Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found 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 Vice Convener asked Members to note their congratulations to the care experienced young people who had won awards at the recent Success Awards.  She added that it had been particularly inspiring to see their resilience and success, and further noted thanks to Larissa Gordon and other officers who organised the event each year.

The Committee resolved:-

to congratulate those who had won awards, and thank officers for their work to organise the event.

In relation to item 9.7 (Music Service Update), Councillor Blake noted for reasons of transparency that her children were involved in the school music service, however having applied the objective test, she did not feel that this was an interest which required to be declared, nor would prevent her from participating in that item of business.

In relation to item 9.10 (School Estate Plan), the following statements of transparency were noted, with all Members considering that these did not amount to interests which needed to be declared, nor which would prevent them

from participating in that item of business:-

·       Mrs Frances Cardno advised that she had children who attended Forehill School and Oldmachar Academy which were referred to within the report.

·       Mr Michael Crawford advised that he had children at Airyhall School and Cults Academy, and his wife was an Active Schools Assistant supporting Cults and Lochside ASG schools.

·       Councillor Blake advised that she had children who attended Cults School and Cults Academy.

·       Councillor Brooks advised that he had a child who attended Cults Academy.

·       Councillor Grant advised that he had children at Riverbank School.

·       The Vice Convener advised that she had a child who attended the Early Learning and Childcare provision at Gilcomstoun School.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 14 June 2022 for approval.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

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

The Committee resolved:-

to note the business planner.

Ahead of the first meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 8 November 2022, the Committee received a presentation from the Chief Officer – Education and the Chief Officer – Integrated Children’s and Family Services which provided Members with context in relation to Education and Social Work Policy, focusing on (i) the National Improvement Framework; (ii) the Scottish Attainment Challenge 2.0; (iii) The Promise, which set out 80 calls to action presented as an ambitious set of promises for children and young people who had experience of the care system; and (iv) the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, and the consistent messages across all the policies.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to request that the slides be circulated to Members outwith the meeting; and

(ii)       to thank officers for the presentation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval to implement the refreshed Aberdeen City Council National Improvement Framework Plan for 2022/23 following submission of the Self-Evaluation and Plan to the Scottish Government.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the content of the service Self-Evaluation and Plan contained in Appendices A and B;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to implement the proposed Aberdeen City National Improvement Framework Plan 22/23; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education to maintain a review of the 22/23 Plan in light of any impacting national legislative or policy provisions such as the Scottish Government response to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Report and advise Committee of any required changes in due course.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)              in relation to the number of pupils participating in Active Travel to note that officers would ascertain how many primary schools had a walking bus and would provide that information to Members outwith the meeting;

(ii)       to note Councillor Blake’s query about the limited number of degree options in relation to PGDE Home Economics and that the Chief Officer – Education would discuss further with Councillor Blake outwith the meeting; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations contained in the report, with an additional recommendation as follows:-

(d)      to commend the Evaluation of the Aberdeen City Council National Improvement Framework Plan 2021/2022.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided an update on the progress of the redesign of Family Support, underpinned by the ten principles set out in the Promise [Plan 21-24], while also providing assurance that the development of a Family Support model would not compromise existing Child Protection systems.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the approach to develop and redesign family support in line with the aspirations of the Promise [Plan 21-24];

(b)      note the Child Protection system would be unaffected by the redesign of the Family Support Model; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer - Integrated Children’s and Family Services to report back on progress and learning from the tests of change.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note the query from Councillor Malik in relation to the £42 million reduction in the Scottish Government Education and Skills budget, and that officers would report back to Committee if a negative impact on children and young people was identified; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided an update on work being undertaken to strengthen the Council’s approach to improving the attainment and achievement of Looked After Children and those known or thought to be on the edge of care.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the proposed approach to develop a more robust approach to supporting children and young people who are Looked After or on the edge of care; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education and Chief Social Work Officer to report back on the learning from the pilot and any plans to scale up approaches before the end of the 2022/23 school session.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which set out the findings of the recent Health and Wellbeing surveys which had been undertaken within Aberdeen City Schools, as well as the current support in place for wellbeing, both physical and mental.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

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

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to consider the findings of the report and plan next steps, including the development of a partnership approach through a multi-agency Health & Wellbeing Summit; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to report the outcome of the multi-agency health and Wellbeing Summit to Committee as soon as reasonably practicable.

The Convener, seconded by the Vice Convener, moved the recommendations as set out in the report.

Councillor Grant, seconded by Councillor Malik, moved as an amendment:-

That Committee:-

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

(b)            instruct the Chief Education Officer to establish a Children’s Mental Health taskforce to support Children and young people’s mental health following the pandemic and to support children and young people’s mental health through the “cost of living” crisis thereafter consider the findings of the report alongside the Children’s Mental Health taskforce to plan next steps, including the development of a partnership approach through a multi-agency Health & Wellbeing Summit; and

(c)            instruct the Chief Education Officer to report the outcome of the multi-agency health and Wellbeing Summit to Committee as soon as reasonably practicable.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (11) – the Convener; the Vice Convener; Councillors Allard, Bouse, Cooke, McLellan, Radley and van Sweeden; Mrs Cardno, Mr Crawford and Mr Murray; for the amendment (5) – Councillors Blake, Brooks, Grant, Malik and McLeod; declined to vote (3) – Mr Paul, Miss Scott and Mrs Smith.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to the query about Active Travel and whether it had improved in schools which offered an active travel plan, to note that officers would provide detail on this (and the earlier query in relation to walking buses) outwith the meeting; and

(ii)       to approve the motion.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which presented a high level evaluation of the Summer in the City programme and sought delegated authority to allow officers to design and deliver a similar programme for the October school holiday period using underspend from the summer programme.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the high level evaluation of the Summer in the City programme;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to design and deliver a programme for the October school holiday using underspend from the summer programme; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to report to Committee on the impact of the October 2022 programme following delivery.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to thank officers and partner organisations for the huge amount of work which had gone into the Summer in the City programme; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 8 of the minute of its meeting of 23 September 2021, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer set out progress with the establishment of a digital anytime offer for learners and provided information on the effectiveness of the Music Service in light of national policy changes.  The report also highlighted how the service was building collaboration with the wider music community to support children and young people across city schools.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the evaluation of the first year of free Instrumental Instruction;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to continue to develop plans to establish opportunities for ensembles; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to evaluate the quality and provision of music across the city and report the findings to Committee within one calendar year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would provide information outwith the meeting in relation to the amount of top-up funding the Council had received from the Scottish Government;

(ii)       to request that future updates include some data on the digital offering; how it could help to develop engagement and musicality in children; how much movement there had been from traditional learning to digital learning; and to request that officers engage with children and young people on how much the use of Google Classroom between physical lessons had helped with retention and levels of engagement; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations contained in the report with an additional recommendation as follows:-

(d)      to instruct the Chief Officer – Education to explore models and costings in order to create a Music Centre and report back to Education and Children’s Services Committee prior to referral to the budget process.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services which presented an update on the status of key performance measures relating to the Education Operational cluster. The report detailed performance to the end of June 2022 or Quarter 1 2022/23, as appropriate.

The report recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which detailed how a number of Aberdeen City schools and Early Learning and Childcare settings had engaged with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) and The Care Inspectorate since May 2022.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)      note the content of the report; and

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to continue to support Early Learning and Childcare settings and schools to implement continuous improvement in keeping with the Quality Frameworks.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 10 of the minute of its previous meeting of 14 June 2022, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented the finalised School Estate Plan for approval.  The report advised that the Plan set out the recommended actions to be undertaken to develop the school estate over the next ten years and beyond, supporting the delivery of the Council’s Property and Estates Strategy and the National Learning Estate Strategy.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

City-Wide / Strategic

2.1      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to adopt an approach which favoured the improvement and repurposing of existing assets, over the construction of new school buildings, where this was appropriate, and to ensure that where new school buildings were required, these were designed from the outset, to comply with the low carbon criteria set out within the Learning Estate Investment Programme, and where appropriate, with the Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard;

2.2      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to ensure that all new primary schools were designed with a minimum pupil capacity of 434, and all new secondary schools were designed with a minimum pupil capacity of 1000, in order to support high quality learning and teaching;

2.3      note that potential changes in pupil population across the city were likely to require a reduction in the number of operational schools over the next 10 years, and that within this and future editions of the School Estate Plan, officers would bring forward specific options and recommendations for making changes to the school estate to ensure optimum efficiency and sustainability of the estate as a whole;

2.4      note that where appropriate, officers would seek opportunities to make use of available capacity within schools for other purposes, including the delivery of additional services, in order to make efficient use of available space within the estate which would also benefit local communities;

2.5      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to carry out a review of

signage in all schools and upgrade / replace signage where required to

improve accessibility for all users and agree to refer this to the budget process;

2.6      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to present a delivery plan for implementing the agreed actions in this report to the next meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee, and thereafter, to present an annual update to the School Estate Plan to the Education and Children’s Services Committee, commencing from September 2023, to report on progress with the agreed actions and to update these as appropriate, in light of the most recently available data;

Denominational Primary Schools

2.7      instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to make arrangements to carry out a feasibility study and stakeholder engagement to identify options for ensuring appropriate and sustainable long term denominational primary school provision for the city to meet forecast demand, and report back to the Education and Children’s Services Committee with recommendations;

Secondary Schools in the North of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.