To receive and consider the Estyn Thematic Review on Covid.
Minutes:
Documents Considered:
Estyn Thematic Review – Covid
Education Response to Covid 19 and Lessons Learned.
Issues Discussed:
· The report covers the issues which had to be addressed such as emergency childcare hubs, collaborative working, health and safety, task and finish group between services working with the Unions. The report shows the themes which came out of all aspects of the work.
· Digital learning – there were different ways of delivering digital learning and it was learned that this was dependent on the needs at the time.
· Impact of new ways of working including collaboration and consultation.
· Well-being was a key priority for lessons learned and will be key priority moving forwards.
· Team around the hub which became the Team around the cluster and how effective this was for joint delivery of support to vulnerable learners.
· There are key themes from both reports regarding how the authority works with its schools.
· Digital working and new ways of working led to a different way of engaging with schools and has had a positive impact.
Question |
Response |
It was identified that there were pupils that were digitally disadvantaged. Are those pupils still digitally disadvantaged today outside the pandemic by comparisons to others in the same cohort. Are you maintaining a log of those pupils so if we are in the same position again we can respond to them quickly and how are we supporting them today if they have no access to the internet at home. |
Resources were provided to pupils during Covid. Out of 880 families, over 1300 devices were distributed to those families. Some found it difficult to get connectivity even though they were provided with wi-fi devices. Schools then adjusted how they supported these pupils as well. Some were considered to be vulnerable learners so they could access the childcare hubs at schools. Others allowed them to come into the school to download work so they could work at home although not online. Schools continue to have updated lists of pupils with digital connectivity issues so if pupils need to move to distance or blended learning they address the learning needs for those pupils. |
For those pupils who are digitally disadvantaged, are we monitoring their performance and are we taking this digital advantage into account if they are not progressing as expected. Is this a new risk indicator which should be monitored. |
All schools will be tracking their pupils' performance so will be ensuring that all pupils can access their learning outside school either digitally or on-line and making adjustments to make sure that that the pupils are not being disadvantaged. Currently when the school improvement advisors visit schools they ask about pupils who did not engage in learning or those who found it difficult to access learning. Those who were able to access the childcare hubs or to be engaged in their learning have progressed well and most of those are returning to where they are expected to be in terms of progress. Those who disengaged in their learning for a number of reasons have found it more difficult to re-engage in their learning as they have returned to school, and schools are using their accelerated learning grant to target interventions to assist those pupils. |
Training undertaken to support children with their health and well-being - what monitoring has there been of that training. Will this training be continued and monitored going forward and how it impacts on a pupil's progress. |
Training has changed due to the needs of well-being and because health and well-being is central to the curriculum for Wales. The Welsh Government has released its whole school approach to emotional health and well-being for schools and therefore the focus on this was going to change. The report contains a list of the types of training being offered but this is not a one-off. The authority is committed to rolling out the trauma informed approaches to all schools. In addition, the authority is utilising grant money to ensure a system of supervision of those working with pupils. These are now permanent features in schools, but it is important that schools focus on its particular needs. In terms of evaluation the authority has moved to using the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation, to be able to assess what is and not working well. Therefore, there is a stronger method of evaluating the training that is being delivered. Anecdotally and through data it is clear that the pandemic has had some impact on the behaviour of pupils, and pupils presenting with greater needs and the authority is needing to respond to that. |
This is a positive report and the Service has changed and improved things as the pandemic has progressed. What is not in the lessons learned report is what the Service might do differently in the future if this happened again. |
The Service's Management Team has reviewed and evaluated what happened over the pandemic. One of the things changed was following a review of the cluster hubs following the first lockdown, and when hubs were required a second time they were based on the pupils' own school. The way the authority responded to the pandemic was good, and what has been learned has been positive. Collaboration works and has been effective and improved during the pandemic. Digital working has been effective for communications. With hindsight there are not many things that the authority would do differently. This was also dependent on the support provided to the Schools Service by other Council services. Every time we go into the next phase of the pandemic we have adjusted what we do and have had to adapt each time. The strength of this is the work which has been done with the schools and the authority has been supported by and worked in unison with the schools. This is the most important thing learned. |
With the dependency on technology, how much has this improved. With the changes in the provision of ICT, as ICT is so important in schools, it is hoped that we get changes to ICT right and schools are supported. |
The authority is still working with schools to ensure that by the end of term they will have selected an IT provider for their hardware service. Powys will continue to support their core services. There is a need to make sure that schools have quality equipment for pupils to access especially as digital skills is one of the key skills in the new curriculum.
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Pupil performance – the majority of pupils at the level at which they are expected to be. How confident are you of that. Are there any particular geographic areas which have highlighted issues. How is the accelerated learning grant being spent and are there assurances that pupils will be progressing as expected in 18 months' time. |
Cannot give assurances into the future. Schools are indicating that at the end of the summer term most pupils were re-engaging with their work and were at a level they were expected to be. Since the autumn school improvement advisors have been able to get into schools and talk to staff and pupils and see work being produced by pupils and further assessments. This is where the assurance is coming from that things are returning to where they should be, i.e. information from schools and verification by advisors. In relation to accelerated learning grants, schools have been asked what they are spending it on and what impact it is having on pupils. However, there are still pupils who have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and need extra support. |
PPE and safety of staff and pupils. During the pandemic there have only been a few instances of classes and schools closing. Can you give an assurance that the well-being of pupils and staff will be given a long term priority as we move out of the current wave of Covid. |
Yes the authority has taken a cautious approach throughout the pandemic. The Service has worked with schools and teaching unions to ensure that health and safety and well-being issues were addressed. As restrictions are lifted the authority will continue to work cautiously and ensure that risks are minimised. |
The second report was requested so that the learning was captured and available for new Members moving into the new Council. Would you consider working with the Emergency Planning team to turn this lessons learned document into a working contingency plan for any future pandemic. |
The Director of Education commented that this document could be annexed to the Service's business continuity plans.
ACTION: recommended that the lessons learned document be developed into a working contingency plan for any future pandemic. |
Comments:
· Pleased to see this report and Estyn recognise how quickly the authority moved and embraced digital working and how much progress has been made. This also reflects how the school community has changed its way of working and that the interactions and partnerships have moved forwards after Covid and are transitioning into business as usual.
· This more cluster based working is positive as far as delivery of the new curriculum is concerned.
· Even with the pandemic the Service continued with business as usual and made significant improvements following the improvement journey required as a result of the pervious Estyn inspection. An example is ALN where previously it was a service that needed significant improvement to now being seen by Estyn as an example of a service that should be shared with other authorities.
· The Chair commended the Director of Education for her interaction and openness with scrutiny and group leaders during the pandemic.
· The Chair highlighted the work of the ALN team and the significant level of improvement achieved since the Estyn inspection. The Chair paid tribute to the team for this improvement.
Outcomes:
Recommended that the lessons learned document be developed into a working contingency plan for any future pandemic.
Supporting documents: