Education Committee - 17/05/2004

At a MEETING of the EDUCATION COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 17th May, 2004.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor MACPHERSON, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 19th April, 2004 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

Prior to the commencement of business, a minute's silence was held in respect of former Councillors Fred Welsh and Neil Glen who passed away recently.

I MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SUB-COMMITTEE OF 27TH AND 28TH APRIL,2004

The minutes of the above meetings (Appendices I and II) were submitted for information.

II HM INSPECTORATE OF EDUCATION - INSPECTION OF STANDARDS AND QUALITY IN BRAEVIEWACADEMY

There was submitted and noted the report by HM Inspectorate of Education on Braeview Academy.

III BRAEVIEW ACADEMY

Mr Baillie declared a non-financial interest by virtue of being employed in Braeview Academy.

There was submitted Report No 368-2004 by the Director of Education describing the background to the HMIE Inspection of Braeview Academy and outlining steps taken to address the main points for action in the HMIE report of March 2004.

The Committee approved the actions outlined in the report and instructed the Director of Education to monitor and review progress on implementing the Action Plan and report back to the Education Committee.

IV TENDERS RECEIVED

There was submitted Report No 347-2004 by the City Architectural Services Officer detailing tenders received and requesting a decision thereon:-

(i) ANCRUM ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL - EXTERNAL PAINTERWORK

The Committee agreed to accept the schedule of rates offer from Dundee Contract Services for external painterwork at Ancrum Road Primary School for the sum of 17,391 together with allowances of 2,609 giving a total of 20,000.

(ii) GOWRIEHILL PRIMARY SCHOOL - ADDITIONAL PARKING AREA

The Committee agreed to accept the schedule of rates offer from Dundee Contract Services for additional parking at Gowriehill Primary School for the sum of 13,043 together with allowances of 1,957 giving a total of 15,000.

(iii) DENS ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL-KITCHEN ALTERATIONS

The Committee agreed to accept the negotiated offer from Dundee Contract Services for kitchen alterations at Dens Road Primary School for the sum of 37,462.09 together with allowances of 6,883 giving a total of 44,345.09.

(iv) DENS ROAD PRIMARY SCHOOL - WINDOW REPLACEMENT PHASE 6

The Committee agreed to accept the negotiated offer from Dundee Contract Services for Phase 6 window replacement at Dens Road Primary School for the sum of 46,685.60 together with allowances of 8,081 giving a total of 54,766.60.

(v) CRAIGIE HIGH SCHOOL - RE-FLOORING GYMNASIUM

The Committee agreed to accept the lowest offer received from John Swan, Dundee for re-flooring the gymnasium at Craigie High School for the sum of 8,652.90 together with allowances of 4,173 giving a total of 12,825.90.

(vi) EDUCATION PROPERTIES (VARIOUS) - WATER HYGIENE PHASE 4

The Committee agreed to accept the offer from Building Environmental Hygiene Ltd, Dundee for Phase 4 water hygiene at various Education Properties for the sum of 70,400 together with allowances of 14,600 giving a total of 85,000.

V FORTHILL PRIMARY SCHOOL - ALTERATIONS AND EXTENSION (PARTNERING)

Councillor Wallace declared a non-financial interest by virtue of having two grandchildren at Forthill Primary School.

There was submitted Report No 348-2004 by the Director of Education and City Architectural Services Officer seeking approval to carry out alterations to and extend Forthill Primary School.

The Committee agreed to:-

(i) alterations and extension to Forthill Primary School at an estimated total cost of 4.2 million inclusive of professional fees for construction works and an allowance of 35,000 for furniture and fittings and

(ii) authorise the City Architectural Services Officer to negotiate a contract within the overall allowance for construction works of 4.2 million under a partnering arrangement with an appropriate contractor and that the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) in conjunction with the Director of Education issue an acceptance for this contract.

VI PROVISION OF CHILDCARE FUNDING SUPPORT TO DUNDEE SITTER SERVICE AND FAIR PLAY TRAINING

There was submitted Report No 360-2004 by the Director of Education seeking approval to award grants to continue childcare provision provided by Dundee Sitter Service and to pilot a 6 month training package for Out of School Care staff by Fair Play Training.

The Committee agreed to note the contents of the report and approved the award of grants to the Dundee Sitter Service and Fair Play Training as outlined in Appendix 1 of the report.

VII ESTABLISHMENT OF MEDIATION SERVICE

There was submitted Report No 319-2004 by the Director of Education relative to the above.

The Committee agreed to:-

(i) approve the participation of Dundee City Council in a partnership between Dundee City, Angus and Perth & Kinross Councils and the independent organisation Parent to Parent Tayside, to provide a mediation service; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Education to evaluate the impact of the service and report back to the Education Committee.

VIII APPOINTMENT OF SCHOOL SUPPORT WORKERS

There was submitted Report No 365-2004 by the Director of Education seeking approval for the appointment of non-teaching School Support Workers on a pilot basis to four secondary schools in Dundee.

After noting that the final sentence of Section 8.1 of the report now reads "both Teacher and Support Staff Trade Unions will be fully involved in the evaluation of this pilot initiative", the Committee agreed to:-

(i) instruct the Director of Education to proceed to appoint School Support Workers as outlined in the report; and

(ii) instruct the Director of Education to monitor and evaluate the success of the initiative, with a view to determining whether such appointments should be made in due course to all secondary schools.

IX SCOTTISH EDUCATION AWARDS

There was submitted Agenda Note AN207-2004 informing the Committee that the third Scottish Education Awards were held on Friday, 19th March, 2004. Dundee City Council, through the Kick-It Kick-Off project, was named as winner in the Closing the Gap category - the only award that was open to entries on behalf of Local Education Authorities.

In addition to the success of the Authority's entry, an entry by Menzieshill High School was named a runner-up in the award category "Schools For All" for their Peer Education Anti-Bullying Project.

The Committee congratulated all involved with the Kick-It Kick-Off project on achieving national recognition and those involved with the Anti-Bullying Project.

The Committee resolved under Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the undernoted item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

X TEACHER EARLY RETIREMENTS

There was submitted Agenda Note AN208-2004 seeking approval from Committee that:-

Case A (ER50/03) Principal Teacher

Case B (ER51/03) Principal Teacher

Case C (ER52/03) Principal Teacher

Case D (ER53/03) Part-Time Teacher

Case E (ER54/03) Part-Time Teacher

be retired on the authority of Dundee City Council with effect from 15th August, 2004. The retirals would be in accordance with the Teachers (Compensation for Premature Retirement and Redundancy) (Scotland) Regulations 1996 on the grounds of efficiency of the service.

The Committee approved the above having noted the financial implications.

FRASER MACPHERSON, Convener.