Agenda item

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

Members received a report of the Headmistress, City of London School for Girls, in respect of progress in implementing its audit recommendations.  The Bursar opened his presentation by apologising for the delayed response. 

Members were pleased to note that, of 6 recommendations; 2 had been closed; satisfactory progress had been made on 2; 1 had been stalled due to staff shortages and 1 remained partially complete, due to a combination of issues including multi-departmental responsibility and a high turnover of staff.  The remaining recommendations would be completed shortly.

Members were pleased to note the progress set out in the report and asked for the Town Clerk to maintain a centrally held record of governor training records, to be readily accessible every time a new member joined a Board.

Members agreed to defer the School’s Risk Challenge session to the March 2018 meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee, as this would provide a more realistic timescale to implement the remaining recommendations.

Finally, Members noted that the discovery of a body in the grounds of the school, the previous day, had not been linked to anyone involved with the School.  The Bursar advised that the School’s Crisis Plan had been implemented, very successfully, and the school had been closed.  No pupils had attended, and only a couple of members of staff, and the School had re-opened this morning.  Members noted that the Senior Leadership Team had held a debriefing and there were a couple of lessons learnt in respect of IT systems and the provision of telephone numbers.  The Chairman and Members thanked the School for their professional and timely response to this incident.

RESOLVED, that – the report be noted.