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 Convener welcomed Councillor Bell and Councillor Mennie to their first meeting of the Education Operational Delivery Committee.  He further welcomed Mrs Tracey Blackie and Mr Rick Sansom as the new parent representatives to the Committee, following ratification of their appointments at Council in December 2019.

The Committee noted the following declaration of interest intimated at this stage:

(i)         Mrs Tracey Blackie declared an interest in respect of item 9.1 (Proposed Consultation on Changes to School Zoning for Grandhome) by virtue of the fact she had a child at Bucksburn Academy, but did not consider that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting.

The Committee had before it the minute of its meeting of 12 November 2019 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 Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         in respect of item 10 (Supporting Children’s Learning in an Empowered System), to note that officers had advised that the report due before Committee in March 2020 would address matters raised in the recent survey undertaken by the EIS; and

(ii)        to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which sought approval to launch a statutory consultation on proposals to make changes to the Bucksburn Academy and Oldmachar Academy school zones in order to accommodate the new housing development at Grandhome.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       instruct the Chief Officer - Integrated Children’s and Family Services to undertake a statutory public consultation on proposals to make changes to the Bucksburn Academy and Oldmachar Academy school catchment zones, so that the new housing development at Grandhome is included entirely within the Oldmachar Academy catchment zone with effect from 1 August 2020, and to report back to the Committee on the outcomes of this consultation at its meeting in May 2020; and

(b)       note that temporary primary education provision for children living within the Grandhome development, prior to any new schools being constructed at Grandhome, will be moved from Danestone School to Forehill School, with effect from 1 August 2020.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided an update on the direction of travel, self-evaluation and future planning which would ensure that the Education Service continued to work towards an empowered system, and sought approval for submission of the Aberdeen City Council response to ‘Improving School Empowerment through Self-Evaluation: A Framework for Local Authorities’.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       approve the draft Self-Evaluation based on the document ‘Improving School Empowerment through self-evaluation: A Framework for Local Authorities’ as contained in Appendix A; in preparation for submission to Education Scotland; and

(b)       instruct the Chief Education Officer to submit the Self-Evaluation document when requested to do so by Education Scotland and make this available to Members through the circulation of a Service Update.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval for travel outwith the UK to Early Learning and Childcare  (ELC) settings in North Germany to enable ELC professionals to experience outdoor settings and to receive high quality training from those responsible for initiating and developing those services.  The report advised that there were no direct financial implications as all costs for the study visit were covered by the ERASMUS+ grant secured by the Council in July 2019.

The report recommended:-

that Committee approve travel outwith the UK for the study visit for 20 participants to North Germany and instruct the Chief Operating Officer to sanction this travel with immediate effect.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which suggested a direction of travel following the Scottish Government’s proposal to repeal Parts 4 and 5 of The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and sought approval to remove reference to the term ‘Named Person’ from Council and multi-agency documentation.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)       note the proposed repeal of Parts 4 & 5 of The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and instruct the Chief Officer Integrated Children and Family Services to remove reference to the Named Person from single and multi-agency guidance; and

(b)       agree that the key point of contact in schools be referred to as the

Establishment Contact.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

-     COUNCILLOR JOHN WHEELER, Convener