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 3 June 2021 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 relation to item 11 (Inspection Reporting), to note that inspections had now restarted and therefore reports to committee would resume as reports were published; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the planner.

With reference to article 4 of the minute of its previous meeting, 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 recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to thank staff for their efforts in helping to maintain such high levels of attendance at schools during the Covid-19 pandemic; and

(ii)       to otherwise note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which (a) provided information on data from the 2020 SQA exam diet (post review) derived from the final data release through Insight, the Education Service Self Evaluation process and initial 2021 SQA outcomes and (b) sought approval to implement the refreshed Aberdeen City Council National Improvement Framework Plan for 2021/22 following submission of the Plan and Self-Evaluation to the Scottish Government.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the content of Appendix A, outlining the post review outcomes from the 2019/2020 Senior Phase, released through the Insight Tool, the Service’s 2020 2021 Self Evaluation Report (Appendix B) and initial pre-review outcomes Available from the 2020/2021 SQA examination diet (Appendix D);

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education to submit the Self Evaluation Report and the Aberdeen Council National Improvement Framework Plan 2021/2022 (the Plan) to the Scottish Government as soon as reasonably practicable;

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to implement the proposed Aberdeen City Council National Improvement Framework Plan for 2021/22 (Appendix C); and

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to maintain a review of the content of the 2021/22 Plan in light of any impacting national legislative and policy provisions such as the Scottish Government response to the OECD report, and advise Committee of any required changes in due course.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       in relation to the uptake of Early Talkboost and Talkboost Training and the need to better understand the issues to develop a more robust plan to address this area at the earliest opportunity, to note that an update on this would be provided in the Education Improvement Journey report due to Committee in November 2021;

(ii)       to instruct the Chief Officer - Education to liaise with all schools in Aberdeen regarding COP26 being held in November, exploring what new initiatives and ideas the Council could look at introducing as a means of tackling climate change within their school and beyond;

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer - Education to bring forward a report of any new initiatives and /or ideas brought forward by the schools to the committee in January 2022 in order for the Council to consider any further exploratory work before any agreed implementation;

(iv)      to instruct the Chief Officer - Education to undertake a separate evaluation of education among care experienced young people, taking into account the individual and often complex needs of looked after children; and report back to committee with recommendations on how to improve outcomes and attainment among care experienced children and young people in Aberdeen City;

(v)      to agree that transparency around data is very important in driving improvement; and acknowledges the positive work already undertaken by our Education and Data Analytics teams within Aberdeen City Council in working to achieve this; and

(vi)      to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of its previous meeting, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which set out the evaluation of the Aberdeen City Council Summer of Play 2021/22 following the end of the programme.  Members heard from Phionna McInnes of WeToo!, a partner organisation that had worked with Sport Aberdeen to ensure that all offers for children with additional support needs had been supported by the We Too! Ninjas in collaboration with Sport Aberdeen.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the evaluation of our process in preparing for the Aberdeen City Council Summer of Play;

(b)      note the evaluation of the programme by children, young people and families available in Appendix A;

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education to send a copy of the Summer of Play Evaluation Report to all Summer of Play partners, The Scottish Government and to parents and carers through the Education Service newsletter; and

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to use the remaining funds to offer a similar programme for children with additional support needs and their siblings in August 2022.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to thank all staff and partner organisations for their tremendous efforts and to congratulate them on their success in running the Summer of Play; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided Members with oversight of the published Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Organisation report which was instructed by the Scottish Government to help assess the impact of the Curriculum for Excellence.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the contents of the report;

(b)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education to continue to keep Committee apprised of resultant changes in Scottish Government policy; and

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to keep Committee updated of how changed national policies are being implemented locally.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which set out progress on the instruction from the Council Budget meeting of March 2021 that officers investigate how the Music Service could use digitisation to offer a more affordable offer to families and extend the reach of the service.  The report advised that Members had also requested that officers explore opportunities for collaboration.  Furthermore, the report provided an update on national policy changes from June 2021 whereby Ministers and COSLA Leaders had agreed a new policy of free music instruction.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the establishment of a universal offer available to all children and young people;

(b)      note the general move to group lessons for learners in the Broad General Education;

(c)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to consult with pupils, parents and instructors in order to determine the scope of a digital anytime offer to be made available to our learners;

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to track uptake to help evaluate the changes in service delivery; and

(e)      instruct the Chief Officer – Education to present an evaluation of the impact of the changes to Committee within one calendar year.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that the evaluation would also take the Music Centre into consideration;

(ii)       having consulted with the Convener of the City Growth and Resources Committee, to instruct the Chief Officer – Finance to write to the Scottish Government and COSLA requesting an update on progress they have made on ensuring that the shortfall in budgeted income for the delivery of Music Instruction is provided to Aberdeen City Council in 2021/22 and for a clear longer term funding strategy;

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Officer - Education to implement the continuity of instructors for the provision of musical education noting that this is a vital component in the delivery of the music curriculum; and

(iv)      to approve the recommendations contained in the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which provided a progress report on the Senior Phase, following the instruction of EODC in November 2020 that an update be provided within three committee cycles.

The report recommended:-

that Committee –

(a)      note the progress made since November 2020;

(b)      note the proposed use of the Education Recovery Grant;

(c)      endorse the establishment of a yearly ‘Lift Off’ event to support young people in the senior phase;

(d)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education to report ongoing progress to Committee through the Education Improvement Journey reports; and

(e)      instruct the Chief Officer - Education to routinely update Committee of proposed local changes in light of changes to national policy resulting from the Scottish Government response to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)       to note that officers would ensure that the colours used in the evaluation report charts were consistent in any future reports to assist with understanding the data; and

(ii)       to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which requested that the Chief Officer – Education be granted authority to apply to the Scottish Government for an additional closure to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee subject to the decision taken at the Staff Governance Committee on 28September in relation to the granting of an additional public holiday for staff.

The report recommended:-

that Committee delegate authority to the Chief Education Officer to make a formal request to the Scottish Government for an additional closure day, subject to approval of an additional public holiday for staff at the Staff Governance Committee on 28 September.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

-                 COUNCILLOR M TAUQEER MALIK, Convener