Falklands : Education Board meeting Report (10/07/07)
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 19.07.2007 (Article Archived on 02.08.2007)
Find out what happened during this important board meeting
EDUCATION BOARD MEETING REPORT (10 July 2007)
Compiled by J. Brock (FINN)
A meeting of the Education Board took place on Tuesday, 10 July 2007. Board Members present were; Honourable Richard Stevens (RS) Chairman, Honourable Janet Robertson (JR)Councillor, Barbara Booth (DoE)Director of Education Barry Elsby (BE) School Manager, FICS Natalie Smith (NS) School Manager, IJS Denise Simpkins, Minute Secretary Valorie McLeod
After Apologies and declarations of interest matters arising from the Meeting held on 03 April 2007 were discussed.
Item 7 refers. Cllr Robertsin enquired if temporary staff were still employed by FICS to teach Maths /Science. DoE stated that only one member of staff had been retained, the other had completed his contract and had left the Islands.
Item 7 refers. Councillors Stevens and Robertson were still pursuing a suitable replacement to deliver the DARE programme. It had been hoped that this programme would be extended to FICS but, to date, no progress had been made due to shortage of manpower within the Police Force. Members acknowledged the importance of the programme in fostering positive relationships between the police and school children. BE asked if a ‘home grown version’ incorporating the same ethos and methods of the original DARE programme adapted to the Falklands Islands could be devised. It was essential for the Education Board to maintain the impetus to ensure continuity of the programme.
Director of Education’s Report
DoE presented her report highlighting the following issues: Discussions on the restructuring had continued with Senior Managers and appropriate staff. A paper would be presented to ExCo for consideration at the meeting in July.
All prospective new staff had completed contractual issues and signed contracts. The Falkland Islands EXPO exhibition held at FICS had proved to be a resounding success.
Staff at FICS and IJS had cooperated in broadening the year 6-7 transition programme. This included visits from staff to IJS and pupil participation in lessons, namely HE and Science, at FICS.
Recently received reports for overseas students indicated that the majority were making good progress. A few external examination results were trickling in with university results expected within the next few weeks. A-Level results expected in mid August would be shared with the Board at the next meeting.
Several University students had received notification of Home Status with regard to funding for the 2007-8 academic year. Only the Welsh Assembly had yet to acknowledge the change in funding regulations. BE suggested it might be worth exploring the funding arrangements available to ‘Home Status ‘students at Scottish Universities. Funding at these universities were different again from UK universities and might prove to be more beneficial to FIG.
EXCo had approved the granting of the lease of Fox Bay School to Saddle Computers for commercial use. The lease contained a clause which ensured that the school would revert back to its former use if/when required at short-term notice.
A proposal from the Service Children’s Education Service to formally inspect education provision within Stanley and Camp Education would be considered by ExCo in July.
At the last meting of the Children and Young Persons Strategy Group (CYPSG), the final action plan had been consolidated into themes. The ‘Keeping Safe’ theme had been given three priorities. Legislative requirements to progress compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child would form part of the Legislative Council programme of work for 2007-8. Safe use of the internet and how to inform parents of inappropriate web sites was also considered. It was decided that information packs should be issued to all children when they first start school and then again when they make the transition from IJS to FICS. Younger members of CYPSG felt that too much emphasis on inappropriate web sites might actually encourage usage as apposed to deter it. JR expressed her dismay at the lack of a response from Cable and Wireless to her concerns about the volume of ‘pornographic Spam’ accessible through e-mail on Horizon. DoE said she would raise this issue when she met with the Mr Aaron Richardson of Cable and Wireless on Wednesday 11th July and report back at the next meeting.
Infant/Junior School Class Sizes and General Provision
Nick Barrett, Head teacher IJS joined the meeting for this agenda item. RS explained that his paper was self-explanatory but asked Nick Barrett to expand on the situation.
Nick began by presenting the situation and the impact the increasing school roll was having on IJS. His comments provoked much discussion and debate. He stated this was a problem that would not go away and for the foreseeable future would impact quite dramatically on the school and the quality of teaching provision if steps were not taken to address the issues raised. He highlighted problem areas such as shortage of classrooms; loss of physical space by the increase in adults (LSA’s) in the classrooms often resulting in class management issues; talented and gifted children; the strain of having SEN children in mainstream education who would normally be educated in specialist schools; and lack of outdoor space.
The Head teacher emphasised that the school could cope but hoped to do more than cope. Staff wanted to deliver a quality education for all. Pre-school presented its own set of problems. As the only non-statutory element of education, how to manage the high numbers (44) for the 2007-8 academic year had been given much thought by the pre-school teacher.
Four options were presented to the Board for discussion and advice. To split the group into 4X 11 pupils and employ an extra Teacher and LSA/TA. This had implications for the budget and available space. Take the first 22 registered.
Split into 2 groups and employ an extra LSA/TA. This option would drastically reduce the amount of space available for a wheelchair user starting with this group in September 2007.
Split into 3 groups and offer 3 sessions per week not 5, as is the option at the moment. This would leave one session per week for planning and preparation. This was the preferred option of the teacher concerned. The groups would contain different numbers of pupils as there would be a ‘weighting’ in favour of Special Needs children. This option would have a knock on effect with other nurseries within Stanley. Parents would have to use a combination of pre-school and nursery services for their children. The teacher concerned had been working closely with staff at the nurseries to foster closer links to ensure seamless provision.
The Board agreed that the opinion of the teacher was critical in these matters and that they fully endorsed her preferred option. NS reminded members that pre-school was not compulsory. Thus any provision offered to parents should be considered a bonus and any provision was better than none at all.
BE questioned whether removing Special Needs children to a specialised unit might be an option to be considered. DoE explained that increasing flexibility and focus within IJS to deal effectively with SN children is a priority in the re-structuring of the Education Department. The main aim is to set up a specialist unit within the school setting to avoid social isolation. SN pupils would have access to 1:1 teaching when required but also access to peers and class groups as necessary. The pool of expertise within the schools was increasing although more thought needed to be given to staff training to increase effectiveness.
JR asked if any volunteers worked within the school. NB explained that the school survived on a system of volunteers and workers on the Employment Programme. It was vital to ensure that all staff had the appropriate level of training.
Discussion returned to the problem of splitting classes to deal with large numbers and in particular the combining of year 3 and 4 for September 2007. After much discussion it was agreed that an information paper outlining all issues raised should be submitted to ExCo for urgent consideration at their meeting in July. RS also suggested that a further paper be written to support Councillors RS/JR at the next meeting of GPC.
Apprentices
DoE explained that, after a review of the Training Unit in 2006, ExCo had recommended a reduction in the number of reference groups to one ‘overarching’ group, the composition of which was being determined.
Training Unit staff had specifically requested that the Apprenticeship Committee be retained for the reasons stated in the paper and sought support from the Education Board.
DoE felt that there would be a need for the Apprenticeship Committee to report to the Education Board as part of the Education Department thus expanding the remit of the Board to address issues outside of school. Under the Education Ordinance the Training Unit was not represented on the Education Board. DoE would investigate this issue and report back at the next meeting.
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