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.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee had before it the minute of its previous meeting of 17 September 2020.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to article 11 (Accessibility Plan) to note that officers had agreed to consider the submission provided by Dr Murray which had been circulated prior to the last Committee; and

(ii)       to otherwise 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)          to note the updates provided in the planner in relation to item 10 (Campus Model for School Provision) and item 16 (School Estate Plan);

(ii)         to agree to remove items 9 and 12 (Inspection Reporting) as no inspections had been held nor were planned by the time of the January 2021 meeting; and

(iii)       to otherwise note the planner.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer Services and Chief Operating Officer which provided information on data used to inform the initial and current Education Service COVID-19 response.  The report also outlined the present position in regard to data availability from the 2020 SQA exam diet and national analysis of the 2019/20 Curriculum for Excellence outcomes.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note how data had informed the Education Service’s COVID-19 response and was presently being used to track critical aspects of education provision, aligning with the terms of the Council’s current National Improvement Framework priorities; and

(b)      note the current limitations around attainment and achievement data availability, and that a future report would, where possible, offer expanded analysis from the 2019/20 academic year around data tracking of the Education Improvement Journey.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would circulate information to Members outwith the meeting on how looked after children had been faring throughout the pandemic, whether in kinship, residential or foster care;

(ii)       to note that non-attendance due to concerns around COVID-19 was far lower in Aberdeen than in other parts of the country and to congratulate all education staff for the work undertaken to ensure that parents and children felt safe;

(iii)      to request that the Chief Education Officer prepare a future service update with any further information that was available, for example, on any changes to education provision as a result of the data gathered;  and

(iv)      to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 6 of the minute of its meeting of 12 November 2019, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Education Officer which presented the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps in accordance with Committee Terms of Reference to provide assurance on the Council’s system of risk management.

The report recommended:-

that Committee note the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps set out in Appendices A and B to the report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to the Assurance Map on page 55, to note that officers would consider how to include/reflect input from parents/carers or Parent Councils and update if possible; and

(ii)       to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval for the refreshed Minimising Exclusion Policy.  The report advised that the current Exclusion Policy had been written in 2017 and predated the publication of the updated “Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: Preventing and Managing School Exclusions”.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the work undertaken to review the current Exclusion Policy; and

(b)      approve the refreshed Minimising Exclusion Policy

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to section 2.2 of the policy guidance, to note that officers would provide details to Miss Scott on how to access the guidance available in the risk and health and safety assessment;

(ii)       to agree that the statement on page 85 “Education and Children’s Services Policy is that exclusion must be seen as an absolute last resort.” should be moved to the beginning of the policy;

(iii)      in relation to the statement on page 92 “In exceptional circumstances as part of a positive phased and agreed re-engagement strategy, and with the agreement of parents, Central Officers, the young person, partner agencies, and the Virtual School if a learner is looked after, a relevant personalised timetable may be developed by the school.” to request that an example of such a timetable be included in the document to assist staff;

(iv)      to note that officers would circulate information outwith the meeting to Members on the results of the latest survey on the revised policy, as the data had not been available in time to include with the report;

(v)      to note that officers would investigate whether it would be possible to provide Members with further information on children who had been excluded on more than one occasion, noting that this might not be possible if the children could be identified; and

(vi)      to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 6 of the minute of its meeting of 12 March 2020, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which addressed the instruction that further work be undertaken with regard to the findings from the Educational Institute of Scotland’s survey of 3 February 2019.  The report provided an update on the work undertaken to understand the findings of the EIS Survey in the context of an overall progress update of the Supporting Learners work stream and programme plan.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the approach being taken and progress made to date; and

(b)      instruct the Programme Manager to report on the programme within three Committee cycles.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval to begin the reshape of the partnership senior phase offering

around a changing local economy.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the analysis of performance across the senior phase and how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted on employability and training options for young people leaving school;

(b)      approve the proposed direction of travel to ensure that the partnership curriculum ideally supported school leavers into further, higher education or employment;

(c)      approve the education service framework in Appendix B to the report;

(d)      instruct the Chief Education Officer to update the framework in Appendix B if updated national guidance was published; and

(e)      instructed the Chief Education Officer to report on progress within 3 Committee cycles.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers were in discussion with secondary colleagues in respect of a ‘one stop shop’ for data, including those awards which did not currently appear in the Insight data and were hopeful that this could be presented in future reports;

(ii)       to note that officers were monitoring both the drop in numbers presenting for National 4 and the participation rates for male students and would make contact with other Scottish cities following the comparison of Local  Government Benchmarking data to determine if there were any common themes and challenges at a national level; and

(iii)      to approve the recommendations.

-      COUNCILLOR JOHN WHEELER, Convener