Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room - 2nd Floor West Wing, Guildhall

Contact: Kerry Nicholls  Email: kerry.nicholls@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Tijs Broeke, Alderman Sir Peter Estlin and Alderman Sir William Russell.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.

2.

MEMBERS' DECLARATIONS UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT IN RESPECT OF ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

PUBLIC MINUTES pdf icon PDF 230 KB

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 3 December 2021.

 

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 3 December 2021 were approved as a correct record.

 

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 3 December 2021 be approved as a correct record.</AI4><AI5>

 

MATTERS ARISING

·         The Deputy Chair asked if it was possible to provide a link to the Youth-Led Environmental Updates (p9, paragraph 6) on the Livery Committee website;

·         The Deputy Chair advised that the Head of the Outward Bound Trust was keen to connect with City Schools and to present to the Board.

 

The Chair noted that there was a date in the diary to discuss the above points.

 

·         The question was posed whether it would be possible to look at a wider community of schools to assist with the Afghan students (page 11) or boarding places at City Schools, also adding that there was further provision across the Livery schools which could be assessed for opportunities;

·         A Member advised  that the older age groups had been more challenging to place, particularly in light of the fact that there was very little available housing for larger families; however, work was ongoing.

·         Members heard that some Afghan families in Edgware and Kensington had been given less than one day’s notice of removal from their temporary accommodation.

·         An Officer noted that despite other external pressures, families with children were settling well within the schools. Some children were being placed in lower age groups due to language barriers; however, this should not continue on a long-term basis.

·         A Member commented that a large student accommodation development had been approved at Snow Hill and queried whether this could be co-ordinated to create availability for the Further Education Afghan students.

 

The Chair noted that all comments would be followed up upon the return

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

OUTSTANDING ACTIONS pdf icon PDF 112 KB

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 4.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Town Clerk regarding the Board’s outstanding actions:

 

A Member asked why the second action on the list remained on hold until the Governance review had concluded, given it was their understanding that the review had in fact already concluded.

 

The Chair noted the comment and agreed to follow up upon the return of the Strategic Education and Skills Director.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

CO-OPTED MEMBER TERM EXTENSION/NOMINATIONS

The Chair to be heard.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 5.

Minutes:

Members heard an update from the Chair regarding Co-Opted Member Term Nominations/Extension.

 

The Chair commented that the Nominations Committee had recommended that the appointment process for the external Member vacancy be postponed until after the Court of Common Council elections had taken place on 24 March 2022, and sought the Board’s approval for this, which was agreed.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the external Member position be retained by Mary Robey until the Court of Common Council elections had taken place on 24 March 2022.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

COVID-19 UPDATE

The Director of Community and Children’s Services to be heard.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 6.

Minutes:

Members heard an oral update of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

 

All schools remained open for face-to-face teaching, although some had experienced outbreaks of COVID within their staff teams, with Highbury Grove school experiencing a significant level of staff sickness. Members heard that there was an escalating number of student absences and expressed concern at the report that families were allowing students to take time off despite being well enough to attend school. There had also been a national reduction in school attendance dropping from 95% to 88% as evidenced by data received in January 2022. There wasn’t sufficient data on persistent absence available on a national basis to permit wider conclusions to be extrapolated; however, another Member was able to advise that City Schools had not seen a similar fall in attendance.  The Board was advised that measures were being taken to increase attendance, with local authorities being pressured to push for higher-level interventions. Relevant safeguarding concerns were being communicated and elective home education was being reported where necessary.

 

A Member asked what the financial impact had been on schools during the current phase of the pandemic. In response, Officers advised that there had been a very significant financial impact, despite a degree of government support, which would be available for further analysis once budget evaluation meetings had taken place, as well as planning and forecasting meetings at the beginning of the next term.

 

The Chair extended the Board’s grateful thanks to all staff working in schools during this difficult time and discussed the possibility of using strategic funding from September 2022 to provide assistance where it was most needed.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

EDUCATION, CULTURAL AND CREATIVE LEARNING AND SKILLS 2020/21 ANNUAL REPORT pdf icon PDF 193 KB

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

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the Education, Cultural and Creative Learning Skills 2020/21 Annual Report. The Chair introduced the item and advised that governance would be a key priority going forward.

 

Despite the impact of COVID a significant amount of activity had taken place, including a drop in permanent exclusions from eighteen pupils in 2018/19 to one in 2020/21, which was welcomed by all present. Further to this, arising from the Alternative Provision available, the current cohort of Year 11s had all completed their studies with all students in education, employment or training (NEET).

 

Governors were encouraged to complete all Governor training sessions following low attendance at a recent safeguarding training course and the importance of Governors completing statutory training every two years was highlighted. Comment was made, however, that Governors in daytime employment may find it difficult to take time off to attend in-person daytime meetings. In response to a question posed by a Member, officers advised that some courses were recorded and made available to Governors, but that sessions such as safeguarding could not be recorded due to the sensitive nature of the conversations. Slides and other reference material was however always made available, and two additional Members of CoL staff were now on board and would provide support with training sessions. A query was put as to whether such reference material was circulated to the clerks of governing bodies, who were in a better position than the Chairs of Boards to disseminate the information to their governors.

 

The Chair welcomed the news that additional funding had been secured for adult education services, as detailed on p29 of the report and commended those involved for their work in obtaining this.

 

RESOLVED, that:

i)              the report be noted;

ii)    consideration be

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

EDUCATION BOARD BUDGET UPDATE pdf icon PDF 235 KB

A joint report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Chamberlain.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 8.

Minutes:

Members received a joint report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Chamberlain concerning the Education Board Budget Update.

 

There had been a small overspend of £6,000 against an overall budget of £2.5 million, and work to reduce this overspend was ongoing.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

EDUCATION, CULTURAL AND CREATIVE LEARNING AND SKILLS UPDATE pdf icon PDF 156 KB

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

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 9.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members noted a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the Educational, Cultural and Creative Learning and Skills Update.

 

A City Schools Conference celebrating 150 years of State Education in England (partnered with the Foundation for Educational Development) had taken place in the Livery Hall, Guildhall, in November 2021, with very positive feedback received, although sadly the City Schools Concert had been cancelled due to COVID concerns. Discussions had taken place which included future plans, developing frameworks, equality and inclusion and ‘sustaining excellent education’, followed by an opportunity to network informally. A Chess Tournament was scheduled to take place on 23February 2022.

 

The Chair noted that a Social Mobility Breakfast Briefing (organised by the Education Unit and CoLAT) would take place on Friday 13 May at 08:30am. All Members were encouraged to sign up to attend.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

TACKLING RACISM TASKFORCE ACTION PLAN pdf icon PDF 169 KB

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

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the Tackling Racism Taskforce Action Plan and noted that further information would be reported to the next meeting.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

11.

GOVERNOR APPOINTMENTS UPDATE pdf icon PDF 117 KB

Director of Community and Children’s services.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the Governor Appointments Update.

 

Those present noted movement in Newham Collegiate Sixth form (NCS) and as well as a number of vacancies in the City of London Academies Trust’s local governing bodies and commented that April may be a good time to communicate the elected Member vacancies given the Court of Common Council elections scheduled to take place on 24 March 2022. The Deputy Chair suggested that the Livery website, which received a high level of traffic, would be a good place to advertise vacancies.

 

There followed a discussion about the recruitment process, with Members agreeing that there should be a focus on diversity when recruiting for governor positions.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

CITY PREMIUM GRANT UPDATE - JANUARY pdf icon PDF 138 KB

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

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the City Premium Grant Update – January.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY (SEND) STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 961 KB

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

 

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Minutes:

The Board received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy, 50% of which had now been delivered. Oversight and governance of the strategy was retained by the SEND Programme Board, a partnership board which was representative of the statutory agencies as well as having representatives from the parent forum and independent bodies. Throughout the pandemic – including lockdowns – children included in the strategy remained supported by staff. Recent work carried out during the summer term had involved the SEND Advisor visiting all 18 schools in total, which had had the benefit of revitalising the SENCO network.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

14.

CULTURE MILE LEARNING (CML) CASE FOR INVESTMENT 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Report of the Director of the Museum of London.

Appendices 1-7 attached.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 14.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report of the Director of the Museum of London concerning the Culture Mile Learning (CML) Case for Investment 2022/23. The Director of the Museum of London introduced the item and noted that the recommendation of the report was a request for funding for work taking place 2022/23.

 

Members discussed the information in the report and commented that the assistance with the Afghan Refugee programme demonstrated a flexible use of funds and adaptability from the team. It was noted that the 2022/23 programme was to be split into two key areas: Creative Curriculum – with dedicated work being carried out on de-colonising the curriculum – and Social Mobility, with an aim to expand the work experience opportunities with more longer-term placements, especially for vulnerable young people.  It was planned to seek grant funding to support additional workstreams from a range of funders including Arts Council England. 

 

The Chair asked why the School Visit Fund referred to an allocation of £16,000 when it had previously totalled at £52,000. Officers clarified that the sum of £16,000 was the annual allocation for grants, with an additional £14,000 allocated for staffing. The standard amount received each year was £30,000 but there had been funds carried forward from previous years, including for the COVID period. Members queried why 66% of the budget had been allocated to staffing with only £82,000 allocated to the projects themselves and it was confirmed that staff leveraged the funds and the contributions from the wider networks combined, meaning the budget was amplified when looking at the resources used.

 

Members sought clarification as to whether CML was a part of the CoL Corporation, or if it acted as an independent body. In response, the Board heard that CML was a network which delivered projects and had been set up

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

15.

LONDON CAREERS FESTIVAL

The Director of Community and Children’s Services to be heard.

 

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.

Minutes:

Members received an update from the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding the London Careers Festival.

 

The London Careers Festival was due to take place from 20 June–1 July 2022: a virtual festival was scheduled to take place from 20–25 June 2022 whilst a physical festival would run from 27-29 June, with an additional day of activities scheduled to take place on 1 July. The festival would be centred around the Guildhall complex and would be tailored to different age groups throughout:

·         Monday 27 June for students aged 16+;

·         Tuesday 28 June for secondary students;

·         Wednesday 29 June for primary students;

·         Friday 1 July for apprentices.

 

The Chair encouraged the Board to promote the festival as widely as possible through social media outlets and business networks and advised that a further update would be brought to the April Board meeting.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

REPORT OF CONNECTING COMMUNITIES (LIVERY) pdf icon PDF 150 KB

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

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 16.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received an update from the Director of Community and Children’s Services regarding Connecting Communities (Livery): the programme was funded by a total budget of £18M and would operate for 18 months across 12 London boroughs. The programme’s goal was to support adults aged 18 or over who were not in education, training or employment to gain the skills they needed to secure sustainable work. Training on the software package which was vital to this work was scheduled for the Connecting Communities team. The programme included work to support Afghan refugees, with visits made to refugee accommodation to discuss the options available. Training providers, such as City and Guilds, as well as other partner organisations such as Livery Companies, were involved and working closely on the project.

 

Following a query from a Member in terms of how success would be measured, the Board heard that measurable targets were built into the contract and programme and that the software in use monitored these results. The Board was advised that outcomes were clearly related to sustainable employment, meaning a minimum of 6 months’ work.

 

RESOLVED, that:

the report be noted.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

QUESTIONS ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE WORK OF THE BOARD

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC

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

 

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 19.

Minutes:

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.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

NON-PUBLIC MINUTES

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2021.

 

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 20.

Minutes:

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2021 were approved as a correct record.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

21.

NON-PUBLIC OUTSTANDING ACTIONS

Report of the Town Clerk.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 21.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Town Clerk relative to the Board’s non-public outstanding actions.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

22.

CITY JUNIOR SCHOOL

Minutes:

The Board received a report of the Head of City Junior School.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

ACADEMIES BUILDINGS AND EXPANSION PROGRAMME UPDATE

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

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 23.

Minutes:

Members received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

CHAIRS' UPDATE

The Chairs of the City Junior School, CoLAT, CLSF, CLS and CLSG to be heard.

 ...  view the full agenda text for item 24.

Minutes:

Members received oral updates from the Chairs of the City Junior School, City of London Academies Trust, the City of London Freemen School, the City of London School and the City of London School for Girls.

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

25.

NON-PUBLIC QUESTIONS ON MATTERS RELATING TO THE WORK OF THE BOARD

Minutes:

There were no questions.

 

 ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

26.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT AND WHICH THE BOARD AGREE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHILST THE PUBLIC ARE EXCLUDED

Minutes: