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Education & Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel
PUBLIC MEETING Record of Meeting
Date: 17th September 2007 Meeting 41
Present Deputy D.W. Mezbourian , Chairman
Deputy J. Gallichan, Vice-Chairman Deputy S. Pitman
Apologies
Absent
In attendance Mr. C. Chipperfield, Head of Evaluation and Standards – Education,
Sport and Culture
Mr. W. Millow , Scrutiny Officer Mr. T. Oldham , Scrutiny Officer
Ref Back | Agenda matter | Action |
| 1. Records of Meetings The Panel approved the records of its meetings of 29th August (public and private sessions) and 4th September 2007 (public and private sessions). |
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[10/09/07, Item] | 2. Rôle of the Centenier in the Magistrate's Court
The Panel noted that the draft report had been distributed to contributors for comment on the factual accuracy. It was advised that two minor corrections had been received from the Legal Advisors whilst comments had also been received from the Magistrate and Advocate T. Hanson. It was noted that the Panel had accepted the suggestions from the Legal Advisors. The Panel was advised that Centenier J. Le Masurier, Chairman of the Comité des Chefs de Police, had contacted the Scrutiny Office to ask whether the draft recommendations and key findings which he had received could be shared with the Comité. The Panel noted that this had indeed been the intention in distributing the recommendations and key findings to Centenier Le Masurier. The Panel noted that a further week had been given to the Minister for Home Affairs for comments to be received on the draft report and that it would therefore be feasible to take into account any comments received from other parties before 24th September 2007. It was noted that Centenier M. L'Amy had advised the Panel that he would be unable to comment on the draft report before 17th September 2007. The Officers were requested to advise Centenier L'Amy that the deadline for comments to be received had been extended.
The Panel agreed that, pending final approval from the Panel on 24th September 2007, the report could be presented to the States on 28th September 2007. It was noted that, in such an | WM/TO |
event, the report would be distributed under embargo to States Members, the media and stakeholders on 26th September 2007.
[14/09/07, 3. Early Years
Item ] The Panel noted that it would visit D'Auvergne School on 24th
September 2007. Apologies were received from Deputy J. Gallichan.
The Panel recalled its agreement to appoint Dr. C. Hamer as
expert advisor for the review. It was noted that a contract and
Terms of Engagement had been drafted. The Officers were requested to circulate these documents to the Panel. TO/WM Consideration was given to dates on which the Panel would
ask Dr. Hamer to attend. It was agreed that Dr. Hamer would
be requested to attend on 8th, 15th and 16th October 2007.
The Officers were requested to advise the other candidates for TO/WM the position of external advisor that they had been unsuccessful.
It was noted that Dr. Hamer had made reference to the
potential benefits of attending an Early Years Network TO/WM conference that was due to be held in England. The Officers
were requested to gather further information on the conference.
The Panel agreed it would send out a media release TO/WM concerning the visits it had undertaken that morning to La
Petite Ecole and The Bridge. The Panel requested that thank
you letters be sent to those people who had assisted it during
the morning's visits.
[23/07/07, 4. Assessment for Learning and Critical Skills
Item 7] The Panel met Mr. C. Chipperfield, Head of Evaluation and
Standards – Education, Sport and Culture, to receive a briefing on the Assessment for Learning and Critical Skills programmes.
Subsequent to its meeting with Mr. Chipperfield, the Panel WM/TO requested that correspondence be sent thanking him for his attendance.
- General Matters
The Panel was advised of Mr. Chipperfield's responsibilities as Head of Evaluation and Standards. It was noted that these responsibilities covered such matters as professional development of staff; school evaluation; staff performance and quality; and complaints from parents.
The Panel received copies of the following documents:
- Jersey Critical Skills Programme – Executive Summary of the Evaluation (2004)
- Assessment for Learning
- Solution Oriented Approaches in Jersey
- The Critical Skills Programme
- Critical Skills
The Panel was informed that the Critical Skills programme had been implemented in 2001 following a conference that had focussed on teaching and learning styles. At the conference, Jersey's teachers (of which there had been approximately 900 in attendance) had been presented with a number of different styles and from the ensuing discussions it had been agreed to implement the Critical Skills programme.
The Panel was informed that Critical Skills had initially been developed in New England through a project involving both education and business professionals. In Jersey, the programme was delivered throughout the education system, from nursery to 18.
The Panel was advised that the Critical Skills programme was not content based and could be delivered through any subject of the curriculum. The Panel was provided with examples of how delivery of the programme might manifest itself. For instance, students would be asked to work in groups on a particular matter, in which groups each student would be given an assigned rôle. The different rôles would be rotated each time students worked in groups in order that each student eventually played each rôle. The Panel was also advised that Critical Skills was delivered through challenges'. Teachers had been given an opportunity to share ideas of appropriate and successful challenges' on a website that had been set up for this purpose.
It was noted that training for Jersey's teachers had initially been delivered by an external company named Network Educational Press but that training was now delivered completely by local staff. More than 700 teachers had now been trained, including all primary school staff and approximately three-quarters of secondary school staff. Primary and secondary staff were trained together.
The Panel was advised that two training sessions had been given to private providers of early years education. This training had been paid for by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture. Training had also been provided to youth workers.
The Panel was informed that training programmes were due to be delivered on 14th and 16th January 2008 and that it might be beneficial for the Panel to attend on these dates to further its understanding of the Critical Skills programme.
The Critical Skills programme in Jersey had been subjected to two external evaluations since its implementation. In 2004, Professor T. Wragg had undertaken a review. In addition, the programme was reviewed internally each year.
The Panel considered the effect that implementing the Critical Skills programme had had on bullying. It was advised that this issue had been considered at the implementation alongside the issue of disaffection. The Panel was advised that the introduction of the Critical Skills programme had reduced levels of disaffection, particularly amongst boys. It was further advised that methods used in the Critical Skills programme allowed teachers and teaching assistants to monitor more easily whether any bullying was occurring during group work; teachers and teaching assistants were also responsible for setting the groups. It was noted that, under Critical Skills, classes negotiated their own rules (known as Full Value Contracts) at the beginning of the year. As a result, students now appeared to be more willing to monitor and report instances of bullying themselves.
The Panel was advised that the introduction of the Critical
Skills programme had not added to the workload of teachers
although more thought had to be given at times to planning. DM/JG/SP Consideration was given to potential dates on which the Panel WM/TO
could view delivery of the Critical Skills programme. It was
agreed that Panel Members would liaise with Mr. Chipperfield
about suitable dates. The Officers were requested to forward
Mr. Chipperfield's contact details to the Panel.
- Assessment for Learning
The Panel was informed that the Assessment for Learning programme had been implemented in 2002 and had been developed at King's College, London. As with Critical Skills, training in Jersey was now fully delivered by local personnel.
The principle underlying the Assessment for Learning programme was that all interaction within the classroom, be it oral or written, would allow the student to progress and move on. The Panel was provided with examples of how the Assessment for Learning programme manifested itself. For instance, students undertook self-assessment and peer- assessment; assessment would be against clear criteria and would not merely state what the student had got wrong or right but would suggest what the student could do next time to improve their work. Furthermore, a traffic light' system might be used whereby students would be asked to assess their understanding of a topic or question through the use of traffic light colours where green would indicate a clear understanding.
It was noted that teachers who taught the same subject were
brought together as part of the programme to encourage a
sharing of ideas.
[10/09/07, 5. Policing of Events
Item ] The Panel was advised that the Call for Evidence was due to
appear in the Jersey Evening Post on 21st and 28th September 2007. It was noted that the media release had not
been despatched pending comments on the Terms of Reference from the Department of Home Affairs. The Officers WM/TO were requested to follow up this matter.
The Panel was advised of research that had been undertaken on the following lines of enquiry:
- Arrangements for the charging of events in England and Wales
- Licensing of public entertainment
The Panel requested the Officers to continue to research the WM/TO topic and to make appropriate requests to the relevant parties.
- Internal Review of Working Practices
The Panel noted receipt of a report entitled Scrutiny Internal Review into Working Practices. It was further noted that the Chairmen's Committee had asked for any comments on the report to be received ahead of its meeting on 5th October 2007.
- Matters Arising
The Panel noted the actions undertaken in response to requests made at its previous meetings.
The Panel noted receipt of the briefing notes of the Chairmen's Committee meeting of 7th September 2007.
- Ministerial Responses
The Panel received copies of Guidance to Ministers Responding to Scrutiny Reports. It was noted that the guidance had been jointly agreed by the Chairmen's Committee and Council of Ministers following a meeting between the President and Vice-President of the Committee and the Chief Minister.
- GP Out-of-Hours
The Panel recalled its request for an update on the Health, Social Security and Housing Scrutiny Panel's response to its own letter regarding the GP Out-of-Hours Review. It was advised that a letter from the Chairman of the HSSH Panel had been despatched by e-mail to the Chairman.
- Correspondence to Mr. A. Williamson
The Panel noted that correspondence would be despatched to Mr. A. Williamson in relation to his review of child protection arrangements.
- Forthcoming Propositions
The Panel agreed it would not seek to undertake Scrutiny Reviews of the following propositions:
- Draft Police (Complaints and Discipline)(Amendment) (Jersey) Law 200- (P.1116/2007)
- Criminal Justice Policy (P.118/2007)
Further to its agreement on 10th September 2007, the Panel was advised that potential questions on Draft Criminal Justice (Community Service Orders)(Amendment)(Jersey) Law 200- (P.110/2007) had been circulated to the Panel by e-mail.
- Criminal Justice Policy
The Panel was advised that the comments it had prepared on Pillar 9 of the Criminal Justice Policy had been forwarded to Deputy F.H. Hill BEM following an agreement between the Chairman and the Deputy .
It was noted that the Policy made reference in Pillar 7 to the Panel's report on the rôle of the Centenier in the Magistrate's Court.
- Ministerial Decisions
The Panel noted that the following decision had been made by the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture:
- Draft Library Regulations and Code of Practice (MD-ESC- 2007-0036) – 5th September 2007
The Panel noted that the following decision had been made by the Minister for Home Affairs:
- Criminal Justice Policy (MD-HA2007-0059) – 30th August 20
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| 14. Questions to Ministers The Panel noted that the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Treasury and Resources would answer questions without notice at the States sitting of 25th September 2007. |
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| 15. Future Meetings The Panel noted that its next scheduled meeting would occur at 9:30am on 8th October 2007. It was noted that the Panel was due to receive a briefing on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers on 15th October 2007. Given the Panel's agreement to request Dr. Hamer's attendance on that date, the Officers were requested to check whether this briefing could occur either on 12th October 2007 or as first item on the agenda of 15th October 2007. | WM/TO |
Signed Date: ..
Chairman
Education & Home Affairs Panel