Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Clare James, Edward Lord, Deputy Joyce Nash, Deputy Dr Giles Shilson, and Professor Michael Whitehouse.

There were none.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 June 2016.

RESOLVED – That the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 15 June 2016 be approved, subject to the correction of some minor typographical errors.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Head of the City of London School.

The Board received a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Head that provided details of the net income for 2015/16 before transfers to reserves, which was £1.45 million compared to a budget position of £1.53 million representing a reduction in net income of £80,000 / 5%.

The Head added that additional teacher allowances of £47,000 had been agreed but were not budgeted and that the £20,000 on recruitment was not due to unexpectedly high staff turnover as suggested in the report, but due to the need to advertise several times for key posts including the Bursar. The £23,000 on unbudgeted maternity costs and the cost of an additional member of History staff for one term should be listed as one total cost of £37,000 on unbudgeted staff expenditure. In response to a Governor’s question, the Bursar advised that there was currently no bad debt.

RESOLVED – That the revenue outturn 2015/16 be noted.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Head of the City of London School.

The Board considered a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Head that provided a key risks register for the School Bursary Fund incorporating the Scholarships and Prizes Fund and the School Education Trust. Governors noted that the risk register for the Bursary Fund currently contained seven risks, of which six were assessed as ‘green’ and one ‘amber’. The register for the Education trust contained four risks, all of which were assessed as ‘green’.

RESOLVED – That the two risk registers be reviewed to confirm that they satisfactorily set out the risks facing the School’s two charities and that Governors agree that appropriate measures are in place to mitigate those risks.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board considered a report of the Chamberlain regarding the draft 2016/16 Annual Financial Statements for the School Bursary Fund incorporating the School Scholarships and Prizes Fund, which sought approval to invest a cash balance in the City of London Charities Pool.

Governors noted that the next available date to invest in the Charities Pool was 1 April 2017. The Chairman therefore requested that future reports of this kind be submitted to the summer Board meeting to enable the investment to be made on 1 October of that year instead.

In response to Governors’ questions, the Chamberlain advised that corrections to the draft Annual Report and Financial Statements would be made as per Members’ comments. He added that the balance of Artemis’ investments in cash, equities and bonds would be provided at the next meeting.

RESOLVED – That:-

a)    the draft Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2016 be noted; and

b)    the investment of part of the available cash balance of £626,381 in the City of London Charities Pool totalling £502,746, which would leave an operating cash balance of £123,635, based on the highest level of annual expenditure over the past 5 years, be approved.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board received a report of the Chamberlain that provided details of the 2015/16 Report and Financial Statements for the School Education Trust. Governors noted that total funds had increased by £30 to £6,060 during 2015/16.

In response to a Governor’s question, the Bursar undertook to provide details of the £1,000 debt to the Member.

RESOLVED – That the 2015/16 Report and Financial Statements for the City of London School Education Trust be noted.

Report of the Head of the City of London School.

The Board considered a report of the Head that provided an update on the following School matters and sought approval of some revised School Policies.

Pupil Matters

·         The Board congratulated staff and pupils on the excellent set of public examination results.

·         Attempts were being made to improve the profile of creative subjects such as Art, Design and Technology.

·         In response to a Governor’s question, the Head confirmed that Modern Foreign Languages were popular at the School and that she was pleased with the take-up for Mandarin GCSE, which was newly on offer.

·         The Head would be meeting soon with an external donor who had previously contributed towards travel scholarships for ‘extreme’ travel excursions, to discuss future contributions as extreme travel was no longer deemed safe or appropriate by the School.

·         Governors noted that the Admissions Policy had not been updated for a number of years so the new revised Policy would assist with School procedures.

·         The Head of a new candidate’s current School would be asked to confirm the candidate’s continuing good behaviour as part of the 13+ Admissions Policy.

Safeguarding

·         The September 2016 Keeping Children Safe in Education regulations required all adults in host families for foreign exchange programmes to be DBS checked and for staff to ensure the overseas School was carrying out equivalent checks, which would be costly to administer.

·         A Governor advised that he would inform all members of the John Carpenter Club who attend meetings at the School that they needed to be DBS checked.

·         The Deputy Head asked all Governors to provide their passport or driving licence after the meeting or next time they were at the School to ensure that their records were added to the School’s Single Central Register.

Summer Works

·         HSBC, who continued to contribute towards School Scholarships, would be invited

There were none.

There was none.

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 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 involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2016.

RESOLVED – That the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2016 be approved, subject to the correction of some minor typographical errors.

Report of the Head of the City of London School.

The Board considered a report of the Head that provided an update regarding School matters relating to health and safety, safeguarding, and finances.

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Board received a report of the City Surveyor that provided details of the progress made during the Summer Works 2016 project.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

There were none.

The Board considered one item of urgent business.