Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy John Bennett, Sir Andrew Burns and Barry Ife.

Paul Hughes declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to item 9 as this related to his re-appointment as a co-opted Governor and item 10 as this related to a recommendation for him to be awarded an Honorary Fellowship.

Christina Coker declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to item 9 as this related to her re-appointment as a co-opted Governor.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2013.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2013 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

A report of the Town Clerk informed Governors that the Skills Working Party had recently undertaken a skills and effectiveness review. The review had asked all Governors of the Board to comment on various aspects around the work of the Board and the management of meetings with regard to best practice and guidance from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Leadership Foundation. It explored Governors’ understanding of the Board’s role, the input into and quality of meetings, the governance and clerking support received by the Board, and Governors views on communication from the School. It went on to assess personal skills and attributes including specialist and technical areas relating to the School.

The non-attributable results of the effectiveness survey demonstrated that overall Governors were satisfied with the administration of the Board and that the role of the Board was understood. The results showed that Governors felt reports to the Board contained relevant information but could be more concise in nature, the length of Board meetings could be shorter and that a separate Governor’s online portal could be made available to provide Governors with access to relevant material i.e. the Strategic Plan and other key documents.

The results of the skills audit demonstrated that the Board was strong in areas of governance, strategic management and business planning and that Governors had an interest and knowledge of the arts. There was, however, a lack of identified skills with regard to fundraising.

The review also highlighted that the Board was comprised of a number of Governors who had specific and relevant skills and knowledge to carry out their role, such as Governors who sat on other educational governing bodies and some with qualifications in Education, Music, Stage Management and Theatre, which all served to strengthen the governance of the

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2013.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 May 2013 were approved as a correct record.

Report of the Principal.

A report of the Principal was considered and agreed.

Report of the Principal.

A report of the Principal was considered and agreed.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.