Cyflwynwyd gan:Cyng / Cllr Gareth Thomas
Decision:
To accept and note the information in the report.
Minutes:
The item was
submitted by Cllr Gareth Thomas
DECISION
To accept and note the information in the report.
DISCUSSION
The report was submitted
and it was noted that all matters had already been the subject of discussions
and had been scrutinised at the Departmental Performance Challenging
meetings. He added that the department
had started to implement the Council's Plan.
Attention was drawn
to the financial situation, noting that a slippage had occurred in the
implementation of the scheme to charge a fee for care before the free breakfast
session in 2017/18 and that it was anticipated that the care fee income target
would be achieved in full by 2018/19. It
was added that £3,738,010 had been realised from the 'Schools Efficiency
Savings' scheme that was to save £4.3m.It was reiterated that the Cabinet had
already agreed to defer the implementation of Secondary Schools savings of
£298,990 from the 2017/18 financial year to 2019/20. It was added that the schools were fully
aware of the amended timing of the cut.
It was noted that
the Transport Field was complex, as the department continued to overspend in
the field. It was noted that there were
various reasons why children received transport to schools and it was added
that they were valid reasons. It was
expressed that the department had commissioned work to give detailed attention
to the overspend and initial recommendations and actions were in place. It was reiterated that additional work needed
to be done and to look at the transport provision on a trans-departmental
level.
The summer results
were discussed and it was noted that a national drop had been seen in the
foundation phase results. It was added
that good performance could be seen in Key Stages 2 and 3 on the whole. However, it was noted that substantial
changes had been made to the pattern and results of English GCSEs, with a
reduction of 12.1% seen. This was due to
changes of 20 marks to the marking thresholds.
He added that discussions had been held with Qualifications Wales
regarding this issue.
Matters arising
from the discussion:
- A discussion was held on the English
GCSE results - noting that all Headteachers in Gwynedd, Welsh Authorities and
GwE had contacted Qualifications Wales regarding the issue. It was added that a response had been
received, noting that the 20 mark difference had not made a difference to the
young people. It was added that the
matter would be escalated to Welsh Government, noting that the situation was
unfair and unfortunately made it difficult for schools and the department to
compare one year to the next.
- Attention was drawn to the fact that
the current offer for developing leadership was not fit for purpose and
reiterated that the department was working with GwE to develop a training
plan. It was added that many of the
leadership posts within schools were new ones within the past 10 years.
- Attention was drawn to Ysgol Tywyn as
they had won the Daily Post Award for the Best School in the Community and for
the praise given to the ethos of increasing the use of Welsh within the
school.
-
Work continued to encourage schools to fly the
National Flag outside the schools.
Awdur:Dilwyn Williams
Supporting documents: