Agenda item

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 24 February 2014

The public minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2014 were considered and approved as an accurate record.

Matters Arising

The Chairman welcomed the new Head of the City of London School and thanked the previously acting Headmaster for all his hard work. The Chairman also thanked Lord Levene for finding the time to attend the Board for Governors meeting. Mr Ian Hughes, Assistant Highways Director and Melanie Charalambous, Principal Environmental Enhancement Officer from the Department of the Built Environment were also thanked by the Chairman for their attendance.

Scheme of Delegations

The Chairman confirmed to the Board that the amendments made to the Scheme of Delegations at the February 2014 Board of Governors meeting was passed on to the appropriate Corporation Officers.

Cleaning Standards at the City of London School

Governors discussed the ongoing issues with the cleaning standards at the City of London School since the initial report received by Governors on 2 December 2013.

The Chairman remarked that senior Officers at the Corporation and at the School had put a lot of time and effort into monitoring the cleaning standards and resolving any further issues and he believed that it was not an appropriate use of the staff’s time. The Director of Finance informed the Board that the City had begun reviewing its Corporate Cleaning Contract and he felt that going forward from the review it was vital to negotiate a new contract on the right basis. Following this information a number of Governors expressed concern that the City Corporation seemed to take the view that all cleaning contracts across the City should be the same. Members said that a School required a different standard of cleaning compared to office buildings and that this should be noted by Officers. A Member also asked that the new contact expressly outline that the responsibility of monitoring the quality of cleaning was that of the contractor, not Senior Officers and School Staff.

City of London School partnership with Stepney Green Maths, Computing and Science College

A Governor queried whether there had been any progress with regards to a meeting between the CLS Board of Governors and the Board at Stepney Green. In response another Governor suggested that it would be a good idea to meet with the Stepney Green Board but that it should be arranged as a separate meeting, so that the usual Board of Governors meeting scheduled would not be effected.

The Chairman suggested that the meeting should be scheduled for the autumn term and the Second Master agreed to look for possible dates. The Second Master also asked the Committee if they wished to be informed of the outcomes regarding the partnership. The Chairman and Governors agreed that outreach was an important issue and all Governors should be regularly informed of the outcomes.