Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director Education.

The Corporate Director Education spoke to the report which related to the Estyn Thematic Review report which outlined narrative on the corporate response to the COVID-19 situation, particularly supporting the schools during the emergency period. The Corporate Director noted that the Thematic Review letter was attached at Appendix 1 and stated that the letter was positive overall and referred to the highlights of notable practice. The Corporate Director advised that the Review findings provided assurances that the Council/Education Directorate had handled the emergency response well in supporting schools, but clearly there are also areas to learn moving forward.

At the invitation of the Leader, the Corporate Director Education provided the positive feedback received from the collective meeting undertaken with the Council’s Regulators.

The Corporate Director Education advised that the information presented by Estyn was constructive in terms of where the Directorate and the Council was currently placed. It was pleasing to note that they identified strong corporate collaboration and work across the Council as the Estyn Local Government for Education Services LGES) Framework was based on the Corporate work of the Council, the Corporate Director noted that it was not solely the work of the Education Directorate but importantly the way the Council supported learners across the board. The 3 areas Estyn identified for the Council to concentrate on was known to officers, there was acknowledgment that the Council knew schools well and were in a good position to support schools who needed support. It was anticipated that where schools were identified as underperforming, there are encouraging signs with the potential to be removed from an Estyn Category in the future.

The Executive Member for Education noted positive report and felt that the emergency response had been handled well with effective and strong collaboration work across the Authority and with schools which demonstrated the good relationships. The Executive Member wished to extend thanks to the Education Directorate and Departments across the Council as well as school based staff who worked together effectively during this pandemic for the benefit of our learners.

The Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development concurred with the comments raised and stated that the work across the board had been excellent and he felt that these links with schools have become stronger.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the information contained therein be noted.