14.11.23 Minute
Renfrewshire Council · 6 February 2024
Back to Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff — 6 February 2024 and its agenda
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Minute of Meeting Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff Date Time Venue Tuesday, 14 November 2023 14:00 Corporate Meeting Room 2, Renfrewshire House, PRESENT Representing Renfrewshire Council Management Councillor E Rodden; J Calder, Head of Education/Interim Chief Education Officer, J Colquhoun, Education Manager (Development), A Hall, Education Manager (Development) M Thomas, Education Manager (Development), K Henry, Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy and J Houston, Head Teacher, Mossvale Primary School (all Education & Children’s Services); and M Boyd, Head of People & Organisational Development and S Fanning, Principal HR & OD Adviser (both Finance & Resources). Representing Renfrewshire Council Teaching Staff K Fella (Joint Secretary), M Russell, JP Tonner, D Tollan and B Kelly (all EIS); R Kane (SSTA); L Gibson (NASUWT); and D Baxter (Adviser to Teachers’ Side). IN ATTENDANCE E Gray, Senior Committee Services Officer and D Cunningham, Committee Services & Licensing Officer (both Finance & Resources). APOLOGIES Councillor J Paterson, T McGillivray, Head of Education (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) (Joint Secretary), T Miller and Y Murray (both EIS). DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND TRANSPARENCY STATEMENTS There were no declarations of interest or transparency statements intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.
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1 CHAIRPERSON 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 Mr J P Tonner would chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff. DECIDED: That Mr J P Tonner chair this meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff. 2 MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETING There was submitted the Minute of the previous meeting held on 5 September 2023. Under reference to Item 8 of the minute, it was agreed that recommendation (a) would be amended to read: "That it be noted that meetings were ongoing between Children’s Services (Education) and Head Teachers around how any changes to qualifications and assessments would be facilitated”. DECIDED: That the Minute be approved subject to the amendment. 3 MATTERS ARISING Under reference to Item 8 of the Minute, Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment, the Teachers’ Side advised they had not had sight of any communication regarding meetings, discussions or developments on this matter. The Interim Chief Education Officer and Head Teacher, St Andrews Academy, both confirmed that communications had been issued, but that the submission date had now passed. The communications would be forwarded on to the Teachers’ Side for their information. Under reference to Item 9 of the Minute, JNC/15 Grievance Procedures, an update was requested by the Teachers’ Side. The Interim Chief Education Officer advised that this area of work remained ongoing. The Teachers’ Side requested that an action log/report be maintained and that this be a standing item on the agenda going forward. Both the Clerk and the Interim Chief Education Officer advised that decisions were already recorded in the Minute of the Meeting. The Clerk advised that this would be subject to further discussion. DECIDED: (a) That the Interim Chief Education Officer would arrange for the communication(s) relating to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment to be forwarded to the Teachers’ Side; (b) That work in connection with JNC/15 Grievance Procedures remained ongoing; (c) That further discussion would take place in relation to the production of an actions document as a standard agenda item.
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4 EDUCATION STANDARDS & QUALITY REPORT SEPTEMBER 2023 AND EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2023/24 There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Quality and Inclusion), Joint Secretary (Management Side), relative to Renfrewshire’s annual Education Standards & Quality Report (September 2023) and Education Improvement Plan (2023/24) which had been developed to align to the National Improvement Framework (NIF) for Scottish Education. The Report outlined the progress made in achieving improvement priorities during the last academic session and demonstrated the commitment to The Promise and how policy and practice had been shaped to improve outcomes for Care Experienced children and young people. The Plan focused on five main priority areas: Protecting vulnerable members of the community; Family supports and early intervention; Mental health and wellbeing; Learning and teaching; and Inclusion. The Interim Chief Education Officer and Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) praised the work of all parties involved in the work outlined in the Report and Plan. There followed a discussion by both sides on various topics contained in the Report and Plan. These included violence and aggression, teacher wellbeing, recruitment, training, supply staff, ICT and access to systems, ASN, Early Years, digital and data and the Imagination Library. The Interim Chief Education Officer and Education Manager (Development) invited the Teachers’ Side to bring to their attention specific examples of areas of concern. DECIDED: (a) That the report and plan be noted; and (b) That the Teachers’ side bring to the attention of the relevant Education Manager specific examples of areas of concern. 5 STANDARD CIRCULAR 57 – SAFEGUARDING AND PROTECTING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Quality and Inclusion), Joint Secretary (Management Side), relative to a provision of a revised version of Standard Circular 57 to be shared with members of the JNC. The Teachers’ Side advised that the Standard Circulars were not available to view by all staff via Renfo. The Interim Chief Education Officer and Education Manager (Development) advised that they would investigate where these could be located to ensure access for all required parties. Concerns were raised by the Teachers’ Side relative to the safeguarding of pupils categorised as code red and it was suggested that automatic triggers could be added to the SEEMIS system to reduce the chance of them being missed. It was agreed that this would be investigated. DECIDED: (a) That the report be noted;
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(b) That the Interim Chief Education Officer and Education Manager (Development) would investigate where the Standard Circulars could be located to ensure access for all required parties: and (c) That the Interim Chief Education Officer and Education Manager (Development) would investigate the addition of triggers within the SEEMIS system to assist with safeguarding category code red pupils. 6 STANDARD CIRCULAR 8 - INCLUDED, ENGAGED AND INVOLVED - A POSITIVE APPROACH TO PREVENTING AND MANAGING SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Quality and Inclusion), Joint Secretary Management Side, relative to the provision of a revised version of Standard Circular 8 to be shared with Members of the JNC. The Teachers' Side particularly welcomed Paragraph 5.4 of the circular which itemised the occasions when Headteachers could use exclusion. DECIDED: That the report be noted. 7 NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS RESULTS 2023 There was submitted a report by the Head of Education (Quality and Inclusion), Joint Secretary Management Side, relative to attainment in the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) National Qualifications in 2023. The report highlighted that caution required to be applied in making direct comparisons between 2023, which saw the return to the traditional method of assessment, and the previous years during the Covid-19 pandemic which had alternative methods of assessment in place. There was a discussion around the impact of attendance on attainment. The Interim Chief Education Officer and Teachers’ side conveyed their congratulations to all pupils and school communities in the achievement of these results. DECIDED: (a) That the report be noted; and (b) That the efforts of pupils and the school communities in the achievement of these results be noted. 8 LET’S BE HEARD - SCOTLAND’S COVID ENQUIRY There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the Scottish Covid-19 Enquiry’s listening project, “Let’s Be Heard”. The Teacher’s side requested that this information be distributed to all Renfrewshire Schools and that Head Teachers be encouraged to allow time for Renfrewshire Teachers and young people to be heard as part of the enquiry.
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The Interim Chief Education Officer confirmed she was happy to support this and that the Education Manager (Development) would take this forward with the Teachers’ Side. DECIDED: (a) That the information contained in this report be distributed to all Renfrewshire Schools; (b) That Head Teachers would be encouraged to engage with this project and allow time for Renfrewshire teachers and young people to contribute to the enquiry; and (c) That the Education Manager (Development) would take this forward with the Teachers’ Side. 9 SUPPLY TEACHERS' CONCERNS There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to concerns raised by Renfrewshire supply teachers. The report outlined various concerns of Renfrewshire supply staff. These included: the detriment to completion of continuous personal development (CPD) by not having access to in-service training; the negative impacts of the termination of Glow accounts at the cessation of their employment; references required from the most recent school as part of the application process; permanent supply pool; and how cover was allocated and paid. There was a general discussion around these concerns, possible solutions and the pool of supply teachers. The Adviser to the Teachers’ Side suggested that a meeting be held between the Joint Secretaries and relevant colleagues to consider supply staff issues. The Education Manager (Development) advised that a generic Glow account could be provided to attempt to alleviate the negative impacts caused by the termination of the supply teachers’ Glow accounts. It was noted that work around this was underway but it was not yet possible to indicate when it would be rolled out. The Education Manager (Development) provided information relative to the supply pool numbers, outlined that the secondary permanent supply pool could not be replenished and advised she could provide the further information requested by the Teachers’ Side in relation to the numbers and subjects of members registered in the supply pool. The Education Manager (Development) invited the Teachers’ Side to notify the Head of Education (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) of concerns in respect of the application of JNC/11. DECIDED: (a) That a meeting be held between the Adviser to the Teachers’ Side, the Joint Secretaries and relevant colleagues to consider temporary supply staff; (b) That the Head of Education (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) be notified of concerns regarding the application of JNC/11;
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(c) That the Education Manager (Development) would provide a breakdown of primary and secondary supply staff to the Teachers’ Side; (d) That the Education Manager (Development) would liaise with Employee Services (ES) and monitor supply staff access to internal Renfrewshire vacancies; and (e) That the Education Manager (Development) would liaise with HR and ES regarding Head Teacher report requirements and update the JNC. 10 HOLIDAY CALENDARS AND CLOSURE DAYS There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to holiday calendars and closure days. The Teachers’ Side required to be consulted regarding future holiday dates and the allocation of closure days. The Interim Chief Education Officer advised she had thought the Teachers’ side had been happy with all dates prior to them being finalised and that she would issue the correct calendar and ensure that SNCT blocking of holidays was complied with. DECIDED: That the Interim Chief Education Officer would issue the correct calendar and ensure that SNCT blocking of holidays was complied with. 11 WEST PARTNERSHIP There was submitted a report by the Joint Secretary (Teachers’ Side) relative to the West Partnership Improvement Plan. The report highlighted an existing JNC agreement which emphasized that any initiative which emerged from the West Partnership was subject to agreement between the Management and Teachers’ Sides prior to implementation. The Interim Chief Education Officer confirmed that any policy changes implemented regarding the West Partnership Improvement Plan would continue to be brought to the JNC for discussion/agreement. DECIDED: That any policy changes implemented regarding the West Partnership Improvement Plan would continue to be brought to the JNC for discussion/agreement. VALEDICTORY The Interim Chief Education Officer advised the JNC that the Head of Education (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) was leaving her role in the Council. Thanks were expressed by the Committee for the valuable contribution made by the Head of Education (Inclusion and Quality Improvement) both to her Service and to the JNC. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Members noted that the next meeting of the Renfrewshire Council Joint Negotiating Committee for Teaching Staff was scheduled to be held at 2.00pm on 6 February 2024.