Documents
Agenda
Committee Members
Membership
Representing Renfrewshire Council Management
Councillor E Rodden; Councillor J Paterson; G McLaughlin, Head of Education; E Henry, Head of Education; S Bell, Education Manager (Whole Family Wellbeing); K Henry, Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy; D Rigmand, Head Teacher, Wallace Primary School; A Hall, Education Manager (Development); Y Ward, Education Manager, (all Education and Childrens' Services); and K Clark, Strategic Lead Partner (People), S Fanning, Strategic Lead Partner (Health & Safety) (both Finance and Resources).
Representing Renfrewshire Council Teaching Staff
K Fella/M Russell (Joint Secretary), JP Tonner, T Millar, Y Murray, D Tollan, B Kelly and C Niven (all EIS); R Kane(SSTA); L Gibson (NASUWT) and D Campbell (EIS - Adviser to Teachers' Side).
Items Of Business
Chairperson
Consider the appointment of a Chairperson for this 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 Rodden would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.
DECIDED: That Councillor Rodden chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff.
Apologies
Apologies from members.
Councillor Paterson; A Hall; S Bell; K Clark; J P Tonner (EIS); B Kelly (EIS) and D Thompson, Adviser to Teachers’ Side.
Declarations of Interest and Transparency Statements
Members are asked to declare an interest or make a transparency statement in any item(s) on the agenda and to provide a brief explanation of the nature of the interest or the transparency statement.
There were no declarations of interest or transparency statements intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
Minute of previous meeting held on 12 November 2024.
1
There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of this Committee held on 12 November 2024.
DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.
2
Matters Arising
Matters arising from the minute of the previous meeting held on 12 November 2024.
2
There were no matters raised in connection with the previous Minute.
DECIDED: That it be noted that there were no matters raised.
3
The action log for the JNC was submitted. The Joint Secretaries proposed that the log be streamlined for the next meeting. Actioned/noted items would be removed, decisions relative to policy matters would be uploaded to the SNCT website by the Management Side and removed from the log and business items discussed during the preceding year would continue to be reported at the AGM.
DECIDED:
(a) That the Violence and Aggression Policy be uploaded to the SNCT website;
(b) That the proposed amendments to the action log be implemented for the next meeting of this Committee; and
(c) That the action log be noted.
Report by Head of Education.
4
There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Attainment, Inclusion and Wellbeing) relative to Mobile Phone Guidance for Schools. The report advised that a short-term working group had been established to review the Scottish Government’s Guidance on Mobile Phones in Scotland’s Schools which had been published August 2024.
The short-term working group, which consisted of 10 members, met three times and developed a draft guidance document on the use of mobile phones for schools (Version 4), which was appended to the report for approval.
Concerns were expressed by the Teacher’s Side that the draft guidance was more relevant to secondary schools and it was requested that the policy be amended to ensure its applicability to both secondary and primary schools. The Head of Education (Attainment, Inclusion and Wellbeing) confirmed that amendments would continue to be discussed, that this document would be regularly revised, including version controls, to include lessons learned and to ensure it remained viable for application by schools.
DECIDED: That the Guidance on the use of mobile phones for schools (Version 4) be agreed, subject to the discussed amendments, and that this be soft-launched in Term 4 of this session and fully implemented across all schools from August 2025.
Report by Head of Education.
5
There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Attainment, Inclusion and Wellbeing) relative to an update regarding the use of Seesaw and Just2Easy information sharing applications used in schools.
The Head of Education (Attainment, Inclusion and Wellbeing) advised that he and the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) had discussed this matter and would discuss again further outwith this meeting and report back, if required, to a future meeting of the JNC.
DECIDED:
(a) That the Joint Secretaries would discuss this matter further and report back, if required, to a future meeting of the JNC; and
(b) That otherwise, the content of the report be noted.
Report by Head of Education.
6
There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Attainment, Inclusion and Wellbeing) relative to an update regarding printer procedures and facilities.
Concerns were raised regarding various issues around printing, printer facilities and the potential impact of these on pupils and the examination process. The Education Manager advised that testing of printing procedures for exams was being carried out at various schools, and that St Andrew’s Academy would be the next high school to be tested to check that the printing procedure to be applied during exams would work for pupils, staff and invigilators.
DECIDED:
(a) That it be noted that testing of printing procedures for exams was being carried out at various schools; and
(b) That otherwise the content of the report be noted.
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
7
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the Council’s Flexible Working Policy. The report outlined that the updated Policy had been passed without consultation with the JNC and highlighted issues teaching staff faced around the practical application of this Policy.
The Strategic Lead Partner (Health & Safety) suggested that he and HR colleagues discuss this matter further outwith this meeting with the Joint Secretaries and Children’s Services Management and that an update be provided to a future meeting of the JNC. This was agreed.
DECIDED:
(a) That it be noted that HR would discuss the flexible working policy with the Joint Secretaries and Children’s Services Management; and
(b) That an update be provided to a future meeting of the JNC.
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
8
There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the policy document “Education for Peace” recently launched by the EIS.
The Head of Education (Attainment, Inclusion and Wellbeing) advised that the Council already carried out many of the areas outlined in the Education for Peace document.
DECIDED: That the document be noted.
Report by Joint Secretary (Teachers' Side).
10
Date of Next Meeting
Members are asked to note that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff is scheduled to be held at 2.00 pm on 25 March 2025.
10
It was noted that the date of the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Joint Negotiating Committee was scheduled to be held at 2.00pm on 25 March 2025.
Attendance
Declarations of Interests
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No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.
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