Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Christopher Hayward.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 4 December 2015.

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 4 December 2015 were considered and approved as a correct record.

The Board received a presentation from the Head of Spanish, the International Links Co-ordinator and the Mission Charities Co-ordinator on a recent trip to Guatemala and how this feeds into the theme of ‘Internationalism’ and Charities/voluntary at CLSG.

The Head of Spanish provided the Board with an overview of the trip and the voluntary work undertaken by the students. The Board were informed that the feedback from all those who participated in the trip had been overwhelmingly positive with the students drawing much inspiration from the voluntary aspects of it.

The Head of Spanish expressed her gratitude to the Board for granting them the opportunity to undertake this trip.

The presentation covered the following points:

·        How work was progressing to embed Internationalism and cultural/international awareness into all aspects of the curriculum;

·        October 2015 saw the launch of CLSG’s International Policy;

·        In November 2015 CLSG had been awarded an intermediate level award from the British Council recognising it as an International School. The trip to Guatemala had been named as one of three important international activities undertaken by the School in its application. The application had been praised for demonstrating passion and commitment to the cause. CLSG would be applying to the British Council next year for full accreditation.

·        The School’s Mission Charities Co-ordinator had taken up her post in April 2015;

·        The School were now keen to move away from associating overseas trips with languages and to offer them to all Sixth Form students in the future;

·        Similar trips to Guatemala were now planned and a two week trip to Sri Lanka in Autumn 2016 was currently being explored;

The Chairman thanked the presenters for this overview of International activities at the School and emphasised that the Board were very supportive of the School continuing this international approach.

The Board received a presentation from the School’s Researcher in Residence.

The Researcher in Residence provided the Board with an overview of Research at CLSG.

The presentation covered the following points:

·        What is a research engaged School. The Board were informed that an audit was currently being undertaken asking staff to what extent they understood CLSG to be a research engaged school. It was noted that some very positive responses had been received;

·        Education as ‘Evidence Based’ or ‘Research informed’;

·        The Action Research Cycle – ‘Look, Think, Act’;

·        Activities undertaken so far to help develop the role of research at CLSG – this included teacher-researcher pioneers (currently being undertaken in areas including Biology, Physics, Music and Maths), involvement in external projects and networks (including a project currently being undertaken with CLS and Birkbeck University), looking at ‘common problems’ such as note taking and essay writing, making research more accessible and supporting MA students;

·        A half termly research newsletter for staff had now been established.

In response to a question regarding other School’s approach to this matter, the Researcher in Residence reported that Wellington College and Eaton were leading the way on this at present but that some state schools were also taking a lead. Whilst CLSG were not currently sharing their knowledge in this area with other City Schools it was hoped that they would be in a position to do so in the near future.

In response to further questions, the Researcher in Residence confirmed that parental permission would be sought for anything outside of the normal learning experience for the students.

In response to questions regarding the post of Researcher in Residence, the Headmistress reported that this post had been established for one year initially with the post-holder working two days per week which seemed to be sufficient

There were no questions.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for 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.

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.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2015.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2015 were considered and approved as a correct record.

Joint report of the Chamberlain, the Headmistress (CLSG), the Head (CLS) and the Headmaster (CLFS).

The Board considered and approved a joint report of the Chamberlain, the Headmistress (CLSG), the Head (CLS) and the Headmaster (CLFS) regarding improvements to the operation of the bursary guidelines which would be effective from the 2016/17 academic year entry.

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

The Board considered and approved a report of the Headmistress of the City fo London School for Girls which provided information on non-public matters in relation to the School.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School.

The Board considered a report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls regarding the Goddard Inquiry and the School’s approach for engaging with this.

There were no questions raised in the non-public session.

Items regarding Exhibition Hall 2 and the retention of students at Sixth Form were raised.