Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy John Bennett, the Reverend Dr Martin Dudley, Alderman The Lord Mountevans, Virginia Rounding, and Roy Blackwell.

The following standing declarations were made relating to the other bodies which Members of the Education Board served on.

Henry Colthurst

Board of Governors, Mossbourne Community Academy

Board of Mossbourne Federation

Member of Court of the Worshipful Company of Grocers

Nigel Challis

Board of Governors of the City of London School for Girls

Board of Governors The City Academy, Hackney

Castle Baynard Educational Foundation & Alderman Samuel Wilson Fund

Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment Educational Foundation

Oxford University Council Integrity Committee

Alderman Peter Estlin

Treasurer, Bridewell Royal Hospital - King Edward's School, Witley

Stuart Fraser

Board of Governors City of London Freemen’s School

Board of Governors City of London School for Girls

Board of Governors City of London School

Deputy Catherine McGuinness

Board of Governors The City Academy, Hackney

Castle Baynard Educational Foundation & Alderman Samuel Wilson Fund

United Westminster Schools Foundation

Board of School Governors and Council of Almoners, Christ's Hospital

Barbican Centre Board

Guildhall School Development Fund

Alderman William Russell

Board of Governors City of London School for Girls

Board of Governors of Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Board of Governors Knightsbridge Schools International

Board of Governors Knightsbridge School

Court of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers

Trustee of Place2Be

Ian Seaton

Board of Governors City of London School

Board of Governors Bridewell Royal Hospital

Donation Governor Christ's Hospital

Philip Woodhouse

Board of Governors of the City of London Freemen’s School

Board of Mossbourne Federation

Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy, Hackney

Chairman of Governors of Wellesley House School

Member of the Court of Worshipful Company of Grocers

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 5 March 2015.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2015 be approved as a correct record, subject to amendments outlined by the Town Clerk.

Matters Arising

Free School Applications   

The Director of Community and Children’s Services noted that the Education Funding Agency (EFA) had requested that two governors of the new primary academies in Islington and Southwark be appointed as soon as possible, as part of the ongoing EFA applications for both schools. The Deputy Chairman added that the selection process for governors needed to be reflected in the refreshed Education Strategy from 2016.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Board considered an update report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services on the Education Strategy 2013-15. The following points were made,

·         The Deputy Chairman suggested that the table of activities should include an assessment of each item’s overall priority, to assist Board members in exercising oversight.

·         The Director of Community and Children’s Services noted that parents would be made aware of both the City of London Academy Islington and The City Academy Hackney’s success in the annual analysis of each academy’s data by the Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT), and the fact that both academies had been invited to SSATs regional celebration ceremony in May 2015.

·         The Chairman commented on the strategic significance of some of the work being carried out on Strand 3, learning and engagement.

·         A paper was tabled setting out the predictions from the academies for their results.  The Chairman observed that these should be brought to the Board earlier in the year in view of the City’s responsibilities as academy sponsor.  The Director agreed that school results and predictions would be reported to the Board more regularly. These reports would include an October report analysing the previous summer’s unvalidated results, and a December report analysing predictions for the following year. Raw results data would be reported to the Board each September. Finally, the Board would receive update reports on predicted grades between January and May. It was agreed that the reports would include historic data to enable trends to be identified and monitored.

RECEIVED

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk setting out a summary of governors in each of the City Schools. The Director advised that members should consider whether there was merit in seeking different ways of recruiting governors, particularly in light of the fact many school and academy boards had vacancies, and that further vacancies would arise as the new primary academies opened. In response to a question, the Director replied that a model similar to that employed at the Academies, whereby half of City appointed governors were members of the Court of Common Council and the other half were external members chosen for their professional experience, could be adopted for further schools. The following points were then made.

·         A member remarked that it was important to be strategic, and though the immediate issue of governors for the new schools needed dealing with immediately the City should adopt a longer term approach that set out what the governance structure for the City Academies should look like over the next decade, and how to orchestrate that outcome.  

·         The Deputy Chairman commented that as he had remarked before the City Corporation should make greater use of co-opted governors, to be drawn from sources such as the Livery and City businesses.

·         The Assistant Town Clerk added that it was important to have a clear ethos that set out what exactly was expected of City Governors. Secondly, governors should be appointed according to the need for defined skills.  

·         A member commented that in any future governance structure it was important to ensure the City Corporation maintained control of each school/academy.

·         A member suggested that the cross-fertilisation of governors on each of the City independent school boards be copied over onto each of the boards of the City academies.

·         The Deputy Chairman suggested that

The Board received a report of the Town Clerk outlining constitutional changes that had been submitted to the Charity Commission by Bridewell Royal Hospital. The main change that affected the City Corporation was the planned reduction of City Corporation governors from twelve to seven. It was suggested that the requirement for seven members of the Court was too many given the other demands for governors from the Court.  It was indicated  that Bridewell Royal Hospital would be prepared to discuss further changes with the City Corporation should there be a desire to do so but would prefer to leave the current proposal as it stood as it had already been put to the Charity Commission.

RECEIVED

Director of Economic Development and Director of Community and Children’s Services

The Board received a report for information setting out the City Corporation’s work to support an effective transition from education to employment. The following points were made.

·         It was suggested that the Board’s main role was to promote education to employment, and therefore more use of digital channels should be made. Similarly, the Board should ensure the City Corporation readily identified and facilitated business partnerships, given the successful navigation of the education to employment pathway by young people was an issue.

·         A member noted that it was important to consider what ‘employable’ meant. Employability encompassed skills, attitude and values, all of which were to be learned and instilled in school. Thought should be put into how early this approach was adopted therefore – for example, whether it should occur from primary age onwards.

·         A member remarked that businesses needed more encouragement and support to offer work experience placements, given placements were time consuming for employees and potentially detracted from day-to-day work unless adequately planned and supported.

·         A member commented that the Board needed to set out a clear vision for both the City Schools, and an expectation on City businesses, and lobby both schools and employers with that vision in mind. 

·         The Chairman queried why the initiatives run by the City under its Human Resources function – for example, apprenticeships – were treated as distinct and had not been covered by the report.

·         It was observed that there was a need to map more clearly the initiatives which City businesses were involved in and the opportunities available to schools.  The Chairman queried whether this might be a subject to add to the Economic Development Office’s research programme.

·         The Deputy Chairman also suggested that strategic  thought should be given to identify what functions should be best executed by the Corporation, what

Presentation by Carolyn Housman (Director and Chief Executive, Heart of the City).

The Board received a presentation from Carolyn Housman, Director and Chief Executive of Heart of the City. Ms Housman outlined the main areas of activity undertaken by Herat of the City, including the facilitation of employability schemes with a network of over 800 businesses, 70% of which were small or medium enterprises (SMEs).

RECEIVED

There were no questions.

Livery Schools Link

The Chairman noted that a report of the Livery Schools Link would be submitted to a future meeting of the Board.

Worshipful Company of Educators Event

The Chairman noted that arrangements were being made to stage a joint City of London Corporation/Worshipful Company of Educators event in late 2015. The event would likely involve a lecture, address and discussion session for the Livery and City Businesses.

Nigel Challis and Philip Woodhouse

The Chairman thanked Mr Challis and Mr Woodhouse for their work on the Board during 2014/15 and wished them well in seeking reappointment to the Board for 2015/16 by the Policy and Resources Committee, and Community and Children’s Services Committee, respectively.

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 Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act

RESOLVED – 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 Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act as follows:-

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2015.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2015 be approved as a correct record.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.