The Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing committee was scheduled to discuss a range of topics relating to the performance and maintenance of schools and other education and wellbeing services across Dumfries and Galloway. This included a request for an additional £31,000 for the installation of sprinklers to kitchen canopies at a number of the region's secondary schools. The agenda also included updates on the financial performance of a range of education and community services across the region.

Statutory Consultation - St Ninian's RC Primary School

Members were scheduled to discuss a report on the future of St Ninian's RC Primary School in Newton Stewart.

St Ninian's RC Primary was formally mothballed in August 2023. The report notes that there are currently 15 children baptised in the Roman Catholic church living within the catchment area for St Ninian's, all of whom attend other schools.

The report notes that there have been three expressions of interest from community groups to take over the school building under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

Officers were scheduled to request the committee's permission to commence a statutory consultation on the permanent closure of the school. The report states that, once the consultation is concluded, if the decision is taken to close St Ninian’s permanently, this will allow the building to be repurposed, and for the Community Asset Transfer Process to commence.

Transformation Update: School Models

Members were scheduled to be updated on progress that has been made towards the adoption of a new 'School Model'. The School Model has been developed in response to a number of challenges the council has identified in managing the region's schools:

There is a recognition that our school estate, our buildings and how we use them, will have to change over the coming years to respond to the changes we are seeing in our communities.

A public consultation was held between February and August 2023 on the adoption of a new school model, the results of which were used to define 10 School Estate Principles that could be used to assess the sustainability of the region's schools. The report notes that:

There was general consensus across all stakeholders in the consultation that it was important that we planned for a sustainable future, and that pro-active change is required to ensure our schools are the right size and fit for the communities they serve, both now and in the future.

The report details how these principles have been applied to all of the schools in the region, with a number of the least sustainable schools now identified.

Officers were scheduled to request the committee's permission to begin work to produce an options appraisal for each of these schools. The officers proposed to begin with 10 of the least sustainable schools:

...starting with the school with the lowest Sustainability Score. An estimated timescale would see up to 2 schools reviewed in any given academic year based on current Officer capacity.

Review of School Capacities

Councillors were scheduled to be asked to note changes that have been made to the stated capacities of a number of schools in the region. This included an update to reflect the reduced capacity of Dumfries High School when it moves to its new site as part of the Dumfries Learning Town project:

The capacity of Dumfries High School has been updated to 936 from 1304. The new build Dumfries High School is programmed to be occupied during academic year 2025/26.

Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing - Revenue Budget Monitoring Report

Members were scheduled to review a report on the current status of the Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing revenue budget. The report projects an underspend of £127,000 by the end of the financial year, and notes that this is largely due to a number of staff vacancies across all of the council's services.

Properties/Buildings (Schools) Asset Class Capital Programme Monitoring Q2 2024/25

The committee was scheduled to review the current status of the Properties/Buildings (Schools) Asset Class capital programme. The report notes that the programme is currently projected to spend its full allocation of £8,115,000.

The report provides an update on the progress of the work to replace the roofs of Laurieknowe Primary School, Carrutherstown Primary School, and Gatehouse Primary School. This work is being undertaken after Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was identified in the schools.

Low Level Mental Health Support in Schools

Councillors were scheduled to discuss the performance of the Low Level Mental Health Support Project during the 2023/24 financial year. The report outlines the project's aims:

This project is committed to deliver flexible, responsive, early intervention and low-level mental health support for young people in Dumfries and Galloway.

The project is funded by the Scottish Government and is jointly managed by the Educational Psychology Service and Youth Work Services, and is delivered in the region's secondary schools. The report notes:

Every secondary school is allocated a Youth Information Worker for two days a week, delivering 1:1 low level psychological support and a range of evidence-based group work and issue-based programmes.

Members were scheduled to be asked to approve the submission of the project's Year 4 evaluation report to the Scottish Government.

Youth Work Service - Quality and Standards Report 2023/24

The Committee was scheduled to discuss a report on the work of the Youth Work Service during 2023/24. The report is an update on the progress being made towards the delivery of the council's Youth Work Strategy 2024 to 2029. The Strategy's aims were agreed at a joint meeting of the Full Council and Youth Council on 7 February 2024, and focus on five key areas:

1. Community Based Youth Work
2. Youth Work in Schools
3. Youth Participation and Volunteering
4. Wider Achievement (Qualifications)
5. Collaboration with Youth Work Sector

The report provides an overview of the work of the Youth Work Service in each of these five key areas. Members were scheduled to be asked to approve the submission of the Service's Quality and Standards Report to Education Scotland.

Evaluation of Youth Beatz Festival 2024

The agenda included a report on the performance of the Youth Beatz music festival, which was held in Dumfries in June 2024. The report notes the festival's economic impact:

...the direct economic impact of Youth Beatz on the local economy was £983,091... This is a significant impact on the local economy and shows the wider impact of our Council’s support to Youth Beatz.

The report highlights the role played by young volunteers in delivering the festival, noting that 129 young people were involved in the planning, design, and delivery of the event.

Members were scheduled to be asked to approve the submission of the festival's Post Event Report to Event Scotland.

Dumfries and Galloway Regionwide Community Fund - Annual Report 2023/2024

The final report on the agenda was an update on the work of the Dumfries and Galloway Regionwide Community Fund. The fund was established in 2018 and acts as a ‘last resort’ to support community projects across the region that have been unable to attract funding from other sources.

Members were scheduled to be asked to approve the fund's Annual Report, which provides a summary of the fund's performance during 2023/24. The report notes:

The 4th year of the Fund’s operation, 2023/24, supported a variety of community benefit projects covering a range of the Fund’s target aims.

The report lists the projects that received funding during 2023/24 and provides a series of short case studies of some of these projects.