Minutes of the meeting of The Crypt School Governors 3rd July, 2017

The Crypt School

Minutes of the meeting of the full Governing Bodyheld on 3rdJuly2017at 5.30pm – 7.00pm

Present:Richard James (Chair), Nick Dyer (Headmaster), Gordon Taylor, Alison Borley,Phil Stanlake, Rachael Jones, Karen Reynolds, Des Coates, Abi Hoare, Jack Greening.

Attendees:Joanne Hitchings (Company Secretary/Bursar), Janette Hicks (Clerk)

Apologies:Jason Smith, Dylan Green, David Hall, David Preece, James Price, Jason Smith, Glenn Webster, Birgit Whitman.

ITEM / SUBJECT / ACTION
59. / Apologies: As above, approved by Governors.
Clerks Business: Jeremy Bird has resigned from Governor duties due to work commitments. Governors approved this resignation.
60. / Declaration of Interest: There was nothing to declare.
61. / Minutes of the last meeting: Approved
62. / Matters arising from previous minutes:
5.4 Appeal training to be conducted by Dylan Green for Alison Borley and Richard James. 2 hours in-house training to be scheduled for Sept 17.
48. Governors discussed the possibility of moving the meeting start time to 4pm. The advantages of an earlier start time including the opportunity to meet staff prior to the meeting were highlighted by ND. Governors raised no objections to an earlier start time.
55. Regarding the statistical accuracy of the Kirkland Rowell survey DP to have a meeting with S Glock. / JTH
DP
63.
63.1
63.2
63.3
63.4 / Chairman:
RDJ welcomed student governors - Abi Hoare & Jack Greening, and requested that student governors receive a copy of the student governor job description.
RDJ recommended that following the resignation of Jeremy Bird that a governor is appointed from the parent body.
RDJ raised concerns regarding committee meeting attendance and requested that a review of committee membership is conducted in Sept 17.
Governance & Academies handbooks to be accessed via the portal. Governor training sessions for 2017/18 to be scheduled.
Governors received a report on the English visit conducted by Rachael Jones. Rachael held the visit a success and highlighted the benefits of visits including the chance to meet staff & pupils, identify department changes & improvements made. / JTH
RDJ
JTH
RDJ/JTH
64. / Company Secretary Report
KPI’s – JH guided governors through the KPI’s. JH informed Governors that the KPI’s are checked in RSP. JH advised Governors that as the exam structure has changed they are therefore not comparable. Governors discussed pupil attendance and exclusion statistics.
Governor asked who sets the KPI’s. JH responded that the KPI’s are set by the RSP committee and it’s important to go through the measures and review if they are still needed and if any new KPI’s need to be introduced.
Management Accounts – fully reviewed at RSP. No questions raised.
65. / Headmaster’s Report – Academic Progress
Academic Progress: GCSE and A levels are completed.
Pupil Numbers: Pupil numbers encouraging with 151 year 7 starting in September. 140 – 145 starting year 12 in September. A few pupils are not transferring from year 12 to year 13 based on mock results and valid reasons.
Co-ed: Excellent feedback from parents attending open days. Approx 350 pupils will be sitting the test at the Crypt; split two thirds boys, one third girls.
Staffing Update: Full details of resignations & appointments provided in the Headmasters report.
Curriculum Changes:Textiles to be introduced Yr7, 2017. Drama, French & Music to be re-introduced at A Level.
Primary School Update: Awaiting date for the new schools wave 13 application round.
Financial Request: ND recommended from Sept 2017 that the school ask parents of sixth form students to purchase text books for home use. Text books cost circa £30k per annum and this is currently being funded by reserves. Governors put forward the following comments and questions –
Student Governors commented that pupils already buy revision guides and therefore they could not see purchasing text books as a problem, however further consideration would need to be given to parents unable to afford the text books their children require.
Governors also recognised that some subjects have more than one text book and therefore the cost would vary by subject.
Governors raised the following questions –
  1. Would the school purchase the books and sell on to pupils?
  2. If a contribution only was requested from parents; who would own the text book at the end of the required time?
  3. Would parents be notified of the total text book cost for multiple subjects or by individual subject?
  4. Should there be a cap on the total cost incurred by a parent
  5. Will the school purchase books back from students?
Governors supported the idea in principle but recognised complexities that needed to be addressed. Governors absent from the meeting also needed to be made aware of the proposal.
It was recognised during the meeting that the existing Admissions policy allows the school to charge for text books, therefore no policy change is required.
Text book purchase procedure to be drawn up.
Governance Review Cycle:ND presentedthe proposed 2017-18 cycle to Governors. A summary of proposed visits as follows:
Sept/Oct – Departmental Reviews
Sept – Central Record check
Nov/Dec- Attend Safeguarding Audit Review
Dec – Pastoral Review
Feb – Co-ed progress
Mar – Science
Apr – PE
May – Central Record check
PS requested that Science is scheduled for April & PE for March.
Governors Training Cycle: ND proposed the following training areas for 2017-18:
Sept – Self Review
Date TBC – Governance Handbook
Date TBC – Mental Health
Date TBC – Appeals Training
Date TBC – Central Register
Governors’ year-end reports – Reports distributed to all governors. / JH
66. / Deputy Headmaster
School Improvement Plan: PS guided Governors through the School Improvement plan, stating that the new format followed five Ofsted sections. The plan is to be reviewed once a term.
SLT Monitoring Review: PS guided Governors through the SLT review, monitoring & evaluation cycle for 2016-17; advising Governors of the action plans submitted.
CPD: Governors were provided with a comprehensive report outlining the CPD provided in 2016-17. PS advised Governors that the budget for 2017-18 would be lower than 2016-17.
67
67.1
67.2
67.3
67.4 / Committee Reports:
Pupil Welfare –No meeting due to insufficient members.
RSP –No issues to report.
Audit –Risk Register Update.
Admissions –BW not present at meeting to provide update.
68. / Policy Reviews:
  • Appraisal - approved
  • Confidentiality- approved
  • Data Protection- approved ( May 18 Statory changes)
  • Equal Opportunities - approved
  • Gifted & Talented approved
  • Internationl School- approved
  • ICT Pupil Acceptable Use. –resubmit Oct 17
  • ICT Acceptable use of adults- resubmit Oct 17
  • Pay Policy - approved
  • Pupil Restraint - approved
  • LGPS- approved
  • Whistle Blowing- approved
  • School Rules - resubmit Oct 17

69. / AOB
None

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