AGENDA ITEMS CHECKLIST –SUMMER 2017
This list is designed to help you plan the work of your governing body. It is intended as a prompt and a briefing. Some items must appear on the agenda of every meeting e.g Declaration of Interests, but others may be undertaken at other times of the year or delegated to committees, individuals or the headteacher. Delegated items must still be reported to the next governing body meeting
Business / Standard Items1. / Apologies for absence
i)to receive any apologies for absence
ii)to consider whether or not to give consent to any absence
Governors’ minutes should record whether or not the governing body consents to absences. Governors can be disqualified if they fail to attend meetings for a continuous period of six months without the consent (i.e. acceptance of apologies) of the governing body.
Clerks’ Update: Thursday 27thApril 2017, 3.00 – 5.00pm, Lilla Huset Professional Development Centre
2. / Declaration of interests / Revision of Register of Interests
i)to receive declarations of interest in any item on the agenda.
ii)to update the register of business interests.
In the interests of fairness and financial probity the School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) Regulations 2013(Articles of Association or Scheme of Delegation for Academies) require governors, associate members and headteachers to declare an interest, withdraw from the relevant part of the agenda and not vote in the following circumstances:
- where there may be a conflict between their interests and the interests of the governing body
- a fair hearing is required and there is any reasonable doubt about someone’s ability to act impartially
- a person has any pecuniary interest, direct or indirect in a matter under discussion. An indirect interest is where someone is an associate, nominee, spouse or relative of a person with a financial or other interest.
- during discussion of their own appointment, suspension or removal as a member of the governing body. This includes the election of the chair and vice-chair, where candidates must withdraw even if they are the only person standing
- pay or appraisal of persons working at the school – a member of staff other than the headteacher must withdraw from any discussion of the pay or appraisal of any other member of staff
From 1 September 2015 governor’s declarations must be published on the school website.
Governors to note the contents of the Statutory Guidance which requires the following to be declared in relation to anyone who has served as a Governor in the previous 12 months and displayed on the school’s website in a readily accessible format:
- their full names, date of appointment, term of office, date they stepped down (where applicable), who appointed them (in accordance with the governing body’s instrument of government),
- relevant business and pecuniary interests (as recorded in the register of interests) including:
- governance roles in other educational institutions;
- any material interests arising from relationships between governors or relationships between governors and school staff (including spouses, partners and close relatives); and
- their attendance record at governing body and committee meetings over the last academic year.
3. / Governing Body Constitution
i)to note any appointments / elections and welcome new governors
ii) to note any resignations
ii)iii) to decide on any co-opted governor, LA Governor, associate member
iii) appointments
iv)to update a skills audit to assist the GB to make best use of the skills already present and assist in recruitment to vacancies.
- Induction: Please ensure that new governors have appropriate school based induction arrangements and register for the Local Authority Induction programme.
- Code of PracticeWe strongly recommend that governing bodies adopt a Code of Practice and that all governors are asked to agree to it and sign it.
- DBS and other checks: All governors are required to have a DBS certificate. It is important though that new governors are checked to ensure they are not ineligible under one of the disqualification criteria in the Constitution regulations. New governors should be asked to:
- sign a declaration that they are not disqualified from serving as a governor. A model pro-forma is on our website.
- asked for evidence of identity
- provide 2 references
- sign a declaration that they are still not disqualified from serving as a governor. A model pro-forma is on our website.
Edubase –All governors’ details must be entered on the Edubase website. This is a statutory requirement. See below:
4. / Minutes of Previous Meeting and Matters Arising
i)to confirm the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record
ii) to consider any matter arising which does not appear elsewhere on the
agenda.
Commentary
- Confidentiality and public access: schools and academies need to be aware that they must make available for public inspection agendas, signed minutes and any paper considered at a meeting. This includes the headteacher’s report. However confidential items are excluded. These include any material relating to named employees or prospective employees, named pupils or prospective pupils and “any other matter that, by reason of its nature, the governing body is satisfied should remain confidential”. General governing body and committee papers and reports should not contain sensitive information about staff, pupils, parents or others who are either named or can be identified from the detail provided. Governing bodies should agree any item which they wish to remain confidential and record it separately.
- Storage: Once agreed the chair of governors for that meeting should sign and date the minutes. It is good practice to initial/signand date each page. The signed minutes are the formal permanent record of the governing body meeting and decisions and should be stored in a secure but accessible place in the school.
5. / Chair’s Action
Any urgent matter dealt with by the Chair since the last meeting. This should only be used in cases of urgency affecting pupils, staff or premises. It should not be used as a matter of routine.
In Academies, there is generally no provision for Chair’s Action. The Academy Articles of Association or Scheme of Delegation should be referred to.
6. / Reports
To note reports from any individual or committee with delegated authority e.g
i)chair’s reporton any decisions / activities on behalf of the governing body
ii)committee reports
iii)visiting governor reports
and consider any recommendations made.
Persons / committees with delegated authority must report back to the governing body. To save time unless a decision is required reports could be circulated in advance and simply noted.
7. / Finance Update
Governors to receive details on the end of year budget position for 2016/2017.(MAINTAINED SCHOOLS ONLY)
Governors to approve the budget for 2017/2018and staffing structure for 2017/2018.
Academies should receive an update on the current position of the 2016-2017 budget and planned staffing structure for 2017/2018.
8. / Headteacher’s report* with monitoring information and commentary.
The items suggested below might alternatively be separate agenda items or discussed in committees
- Standards and progress report with commentary and any proposals to address issues eg
Secondary schools, public examination results with area / LA / national comparative data / comparison with targets and trends over three / five years, gender / BME / SEN /pupil premium and vulnerable groups analysis.
value added analysis of results where possible (from baseline to end of KS1, KS1 to end KS2 etc) and pupil progress.
analysis of key details from provisional data
quality of teaching – with commentary e.g SLT / H/T observation monitoring cycle, pupil progress meetings, tracking systems
achievements of pupils and other members of the school community
outcomes of any review of curriculum areas
report on the Local Authority’s categorisation of the school
School Development Plan priorities update with commentary on progress in achieving objectives / significance / impact / proposals to address any issues
- Financial account with commentary on significance / impact on teaching and learning / actions and proposals to address any issues
- Staff update – appointments, resignations, vacancies, changes in allocation of responsibility with commentary on significance / impact on teaching and learning / actions and proposals to address any issues
- Premises and resources report e.g maintenance and improvement with commentary on significance / impact on teaching and learning actions / actions and proposals to address any issues
- Health and safety report e.gemergency evacuation arrangements,approval of proposed off-site visitsandemergency arrangements
- School specific items e.g Children’s Centre update
- Policy monitoring and review – according to arrangements specified in individual policy and an overall plan which allows governors to monitor policies over a 3 – 4year cycle
- Proposals for school term dates/INSET dates
Supporting, Challenging and Holding to Account: Tues 2ndMay 2017 6.00 – 8.00pm, Lilla Huset
9. / Safeguarding
To receive the annual report on safeguarding in the School/Academy.
It is recommended that Safeguarding is a standing item on every agenda.
Prevent Awareness: 9 May 2017 – 4.00 - 6.00pm Lilla Huset
Health and Safety Awareness: Wednesday 7th June 2017 6.30 – 8.30pm, Venue TBC
Safeguarding: Thursday 22nd 2017 June 4.00 – 6.00pm Kensington Town Hall
10. / Policies
To approve Statutory Policies
11. / Governor Development
i)Governors to review their impact over the last year
ii)Governors to attend appropriate training linked to role, responsibilities and school priorities for the following year
iii) To receive a report on any training attended by governors
iv)To note new Governance and Clerk’s competency frameworks have been
published this term and consider how they may be used.
12. / Tri-Borough Chair’s Forum
To note the date of the next Chair’s Forum is/was Wednesday 24May 2017 from 6.30pm -8.30pm at Kensington Town Hall.
13. / Forward Planning / dates of meetings
i)to agree main focus and objectives for governing body work and agendas for the year linked to school development plan and SEF
ii)to confirm an annual schedule of meeting dates for full governing body and committee meetings
14. / Any Other Urgent Business
This should be used only as a notice-board item and not for detailed discussion or decision.
Specific Issues
3. / Constitution Regulations Amendments 2017
Paragraph 24A, allows for the removal of elected parent and staff governors by the governing board.This comes into effect from 1 September 2017.
Schedule 4, paragraph 12 - contains an update to the disqualification criteria for elected governors. This comes into effect from 1 May 2017.
Constitution and federation regulationsinclude:
- Introduction of an order of preference when appointing parent governors
- Removal of the requirement to calculate the number of governors in foundation and voluntary schools by rounding up or down to the nearest whole number
These changes also come into force from 1 May 2017.
7. / Finance
The Fair Funding consultation has closed and it is unknown when further information will be known. Workshops are being planned by the Finance team on how schools should be looking strategically going forward and considering different ways of providing resources in schools.
9. / Safeguarding
Ofsted are looking at the impact of governors in safeguarding in schools. Governors should ensure the practices in the school match the policies and procedures in the school. It is not statutory that governing bodies receive an annual report on safeguarding but it is good practice.
10. / Governance
Competency Framework for governors
Competency Framework for Clerks
Governors Handbook
NGA Skills Audit updated
All Four documents are designed to link with each other.
12. / Policies
To approve any statutory policies. Review and where appropriate update statutory policies.
CONSULTATIONS
National Funding Formula
The consultation on the National Funding Formula closed on 22 March 2017.
Exclusions
A consultation has just closed on School Exclusions. It is expected this will come into force in September 2017.
Assessment in Primary Schools
The DfE is seeking views on issues related to assessment in primary schools, including:
- the best starting point to measure the progress that pupils make at primary school
- the role and operation of teacher assessment
- how to build on the strengths of the early years’ foundation stage profile
- how we can support and improve end-of-key-stage teacher assessment, including the assessment of writing
The DfE is also consulting on assessment arrangements for pupils working below the standard of national curriculum tests.
The Online consultations can be found at:
Both these consultations close on 22 June 2017 at 5pm.
SCHOOLS FORUM MEETINGS
Monday 12 June 2017 – 4.45pm – Westminster City Hall - WCC
Tuesday 13 June 2017 – 2pm – Lilla Huset - LBHF
Wednesday 14 June 2017 – 5pm – Kensington Town Hall - RBKC
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