REPRESENTING RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL MANAGEMENT

Councillor E Rodden; Councillor J Paterson, T McGillivray, Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) (Joint Secretary); J Calder, Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate); J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development); A Hall, Education Manager (Development); M Thomas, Education Manager (Development); K Henry, Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy (All Education and Childrens Services); L Mullin, Principal HR and OD Adviser (Finance & Resources).

REPRESENTING RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL TEACHING STAFF

K Fella (Joint Secretary), Y Murray, M Russell, D Tollan, (all EIS) and L Gibson (NASUWT).

 

Hilary Paterson, Craig Carson, John Paul Tonner, Tracey Millar, Stephen McCrossan.

 

There were no declarations of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

In accordance with the terms of the local recognition and procedure agreement, which
stated that the Chair of the Committee should alternate between the two sides
comprising the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff, it
was agreed that Councillor Emma Rodden would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

DECIDED: That Councillor Emma Rodden chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.

 

There was submitted the Minute of the previous meeting held on 7 June 2022.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

 

There were no matters arising from the Minute of the previous meeting on 7 June 2022.

 

There was submitted a report by the Head of Education relative to Renfrewshire's Leadership Strategy.

The report outlined that since 2017 in Renfrewshire, the Scottish Attainment Challenge had provided a significant opportunity to focus on the importance of leadership in attempting to tackle poverty and close the poverty related attainment gap.

Renfrewshire's Leadership Strategy "Leading and Learning Together" was last updated in 2014. Since then there have been numerous developments which impacted on teacher leadership such as the National Model for Professional Learning, Renfrewshire's Aspiring Leaders Programme and updated national and local guidance for teacher's Professional Review and Development (PRD) and Professional Update (PU).

Staff across all sectors, including senior leaders and trade union representatives were consulted to produce a new draft strategy, "Learning and Leading Together" which had the aim of continuing to build on the successful work of the attainment challenge and enhance the leadership attributes of all staff.

Concerns were raised regarding professional development challenges faced by newly qualified teachers (NQTs) and early career teachers due to the lack of jobs available. It was stated that there needed to be sufficient support and professional development for teachers at all levels of their careers who wished to progress, whilst recognising the contribution of those who wished to remain at class teacher level rather than move into leadership roles.

 

It was stated that the Authority was very proud and appreciative of the work of all their teachers and schools and that the monthly updated Health and Wellbeing Blog plus Twitter feeds were some of the sources where schools' work was celebrated. It was explained that the Leadership Strategy Update document was intended to provide a list of opportunities and sample paths available to those wishing to progress but that it was not exclusive or relevant to all.

There was a discussion on flexible route staff; it was advised that professional learning opportunities would be available to those staff provided they notified the Authority they were taking this route. It was observed that the numbers of NQTs taking this flexible approach were low.

The relevance of completion of mandatory courses such as those on ILearn was queried and it was advised that it was a requirement that all Council staff complete these, as specified by the Chief Executive, however they did not all need to be completed in one session.

It was requested that the Leadership Strategy document be produced with coloured boxes surrounding the text rather than the full text contained within coloured sections to ensure this could be more easily read by all, this was agreed.

It was agreed that revised Leadership Strategy be approved and would be edited to be published in terms of the amended colour layout discussed.

DECIDED: That the revised Leadership Strategy be approved and published with the amended colour layout.

 

There was submitted a report by the Head of Education relative to the revised Devolved School Management (DSM) Scheme.

The report provided an update to members on the revised DSM Scheme which was approved by the Education and Children's Services Policy Board on 18 August 2022.

DSM was introduced in 1993 to enhance and improve the management of resources at school level. Schools benefited from the introduction of DSM as they had greater control over budgets resulting in a more effective response to local needs.

In June 2017, the Scottish Government consulted on changes to DSM as part of the wider "Fair Funding to Achieve Excellence and Equity in Education" consultation with updated DSM guidelines published in 2019.

Following publication of these revised DSM guidelines a working group was established to review the Council's existing DSM scheme. The revised scheme, as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report, reflected the Council's priorities and requirements of the Scottish Government's new DSM guidelines. The scheme was simplified to ensure greater transparency regarding how school budgets were calculated and allocated to schools.

It was suggested that all schools should have a finance committee to make decisions on matters which impact the day to day working of the school, thus enabling school staff to discuss and plan how best to allocate resources to meet their requirements. Clear cut policies around absence cover to mitigate disruption caused by absence were also requested.

The Education Manager (Development) concurred with these comments and advised that improvement plans were being reviewed to ensure sufficient resources to support these areas.

Concern was expressed in respect of the schools' IT budgets, decisions on the provision of equipment and IT support being removed from schools and being planned at a Corporate level which may not suit every school's needs.

The Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate) advised that additional funding had been utilised to provide IT equipment and support including the imminent installation of a new high speed broadband. Centralisation of the IT budget ensured the Council achieved best value in terms of procurement. It was stated that if any schools had issues regarding the provision of equipment/support that these be raised in the first instance with their Head Teachers.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

 

There was submitted a report by the Head of Education relative to an update on Additional Support Needs.

The report outlined that, on 18 January 2018, the Education and Children's Services Policy Board agreed that a strategic review of educational provision and approaches in Renfrewshire to support children and young people with additional support needs would be undertaken. The purpose of this report was to provide the Committee with an update on the Lessons Learned from the ASN Review and on how those lessons would be used to improve the wellbeing and learning of children and young people with additional support needs in mainstream school settings.

The Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) advised of a piece of work currently being undertaken, led by a Head Teacher, which involved 15 schools working with the Authority to develop a manageable framework. A full programme of training was also being developed.

To enhance communication, it was agreed that ASN become a standard item at regular meetings between the Joint Secretaries to help shape and meet the various needs in this area, both for teachers and pupils, going forward. Regular working group updates will be provided to all Head Teachers. It was agreed that the report be noted.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

 

There was submitted a report by the Head of Education relative to the Scottish Attainment Challenge: framework for recovery and accelerating progress, which was published by the Scottish Government on 30 March 2022.

The Framework was developed to support the next phase of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. The report outlined its aims, which included the collective commitment to equity in education, to mitigate the impact of poverty on children's outcomes and to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap.

This area of work was being led by the Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate). A general discussion took place around Scottish Government funding being distributed across all 32 Councils and that the current cost of living crisis was a further additional pressure at this time.

DECISION: That the report be noted.

 

There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers' side) relative to the reporting of incidents of violence and aggression.

As was indicated in the paper presented to the Education and Childrens Services Policy Board on 18 August 2022, a review of Business World was being undertaken. The report highlighted that previous discussions around the format for reporting incidents of violence and aggression in educational establishments had raised the issue of problems with Business World as a platform for reporting these incidents. The Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) suggested that paper copies should be made available to teachers to facilitate the reporting of incidents of violence and aggression until such time that a functional system of reporting such incidents was available on Business World.

Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate) advised that despite the challenges of using the system, Business World should continue to be used to report incidents of violence and aggression. The use of paper copies would result in the Council not holding complete important information relating to violence and aggression and would therefore not be able to respond appropriately to incidents nor report accurately. 

The Teachers’ Side also noted the formation of the Working Group indicated at the aforementioned Policy Board at appendix 1 (Page 23) and appendix 2 (Page 24) and requested to be included in that group.

The Head of Service (Curriculum and School Estate) recently took over this remit and advised she had discussed various different pieces of work with the aim of bringing this together. She welcomed membership from the NASUWT representative to the Violence and Aggression Working Group to assist in taking this remit forward to create a process fit for purpose and for that to be communicated to all required.

The Principal HR and OD Adviser provided an update on Business World. It was explained that there had been a delay during the schools Summer break on the build process both from the provider and whilst the Council were undertaking the exercise. The Council are now back in the testing stage and there would be opportunities for user acceptance testing. Additional reports had been written to provide additional reporting capabilities.

It was requested that communication was issued to all establishments on the correct reporting procedure to be followed, it was agreed that a communication of this nature would be issued.


The Principal HR and OD Adviser would discuss Business World capabilities further with the Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).

There was a discussion around the sharing of information, Members were reminded that data could only be shared in compliance with Data Protection legislation.

DECIDED:

(a) That an update on Business World be provided and communication on reporting be issued; and

(b) That the NASUWT representative be included on the Violence and Aggression Working Group.

 

There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side) relative to the Schools' Holiday Calendar with more input requested into the calendar prior to it being finalised.

The Head of Service (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) explained the holiday calendar process had fixed parameters, that West Partnership had been consulted to achieve the best alignment and that the previous year's calendar largely dictated the next year's.

It was agreed there would be a discussion with the Joint Secretary (Teachers' side) in respect of building the school calendar.

DECIDED: That there would be a discussion between the Joint Secretaries relative to the building of the school calendar.

 

There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side) in respect of voluntary transfers to permanent staff.

A previous Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff approved a paper which endorsed the setting up of a Working Group to look at voluntary transfer as one of the staffing options for Renfrewshire teachers within the overall staffing structure. The cut off date for applications was at the end of April 2022. Many teachers accrued service since the revised JNC 20 policy was agreed and made applications to transfer to the permanent staff. 

The Teachers’ Side sought feedback on the number of applicants under JNC 20 policy and the number of teachers who were allocated permanent posts as a result of the policy.

The Teachers’ Side requested dates to be arranged to continue the discussion around the option of voluntary transfer as part of the overall staffing structure.

It was agreed that this would be discussed further between the Joint Secretaries.

DECIDED: That the Joint Secretaries would discuss this matter.

 

There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side) relative to school agreements on a flexible approach to working hours.

Teachers had raised concerns with the Trade Unions around the allocation of non-class contact time and this being adversely affected by staffing shortages, most often at short notice and without any consultation, contrary to the national agreement.

The Teachers' Side expected schools to abide by this national agreement and that where unforeseen circumstances arose and schools needed to adopt a flexible approach that this would be agreed with staff and be included as part of the School's Working Time Agreement.

A general discussion took place around non-class contact time and the difficulties in obtaining this. The Education Manager (Development) requested that any issues in this area be raised with Head Teachers in the first instance and could also be brought to her attention to be investigated.

DECIDED: That any issues in obtaining non-class contact time be raised.

 

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint
Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff was scheduled for 8 November 2022.