Agenda item

The Committee considered a report detailing a Community Impact Assessment of the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact on our children and young people and the Department/Council’s response to the challenges faced over the last six months.

Whilst the report did not cover all aspects of the Department’s work since March, it provided an insight into some of the challenges and the solutions developed to address those challenges.

The Committee noted that the department’s services and schools continue to be under pressure as a result of Covid-19.

The following questions/observations were raised on the report:-

·         There is much mention of long covid and officers were asked how much this is taken into account in relation to the future of children currently in primary and secondary schools and the knock on effect of the pandemic on literacy and numeracy.  The Director informed the Committee that this is an issue which has been considered since early September.  Officers are working hard with headteachers to keep schools open, however, the wellbeing of children remains a priority.  Funding has been received from the Welsh Government to support children and young people leading to the employment of an additional 28 teachers and 49 teaching assistants across our schools. Meetings are held weekly with headteachers to look at this issue and to prepare strategies.  Assistance will be in place for quite some time to see schools through this and to support them through this challenging period.  The Head of Curriculum and Wellbeing advised that the department had recently published a Wellbeing Strategy which detailed the various measures available to support children and staff.  With regard to literacy and numeracy, these form part of the teaching plans.  He added that officers are looking carefully at this and are discussing various methods of which could help e.g. accelerated learning;

·         Concern was expressed regarding the fact that many nurseries are going through a very difficult time at the moment and some may be forced to close and the subsequent impact this will have on people going back to work.  The Director informed the Committee that officers have been supporting pre-school providers since the onset of the pandemic so that key works were able to go to work.  Grants have been given to some of them to ensure that they continue to survive.  Unfortunately, only a small percentage of businesses managed to obtain the WG issued Childcare Providers Grant because the criteria were difficult to meet. WG are therefore looking to open that up.  Grants are also available from the County Council and have been issued to 88 businesses to date;

·         With regard to the initiative whereby computer equipment is provided to school children during lockdown, officers were asked how this scheme is implemented.  The Executive Board Member explained that it became apparent that there were many pupils who were disadvantaged because they did not have access to IT equipment at home and so the initiative began.  IT kit was collected from the various schools and provided to children in need of it.  The Director explained that it was a huge undertaking as the need was underestimated.  The Head of Curriculum and Wellbeing added that IT kit was rolled out in three tranches, two during the summer term and as the demand was higher than anticipated, a third tranche was added at the beginning of the Autumn term. Some requests are still being received and the system of IT kit provision has moved from being centralised to a local system;

·         With regard to the results of the parental survey, concern was expressed that only 6% stated that the biggest impact of covid was thinking about university or college and concern was expressed that it was evident that not enough responses were received from secondary school parents and officers were asked if an emphasis could be put on these respondents the next time a survey is undertaken.  The Director informed the Committee that respondents were asked if they would be willing to contribute again and most said that they would.  Additionally, some schools do their own surveys and collect the information locally. If a further survey is undertaken then officers could cater for secondary schools specifically.  The Director welcomed the decision taken not to hold examinations this year, bearing in mind the effect of the last few months.  The challenge now will be ensuring that there is solid evidence in relation to grades allocated;

·         Reference was made to the increase of 19.2% in the number of new social care contacts and the increase of 26.6% for safeguarding compared to the same period last year.  The Director informed the Committee that Children’s Services was one of the only sections that did not close down over the past few months.  There was a reduction in referrals across Wales but we did not see that dip in Carmarthenshire;  

·         It was noted that the most concerning cases continued to receive support throughout lockdown and officers were asked if any contact was made with the other families either by phone or meeting remotely.  The Head of Children’s Services explained that in view of the inevitable impact on services, families were graded red, amber or green and despite lockdown visits continued to be undertaken to those families in the highest category.  Risk assessments were undertaken and social distancing rules observed.  For those families in the lower categories, video calls and telephone calls were used to keep in touch and provide necessary support.  The Director added that vulnerable learners were also rated red, amber or green to ensure that they had access to assistance like childcare and free school meals;

·         Reference was made to children’s wellbeing and the fact that there is more pressure on some children because they have problems at home and officers were asked if the counselling service is being provided because the school have been closed.  The Director explained that counselling has been available virtually throughout the period and funding has been received to expanding the counselling service.  The situation is being monitored closely via educational psychologists.  Wellbeing is high on the department’s list of priorities, not only for staff but also for learners;

·         Concern was expressed that there appeared to be inconsistency throughout the county with regard to distance learning and officers were asked if best practice is being shared so that all schools are aware of the expectations.  The Executive Board Member stressed that it is up to individual headteachers to lead on this and there is an expectation that this is happening.  School leaders have to give clear and firm instructions to their staff with regard to what is expected.  The Director explained that examples of best practice demonstrated during the most recent lock down has been collected and shared with all schools.  He added that unfortunately some children have not engaged with distance learning and that is a challenge.  ERW has also created a bank of resources to support distance learning;

·         With regard to distance learning, the importance was stressed of teachers logging into any modules they have prepared to view them from the pupils’ perspective to see what it looks like as quite often modules are inaccessible.  Officers were asked how distance learning is going to be monitored.  The Director explained that Headteachers have been advised that one of their key challenges is that they need to monitor their distance learning on a regular basis.  In some schools reports are provided on a weekly basis outlining the learning that has taken place that week.  The department has also advised governors that they should be checking what is happening at their school with regards to distance/blended learning. He added that this would need to be monitored on an on-going basis to ensure consistency;

·         Concern was expressed that some children are returning to school following a period of isolation imposed by the school only to be told that they should not have returned but the family had not been contacted by TTP. The Director explained that as the virus attacks without warning, it makes things very difficult.  Our priority is to keep pupils and staff safe and we have to react immediately.  He agreed that communication in such instances should be done on numerous platforms and schools should be aware if a pupil has issues with receiving communications such as no wifi or poor mobile signal;

·         Asked about the present position in relation to absenteeism, the Director informed the Committee that it was a cause for concern in September/beginning of October, however, attendance has since improved and was currently over 90%. Officers were also undertaking a process of reconnecting with families who are still a bit anxious about sending their children back to school.  Some parents have decided not to send their children back to school and although the Authority is not using its statutory powers in such instances, schools and Local Authority officers were actively endeavouring to reconnect and work with these families;

·         Concern was expressed with regard to the 563 families who are entitled to claim free school meals have not done so. The Director advised the Committee that schools are working with officers in order to assist these families to access what they are entitled to. 

The Chair took the opportunity, on behalf of the Committee, to thank all the headteachers, teachers and school staff throughout the county, for everything they have done over the past few months in the battle to keep our schools open and our children safe in the battle against the pandemic.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED that the report be received.