Education And Children's Services Committee round-up August
You can read all the reports and watch a playback of the meeting by clicking here.
The Chair, Cllr David Keating, welcomed members to the meeting and began by highlighting the recent SQA results.
He spoke about the new probationary teachers that have joined Aberdeenshire schools this year with 15 secondary school teacher and 64 primary, saying: “We've got more secondary teachers than last year, but it's still only a third of those we asked for.
“In the case of primary, where we've normally had no problem, we actually only got about two thirds of what we asked for - that's slightly a concern because we're obviously hoping to increase non-contact time and it's tricky if we're not getting as many teachers as we'd hope.
“We note the Cabinet Secretary's recent announcement that the teacher induction scheme is to be reviewed, and we welcome that greatly and we hope for pace.”
Cllr Keating then commended the foster care team who were out and about at shows over the summer holidays to help increase the number of foster carers.
There was mention of the newly opened Bairns Hoose.
Financial performance 2025/26
Director of Education Laurence Findlay presented the report to committee noting that the budget for ECS is currently over budget by £5.6 million.
He noted this was due in part to the increase in costs to out of authority care and the transformation and efficiency target for ECS agreed in the budget.
Mr Findlay said the service has identified £3.4 million of efficiencies with further work required for the remaining £4.6 million.
There was a wide-ranging discussion by members.
Education and Children's Services Directorate Strategic Plan 2025/26
Director of Education Laurence Findlay presented the report to committee outlining that the plan sets out ECS’s vision and values as a service, alongside information about budget, workforce and strategic key priorities.
Education Appeals Sub-Committee
Members agreed to create an Education Appeals Sub Committee. The remit will be to consider and determine appeals by teachers and associated professionals – such as educational psychologists, Quality Improvement Officers and Quality Improvement Managers - against any decision of dismissal by the council, or any grievance.
Members also agreed the terms of reference and to go away and provide nominations for membership, and substitute members.
Sustainability and Carbon Budget - six Monthly Update
Following a lengthy discussion, members noted the report which highlights outcomes related to behavioural change and school-specific initiatives – such as green spaces, waste and energy management - which continue to support the council’s emission targets.
Attendance and Absence in Aberdeenshire Schools 2023-24
Head of Education Susan Smith introduced the report to committee. Attendance at Aberdeenshire schools in 2023/24 was 92.3%, down from 92.4% the previous year. It remains above the national figure of 90.3%. Aberdeenshire is within the top three local authorities for attendance and within the top three for the lowest absence rate nationally.
Authorised absence in Aberdeenshire schools increased from 5.5% in 2022/23 to 5.7% in 2023/24 and unauthorised absence remains unchanged from 2022- 23 at 2.0% in 2023/24. Authorised and unauthorised absence in Aberdeenshire schools remains lower than national figures.
Attendance in Aberdeenshire Primary schools increased from 93.8% in 2022/23 to 94% in 2023/24. Attendance in Aberdeenshire Secondary schools decreased from 90.6% in 2022/23 to 90% in 2023/24. Attendance in Aberdeenshire Special schools increased from 90.2% in 2022/23 to 92.3% in 2023/24
Authorised absence in Aberdeenshire Primary schools decreased from 4.7% in 2022/23 to 4.4% in 2023/24. Authorised absence in Aberdeenshire Secondary schools increased from 6.6% in 2022/23 to 7.3% in 2023/24, slightly above the national figure of 7.1%.
Authorised Absence in Aberdeenshire Special schools decreased from 8.1% in 2021/22 to 6.6% in 2023/24, lower than the national figure of 8.8%.
Unauthorised absence in Aberdeenshire Primary schools increased slightly from 1.5% in 2022/23 to 1.6% in 2023/24 but remains below the national figure of 2.6%. Unauthorised absence in Aberdeenshire Secondary schools decreased slightly from 2.8% in 2022/23 to 2.6% in 2023/24 and remains well below the national figure of 5.2%.
Unauthorised absence in Aberdeenshire Special schools decreased from 1.7% in 2022/23 to 1.1% in 2023/24 and remains below the national figure of 3.9%.
Absences in Aberdeenshire schools is largely due to sickness, which accounts for 61% of all absences. There is also an increase in authorised absence due to pupils on a part-time timetable for health reasons to 0.21% in 2023/34 from 0.14% the previous year. Unauthorised family holidays continue to increase and accounted for 0.88% of absences in 2023/24.
Truancy has decreased from the previous year and now accounts for 0.57% of absences in Aberdeenshire schools. The pattern was similar across all sectors, although the national truancy figure was noticeably higher at 2.3%.
The percentage of pupils in Aberdeenshire in 2023/24 who had persistent absence (10% or more sessions missed) was 23.1% which was one of the lowest of all local authorities and below the national figure of 31.4%.
Child Protection Committee Biennial Report 2022-2024
There was a wide-ranging discussion about the report which covers the work of the committee. Highlights included a joint inspection which rated Aberdeenshire’s services for children and young people at risk of harm as 'very good'; extensive training and support to practitioners to support the ongoing development of a confident and competent workforce; a trauma-informed approach to joint investigative interviewing of child victims and witnesses; and the recently opened Bairns’ Hoose providing a child-friendly, trauma-informed environment where child victims and witnesses of abuse receive integrated support, justice, and health services.
Corporate Parenting Annual Report
Committee considered the report which looks into the responsibility for Aberdeenshire Council and care experienced young people – namely making their needs a priority, and to seek for them the same outcomes as any good parent would want for their own children.
Committee also agreed to ask officers to consider making the relevant internal training courses mandatory for staff.
Children & Young People's Services Plan Annual Report 2024-25
The annual report was presented to the committee providing both an overview and more detailed thematic reports covering five priority themes. These are around mental health, the Promise, disabilities and additional support needs, youth justice and feeling safe, and whole family well-being.
The committee heard that a significant area of development has been in making consultation with young people more coordinated.
Tackling Poverty & Inequalities – Annual Report 2024/25
Committee considered the report which highlighted support for 11,900 clients, 5,457 households and 2,314 families to access information & advice services with a client financial gain of £12,523,808.
Reducing Household Costs: Reduced costs for 12,863 households, supporting 1,458 households to reduce fuel poverty and 3,704 to reduce food insecurity.
Making Employment Work: Supported 967 individuals, 293 young people and 523 parents to improve employability and secure employment.
Improved Health and Wellbeing: Over the last year, 1,066 individuals have participated in wellbeing projects to improve their health outcomes.
There was a wide-ranging discussion by committee about the report including a request for a list of where new childminders have been placed; to investigate highlighting help on the home page of the council website; and to send comments to the Communities Committee.
These were: Why do northern towns in Aberdeenshire typically see higher levels of poverty and what can the Council do about it? What can be done to improve the number of in-need people being reached by messaging? What can be done to reduce the stigma associated with accessing poverty services? Can the “Over 2 Youth” community engagement event be run again due to its success?
Instrumental Music Service Annual Report 2024/25
The Instrumental Music Service (IMS) operates in all 17 Academy Networks across Aberdeenshire, providing group and individual lessons. Committee was told that pupil numbers continue to increase with a 1.8% rise in 2024/25 compared to the previous year.
There are 3,105 young people now accessing tuition through the Instrumental Music Service - the highest number since 2019.