Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2019.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2019 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Clerk.

Trustees considered a report of the Clerk regarding outstanding actions arising from previous meetings and it was noted that all outstanding actions had been completed.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer on the City of London Academies Trust Strategic Plan Review and the following points were made:

·         Work was underway to develop the City of London Academies Trust Strategic Plan 2020-2024 which would be presented to the meeting of the Board of Trustees on 9 July 2020.  Trustees would be consulted on key aspects of the draft City of London Academies Trust Strategic Plan 2020-2024 as it was developed, including the timeline and stakeholder engagement proposals.

·         The Trust’s core mission to support all its academies to be rated as outstanding within three years would continue to be articulated within the strategic plan, although it was possible that timescales might be affected following the introduction of the new Ofsted framework.  A Trustee supported the Trust’s aspiration but observed that individual schools required different levels of support to reach outstanding and that there should be some flexibility in timescales.  School improvement could also be affected by external factors, such as staff turnaround.

·         It was anticipated that the Trust would continue to expand during the period of the next strategic plan from the current eight academies up to a possible twelve.  In the longer term, consideration would need to be given to whether there was an argument for any further expansion.  Another area for review could include how the Trust might build links with other Trusts for the joint delivery of services including back-office services and procurement processes.

The Chair underlined the need to engage the Trust Sponsor in developing the City of London Academies Trust Strategic Plan 2020-2024, which should include a review of the Trust’s Sponsorship Agreement to ensure it was able to meet the requirements of what was now an established and growing Trust as well as reflect the evolving educational aims

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer presenting the proposed Parent, Community and Commercial Links survey for the 2019-20 academic year and the following points were made:

·         The Parent, Community and Commercial Links survey had been introduced during the 2018-19 academic year to identify and review the activities and processes in place to promote and maintain parent, community and commercial links across the Trust.    In reviewing the findings of the survey, the Standards and Accountability Committee had agreed that the exercise be carried out on an annual basis to track progress being made in this area with a view to identifying best practice.

·         Trustees discussed the proposed format for the Spring 2020 survey and agreed the following changes:

o   Question 2: ‘Meetings with the Governors’ to be added as a check-box option and ‘Other’ to be moved into a distinct question asking, ‘What other activities and events does your academy deliver during the year?’.

o   Additional question to be added asking, ‘Does your academy undertake an annual parent and student survey?’

·         A Trustee asked whether there was a code of conduct for parents and carers in place at schools across the Trust.  The Chief Executive Officer confirmed that this was available at an operational level and the Trustee suggested that the code of conduct for parents and carers be uploaded to academy websites.  Another Trustee noted that parents and carers signed a pupil contract when their child joined an academy within the Trust which outlined basic expectations around children attending school ready to learn.  The code of conduct for parents and carers would be circulated to Trustees following the meeting.

·         In response to a question from a Trustee, the Chief Executive Officer advised that Ofsted did not encourage schools to provide more than three academic reports to parents/carers

There were no questions.

There was no other business.

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 7 November 2019.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2019 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer providing the annual Spring Data Summary.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Additional background information is provided as follows:

Annex A: Evening Standard Article (7 January 2020)

Annex B: Islington Gazette (30 December 2019)

Annex C: London Borough of Islington – Findings of Review on Permanent and Fixed-Period Exclusion from School (20 June 2019)

Annex D.1: Letter from Hackney Learning Trust (19 November 2019)

Annex D.2: Hackney Learning Trust - Behaviour Advice: To Support Reviews of School Behaviour Policies 2019-20 (Autumn 2019)

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer outlining pre-apprenticeship programme proposals for the Trust.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer presenting the ‘Academies at a Glance' summary.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer presenting the IMPACT Visits Spring 1 Summaries termly report.

The Chief Executive Officer to be heard.

Trustees considered a report of the Chief Executive Officer providing an update on safeguarding monitoring across the Trust, including Governor participation in safeguarding training.

There were no non-public questions.

There was no urgent business.

Report of the Chief Executive Officer.

Trustees considered a confidential report on Leadership Performance Management Judgements 2018/19 and Targets for 2019-20.