Agenda item

Report of the Head of the City of London School.

Governors considered the Head’s report and the following points were made.

·         The Head noted that sections 1.2 (Destination of Leavers) and 1.5 (Admissions Review 2016/17) had been moved onto the non-public side of the agenda.

Public Examination Results

·         The Head noted that before Summer 2018, the breakdown of Pre-U and non-Pre-U subjects within the School would be 50:50. This would make historic comparisons difficult to make in terms of analysing academic performance. Results for 2016/17 were excellent overall, but there had been some underperformance in Maths and Economics. A linear approach to teaching and assessing Maths had affected overall performance so this would be reviewed going forward.

·         In response to a question, the Head confirmed that variation in Pre-U was equivalent to an A/B at A-Level [NEEDS CLARIFICATION]. Whilst GCSE results were down, a review had not identified any overriding areas for concern, and that academic underperformance was due to pastoral factors.

·         In response to a question, the Head replied that methods of measuring performance with peer schools would vary from department to department. He noted that 9 – 1 grading would come in from 2018/19 and that the School needed to review how much emphasis was given to ensuring boys achieved 9 rather than 8.

·         In response to a question, the Head replied that the School did not use P8 measures but used ISI measures instead.

·         A Governor reemphasised his point that the School should be clear on how it maximised its performance against peer schools. He queried how the School selected which exam boards to use for each subject. The Head replied that exam boards were reviewed annually, and acknowledged that the way in which results were presented to parents could be reconsidered.

·         A Governor noted that the School should be holistic in its approach to deciding what was best for the individual pupil – e.g. academic excellent should not be pursued at the expense of mental health. A Governor agreed, noting that the level of progress made by an individual pupil was a key measure.

·         The Head noted that the School had appealed grades achieved in Art, but the appeal looked to have been unsuccessful.

·         In response to requests from Governors, the Head agreed to review how Value Added was reported, and to provide a comparison between predicted grades and actual grades going forward.

Safeguarding Policy

·         The Deputy Head (Pastoral) presented the new Safeguarding Policy to Governors, noting that the main changes were around named personnel and the fact there were two new Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs).

RESOLVED, that the Safeguarding Policy be approved.