teachers to encourage participation in future surveys;

(v)      to note and welcome the continued signs of improvements in indicators relating to loneliness, body image, general health, self-harm, low mood;

(vi)      to note the value of the Family Stress Model in identifying emotional, economic and social pressures which affect the wellbeing of children and young people in their home, local and learning environments;

(vii)     to note with concern evidence that indicated that the current cohort of S4 girls were generally outliers in the improvement journey; and, therefore, instruct the Interim Chief Officer Education and Lifelong Learning to give this issue special focus and undertake further targeted work on supportive solutions; with information on actions and outcomes reported back in the agreed report at recommendation (c); and

(viii)    to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities which provided an update on some of the key areas of progress made in implementing Phase 1 of ABZCampus in Session 2023-24 (including the provision of Pathways Advocates); plans in place for Phase 2 in Session 2024- 25; and future plans for Phase 3 in 2025-26.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the progress made in delivering Phase 1 of ABZCampus and advanced plans for Phases 2 and 3 which aim to further broaden the curriculum offer for young people in the Senior Phase in Aberdeen City Council schools;

(ii)       instruct the Interim Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning to support the roll out of Phase 2 and 3 of ABZCampus; and

(iii)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to report back on progress including a full review of the impact of Pathways Advocates within one calendar year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to approve the recommendations;

(ii)       to note that officers would however investigate the possibility of bringing an interim evaluation of the impact of Pathways Advocates to Committee, or potentially bringing the full evaluation at an earlier stage than 2025;

(iii)      to instruct the Interim Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning to report back with a method for providing an overview of participation and achievements in ABZCampus; and

(iv)      to welcome and congratulate the innovative, effective outcomes reported in Phase 1 of ABZCampus and thank all staff and partners for working together positively on increasing learning opportunities for young people as Phases 2 and 3 are developed.

The Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities which provided an update on some of the key events that have taken place within schools to educate children and young people about Climate Change, Biodiversity and the drive towards Net Zero during school session 2023-24. The report also outlined the work from the Youth Climate Change Group over the school session.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the summary of events that took place in schools to educate children and young people about Climate Change, Biodiversity and the drive towards Net Zero in session 2023-24;

(b)      note the work of the Youth Climate Change Group; and

(c)      instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to report back on progress through service update within one calendar year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to request that officers invite Aberdeen for a Fairer World to either give a presentation to Committee or provide a workshop to Members;

(ii)       to note that officers were giving consideration as to how to encourage applications from all secondary schools for the roles of Youth Climate Change Presidents and Vice Presidents;

(iii)      to approve recommendations (a) and (b);

(iv)      to instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to report back on progress via committee report within one calendar year;

(v)      to express sincere thanks to the Youth Climate Change Group and all involved in school-based green projects for their important contribution towards achieving net zero targets and environmental wellbeing;

(vi)      to instruct the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning to continue to support the Youth Climate Change Group and all environmental activities in school settings by developing the partnership work with the Hutton Institute, Keep Scotland Beautiful, Aberdeen For a Fairer World, and others and report back on progress in the above-mentioned report; and

(vii)     to agree to recommend to the Youth Climate Change Group that, in consultation with the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning, they allocate funding contained in the 2024/25 Council revenue budget, across the eleven Associated School Group (ASG) localities; with the requirement that each ASG reports back within seven months to the Interim Chief Officer - Education and Lifelong Learning with an evaluation that details how funds have been spent, comments from participating pupils and teams about the biodiversity, sustainability and outdoor learning aims that their projects have aimed to address, photographs and comments from pupils on how they think green projects and outdoor learning should develop in the future in their area and in the city.

The Convener advised the Committee that this was the last meeting for both Mrs Cardno and Mr Crawford, who had reached the end of their tenure on the Education and Children’s Services Committee as parent representatives.  He added that he wished to express his sincere thanks to them both for their thorough and robust work during their time on the Committee, and their thoughtful contributions at meetings.  He noted that they had been very proactive and had very effectively represented parents.

The Committee resolved:-

to concur with the remarks of the Convener.

At this juncture, the External Members of the Committee departed the meeting.

With reference to article 15 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Interim Executive Director – Families and Communities which provided an update on progress in relation to the development of Aberdeen City’s Bairns Hoose.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the update of progress and the Scottish Government grant award for 2024/25 to support delivery of Aberdeen’s Bairns Hoose;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer, Children’s Social Work and Family Support / Chief Social Work Officer to provide an update on progress as appropriate during 2024/25; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer, Children’s Social Work and Family Support / Chief Social Work Officer to arrange a visit for Elected Members to view the Bairns Hoose upon completion of the build.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

- COUNCILLOR MARTIN GREIG, Convener