There were 20 reports on the agenda for this Committee.  Please find below a summary of these with links to the full reports in PDF format.

The next Committee is on Tuesday 6 October 2015.

Standards and Quality report 2015 and Children and Families Service Plan 2015 – 2018 (PDF, 2.99 MB)

The Standards and Quality Report 2015 is the annual performance report on the service. It highlights the good progress made over the period April 2014 to March 2015, together with the priorities for development.

The Children and Families Service Plan 2015-18 articulates the Council’s vision for children and young people in Edinburgh “to ensure that all children enjoy their childhood and achieve their potential”.

It outlines the seven strategic outcomes which will help to achieve this vision:

• Our children have the best start in life, are able to make and sustain relationships and are ready to succeed
• Our children and young people are successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens making a positive contribution to their communities
• Our children and young people in need, or with a disability, have improved life chances
• Our children and young people are physically and emotionally healthy
• Our children and young people are safe from harm and fear of harm, and do not harm others
• Our children’s and young people’s outcomes are not undermined by poverty and inequality
• Making effective use of our resources.

Edinburgh Children’s Partnership – Integrated Plan for Children and Young People 2015-18 (PDF, 1.28 MB)

This report presented the new Integrated Children’s Services Plan. Seven strategic outcomes and priorities for improvement have been agreed by all of the partners and agencies working with children and families in Edinburgh.

Early Years Strategy Progress Report (PDF, 1.09MB)

This was a progress report on the Council’s early years strategy.

All eligible three and four year olds have access to 600 hours of free early learning and childcare provision a year in either a Council or partner-provider nursery.  Almost 500 vulnerable two year olds are also accessing this provision.

53 primary schools now provide access to a breakfast club and work is in progress to extend this.

New Early Years Provision at Fox Covert and Wardie Primary Schools: A Co-operative Approach (PDF, 64.85 KB)

This is a very positive report which highlights progress in relation to the new early years provision at Fox Covert and Wardie Primary Schools.

It notes the progress of work with officers and the current nursery providers in developing the new nursery provision in a cooperative way.  We are committed to becoming a ‘Cooperative Capital’ where communities are much more involved in planning, managing and delivering services. This approach gives local people a greater sense of choice and control over the public services they use.

The aim is to provide quality services that meet the needs of local citizens and local businesses in the face of bigger service demands and less funding.

Early Years Capital Investment (PDF, 82.88 KB)

The Scottish Government has provided £9.9m of capital funding for the enhancement of early years facilities as a result of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Previous reports to Committee approved the delivery of priority projects to the value of £5.7m and these projects are now being progressed at the following primary schools:

• Longstone
• Granton
• Davidson’s Mains
• Corstorphine
• St John’s RC.

Approval was granted at Committee to use the remaining funding to provide improved, replacement or expanded early years facilities at

• Blackhall Nursery
• Ferryhill Primary School
• Leith Primary School
• Tynecastle Nursery.

The Committee requested a further report on voluntary sector nurseries and any further action that can be taken to support their continued operation and valued contribution to the early years sector, including input from the Cooperative Development Unit on possible asset transfer.

Primary School Capacity Pressure in South Edinburgh (PDF, 4.7 MB)

In December 2014 a report to Committee outlined the intention to carry out a statutory consultation to address primary school capacity pressure in South Edinburgh.

There are three primary schools under pressure:

• South Morningside
• James Gillespie’s
• Bruntsfield

They  all operate from constrained sites with no dedicated playing fields and the scope to extend capacity on their existing sites is severely limited. While these issues are being addressed in the short term through the rising primary school rolls programme there remains a requirement for a permanent long-term solution in this area.  The Committee approved the consultation to commence in August 2015 with three main options:

• a new primary school in Canaan Lane
• expanding the capacity of South Morningside through a permanent annexe in Canaan Lane
• improving existing accommodation arrangements at South Morningside through a permanent annexe in Canaan Lane

A detailed draft statutory consultation paper was included for reference. Some final elements of this paper need to be completed before August but these will not alter the consultation options in any way.

A very positive development is that the Finance and Resources Committee on 13 May 2015 approved that part of the receipt for Boroughmuir High School could be utilised for the land purchase required to deliver all of the options included in the consultation.

Find out more about the south Edinburgh primary schools consultation.

Update on Children and Families Asset Management Plan 2015 (PDF, 186.19 KB)  

On 9 December 2014, Committee approved the Children and Families Asset Management Plan 2014 including £120m of Council funding for capital projects.  The plan included new school buildings for

• Boroughmuir High School
• James Gillespie’s High School
• St Crispin’s School.

This report was an update of progress including detailed feedback about 25 asset management projects.

Primary School Rising Rolls (PDF, 125.31 KB)

This report is one of the regular series of updates to Committee on rising rolls in the primary sector.

It provides an update on the potential accommodation pressures that may arise in August 2016 and beyond at the following primary schools:

• Balgreen
• East Craigs
• Ferryhill
• Fox Covert
• Granton
• Roseburn
• St Mary’s RC (Edinburgh)
• Towerbank

The report outlines the engagement with staff and parents which has taken places with eight schools and seeks approval for the preferred solutions at seven of these schools to be progressed.

At Towerbank Primary School a statutory consultation proposing options for change to the school catchment area commenced on 8 May 2015 with the public consultation period running until 22 June 2015.

The outcomes of the consultation will be report to Council in October 2015.

Find out more about the Towerbank Primary catchment review.

Buckstone Primary School: Use of Developer Contributions (PDF, 57.38 KB)

Consultation was with the management and parent council of Buckstone Primary School to establish the way in which developer contributions receivable could be best invested to provide additional accommodation at the school.  The report informed Committee of the outcome of that consultation and gave approval to progress the proposed new hall which was identified as the priority for investment.

Free School Meals P1-P3 – Progress Report (PDF, 110.42 KB)

This report was an update on the successful implementation of the entitlement for  all children in primary 1 to 3 to have a free school meal.  There has been a 42% increase in the number of school meals delivered at primary schools.  Work is underway to deliver new halls at East Craigs and Cramond and dining hall extensions at Sciennes and Towerbank Primary Schools.

Preventing and Responding to Bullying and Prejudice in City of Edinburgh Council Schools (PDF, 261.89 KB)

Members commended this report which provides information on local and national measures to reduce bullying, prejudice and discrimination between pupils.

Research published by the Equality of Human Rights Commission in Scotland in March 2015 credits Edinburgh Council as one of three local authorities with particular good practice in  this area.  It highlights the work of the Growing Confidence programme, and the English as an Additional Language service and commends Edinburgh’s policies and procedures.

Response to Scottish Government Education Bill (72.67 KB)

This report updates elected members on the Education Bill introduced to parliament by the Scottish government on 23 March 2015. It outlines the City of Edinburgh Council’s initial response to proposals in the Bill. These proposals include duties on local authorities in relation to:

• reducing pupils’ inequalities of outcome;
• provisions about Gaelic Medium Education (GME);
• appointing Chief Education Officers.

The Bill also includes modifications to previous legislation relating to Additional Support for Learning (ASL), the provision of school meals and the duty to provide early learning and childcare to certain children.

Children and Families Grants to Third Parties 2015/16 (1018.72 KB)

The Committee noted the process for a redesigned grants programme for April 2016 onwards. This work will be progressed by Elected Member Working Group, in consultation with the Director of Children and Families and the Deputy Convener.  A further report will be presented in October 2015.

1:1 Digital Learning Rollout (362.7 KB)

This report provided a useful  update on the current situation in our schools on the deployment of 1:1 devices e.g. I-pads.  The report also included information on the potential strategy in relation to Bring Your Own Device, to supplement and extend 1:1 provision where appropriate.  The Committee noted that any strategy in relation to Bring Your Own Device would need to first address equalities impact concerns and be reported to Committee before progression.

Progress on the Implementation of Self Directed Support in Children and Families

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 came into effect on 1 April 2014.  The aim is to offer families the opportunity to exercise as much choice and control as they wish over the way in which their child’s care and support needs are met.

Children and Families who are eligible for self directed support have an outcome-focussed assessment are offered four options for self directed support and as much involvement as they wish in planning and arranging services to meet their needs.  The report provides helpful examples of where self directed support is making a real difference to children and families.

Routine reports

Community Learning and Development Annual report (PDF, 113.95 KB)

The report includes a summary of last years Community Learning and Development activities, developments and achievements over the last year including:

• advertised Adult Education Programme
• adult literacy and numeracy
• family learning and work with parents
• English for speakers of other languages and other community based adult learning provision
• youth work including senior phase
• youth participation
• developments within community centres and community engagement.

Corporate Performance Framework: Performance Framework from September 2014 to February 2015 (PDF, 492.88 KB)

This report provides an update on performance in Children and Families for the period September 2014 to February 2015.  It highlights success in relation to

• educational attainment
• attendance
• positive destinations.

There is more work to do to increase the availability of City of Edinburgh Council foster carers.

School session dates 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 and Consultation on Future Dates (PDF, 334.03 KB)

The Education, Children and Families Committee approved the Session Dates for 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 and approved the wider consultation to be carried out on dates for 2018/2019 and beyond.

Term dates can be found in appendices two and three of the report and at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/termdates