Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

The following transparency statements were intimated:-

In relation to item 9.2, Councillor Grant made a transparency statement to advise that he had children at Riverbank School; Mr Haywood advised that he worked at Gilcomstoun Primary School; Ms Barclay advised that she had children who attended Heathryburn Primary and Bucksburn Academy and the Vice Convener noted that she had a child who attended Gilcomstoun Primary School.

None of the above Members considered that these amounted to interests which required declarations to be made.

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 16 September 2025, 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)             to note the reason for the delay for item 6 (Minimising Exclusion Policy); and

(ii)            to note the business planner. 

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Directors - Families & Communities and Corporate Services, which presented Committee with (a) the status of key quarterly performance and service standard measures (and recent national publications) relating to the Education and Lifelong Learning and Children’s Social Work and Family Support Clusters; (b) progress update in respect of the Council’s National Improvement Framework Plan and (c) early reflections against the initial release of 2025 Senior Phase attainment and achievement data through the Insight and Local Government Benchmarking tools.

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:-

(i)             to request that the Chief Officer – Education and Lifelong Learning, circulate information to all Members in relation to the number of placing requests submitted for S1 pupils in 2025 and how many were successful; and

(ii)            to note the report.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director - Families & Communities, which provided details of the outcome of inspection reports published by His Majesty’s Inspectors of Education (HMIe) and The Care Inspectorate since the last meeting of the Education and Children’s Services Committee.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)          note the content of the report; and

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

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director - Families & Communities, which presented the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps in accordance with Education and Children's Services Committee Terms of Reference to provide assurance that risks were being managed effectively within the Clusters.  It was also noted that when the Risk Registers were last considered by the Education and Children’s Services Committee on 28th November 2024, Members asked that officers consider the use of a matrix to reflect the previous year's situation. This request was actioned within the report.

The report recommended:-

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

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to request that officers look at the wording of the risk and control actions on page 115 of the agenda pack, in relation to “the perception of failure to record incidents of violence and aggressive behaviour against school staff”;

(ii)            to request that the Executive Director – Families and Communities, in collaboration with the Chief Officer City Development and Regeneration provide a service update to Members in relation to where there were gaps in the workforce affecting the organisation and wider economy, and how the Education Service and other Council Clusters were working to address the workforce needs;

(iii)          to note the Cluster Risk Registers and Assurance Maps set out in Appendices A to D;

(iv)          to agree to continue the positive cooperation with Trade Unions to deliver the agreed Behaviour Plan and delivery of preventative professional learning to help realise safe and peaceful learning environments for all, and receive updates on progress through the established NIF updates;

(v)           to welcome the opportunity to sustain partnership working with Trade Unions in responding to survey findings that record the views of teachers and other staff;

(vi)          to agree that the creative use of resources to develop and model improved learning spaces - including The Bridge - keeps children's rights at the centre of our work and contributes to the  goal of inclusion in education settings and agrees that future expansion of similar models, based on lessons learned from the Bridge , should be progressed for secondary stage pupils; and

(vii)         to agree that the policy on mobile phone use in schools should continue to be monitored and will be considered in the report to the forthcoming Committee on "Action to Reduce Incidents in Schools". 

With reference to article 14 of the minute of the meeting of 24 June 2025, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director - Families & Communities, which presented the outcomes of recent discussions with officers at Aberdeenshire Council, in relation to proposals for making changes to school catchment areas for Dyce Academy and Dyce School, along with recommendations for the next steps.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)          notes the outcomes of officers’ recent discussions with colleagues at Aberdeenshire Council, relating to proposals for making changes to school catchment areas for Dyce Academy and Dyce School;

(b)          instructs the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to commence planning, in collaboration with Aberdeenshire Council, for a statutory public consultation to be held in Winter 2026/27, on proposals to adjust the catchment area boundaries for Dyce Academy and Dyce School, so that they align with the boundary line for the City, and with a view to these changes being implemented from August 2027;

(c)          instructs the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to review the catchment areas for all schools within the Bucksburn and Dyce Associated Schools Groups (ASGs), in light of the proposed alignment of the Dyce Academy and Dyce School catchment areas to the City boundary, and to draft proposals for any required further changes to catchment areas, to achieve an appropriate balance of pupil numbers within all schools in these ASGs in future years; and

(d)          instructs the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to report back to the Committee with details of all proposed catchment area changes and recommendations for statutory public consultation on these, as part of the annual School Estate Plan update report in Autumn 2026.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             to note the outcomes of officers’ recent discussions with colleagues at Aberdeenshire Council, relating to proposals for making changes to school catchment areas for Dyce Academy and Dyce School;

(ii)            to note that the catchment area changes for Dyce Academy were proposed to re-balance pupil numbers between Bucksburn Academy and Dyce  Academy, due to the current and predicted over-capacity issues at Bucksburn;

(iii)          to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to review the catchment areas for Bucksburn Academy, Dyce Academy and all primary schools within the Bucksburn and Dyce Associated Schools Groups (ASGs), in order to achieve the re-balancing of numbers between the two academies and in light of the proposed alignment of the Dyce Academy and Dyce School catchment areas to the City boundary;

(iv)          to instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord to provide a holistic report to Committee with details of all proposed catchment area changes and recommended dates for statutory public consultation, as part of the annual School Estate Plan update report in September 2026; and

(v)           to instruct the Chief Officer – Education & Lifelong Learning to write to the parents of Dyce Academy, Bucksburn Academy and associated primary schools with an update on progress to date.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families & Communities, which presented options on rationalising Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) provision in order to meet demand, maximise resources and achieve best value.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee consider the options presented and approve the amended Early Learning and Childcare delivery models, set out in Appendix 3 of the report, from August 2026, based on demand.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 3 of the minute of Council of 28 April 2025, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families and Communities, which highlighted what the Council could do to promote the involvement of young people in expanding and strengthening youth participation in global decision making.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)          note the content of the report; and

(b)          endorse plans to have young people shape global initiatives, continue to secure global opportunities and make effective use of digital to amplify voice.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)             In relation to 3.13 of the report regarding Aberdeen Youth Movements emerging partnership with youth group “Yappers” in Southern Ireland, to request that officers circulate, by way of email, any social media handles for the Yappers; and

(ii)            to approve the recommendations. 

At this juncture, the External Members left the meeting.

With reference to article 12 of the minute of the meeting of 26 November 2024, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families & Communities, which updated Members on progress in response to the Care Inspectorate Thematic Review of services for Children with Disabilities, presented in September 2024 and to inform on the updated Action Plan for 2025.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee

(a)           note the progress made against the Action Plan developed in response to the Care Inspectorate Thematic Review;

(b)           note the development of Transition Planning Guidance and protocol including the establishment of Transitions Group Meetings; and

(c)           note the intention to engage with children and young people to develop accessible material to ensure the Council is adopting a rights centric approach to transitions.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families & Communities, which presented the Chief Social Work Officer’s Annual Report for year 2024/25 (up to 31/3/25). The report was to inform Members of the role and responsibilities exercised by the Chief Social Work Officer; to provide information on the delivery of statutory social work services and decision making in the period; and to give a progress report on key areas of social work activity within Aberdeen City.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee note the content of the Annual Report.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the report. 

With reference to article 15 of the minute of meeting of 26 November 2024, the Committee had before it a report by the Executive Director – Families & Communities, which shared Aberdeen City’s Child Protection Committee (CPC) Annual Report 2024-25, to provide assurance that the work of the CPC was effectively helping reduce risks to children and young people.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee -

(a)           note the content of the Child Protection Committee’s Annual Report 2024-25; and

(b)           instruct the Chief Social Work Officer to provide Committee with a further report in November 2026 detailing the continuing impact and effectiveness of partnership work in relation to child protection.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.