Agenda item

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Education which was presented to provide Members with an overview of those schools over the last 3 years that have presented as a cause for concern, their progress and the work delivered or currently underway to continue to support improvement.

The Director of Education spoke to the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.  He said Members would be aware that there had been changes and a relaxation of performance arrangements linked to COVID-19, but the report was being put forward so Members had the opportunity to scrutinise developments.

A Member raised concerns that two secondary schools seemed to show no improvement in performance year on year and without categorisation Members were relying on quarterly reports to indicate current performance.  He raised further concerns regarding the two all through schools within Blaenau Gwent which had a financial deficit and enquired what the deficit was for that school and what plans were in place to reduce the deficit.  The Director of Education said that Abertillery Learning Community had been a cause for concern for a period of time, however, he was cautiously optimistic for the future of the school.  He felt that the leadership arrangements, from a professional and Governing Body perspective, had been strengthened over the last 12-18 months and felt confident moving forward.  With regard to the financial position across the school estate, at the end of the financial year 2019/20 overall, schools across Blaenau Gwent were in a favourable position, however, all through schools were in deficit.  The projected deficit for ALC was in excess of £1m but the actual amount was in the region of £600,000.  A savings target of £175,000 had been set linked to their budget reduction deficit plan. The school had indicated that the savings target could be met, a Corporate Group had been re-established, led by the Managing Director of the Council, to closely monitor the financial sustainability and the educational standards of the ALC moving forward.  He reassured Members that plans were in place to keep the school under close scrutiny in terms of their financial planning arrangements.  He advised Members that over the next two years they would be looking to undertake a review of the ISB and the funding formula.  That review would be taken forward and ultimately reported back to scrutiny as some of the proposals were taken forward. 

A Member requested that future reports include information on school budgets that may be areas of concern.

The Committee AGREED this course of action.

Councillor M. Cook left the meeting at this juncture.

In response to a Member’s question regarding the deficit of the all through schools and if the performance of junior and primary schools in the area were also a cause for concern, the Director of Education said that in relation to the deficit there were financial deficit projections before the Abertillery Learning Community was established based upon the former comprehensive school in Abertillery.  Pupil population had been declining which had an impact upon the overall revenue position and sustainability of the comprehensive.  Abertillery Learning Community now had the full complement of learners and this had contributed to reducing the financial deficit and the sustainability of Abertillery Learning Community moving forward.  He advised Members that ALC had taken a report through their Governing Body around the Leadership Review, and he felt that this would provide a strong and effective structure to take both the secondary and primary phases forward. He assured Members that progress was being monitored and had greater confidence that the school was progressing in line with expectations.

The Principal Challenge Advisor said a review had been carried out at the school that included pupil books, there had been variations across each of the primary campuses, they had all been at different points when the school amalgamated.  There was now a consistency of standard and progress across all of the primary campuses and she felt that there had been a cultural shift as an all through school.   Leaders at all levels were working together to strengthen the quality, standards and provision for the benefit of learners in the school. 

A Member commented that it was pleasing to note that schools were improving and doing their best for pupils and enquired regarding staffing levels.  The Director of Education said that Phase 1 of the restructuring proposals had been to secure the right senior leadership and management within the Learning Community and Phase 2 would be looking at teaching and learning assistants. 

The Chair enquired regarding progress on the remodelling works at Brynmawr Foundation School and if this was affecting teaching and learning at the school.  The Director of Education said secondary school remodelling was a key part of the Band B priorities.  The Education Transformation Manager said that in relation to the likely timelines for investment at the school, they had been working with the school to develop a business case which would be put forward early next year, followed by a detailed project brief and design work with a view to commencing works on site some time in 2023.  This was a significant project and was likely to span both Band A and Band B programmes, with the aim to improve teaching and learning and associated outcomes for pupils by ensuring that the learning environment actively facilitates these improvements.  The Director of Education advised that the potential investment from the Band B Programme and Welsh medium capital grant would generate an investment of £25m in the school estate, however, there was a need for further investment so it was likely that secondary school remodelling would go into the Band C programme past 2025 as an ongoing programme for secondary schools.

With regard to schools in deficit, the Chair enquired where the deficits were funded from.  The Director of Education explained that the ISB was seen as one overall resource, reports were presented to CLT on an annual basis which highlighted deficits and surpluses across the overall school estate.  At this point in time, the school estate was in a surplus position in excess of £1m.  Schools were managing within the overall ISB without pressures being created on other corporate budgets. 

A Member commented that school budget deficits should be presented to the Scrutiny Committee so Members could be kept fully informed.  The Director of Education said that a report could be prepared to give Members an overview of the financial performance across the school estate without identifying individual schools.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 1, namely that to contribute to the continuous assessment of effectiveness a report on school budgets that may be areas of concern be prepared and presented to a future meeting of the Education & Learning Scrutiny Committee.