Our schools and pupils have achieved excellent A-Level results which are above the Welsh and UK averages. The overall pass rate of 97.9% (97.6% 2018) is above the Welsh average with 28.4%% being the top A*-A grades. This is particularly pleasing with Wales outperforming all regions of England and Northern Ireland at A Grade.
In all, 28.4% (26.0% in 2018) of our entrants gained an A* or A grade compared to 27.0% for all Wales. The overall pass rate of 97.9% in Swansea is better than the Welsh figure of 97.6%. Overall 79.6% of grades were C or better in Swansea, compared to 76.3% for Wales.
Nearly 600 young people from Swansea schools sat the examinations with many now preparing to go on to university or other education and training. Our teachers, pupils and parents (many of whom work for the council) should all be proud of these results.
Pleasing performance
Despite our financial and staffing pressures we continue to perform well across many services. CMT this week discussed the latest Performance Monitoring Report. The outturn for Quarter 1, 2019/20 shows that 63% of performance indicators in our Corporate Plan met their targets and 47% showed improvement compared to Quarter 1, 2018/19. Given that these are stretching targets and the continuing pressure on finance and resources, this is a good result. There are, however, some areas which will need specific focus and effort if we’re to realise our corporate priorities and ambitions. Sickness levels remain a concern along with delayed transfers of care. Thanks to Richard Rowlands and his team for their work on this.
CMT also considered the Annual Equalities Report, the Education Welfare Service and a whole series of commissioning reviews covering Employability, Early Years Support Services, Specialist Family Support Services, Family Centres and Financial Inclusion. These commissioning reviews need to ensure that our preventative work is targeted at those most in need and plan for grants ending as a result of Brexit. Thanks to the staff who have worked very hard on all of these issues and produced excellent and comprehensive reports.
High 5s
On Wednesday the judging panel met to determine this year’s winners of the High 5 awards. Now in its eighth year the task doesn’t get any easier and choosing from the 103 entries was a challenge. After much discussion and deliberation consensus was finally achieved and I’m now looking forward to the awards evening which will take place once again at the Liberty Stadium.
Service plans
Anyone who’s drafted or simply read one of our service plans knows it can be a complicated, if necessary, process. They set out what we’re going to do, the resources needed and how each service contributes to the corporate objectives. But it’s fair to say Heads of Service have wanted to change the current process and templates. So a group of HoS have recently reviewed our service planning and have proposed some changes, including:
• monitoring and measuring in a meaningful way;
• used alongside staff appraisals;
• useful corporately;
• a means of capturing workforce implications;
• succinct and easily read and understood.
Directors and Heads of Service will discuss the proposals in September with a view to implementing changes for 2020/21.
Good news and thanks
The issues with our telephones should now be resolved and all numbers have moved to our new unified comms telephone system. This is great news because it was the previous system that was causing the issues. Thank you to all staff for being patient during the problems, but special thanks to Jo Harley and her team for resolving these issues and for moving us across to the new system so quickly.
A pilot at one of our sheltered housing units has proved a huge success in bringing together older people and children. Working with XL Wales, an educational charity, older people at the complex and children from nearby Gendros primary school worked together on a number of hands-on skills and activities. As a result, not only have they developed new skills, but relationships between the generations have flourished. The pilot is now coming to an end and a measure of its success is that XL Wales want us to expand the scheme across the city. This is brilliant news and thanks to Cheryl Duffy, Senior Warden Practitioner, and her team as well as the older people and the school for all their efforts.
Well done to our officers involved in the recent court case after 70 trees, including a Redwood, were unlawfully cut down. This was a complex case but some great work from officers in especially planning and legal brought about a successful prosecution earlier this week.
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