Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Professor John Betteridge (co-opted), Ray Catt, Revd. Dr. Martin Dudley, Dr. Stephanie Ellington (co-opted) and Henrika Priest.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 21 June 2013.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 21 June 2013 were considered and approved as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

Appointment of Co-opted Governors (page 2) – The Chairman reported that the two candidates that the Headmistress had recently approached to serve on the Board in this capacity were, unfortunately, unable to accept the invitation due to their current commitments. He reassured Governors that the recruitment of two new co-opted Governors was therefore still a work in progress.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board received a report of the Chamberlain providing Governors with a copy of the 2012/13 Report and Financial Statements for The City of London School for Girls Bursary Fund incorporating The City of London School for Girls Scholarships & Prizes Fund.

RECEIVED.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board received a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls comparing the 2012/13 revenue outturn for the City of London School for Girls with the budget for the year.

In response to a question, the Bursar confirmed that this year’s income from lettings had taken account of the rise in energy costs referred to within the Revenue Outturn report.

RECEIVED.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Board received a report of the City Surveyor providing Governors with an update on the Assistant Property Facilities Manager (APFM) role across the three City of London schools.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the City Surveyor stated that, following discussions with the Chamberlain, Officers were satisfied that the APFM role could be centrally funded from net savings. The Chairman was pleased to note that this had been the outcome of discussions in this area.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a report of the Headmistress relative to various issues including Governors’ Visiting Days, Lettings, Health & Safety and Educational Visits.

Governors’ Visiting Days

The Headmistress thanked Mr Hoffman for his recent visits to the School to host talks with pupils on ‘Careers in the City’.

Health & Safety

The Headmistress reminded the Board that the School’s Health & Safety Policy was a document which needed to be approved by Governors on an annual basis. The Board were informed that, following discussions with Corporate HR, there were still some minor amendments to be made to the final document.

In response to a question, the Headmistress reported that mental health issues were becoming increasingly common amongst young people and that CLSG was not unique in this trend. Governors were informed that further information as to how such issues were addressed at the School could be found in the non-public report of the Headmistress.

In response to a further question regarding the frequency with which risk assessments for legionella were carried out at the School, the Bursar stated that this was in line with statutory requirements and that the School were guided by the City Surveyor on this. The City Surveyor stated that the current arrangements were satisfactory but that he would follow up this matter with the contractor to ensure that the School continued to meet its statutory requirements in this area.

RESOLVED – That, the Board:

·         approve the Management of Health and Safety in Schools Policy subject to some minor amendments to be signed off by the Chairman; and

·         approve the Educational Visits Policy.

School Policies

A Governor, also the current Chairman of the Board of Governors of the City of London Freemen’s School, questioned whether all policies were common to all three City Schools.

The Town Clerk reported that, whilst certain statutory policies such as the Child Protection and Data Protection Policy were common to all three City Schools, others were not. He added that Officers were keen to try and identify more opportunities for ‘joined up working’ across the three City Schools but also recognised the need to maintain a degree of flexibility to enable the Schools to personalise any common policies by way of additional annexes for example.

The Chairmen of all three City School Boards suggested that the Bursar should look to take this matter forward with his counterparts at the other two City Schools.

Deputy Dove reported that he was currently the nominated Governor for Special Educational Needs on the Board of Governors of the City of London School. He stated that he would be happy to fulfil the same role on this Board.

RESOLVED – That, Deputy Billy Dove be appointed as the Board’s ‘lead’ Governor on Special Educational Needs.

To consider the resolution excluding the Public in respect of those items containing exempt information:-

That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items 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.

            Item No.                                                          Exemption Paragraph(s)

RESOLVED: - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items 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.

                           Item No                                                                       Exempt Paragraphs

                   11                                                                                     2

                   12                                                                                     2, 3 & 4

                   13                                                                                     1 & 3

                   14                                                                                     1

                   15                                                                                     -

                   16                                                                                     -

Ena Harrop will be heard with regard to this year’s public examination results. She will also touch upon latest teaching and learning research and introduce Governors to concepts such as ‘Assessment for Learning’, formative practice, etc.

ena Harrop, Director of Studies was heard with regard to this year’s public examination results. She went on to inform Governors of the latest teaching and learning research being trialled at the School, introducing the Board to concepts such as ‘Assessment for Learning’.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2013.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2013 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board received a report of the Town Clerk providing Governors with details of a decision taken by the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman since the Board’s last meeting on 21 June 2013.

Non-public report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board received a non-public report of the Headmistress relative to various School issues such as Pastoral Issues, HMC Membership and Staffing Matters.

There were no questions in the non-public session.

Matters relating to a forthcoming Reference Sub (Arrears) Meeting, the Teaching Staff Pay Claim 2013/14 and Recruitment were raised.