Agenda and minutes

Alderman Robert Howard was in the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Mary Durcan, Dr Stephanie Ellington, Shravan Joshi, Deputy Richard Regan and Deputy Philip Woodhouse.

Apologies for lateness were received from Randall Anderson.

There were no declarations of interest.

Order of the Court of Common Council, 15 April 2021, appointing the Board and setting its Terms of Reference. 

RESOLVED - That the Order of the Court of Common Council dated 15 April 2021 appointing the Board of Governors for 2021/22 and setting out its terms of reference be received.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

Members elected a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 29.

RESOLVED - That being the only Governor indicating his willingness to serve, Nicholas Bensted-Smith be elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the City of London School for Girls for the ensuing year.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

Members elected a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order 30.

RESOLVED - That being the only Governor indicating his willingness to serve, Peter Bennett be elected Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors of the City of London School for Girls for the ensuing year.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 11 March 2021.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the previous meeting be approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk outlining Outstanding Actions and the following point was made:

• The School’s Music Department had explored the streaming technology used by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for integrated musical events (Action 17/20/BG).  Work was ongoing to refine the School’s own arrangements for delivering music provision and this would include outdoor rehearsal and performance for the Summer 2021 term.   

RESOLVED – That the Outstanding Actions report be noted.

To receive the draft minutes and non-public summary of the Bursary Committee meetings held on 24 March and 6 May 2021.

RESOLVED - That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Bursary Committee meetings held on 24 March and 6 May 2021 be received.

To receive the draft minutes and non-public summary of the Governance Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021

RESOLVED - That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Governance Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021 be received.

To receive the draft minutes and non-public summary of the Finance and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021.

RESOLVED - That the public minutes and non-public summary of the Finance and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021 be received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding the appointment of Committees and Working Parties, Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools Representative and Governors’ Designated Roles for the 2021/22 academic year and the following point was made:

·         There were a number of vacancies for Governor Designated Roles.  Key roles would be allocated as a matter of priority with any remaining vacancies rolling forward to the next meeting of the Board of Governors when it was anticipated that some additional Governors may have been appointed to the Board. A new Governor Designated Role on Diversity and Inclusion had been established in line with the recommendations of the Race Equality Review. 

RESOLVED - That:

·         Nicholas Bensted-Smith be appointed the School’s representative to the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools for the 2021/22 academic year;

·         Governor’s Designated Roles for the 2021/22 academic year be agreed as follows:

·         The terms of reference of the Committees and Working Party of the Board be approved, including proposed amendments to the terms of reference of the Governance Committee and Finance and Estates Committee, and the terms of reference and composition of the Teachers’ Pay Panel be noted.

·         The following appointments be made to the Committees and Working Parties of the Board:

Bursary Committee

Nicholas Bensted-Smith (Chairman)

Peter Bennett (Deputy Chairman)

Randall Anderson

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered the report of the Headmistress which provided updates on forthcoming events, COVID-19 and community and partnerships and the following points were made:

• A number of events had been scheduled for the Summer and Autumn 2021 terms, of which an increasing number would be held in-person as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.  Governors were encouraged to attend events where possible and the Headmistress thanked Governors who would be attending the upcoming Leavers’ ceremonies.

• Community and partnership work continued to be a key focus of the School with the majority of Year 11 pupils engaged in some form of community work during the Summer 2021 term, including involvement in mentoring programmes across the City of London Corporation’s family of schools.

• Structural changes were being made to the School’s approach to higher education to reflect the increasing number of students applying to American universities or making a dual application to American universities and Oxbridge.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

Governors considered a report of the Headmistress setting out five school policies for approval.

RESOLVED – That the following policies be approved:

·         Curriculum Policy;

·         First Aid Policy;

·         Medical Conditions, Medicines and Infection Control Policy;

·         Privacy Notice; and,

·         International Policy.

Report of the Director of Human Resources.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Human Resources outlining people management delegations to the Heads of the three City of London Independent Schools acting in their capacity as Chief Officers that would be piloted as part of the Target Operating Review pilot project at the City of London School and the following points were made:

• The Target Operating Review pilot project had commenced in April 2021 and was working well with four areas of people management approval that would previously have required confirmation from the City of London Corporation’s Director of Human Resources delegated to the Heads of the three City of London Independent Schools acting in their capacity as Chief Officers, including Honoraria payments and starting salary points for external appointments.  An evaluation of the pilot scheme would be undertaken in Autumn 2021 and reported to the next meeting of the Board of Governors on 14 October 2021 prior to the possible rolling out of similar delegations to other City of London Corporation institutions.

• The Chairman welcomed the increased delegation of responsibility to the City of London Independent Schools.  The Deputy Chairman flagged that whilst it was important to apply delegations consistently across the three City of London Independent Schools it should be noted that the three Schools did not necessarily have comparable levels of financial affordability and that this should be taken into account as part of any delegation process.

RESOLVED – That:

·         The areas identified to pilot local delegation to the three Heads of the City of London Independent Schools acting in their capacity as Chief Officers be endorsed in relation to the starting point for external appointments; incremental progression - additional awards and Honoraria payments including the calculation for partial acting ups payments;

• The pilot commences with immediate effect to provide a full

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board considered a report of the Chamberlain regarding the charging of administration costs and external audit fees to the School’s Bursary Fund charity from 2021/22 and the following point was made:

·         The City Corporation, as Trustee of City of London School for Girls Bursary Fund incorporating the City of London School for Girls Scholarships and Prizes Fund, had chosen to exercise its right to be reimbursed for legitimate and reasonable costs and expenses properly incurred while undertaking its duties on behalf of the charity from the 2021/22 financial year. These charges comprised the costs of administering the charity and external audit fees estimated at £5,528 and £2,750 respectively for the 2021/22 financial year.  It was requested that the reserves policy of the School’s charity be revised to provide for these costs going forward.

RESOLVED – That:

·         It be noted that following a change in policy approved by the Finance Committee, the City of London Corporation would begin recovering the external audit fees and administration costs incurred from those charities, including the School’s charity, from 2021/22 onwards; and,

·         That the reserves policy of the School’s charity be revised to provide for these costs going forward.

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

The Board considered a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services presenting the Education Workstream Action Plan developed by the Tackling Racism Taskforce and the following points were made:

·         The Tackling Racism Taskforce had been established in June 2020 to consider how the City of London Corporation worked to tackle racism in all its forms and assess whether further action could be undertaken to promote economic, educational and social inclusion through the Corporation’s activities.  The Education Workstream Action Plan had been developed as a result of this work and in consultation with key stakeholders, and outlined a range of actions intended to ensure that safe, inclusive, supportive, and empowering education was provided to all, regardless of the age, background or circumstance.

·         The Headmistress welcomed the Education Workstream Action Plan which reflected and reinforced the work being undertaken by the City of London School for Girls and City of London School which had commissioned a joint Race Equality Review in Autumn 2020.

RESOLVED – That:

·         The Education Workstream Action Plan be noted; and,

·         Updates on the delivery of the Education Workstream Action Plan be reported to future meetings of the Boards of Governors of the City of London Independent Schools.

There were no questions.

There was one item of urgent business.

The Chairman led the Board in thanking Alderman Emma Edhem, Deputy Tom Hoffman, Mary Ireland and Sylvia Moys who had recently stood down as Governors for their excellent service to the City of London School for Girls over many years, as well as Deputy Clare James who would be standing down when her current term as Governor ended in July 2021.  The Chairman welcomed Alderman Robert Howard who was attending his first meeting as a Governor.

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 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items 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.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2021.

The non-public minutes of the previous meeting were approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk outlining non-public Outstanding Actions.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Bursary Committee meetings held on 24 March and 6 May 2021.

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the Bursary Committee meetings held on 24 March and 6 May 2021 be received.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Governance Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the Governance Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021 be received.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Finance and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021.

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the Finance and Estates Sub-Committee meeting held on 13 May 2021 be received.

To receive the non-public minutes of the Academic Working Party meeting held on 5 May 2021.

RESOLVED - That the non-public minutes of the Academic Working Party meeting held on 5 May 2021 be received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Governors are asked to note two confidential appendices at Agenda Item 35.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk outlining expressions of interest in Co-opted Governor vacancies, including the findings of the Spring 2021 Governor Skills Audit.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board approved the report of the Headmistress which provided information on non-public matters in relation to the School.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Bursar of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Bursar presenting the Financial Information Dashboard.

Joint Report of the Chamberlain and the Bursar of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Bursar outlining the revenue outturn 2020/21 for the City of London School for Girls.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a report of the Headmistress outlining the School’s approach to bursaries and partnerships.

Report of the Chamberlain.

The Board considered a report of the Chamberlain presenting a summary of the hardship bursary applications considered by the Bursary Committee during the 2020/21 financial year.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls and the Head of the City of London School.

The Board considered a joint report of the Headmistress and the Head of the City of London School updating progress on the development of the City of London School and City of London School for Girls’ Junior School.

Report of the Bursar of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a report of the Bursar presenting an update on estates work across the School.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a report of the Bursar presenting a regular update of the School’s Risk Register.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding action taken under urgent or delegated authority since the last meeting.

There were no questions.

There was one item of urgent business.

To agree the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2021.

The confidential minutes of the previous meeting were approved as an accurate record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Board considered a report of the Town Clerk outlining confidential Outstanding Actions.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Confidential appendices to be reach in conjunction with Agenda Item 21.

The Board considered a confidential appendix for Item 21: Expressions of Interest in Co-opted Governor Vacancies including Spring 2021 Skills Audit.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls.

The Board considered a report of the Headmistress presenting the annual safeguarding update.

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls and the Head of the City of London School.

The Board considered a joint report of the Headmistress and the Head of the City of London School on the School Operations Pilot (Target Operating Model).

Report of the Headmistress of the City of London School for Girls, the Head of the City of London School and the Head of the City of London Freemen’s School.

The Board considered a joint report of the Headmistress, the Head of the City of London School and the Head of the City of London Freemen’s School presenting an update on teacher pay and rewards.