Agenda item

Progress Report GwE - forward work programme and support to schools during covid 19 pandemic

·           Progress Report GwE 2020/21: support to schools during the Covid 19 pandemic;

·           An Estyn terms of reference report regarding the work of the Authority to support learning communities within schools since March 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

·           Progress Report GwE 2020/21 : support to schools during the Covid 19 pandemic

 

Submitted – a progress report - GwE 2020/21 : support to schools during the Covid 19 pandemic.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Education, Libraries, Culture and Youth said that the report refers to the work that has been undertaken between GwE and the local authority in order to support schools during the pandemic. He expressed that there has been a willingness between the organisations to discuss, to share ideas, adapt to achieve the vision of the support to schools and pupils.  He said that as Portfolio Holder he wished to express his appreciation to the staff of the Education Department (Team Môn), GwE and Estyn for their work over the difficult situation as regards to the pandemic and the effect on schools.

 

The Director of Education, Skills and Young People reported that GwE and the local authority have adapted their work in order to continue to provide effective services and support for all their school communities during the pandemic. There has been a need to ensure that the well-being of school leaders, their staff and learners is paramount to the decision making and ensuring that the right level of support, operational or professional, can be directed accurately by the service.  Regular contact with school leaders has been well received and has contributed to Head teachers felling that they could turn to a professional colleague to share challenging issues and to find solutions to address day to day issues.  He further said that whilst virtual schooling is not as effective as having children in schools, every effort has been undertaken to provide the best education possible for the pupils. 

 

Mrs Sharon Vaughan, GwE reported that the reported presented to this meeting is how the regional consortium, in partnership with the Local Authorities, has evolved and adapted to support schools during the pandemic.  Throughout the pandemic, collaboration between the Education Department, GwE and schools has been effective, open, transparent and constructive.  A summary of the work undertaken was attached to the report as follows:-

 

 

·      Phase 1 – Pre-lockdown

·      Phase 2 – Supporting schools at the beginning of the lockdown

·      Phase 3 – Distance Learning

·      Phase 4 – Supporting schools to re-open

·      Phase 5 – Blended Learning

·      Phase 6 – Accelerating Learning/Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards

·      Phase 7 – Deepening collaboration and developing robust networks

 

Mrs Sharon Vaughan gave a brief summary of the Appendix 2 to 5 attached to the report to the Committee.

 

Mr Rhys Williams GwE reported that the welfare and wellbeing has been paramount to the joint working with the local authority and GwE over the difficult period of the pandemic.  During this difficult period GwE supported the local authority by introducing and supporting Risk Assessment procedures and producing guidance for using Live Streaming in classes.  The Anglesey Team working principle is fundamental to the clear approach and lines of communication between everyone.  As a result, specific support has been tailored to the needs of every school and subsequent actions are very robust.  GwE Advisors have been in regular contact with individual Head teachers to offer support as required.  He further reported that attempting to ensure that the Welsh language does not lose ground has been at the forefront during this period, and both GwE and the Learning Service have endeavoured to support schools.  There are numerous examples of schools supporting non-Welsh speaking parents in order to ensure that pupils continue to be exposed to the language over the period.  These examples include sharing good practice through purposeful videos with school staff reading stories and sharing videos to support the Welsh language oral development via Google Classroom. 

 

Mr Williams further reported on the Primary Sector and noted that collaboration structures amongst nearly all of the Island’s schools have been successfully developed over the period of the pandemic.  In co-operation with GwE, groups of primary Head teachers and school management teams in several catchment areas in Anglesey have been collaborating on writing and driving an urgent priority and long-term priorities in areas such a Well-being, Welsh orally and Curriculum for Wales’ preparations.  Not only does this ensure the sharing of good practices amongst schools, it also ensures that the education system continues to develop capacity for self-improvement.  Primary schools in one catchment area in the northern part of the Island have been trialling ‘Live Streaming’ techniques over the lockdown.  Supported by the Learning Service and GwE, they went on the produce a guidance protocol for all schools.  This is regarded as successful practice to be shared across the Region and they have since created a Webinar to provide guidance to all schools in North Wales.  Primary Schools have been making effective use of the ‘Accelerated Learning’ resources in order to develop their basic skills after a period of not being able to access regular formal education.  All School’s on Anglesey have been successfully developing their staff to use technology to continue with learning. 

 

Mrs Sharon Vaughan reported on the Secondary Sector reported that there has been an intense focus across every secondary school on upskilling staff for them to have the appropriate skills to get pupils to engage in effective digital learning.  This has been done formally via training days, informal and voluntary training.  There has been a staggering improvement in the digital skills of staff across the five secondary schools on the Island, and an impressive amount of work has been undertaken in a relatively short period.  Some schools choose to stream some lessons live to groups of pupils others have used a more blended approach with some live lessons, some non-simultaneous learning via pre-recorded videos or PowerPoint presentations and tasks through the virtual classroom.  Attendance in lessons have been monitored in the five secondary schools through SIMS or Class Charts and parents have been contacted in the case of pupils’ non-attendance. 

 

Mr Rhys Williams reported on the Special Education Service on Anglesey and said that the Authority has responded successfully to the diverse needs of the children and young people in their care.  Based on careful and comprehensive risk assessments, they have set the wellbeing of learners, their families, staff and the wider school community as a main priority and have successfully acted to support them.  The extra commitment shown during weekends and school holidays has been a feature of this support and is best practice within the ALN sector.  Curriculum revisions and other revisions have continued at a sensible pace during the period, and current improvement plans reflect a set of honest and achievable aspirations in the context of the pandemic. 

 

Mrs Catrin Roberts, GwE reported on the development of the Welsh language to the Committee. She expressed that there is concern within schools as to the effect on the Welsh language even in areas that the language is strong due to the pandemic and pupils not within the school environment.  There is a need to increase the use of the Welsh language formally and informally.  Teachers plan and prepare bilingual instructions for pupils with voice overs so that pupils can hear the Welsh language, listen to and follow instructions.  It is important to ensure that teachers have access to the best resources for promoting distance learning and blended learning and to ensure opportunities for pupils to hear and to speak the Welsh language.  Digital guidance is shared and training for teachers is afforded on how to use Hwb software, such as Goggle Classroom, Screencastify, Adobe Spark, Flipgrid and webinars for their professional development.  She further noted that there are bilingual tasks set out for parents to support children in learning and understanding the needs of the tasks.

 

The Committee considered the report and made the following points:-

 

·      Questions raised as to how the Learning Service and GwE adapted their ways of working as a result of the pandemic to respond to the requirement of Anglesey’s children and young people, and to provide them with the best possible education.  It was expressed that there are pressures on parents who are having to work at home and with more than one child that needs to be encouraged to attend virtual lessons and completing work on-line; there have been concerns that some digital provision has been better in some schools.  Mrs Sharon Vaughan, GwE responded that there are some inconsistencies nationally within schools due to the pandemic.  GwE has been affording guidelines to support schools locally and since the lockdown.  Within Anglesey there are strong links with the GwE Advisors in supporting schools and especially those schools which have requested support.  Good practices have been shared between schools on Anglesey through meetings in the Primary and Secondary sectors and even though the professional learning programme has been reduced this year but it is still comprehensive and does meet the needs of the situation that is face due to the pandemic;

·      Reference was made that hopefully that schools will be opening gradually in the near future.  Questions were raised as to how the Learning Service and GwE will continue to monitor and evaluate the quality of learning provision on the Island.  Mr Rhys Williams, GwE responded that in respect of monitoring the learning provision it is envisaged that blended learning will continue and schools have already addressed this issue.  It has been a challenging situation with GwE been unable to visit schools and contact is made with Head Teachers and staff to support and guide them in matters that have been working well and not so well together with internal processes the schools have in place.  The Director of Education, Skills and Young People said that there are strategic forums within schools which afford discussions and monitoring on issues faced by the schools.  A Quality Board is currently operational aswell with challenging matters raised between Portfolio Holders, Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive and GwE;

·      Concerns were raised as to the support for pupils with special needs and pupils who require additional educational support.  Questions were raised as to the support afforded by GwE to standardise the support for these pupils.  The Senior Manager – Special Educational Needs & Inclusion responded that a member of staff within each school has a role to raise any concerns as regards to any pupil that needs support.  The Team within the schools afford support to pupils and parents as regards to distance learning. Support is also given as regards to mental health and wellbeing and speech and language provisions.  The Director of Education, Skills and Young People said that there has been an increase in pupils who have now needed special education needs who may have not have require support before the pandemic and some children having difficulties in coping with the situation.  He noted that work has been undertaken by the services of the Authority together with local businesses in affording children with IT hardware to enable them to engage with distance learning.  However, if they are having difficulties in engaging with distance learning they are supported, together with their parents, in using the technology provided.    The Senior Manager – Primary said that 130 laptops and 120 Wi-Fi units have been afforded to pupils and the IT service is continuing to refurbish available technology together with over 2,000 chrome books afforded through the Hub grant to support pupils;

·      Reference was made that some children are better in assimilating information than others and will prosper with virtual learning.  Questions were raised as to how the Learning Service and GwE will be able to monitor and support pupils that have not been able to absorb distance learning and to enable these pupils to catch up with other pupils.  Mr Rhys Williams, GwE responded that there is a ‘Fast-track’ system which looks upon basic skills in literacy and numeracy and the role of GwE is to support schools to identify pupils that need additional educational provision when they return to school in future;

·      Reference was made that there has been uncertainty for pupils who are to be taking GCSE’s and AS and A level examinations and it seems that these pupils have lost faith in the educational processes.  Questions were raised as to the support GwE and the Learning Services can be given to these pupils. The Director of Education, Skills and Young People responded that the Anglesey Team wants to see the pupils back in school as it is safe to do so and there is a tracking system in place to monitor if the pupils are engaging in virtual learning and to able to learn and develop whilst the resources is afforded to them.  Mrs Sharon Vaughan, GwE said that attendance of pupils in virtual learning is monitored by the schools.  Secondary Schools will now have to gather evidence for examination boards on each pupil but there is still no guidance from WJEC nor Qualifications Wales.  The Senior Manager – Welfare said that the Authority is engaging with activities outside educational spectrum and young people are unable to attend clubs and sports facilities at present.

 

·           An Estyn terms of reference report regarding the work of the Authority to support learning communities within schools since March 2020

 

The Director of Education, Skills and Young People reported that this report refers to leadership and collaboration and it states that the Authority is effective in communicating with stakeholders and in supporting the welfare of staff and pupils at Anglesey Schools.  He noted that Estyn has referred to ‘Tim Môn’ and noted that the team shares a strong vision which supports both autonomy and collaboration in schools to achieve the best for the pupils. 

 

Councillor T Ll Hughes MBE said that he considered that a press release should be afforded to highlight the good work achieved by the Learning Services with the support of GwE and Estyn in achieving the best possible education for the pupils of the schools on Anglesey.

 

The Leader of the Council said that she and the Portfolio Holder for Education have been pressurising the examination boards for clarity as regards to examinations for pupils this year and next year.  She considered that it would be beneficial that a letter expressing these concerns be sent to Welsh Government.

 

It was RESOLVED to approve:-

 

·      GwE’s progress report for 2020/21;

·      Estyn’s terms of reference report regarding the Authority’s work in supporting its learning communities in schools since March 2020.

·      That a letter be sent on behalf of the Committee to Welsh Government expressing disappointment and concerns that there is no plan in place as regards to GCSE’s and A Level examinations for the Summer of 2022.

 

 

Supporting documents: