Education Committee - 19/02/2001

At a MEETING of the EDUCATION COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 19th February, 2001.

Present:-

COUNCILLORS

Councillor DE GERNIER, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 15th February, 2001 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I MINUTE OF MEETING OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SUB-COMMITTEE OF 23RD JANUARY, 2001

The minute of the above meeting (Appendix I) was submitted for information.

II TENDERS RECEIVED

There was submitted Report No. 110-2001 by the City Architectural Services Officer giving details of tenders received and requesting a decision on acceptance thereof.

(b) Braeview Academy - Window Replacement

The Committee approved acceptance of the offer under the Schedule of Rates which was received from Dundee Contract Services for window replacement at Braeview Academy for the sum of 12,146.40, together with allowances of 1,940 giving a total amount of 14,086.40.

III DEVELOPMENT OF INTEGRATED EARLY YEARS PROVISION AT CHARLESTON PRIMARY SCHOOL

There was submitted Joint Report No. 64-2001 by the Director of Education and Director of Social Work outlining additional plans for early years provision at Charleston Primary School and seeking approval for an extension to the existing contract for works.

The Committee agreed to note the contents of the report and approved the extension to the existing contract resulting in estimated additional expenditure of approximately 50,000.

IV THE EDUCATION OF PUPILS WHO ARE "LOOKED AFTER" BY THE LOCAL AUTHORITY

There was submitted Joint Report No. 112-2001 by the Director of Education and Director of Social Work outlining the steps being taken to promote the educational interests of children who were "looked after". It described the policy document to which all schools would adhere, and emphasised that close co-operation and partnership between the Education and Social Work Departments would be necessary if these children were to receive an effective education.

The Committee agreed in so far as its interests were concerned to

(a)approve the policy document on the education of pupils "looked after" by the local authority and

(b)instruct the Directors of Education and Social Work together to monitor progress on the educational performance of "looked after" children.

V RETAINING RESERVED PLACES IN SCHOOLS

There was submitted Report No. 121-2001 by the Director of Education bringing to the attention of the Committee a proposal to retain reserved places in certain schools to accommodate children moving into the catchment area during the school year. The report also proposed a change to current procedures for placing requests with respect to children who were waiting to gain a place in their local school.

The Committee agreed to:

(i)approve the proposals to reserve places in schools as set out in Appendix 1 of the Report

(ii)instruct the Director of Education to review the allocation of reserved places on an annual basis

(iii)make a proposal as set out in Appendix II to amend the procedures for the allocation of places in schools to allow the names of children in Priority 1 (living in the catchment area or attending an associated Primary School) to be placed on a waiting list for a place in their local school until such a place exists and

(iv)publish and consult on that proposal.

VI ICT TRAINING FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS

There was submitted Report No. 122-2001 by the Director of Education bringing to the attention of the Committee proposals for delivering a programme of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training for teachers and school librarians. This training was fully funded by the New Opportunities Fund of the National Lottery and was integrated into the programme of training run by the Education Department.

The Committee agreed to

(i)approve the arrangements for delivering ICT training for teachers and school librarians;

(ii)approve the proposal to engage SCOTSYS for the training support for secondary teachers and school librarians and

(iii)approve the proposals to engage Scottish Teacher Education Consortium (STEC) for training support for primary teachers.

VII DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL ACCESS SCHEME

There was submitted Report No. 120-2001 by the Director of Education seeking Committee approval of the principles and objectives underpinning the operation of the City Council's scheme aimed at making Higher/Further Education more accessible to the City's secondary school pupils.

The Committee agreed to approve the principles, aims and objectives set out in Section 7 and 8 of the report to be applied to the operation of the Council's Access Scheme.

VIII NEW COMMUNITY SCHOOL

The Committee noted that notification had been received from the Scottish Executive Education Department confirming acceptance of the Council's application for support in Creating a New Community School project centring on Ardler, Sidlaw View, Macalpine, Downfield and Brackens Primary Schools.

The Committee also noted the success which had been achieved at Baldragon Academy in relation to Community Schools.

The Committee resolved under Section 50(A) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the public and press be excluded during consideration of the undernoted item on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 6 and 9 of Schedule 7A of the Act.

IX OFFICES AT NORTHERN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, LEVEL D, DUNDEE CAMPUS, GARDYNE ROAD, DUNDEE

The Committee agreed to the renewal of the lease of offices at Northern College on the terms agreed.

GEORGE DE GERNIER, Convener.

APPENDIX I