Agenda item
Cardiff's Schools Categorisation Report 2019
To carry out the performance review scrutiny of the Cardiff’s Schools Categorisation 2019, together with plans for the future.
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Councillor Sarah Merry (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member, Education, Employment and Skills, and Nick Batchelar (Director, Education and Lifelong Learning) and Michele Duddridge Hossain (Operational Manager, School Organisational Planning) to the meeting.
The Chairperson invited Councillor Merry to make a statement in which she referred to the aspiration that all schools are in the green category. The new arrangements will be robust, coherent and transparent; we are still struggling with what some of the new measures will mean in practice.
The Director referred to the comment that 72.3% of all Cardiff schools inspected by Estyn, during the seven-year inspection cycle ending as at the last academic year, were judged to be Good or Excellent for Standards or Current Performance, but stated that all schools should be good or excellent and advised that annual inspection results by sector can be misleading when turning percentages into numbers.
The Committee were invited to comment, seek clarification or raise questions on the information received. Those discussions were summarised as follows:
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Members discussed the role of Challenge Advisors and the importance of providing feedback. It is important that Challenge Advisors understand that they are part of a wider team ensuring better education in Cardiff. School improvement cannot be considered without considering the wider context.
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Members discussed the review of the consortium arrangements which is due to be reported back to Committee before Easter, looking at role distinction, respective roles and what the future of the consortium should look like. Members raised concerns about there being an overlap in duties; a need for more clarity in responsibility and general quality of service; the importance of it serving the needs of Cardiff; regional tensions
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Members noted that the future improvement in education does require development of the workforce – teachers who are able to teach differently and leaders who have the right skills. School to school linking has positive benefits, and being part of regional arrangements does mean a large pool to draw from. It does help to prepare schools to taken on the ALN changes on a regional basis. |
AGREED: That the Chair writes to the Cabinet Member on behalf of the Committee expressing their comments and observations discussed during the Way Forward.
Supporting documents:
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Cardiff's Schools Performance and Categorisation Cover Report, item 82.
PDF 60 KB -
App A - National Categorisation Report CYP Scrutiny, item 82.
PDF 210 KB
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App B - Future Accountability Measures and an update on Curriculum Developments, item 82.
PDF 735 KB
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App B1 - Draft evaluation and improvement accountability arrangements for Wales, item 82.
PDF 335 KB
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