Agenda item

A verbal update on activities was provided to the Committee by the Lead Director and Managing Director of ERW.

It was explained that an independent person, who had been a Director of Education in Caerphilly Council, had been commissioned to review the structure and capacity of ERW. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the right model was in place going forward, especially with the development of the new Successful Futures curriculum. It was noted that there could be some changes to the employment and number of Challenge Advisers and support staff in the area.

It was reported that there had been some productive meetings with Estyn regarding changes to the inspection processes so that they fitted better with the visits to schools that already took place. It was also noted that Estyn were willing to have discussions around accountability measures.

Concern was expressed regarding Level 2+ being the national educational focus and the impact this had on the more able and talented pupils. It was asked how ERW was planning to address this. It was agreed that this was the case as the threshold had been set at grade C and schools would focus on pupils achieving this grade. In addition, the early indicators of the PISA outcomes were indicating that few youngsters in Wales were achieving the higher (level 7) outcomes. It was recognised that it was important to maximise the potential of every child and a piece of work was going to be undertaken with the aim of utilising target setting more dynamically rather than it being a retrospective exercise. It was also explained that it had to be ensured that tracking systems within schools worked well to identify what support pupils required. It was pointed out that Welsh Government had to be clear on what was the national expectation. For example, in order for schools to address pupils achieving the higher end results additional resources would be required to ensure that it was not at the detriment of other pupils.

It was queried how the different skills sets for PISA and GCSEs could be reconciled. The Lead Director for ERW explained that the new curriculum should be more aligned to meet both skills sets and ensure there were transferrable skills for the workplace. The Managing Director of ERW highlighted that the new curriculum was an exciting opportunity to change education in Wales. It was noted that there was some good work being trialled within pioneer schools. Reassurance had been given to non-pioneer schools that they would not fall behind. Some concern was expressed that teacher training colleges were not up to speed with the requirements of the new curriculum. It was agreed that that a progress update on the development of the new curriculum would be provided at a future meeting.

It was suggested that gaming by schools took place to try to maximise points for a child rather than considering the quality of the qualifications being undertaken. The Managing Director of ERW highlighted that that they were aware of some concerns, which were taken into consideration as ERW made judgements on the categorisation process.

Feedback was provided from the Improvement Conference and the Peer Review that were undertaken in Pembrokeshire. It was felt that the Peer Review had been very beneficial and other local authorities were interested in undertaking similar exercises. Members that had attended the Improvement Conference had found it useful and recognised that a lot of work was involved in holding the conference. It was noted the Estyn would be reviewing the benefits of the conferences once all three pilots had taken place.

It was noted that the Estyn’s Annual Report had been misinterpreted by the press and the four regions had completed a piece of work to explain the information behind the headlines. This information was available on the ERW website and it was agreed that it would be circulated to the Committee.

AGREED that the report be received and accepted.