Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Rehana Ameer.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 5 September 2019.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 5 September 2019 be approved as a correct record.

To receive the public minutes of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meetings held on 4 October 2019 and 5 December 2019 (To Follow).

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meetings held on 4 October and 5 December 2019 be received.

To receive the public minutes of the Standards and Accountability Committee meeting held on 7 November 2019.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the Standards and Accountability Committee meeting held on 7 November 2019 be received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Trustees considered a report of the Clerk regarding the reappointment of a Co-opted Trustee for a four-year term.

Trustees noted that the Trustee had made an excellent contribution to the Board of Trustees during his four-year term and had served as the Chair of Governors at both Redriff Primary City of London Academy and Galleywall Primary City of London Academy.

RESOLVED, that Lucas Green be reappointed as a Co-opted Trustee of the City of London Academies Trust for a term of four years commencing 27 January 2020.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer outlining proposals for a Pilot Management Moves Protocol and Pre-Apprenticeship Pathway and the following points were noted:

·         The Pilot Management Moves Protocol and Pre-Apprenticeship Pathway had been developed to provide a model for alternative provision within the Trust.  Under the proposed Protocol, students who had been excluded would receive a permanent or temporary managed move to another school within the Trust, effective from the first day of exclusion.  This would reduce the use of expensive external alternative provision and support pupils to remain in in mainstream education with existing support relationships.  The Pre-Apprenticeship Pathway had been developed to meet the learning needs of students who would benefit from being taught offsite on an apprentice or vocational pathway and it was hoped would eventually link with City of London Corporation Post-16 apprenticeship opportunities.  Work was underway to identify suitable premises for the Trust’s Alternative Provision Centre where the package of care would include support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and social workers, as well as Police mentors.

·         The expectation was that Trust schools would pay a flat-rate subscription fee to be allocated places within the Pilot Management Moves Protocol and Pre-Apprenticeship Pathway by top-slicing City Premium Grant.  This model was anticipated to be highly cost effective as it would utilise existing Trust staff and access specialist teaching facilities via low cost arrangements with other schools within the City of London Corporation’s family of schools.  It was hoped to secure the use of premises from the City of London Corporation at low or no cost for the duration of the one-year pilot scheme.  The Deputy Chair emphasised the need to factor in the cost of senior staff time in delivering the Protocol.

·         A Trustee was supportive of the proposed Protocol

There were no questions.

There was one item of other business.

A Trustee noted that there had been an incident at an early years’ nativity performance at Redriff Primary City of London Academy where a parent had used derogatory and oppressive racist language towards other audience members and that this had been reported in national media.  The Chief Executive Officer advised Trustees that the School had taken decisive action following this incident and had made it very clear that such behaviour would not be tolerated by the School.  The Board of Trustees expressed its support for the School’s handling of this situation.   

MOTION – That the public be excluded for the remaining items of business as they are likely to involve discussion on matters deemed commercially sensitive to the City of London Academies Trust.

RESOLVED, that the public be excluded from the following items of business.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 September 2019.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 September 2019 be approved as a correct record.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meeting held on 4 October 2019 and 5 December 2019 (To Follow).

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meetings held on 4 October and 5 December 2019 be received.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Standards and Accountability Committee meeting held on 7 November 2019.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the Standards and Accountability Committee meeting held on 7 November 2019 be received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Trustees considered a report of the Clerk setting out outstanding actions from previous meetings.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Trustees considered a report of the Clerk regarding the appointment of a Chair to a Local Governing Body.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Trustees considered a report of the Clerk regarding appointments to Local Governing Bodies.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered an Executive Summary of the Chief Executive Officer.

Report of the Chief Financial Officer.

Trustees considered an update report of the Chief Financial Officer.

Report of the Chief Financial Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Financial Officer presenting the 2019 Year-End Financial Statements and External Audit.

Report of the Director of Information and Communications Technology.

Trustees considered an update report of the Director of Information and Communications Technology.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer presenting the Autumn Term summaries of the Impact visits.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer providing an update on Safeguarding Monitoring across Trust schools.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer presenting an update on Trust exclusions.

There were no non-public questions.

There was no other business.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Trustees considered confidential information regarding appointments to Local Governing Bodies.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered confidential information on Safeguarding Monitoring across Trust schools.

Report of the Human Resources Director.

Trustees considered a confidential update report of the Human Resources Director.

To receive the confidential minutes of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meeting held on 5 December 2019.

RESOLVED, that the confidential minutes of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee meeting held on 5 December 2019 be received.