Agenda and minutes

Minute of the meeting of 20 August 2015 to be approved and signed by the Chairman. (Copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of 20 August 2015.

DECISION

NOTED for signature by the Chairman.

With reference to paragraph 2.7 of the Minute on Non Schooling and Home Schooling and the amount of maintenance allowance payable to parents who were home educating their child/children, the Service Director Children and Young People advised that this information would be provided to Members by the end of the week.

DECISION

NOTED.

Presentation by Service Director Children and Young People.      Headteachers will also be present to provide information and to respond to questions.  (Background papers attached).

With reference to paragraph 6(a)(iv) of the Minute of 26 March 2015, the Chairman welcomed Ms Donna Manson, Service Director Children and Young People.  Mr Kevin McClory, Headteacher Hawick High School; Ms J Gordon, Headteacher, Drumlanrig Primary School and  Ms A Findlay, Headteacher, Clovenfords and Stow Primary Schools were also present at the meeting to give a presentation on Attainment Levels in Schools in Deprived Areas. There had been circulated copies of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report – Closing the Attainment Gap in Scottish Education; Raising the Attainment for All Vision document and Closing the Gap leaflet.  

2.2       Mr McClory began by stating that his presentation focused on Hawick High School, as this was located in the most deprived area in the Scottish Borders with 30% of pupils in SIMD 1 and 2.  Mr McClory explained that the key reasons for rising child poverty included cuts to welfare benefits, low pay and lack of secure employment.  However, teachers could make a difference in how poverty impacted on children and young people by taking action to remove barriers which pupils from low income families faced at school.   Mr McClory referred to statistical information which showed Hawick High School in relation to other schools in the Scottish Borders. As Hawick High School was the only school named on the two slides, with the others anonymised, Members requested that these two slides be re-issued to them with the names of the schools on the graphs.  The statistics showed that staying on rates had dramatically increased.  Although the school provided opportunities, such as an inclusive curriculum, this demonstrated that pupils were concerned about future opportunities.  Free meal entitlement (FME) had also increased by 13.9%.    Mr McClory went on to advise that the school had carried out a Values Consultation with teachers, parents and pupils which had determined the key values for Hawick High School to be Determination, Ambition, Respect and Effort.    The school had also decided on a motto – ‘Dare to Dream, Dare to Succeed’; everything the school did was now based around this motto.  Mr McClory continued that the school had used a risk matrix to profile pupils from their first year to their final year.  This had enabled the school to monitor pupils and determine those at risk of being disengaged from the learning process.

2.3     Mr McClory advised that Deprivation Funding had been used to address barriers to learning caused by difficulties in accessing appropriate school resources(school stationery, equipment, clothing and supplementing school trips).  The Funding also enabled the school to provide coaching and mentoring programmes for disadvantaged and underachieving pupils; supported children so that they became fully engaged in school and community life; delivered parental engagement programmes and delivered innovative learning experiences which raised educational attainment, promoted attendance and encouraged positive engagement.  The school had also introduced systems to address the attainment gap with targeted support, assertive mentoring and supported study.  Mr McClory continued by referring to statistical information which showed that in Hawick  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Presentation by Service Director Children and Young People. (Background papers attached).

With reference to paragraph 6(a)(ix) of the Minute of 26 March 2015, the Chairman welcomed Mr Roger Barrow, Principal Psychologist, to the meeting to give a presentation on Mainstream Schools and Children with Complex Additional Support Needs.  There had been circulated the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Acts 2004 and 2009; Implementation of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) and the Supporting Children’s Learning Code of Practice.  Mr Barrow also circulated a private paper at the meeting showing the number of pupils in each resource for additional support needs.  Mr Barrow began his presentation by advising that the New Bill increased the emphasis in terms of the rights of children and young people. The complexities required to be addressed for Additional Support Needs (ASN) included children with motor or sensory impairments, learning disabilities, having emotional or social difficulties, living with parents who were abusing substances or had mental health problems.  Mr Barrow advised that in the Scottish Borders 25% of children required ASN rather than the national average of 21%.  Mr Barrow continued that the Scottish Borders was the fourth most rural local authority and had not a developed school infrastructure which characterised many larger city services.  However, with a large number of small schools they had developed support which could be flexibly deployed for a wide range of needs over time.  Mr Barrow emphasised that the main point was not the specific label attached to a child but the nature of the provision for that child.  There was a wide range of services available to support the child including the Educational Psychology Service, Sensory Team, Spectrum support and the Complex Needs Transition Service which was specifically for older children to support their transition to college.   Mr Barrow went on to discuss dyslexia which had increased through the years.  One of the reasons for this was that the Scottish Government had introduced a definition of dyslexia which had a much broader base than previously.  Mr Barrow summarised the main duties of the Additional Needs Multi-agency Team (ANMaT) which included policy and practice guidance and protocols.  Mr Barrow concluded his presentation by advising that they were focusing on inclusion and the reintegration of children with ASN within education, the provision of two new positions, one senior lead officer for ASN and a lead officer for inclusion would assist with this project.  

3.2     Ms Manson clarified that ASN had previously been located under Social Work services but was now being managed in the new structure in Education services.  It was important to learn from strategies to ensure that they targeted the right level of support to the individual child.  It was vital that every member of staff working with children with ASN had the necessary training and skills to do so.  A framework of indicators was in place to measure school performance, one of the key areas being inclusion and working with families.  In answer to Members’ questions Ms Manson advised that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Minute of the Meeting of 20 August 2015 refers. 

With reference to paragraph 3 of the Minute of 20 August 2015, there had been circulated an updated list of subjects which the Scrutiny Committee had asked to review and which included the source of the request, the stage the process had reached and the date, identified, of the Scrutiny meeting at which the information would be presented. It was noted that the next Scrutiny Committee would review the Religious Observance Policy and Faith Schools.  The Clerk to the Council advised that the Petitions and Deputations Committee would be considering a petition on the Great Tapestry of Scotland at its next meeting on 1 October 2015.  It was agreed to present an update to the next Scrutiny Committee on the outcome of that Petitions and Deputations Committee meeting.  Scrutiny Committee would then agree whether or how it would progress any further review as requested by Ettrick and Yarrow Community Council. 

            DECISION

            AGREED

(a)          the proposed list of subject for review by Scrutiny Committee, as appended to the Minute and any further actions detailed against particular reviews;

(b)          to present an update to the next Scrutiny Committee on the outcome of the Petitions and Deputations Committee consideration of the petition on the Great Tapestry of Scotland and to consider whether or how to progress any further review by Scrutiny; and

(c)          to advise Ettrick and Yarrow Community Council that an update would be presented to the next Scrutiny Committee.