Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy John Bennett, Hugh Fenton Morris, Clare James, Vivienne Littlechild, Graham Packham, Alderman King, Ian Seaton and
Deputy Elizabeth Rogula.

Deputy Philip Woodhouse declared a standing Declaration of Interest in that he is a Member of the Education Board.

Members received the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 27th April 2017, appointing the Board for the ensuing year.

RECEIVED.

The Committee are invited to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29.

The Election of Chairman was held in line with Standing Order 29. 
Deputy Roger Chadwick, being the only Member willing to stand, was declared Chairman for the ensuing year.

The Chairman thanked Governors for their continued support.

The Committee are invited to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 30.

The Election of Deputy Chairman was held in line with Standing Order 30. 
Deputy Philip Woodhouse, being the only Member willing to stand, was declared Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year.

The Headmaster extended a vote of thanks to the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Governors for their continued service to Freemen’s school.

To agree the public minutes and summary of previous meeting.

Prior to discussion of the minutes, the Chairman noted the following.

·         To assist in ensuring meetings are quorate, Governors to give consideration to the rotation (between the Guildhall and the school) of meeting venues and the use of audio visual conferencing facilities between the Guildhall and the school.

·         The duration between each meeting is an issue, in that matters for consideration are presented for follow-up, often several months after initial documentation is presented to Governors.

The Town Clerk to investigate audio-visual conferencing and update the Chairman.

RESOLVED that:  subject to the following amendment, the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 2 February 2017, be agreed as an accurate record.

Minute 1.  Apologies:  Apologies were received but not recorded from
Councillor Chris Townsend.

There were no Matters arising.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members were asked to consider, for the ensuing year, the appointment, composition and Terms of Reference of the following committees:  Bursary committee, Finance, General Purposes & Estates sub-committee and Academic & Education sub-committee.

·         The Chairman said the Board had previously decided that a Governor appointed to one committee, should reside on all committees.

·         There is an on-going issue with apologies given for sub-committee meetings, resulting in meetings that are not quorate. 

·         Resolved that all Governors are eligible to sit on respective sub-committees.

Town Clerk to amend the Terms of Reference for each sub-committee to reflect this.

Town Clerk to amend the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Bursary Committee to include (as within the TOR for the remaining two sub-committees) the following:

‘Any decision taken by the sub-committee shall require the agreement of a majority of Common Council Governors present at the meeting and voting.’

·        In response to a Governor question, relating to issues with establishing a quorum and whether or not it would be possible for Ex-Officio Members to sit on sub-committees, the Town Clerk agreed to investigate and respond.

·         Town Clerk to issue meeting dates to all Governors.

·         The Headmaster said, to facilitate attendance, meetings of the Finance, General Purposes and Estates and Academic and Education sub-committees, will convene back to back and the venue will alternate between the Guildhall and Freemen’s.  Any meeting of the Bursary committee will precede the Board of Governors’ meeting.  Thought did need to be given to timings so as not to impact on School life (e.g. Monday assemblies).

Report of the Town Clerk.

Report of the Town Clerk for information.

The Head of Corporate Strategy & Performance, had sent apologies; today’s meeting clashes with a meeting of the Policy & Resources (P&R) committee.  In her absence, she had asked if the Headmaster could, by means of introduction to the draft Corporate Plan 2018-23, convey the following information to the Board.  To note:  the Chairman, had previously attended a meeting of another committee, at which the draft Corporate Plan was presented.

·         This is a very early opportunity to give comments on the corporate vision for the next five years.

·         Activities and performance from across the organisation are being mapped to the 12 outcomes to inform strategic decision-making and resource allocation.

·         All Members have been invited to comment at Induction/Refresh sessions.  The Plan is working its way through all Grand Committees in this cycle and all Members will be given the opportunity to comment again on the revised and expanded plan in July. Staff engagement will take place during the autumn.

·         P&R and the Court of Common Council will be asked to clear the Corporate Plan in the new year so that it can be published in the spring of 2018.

Chairman and Headmaster’s comments:

·         The Chairman said this is about people and asked how the Plan would be filtered down to all employees.  Employees need to buy into the Corporate Plan, with a level of engagement filtering down.

·         The Headmaster referred to ‘Place’, noted as one of the strategic objectives.  This should not just refer to one place within the square mile, but to the many places linked to the City of London Corporation (e.g. Freemen’s, Burnham Beeches, Hampstead Heath etc.

No questions were raised.

The Chairman confirmed there was no other business for urgent consideration.

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.

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.

To agree the non-public minutes of the previous meeting.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2017, were considered and approved as a correct record.

Report of the Headmaster of the City of London Freemen’s School (copy attached).

Governors received the report of the Headmaster.

Report of the Head of the Junior School, City of London Freemen’s School (copy attached).

Report of the Head of the Junior School.

Report of the Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Report of the Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead for information.

Report of the Headmaster

Report of the Headmaster for information.

Report of City Surveyor and Headmaster.

Report of City Surveyor and Headmaster.

Report of City Surveyor and Headmaster

To consider and approve a report of the City Surveyor and Headmaster.

No questions were raised.

There were no items of urgent business.

Report of Director of Human Resources

Report of the Director of Human Resources.