Education Committee - 11/01/2010

At a MEETING of the EDUCATION COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 11th January, 2010.

Present:-

Lord Provost John R LETFORD

Depute Lord Provost Ian BORTHWICK

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Elizabeth F FORDYCE, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 7th December, 2009 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I ANTI-BULLYING POLICY

There was submitted Report No 11-2010 by the Director of Education seeking Committee approval for a revised anti-bullying policy.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report; and

(ii) approved the revised anti-bullying policy.

II PARKING AND DROPPING OFF AT SCHOOLS

There was submitted Report No 1-2010 by the Depute Chief Executive (Support Services) reporting on the outcome of a pilot initiative to address problems associated with parking and dropping off at schools.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the pilot initiative at Park Place and Eastern Primary Schools to address problems associated with parking and dropping off had resulted in significant improvements;

(ii) agreed to roll out similar measures on a phased basis to all primary schools, as detailed in Section 4.3 of the report, in appropriate clusters and in conjunction with the launch of School Travel Plans;

(iii) remitted the Director of Education to ensure that schools provide information to parents on the initiative and that high profile launch events are held to raise awareness of the measures;

(iv) remitted the Director of City Development to make information about off-street parking close to schools available through the Council's website;

(v) remitted the Director of Education, as the initiative was phased in, to employ additional school crossing patrollers and extend the hours of patrollers, to meet the increased demand for assistance with crossing roads and to assist with the implementation of the initiative; and

(vi) remitted the Director of Education to monitor, evaluate and, where necessary, refine the specific measures taken at each school in the light of feedback from parents, schools, local residents, parking officers, travel advisers and the Police.

III CONSULTATION RESPONSE (ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR LEARNING ACT)

There was submitted Agenda Note AN8-2010 informing the Committee that the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 had been in force since November 2005. To update the Act, the Scottish Government was currently conducting a public consultation on five documents including proposed changes to the secondary legislation and a redrafted "supporting children's learning" code of practice to supersede the code of practice introduced with the 2004 Act.

The responses and the relevant consultation documents were given in the document "The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and 2009: Consultation on Changes to the Secondary Legislation and Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice".

The Committee agreed to note the responses.

IV EDUCATION CONCORDAT COMMITMENTS ON CLASS SIZES AND FREE SCHOOL MEALS

There was submitted Report No 26-2010 by the Director of Education addressing the Concordat agreements on class sizes and free school meals.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report;

(ii) approved proposals to ensure progress would be made towards achieving a maximum class size of 18 for children in P1 to P3;

(iii) approved the proposal to establish breakfast clubs in those primary schools currently without that facility; and

(iv) noted that the proposals in the report would be submitted to COSLA who had requested this information from all Councils.

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 5 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act.

V REQUEST FOR EDUCATION AT HOME

There was submitted Report No 30-2010 by the Director of Education relative to the above.

The Committee agreed to approve the application for education at home.

Elizabeth F FORDYCE, Convener.