Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Stuart Fraser, Brian Harris, Alderman Alastair King, Vivienne Littlechild, Hugh Morris, Alderman Dame Fiona Woolf, Gillian Yarrow and Deputy Clare James.

There were no declarations.

To receive the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 19 April 2018 appointing the Board of Governors for the ensuing year.

Governors received the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 19 April 2018 appointing the Board of Governors for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED, that the Order be received.

To elect a Chairman in line with Standing Order 29.

The Town Clerk conducted an election for Chairman in line with Standing Order 29. Deputy Roger Chadwick, being the only Governor willing to serve, was elected as Chairman for the ensuing year.

The Chairman thanked Governors for their support and welcomed Shravan Joshi to his first meeting. The Chairman welcomed the audio-visual demonstration for Governors prior to the meeting and expressed hope that AV capability would soon be available to the Board.

The Headmaster reminded Governors that, should the use of AV equipment for remote meetings be adopted, Governors would still be required to demonstrate engagement with the School through attendance at the School. 

To elect a Deputy Chairman in line with Standing Order 30.

The Town Clerk conducted an election for Deputy Chairman in line with Standing Order 30. Deputy Philip Woodhouse, being the only Governor willing to serve, was elected as Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the Board of Governors meeting held on 8 February 2018.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 8 February 2018 be approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Livery Companies

In response to a question from a Governor, the Headmaster replied that Livery Masters were able to engage with Livery Bursary students over lunch.

To receive the public minutes of the Academic and Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018.

RESOLVED, that the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the Academic and Personnel meeting held on 24 April 2018 be received.

To receive the public minutes of the Finance, General Purposes and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018.

RESOLVED, that the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the Finance, General Purposes and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018 be received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Governors considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding the appointment of sub-committees, focus groups and named Governors for 2018/19.

RESOLVED, that

·         the terms of reference of the various Committees, Sub-Committees and Focus Groups be approved;

·         the following appointments be made (with any vacancies carried over to the next Board meeting),

Bursary Committee

Deputy Roger Chadwick (Chairman)

Deputy Philip Woodhouse (Deputy Chairman)

Andrew McMillan

Chris Townsend

Brian Harris

Finance, General Purposes and Estates Sub-Committee

Deputy Roger Chadwick (Chairman)

Deputy Philip Woodhouse (Deputy Chairman)

Chris Townsend

Andrew McMillan

Nicholas Goddard

Brian Harris

Academic and Personnel Sub-Committee

Deputy Roger Chadwick (Chairman)

Deputy Philip Woodhouse (Deputy Chairman)

Chris Townsend

Andrew McMillan

Nicholas Goddard

Brian Harris

City of London Freemen’s School Masterplan Focus Group

Deputy Philip Woodhouse (Chairman)

Nicholas Goddard

Named Governors

Safeguarding – Stuart Fraser

Boarding – Andrew McMillan

Health and Safety – Nicholas Goddard

Report of the Headmaster.

Appendix to be circulated separately in A3 hardcopy.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding Strategic Intent and Progress for the School. The Headmaster assured Governors that the Improvement Plan was kept under constant review.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered an update report of the Headmaster regarding Data Protection/General Data Protection Regulation.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Deputy Head.

Governors considered the Annual Safeguarding Report of the Deputy Head and the following points were made.

·         A Governor requested clarification over what the term ‘on the radar’ within the report meant in a safeguarding context. The Deputy Head noted that in practice this referred to all instances of safeguarding concerns being flagged with Heads of Year, and a culture of any member of staff being confident to raise safeguarding concerns.

·         In response to a question from a Governor, the Deputy Head noted that the School was more likely to raise safeguarding concerning with Surrey County Council’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) rather than vice-versa.

·         The Deputy Head drew Governors’ attention to his concerns that mental health was increasingly becoming an issue, particularly at Year 9/10/11.

·         The Head noted that the School had a strong team in place to monitor safeguarding and thanked the Deputy Head for his efforts.

·         In response to a question from a Governor, the Deputy Head that the weekly safeguarding communication was issued to Heads of Section within the School, but that this circulation list would be kept under review.

RESOLVED, that the report be received,

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

Governors considered an update report of the Director of Human Resources regarding the Gender Pay Gap, Data Protection Policy (Employees) and People Security Policy and the following points were made.

·         The Director of Human Resources assured Governors that the City of London Corporation was compliant, and that whilst there were some issues with gender pay gaps she was confident these could be addressed quickly.

·         In response to a question from a Governor, the Director agreed that Governors only had a macro-level of detail to scrutinise but assured them that officers were reviewing gender pay in detail to ensure there were no areas where gender pay gaps were particularly wide.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

All officers except the Headmaster, Director of Human Resources and the Town Clerk left the room for the duration of this item.

Governors agreed the vary the order of items on the agenda so that confidential item 30 was considered next. Governors therefore considered a report of the Director of Human Resources regarding the Teachers’ Pay Panel 2018/19.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

All officers except the Headmaster Director of Human Resources and Town Clerk remained outside the meeting for the duration of this item.

Governors agreed the vary the order of items on the agenda so that confidential item 31 was considered next. Governors therefore considered a report of the Director of Human Resources regarding the ATL Recognition Agreement.

Officers rejoined the meeting at the conclusion of this item.

There were no questions.

Swimming Pool

The Chairman noted that the Swimming Pool contractor Hawkins Brown had recently won several awards for their project at the School. In response to a question, the Bursar confirmed that there were only some minor snagging works at the Pool to be dealt with.

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 Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the Board of Governors meeting held on 8 February 2018.

Prior to the consideration of the non-public minutes of the last meeting, Governors received a presentation from the Old Freemen’s Association (OFA) Chairman and OFA Development Officer that updated the Board on current plans for an OFA Clubhouse.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2018 be approved as a correct record.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Academic and Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018.

Governors considered the non-public minutes of the Academic and Personnel Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Finance, General Purposes and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018.

Governors considered the non-public minutes of the Finance, General Purposes and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 24 April 2018.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding Health and Safety.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding the Risk Register.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding Internal Audit Reports 2017/18.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding the Old Freemen’s Association – Annual Subscription.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding Safeguarding.

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

Governors considered the Headmaster’s Report.

Governors considered an appendix detailing School Roll and Vacancies.

Governors considered and appendix detailing Staff Leavers & Joiners.

Governors considered an appendix detailing recent and forthcoming events.

Governors considered an appendix that included polices concerning Curriculum, Behaviour and Complaints, and a list of policies and a glossary of educational terms.

Report of the Headmaster.

Governors considered a report of the Headmaster regarding the recent ISI inspection.

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

Governors considered a report of the Head of the Junior School.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.