Venue: GwE Offices, Bryn Eirias, Ffordd Abergele, Bae Colwyn, LL29 8BF
Contact: Bethan Adams 01286 679020
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Dafydd Edwards (Host
Authority Head of Finance – Cyngor Gwynedd), Alison
Fisher (Governors’ representative), Rhys Howard Hughes (GwE
Assistant Director (Support and Brokerage)) and R. Ellis Owen (Conwy County
Borough Council). |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No
declaration of personal interest was received by any of the Members present. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration. |
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MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 255 KB (copy enclosed) Minutes: The Chair signed minutes
of this meeting held on 23 September 2015 as a true record. |
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GwE ANNUAL REPORT 2014-15 PDF 450 KB (copy enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: The GwE
Managing Director presented GwE’s annual report,
which discussed in detail the progress achieved against the priority outcomes
of 2014-15. A Member voiced
his concern in relation to the outcomes of
2014-15, drawing particular
attention to the results in KS4. Ian Budd (Lead Director – Chair of Management Board (Flintshire Council)) noted that the situation had been analysed in detail
and that a further report would be presented to the Management Board in a meeting in
January. The GwE Managing
Director noted that teacher assessment
arrangements had been reinforced by means
of a national verification prosess in order
to reflect the true achievement of pupils. RESOLVED to accept and note the content
of the report. |
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PUPIL OUTCOMES REPORT 2015 PDF 809 KB (copy enclosed) Minutes: The GwE Managing Director presented a report which summarized
the situation in terms of indicators of pupil outcomes in 2015. He guided the Members through the report by key
stage. During the ensuing discussion, the following main points were highlighted: ·
Target
results differed in individual authorities.
In response, the GwE Managing Director
noted that it was an issue
that affected the whole of Wales. He noted that there were
pending plans to improve consistency across local authorities
and that individual schools would be challenged on their targets
on pupil levels; ·
No
target should be set for a pupil if
it is not attainable; ·
KS2 outcomes had improved in Gwynedd and Angelsey, and
that collaboration should be encouraged to disseminate good practice; ·
There was a decline
in pupil results when comparing
KS3 teacher assessments with the true results
in KS4. In response, the GwE Managing Director noted that procedures were in place to assist
teachers to generate meaningful assessments; ·
The process of moderation of teacher assessments and visiting individual schools made a difference, but questioned the capacity to look at each school
and each subject individually. In response, the GwE Managing Director
noted that visits to schools would be held to measure improvements against targets implemented within resources. He added that that they
would maybe look to vary the use of grants such
as the Education Improvement Grant to this purpose; ·
The need to ensure
that competent teachers teach mathematics and the need to consider the lack of mathematicians. In response, John Davies (Wrexham County Borough Council) noted that GwE
is advertising for individuals who specialize in mathematics
and English to respond to the demand; ·
It would
be interesting to look at
the new GCSE results in mathematics and English. The need to re-train teachers and to attract individuals who were specialists
in their subjects was noted. In response, Geraint Rees (Welsh Government) noted that Professor John Furlong was looking at a teacher training programme on behalf of Welsh Government. He added that there was a real national concern about keeping individuals
in the teaching profession; ·
It would
be useful to come to a judgement on KS5 results. In response,
GwE’s Assistant Director (Standards) noted that it
was difficult to compare results since a low number of pupils
took the subjects of this Key Stage
in Sixth Form, but that
schools were visited when there
was a problem with a particular
subject; ·
It was questioned
whether it would be possible to establish the outcomes of FSM pupils in order
to benchmark how they compare with pupils across Wales. ·
It would be
interesting to see the profile of KS4 in the results of Estyn
inspections. GwE’s Assistant Director (Standards)
noted that when the inspection results were received, proposals for individual
schools across the Region would be considered. RESOLVED to accept and note the content of the report ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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ESTYN RECOMMENDATIONS 2015 - PROGRESS UPDATE REPORT (JUNE - OCTOBER 2015) PDF 295 KB (copy enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: The GwE Managing Director
presented a report which gave an updated analysis of the progress in relation
to Estyn’s recommendations (June 2015). He noted that
useful comments were put forth by Arwyn Thomas
(Gwynedd Council) regarding the content of the report since its publication. He
added that the Joint Committee would receive regular updates on the progress. RESOLVED to accept and note the content
of the report. |
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REGIONAL BUSINESS PLAN 2015-18 PDF 337 KB (copy enclosed) Additional documents: Minutes: The GwE Managing Director
presented the Business Plan, which notes GwE’s
vision, aims and priorities for action for the next three years. Attention was
drawn to detailed work streams that are in place for each priority in 2015/16
and that the details are attached to the Business Plan. In response to a comment about inconsistency with
regard to Challenge Advisers, the GwE Assistant
Director (Standards) noted that systems are being strengthened so as to ensure
that Challenge Advisers have the appropriate skills. In response to a comment about recruiting Headteachers to Challenge Adviser posts, the GwE Assistant Director (Standards) noted that some of them
were newly retired Headteachers, whilst others were Headteachers in schools who were supporting another school.
Many comments were made about the lack of Headteachers and the need to develop the leaders of the
future. In response, the GwE Managing Director noted
that the development programmes mainly target middle leaders and Headteachers and it is hoped that a national pack will be
available. Geraint Rees (Welsh Government) noted that the 4
consortia are looking at each other’s work and it is hoped that development
plans will be in place by the summer on all levels, from teachers to Headteachers. He added that the response of Headteachers in the region to the development plans is
positive. RESOLVED
to approve the 2015-18 Business Plan. |
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SCRUTINY ARRANGEMENTS PDF 271 KB (copy enclosed) Minutes: Ian Budd (Lead Director
– Chair of Management Board (Flintshire council)) presented a report discussing
in detail the proposed scrutiny arrangements so as to respond to the Wales
Audit Office recommendation. It was noted there is collaboration with the
relevant local authority scrutiny committees to set up a co-ordinated programme
with the intention for each local authority to look at one element
of the corporate programme and the business plan and share learning across each
authority. RESOLVED that the GwE
Management Board and the GwE Senior Leadership Team
work with the relevant local authority scrutiny committees to implement a
co-ordinated work programme in relation to school improvement. |
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(copy enclosed) Minutes: Ian Budd (Lead Director
– Chair of Management Board (Flintshire council)) presented a report on the
Regional Networks and discussed in detail the proposed reporting process,
namely that: ·
every network reports back to the GwE Management Board; ·
minutes of meetings are shared
with the GwE Management
Board; ·
Joint Committee is to receive a progress report from one of the networks in the termly meeting A member
noted there is good collaboration between the local authorities with regard to sponsors. RESOLVED: (i) to accept and note the report; (ii) to approve the proposed reporting process. |
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GwE STAFFING STRUCTURE - DECISION MAKING PDF 538 KB (copy enclosed) Minutes: The
GwE Managing Director presented a report on changing
the procedure for approving changes to the staffing structure. It was noted
that at present any new posts must be presented to the Joint Committee for
approval in line with Schedule 2 of the current Inter-Authority Agreement
(18/02/13). As Joint Committee meetings are only held once every term, it was
noted that the procedure could cause a delay in the appointments process. A
recommendation that the Joint Committee delegates the responsibility of making
changes to the GwE structure to the GwE Managing Director (in line with Host Authority
processes) was reported. It was noted that the structure will be reported on in
the Business Plan and in the GwE Annual Report. RESOLVED: (i) to accept and note the report; (ii) delegate the responsibility of making changes to the
GwE structure to the GwE
Managing Director (in line with Host Authority processes, included as appendix
1). |