Briefing to Governing Bodies:
Summer Term 2008 /
Briefing Items
Part A: For Action (yellow)
1 / School Vacancy Management2 / Children and Young People’s Partnership Agreement : Schools Engagement
3 / Standards and Personalisation
4 / Schools Forum 2008/09; 2009/10 and 2010/11
5 / Annual School Prospectus for school year 2009/10
6 / Financial Management Standards in Schools (FMSiS) – Competency Matrix
7 / School Safeguarding Bereavement Support Policy
8 / PPA Cover in Early Years Foundation Stage
9 / Community Cohesion Duties
10 / Future Schooling in Knowsley Programme Update
Part B : For Information Only (blue)
1 / Replacing the Child Protection Register
2 / Learning Centre Budget Process
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Executive Director’s Report to Governing Bodies: Summary
The executive summary summarises the purpose and recommendations in the Executive Directors Report in order to assist governing bodies in making appropriate decisions. Governing bodies should refer to the report items for more detailed information and guidance.
Part A: For Action (yellow)
1 / School Vacancy ManagementGoverning Bodies are requested to reaffirm their adoption of the policy framework or, in the very few circumstances where this exists, to take this opportunity to formally adopt the policy framework and complete and return the enclosed notification sheet (Appendix B).
2 / Children and Young People’s Partnership Agreement : Schools Engagement
School Governors are recommended to have read the Knowsley Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan 2007-2010 as well as the Children’s Trusts: Statutory guidance on inter-agency cooperation to improve well-being of children, young people and their families and make themselves familiar with the changes that are coming into effect.
3 / Standards and Personalisation
Governors are asked to discuss your schools 2008/09 Personalisation allocations both within the Individual Schools Budget (ISB) and from the School Standards Grant (Personalisation) SSG (P) at a Governor meeting including how your school is utilising its personalisation funding to impact on standards.
4 / Schools Forum 2008/09; 2009/10 and 2010/11
Governors are requested to note the composition of the Schools Forum and contact me with any comments on our current processes, including the usefulness or otherwise of the Schools Forum summary briefing. Individual Governors who are interested in joining the Schools Forum should complete the attached form and return it by 11 July 2008.
5 / AnnualSchool Prospectus for school year 2009/10
Governing Bodies and Headteachers to take steps to ensure the 2009/10 prospectus is available in line with national and local requirements.
6 / Financial Management Standards in Schools (FMSiS) – Competency Matrix
Governing bodies are requested to consider forwarding a completed competency matrix to Governor Support with requests for training.
7 / School Safeguarding Bereavement Support Policy
Governing Bodies are requested to ensure that their school adopts a proactive Safeguarding Bereavement Support Policy (Appendix G),which includes issues as outlined above and advise Governor Support of the date of adoption.
8 / PPA Cover in Early Years Foundation Stage
Governing Bodies, where appropriate, are requested to take note of the EYFS guidance and ensure appropriate arrangements are in place to comply with the statutory framework.
9 / Community Cohesion Duties
Governing Bodies are asked to familiarise themselves with the relevant guidance and take action as appropriate.
10 / Future Schooling in Knowsley (FSK) Programme Update
Governing Bodies are asked to consider the Future Schooling in Knowsley 2008 Consultation Document that has been issued to stakeholders, inviting comments and feedback by Friday 2nd May 2008.
Part B: For Information Only (blue)
1 / Replacing the Child Protection RegisterGoverning Bodies are required to understand the implications for practice in child protection and note that they are still required to make checks upon a child’s status where they have child protection concerns.
2 / Learning Centre Budget Process
Governors are asked to note the development of the Learning Centre budgets.
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Report to: / Governing BodiesReport from: / Executive Director of Children’s Services
Date: / Summer Term 2008
School Vacancy Management
1 / Purpose
To inform Governing Bodies of the issue of a letter from Damian Allen emailed to all Headteachers on 3 April 2008 (Appendix A, with a request that a copy be forwarded to the Chair of Governors) concerning school vacancy management in compliance with the principles and policy framework of the Knowsley Schools 21st Century Learning Environments Staffing Review Policy.
2 / Background
The emailed letter reiterates the principle of the above policy whereby staff affected by the outcomes of school transition and who, therefore, may be considered at risk, shall receive priority access to school vacancies ahead of an intention of a school to advertise their vacancy on either an internal or external basis.
3 / Policy Content
The Policy was commended to school Governing Bodies for adoption in February 2006 as the recognised process for supporting the human resource activities in a period of school transition.
4 / Recommendation
Governing Bodies are requested to reaffirm their adoption of the policy framework or, in the very few circumstances where this exists, to take this opportunity to formally adopt the policy framework and complete and return the enclosed notification sheet (Appendix B).
Contact Officer:
Mike Jones, Principal Human Resource Officer, Department of Corporate Resources, 0151 443 3102,
Report to: / Governing Bodies
Report from: / Executive Director of Children’s Services
Date: / Summer Term 2008
Children and Young People’s Partnership Agreement : Schools Engagement
1 / Purpose
The purpose of this report is to recognise Knowsley Schools’ current involvement in relation to Every Child Matters and to underline the need for a further ‘stepped’ change in the involvement of schools in the Children’s Trust arrangements.
2 / Background
Knowsley schools have always had a positive involvement in the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda. Representation on various groups within the agenda show that our schools are involved in the shaping of Children’s Trust Arrangements and the ECM agenda:
Children and Young People’s Partnership Board – Patricia Thomas (Special School Headteacher Rep.), Pam Jervis (Secondary Headteacher Representative), Primary - vacant
Children and Young People’s Executive – Gill Price (Primary Headteacher Representative), Pam Jervis (Secondary Headteacher Representative), and Ian Cordingley (Special School Headteacher Representative).
Children and Young People’s Joint Commissioning Board – Gill Price(Primary Headteacher Representative), Barbara Twiss (Special School Headteacher Representative).and Mary Belcham (Secondary Headteacher Representative),
The recent guidance issued by the DCSF “Children’s Trust; Statutory Guidance on inter-agency co-operation to improve well-being of children, young people and their families” clearly sets out the pace for involvement by schools over the coming period,
“All schools, including Academies, should contribute to, and in turn be strongly supported by, local Trust arrangements which ensure shared ownership of all outcomes of all children in an area. Children’s Trusts must be seen to support, and where necessary drive, effective collaboration between schools, and between schools and other agencies. Equally schools must be able to help shape the planning and commissioning of services and play a central part in the work of the Children’s Trust board. Accountability must flow in both directions: from each individual school to the Children’s Trust for the part they play in narrowing gaps and improving outcomes for all children.”
3 / Report Content
In order to secure the duty to co-operate the Partnership has developed a Partnership Agreement. The aim of the agreement is to establish a strategic partnership framework to enable the Council and other named partners to meet their statutory obligations and aspirations to deliver the outcomes we want for every child in Knowsley. Through this overarching agreement it is intended that the Partnership can demonstrate clarity of function, relationships and expectations in meeting improved outcomes for children and young people. The Agreement sets out expectations for partners to co-operate in respect of:
- Strategic planning,
- Commissioning of delivery,
- Monitoring and performance management,
- Information sharing,
- Insurance and risk management,
- Safeguarding,
- Financial management
The Children and Young People’s Partnership Agreement has been disseminated to the relevant partners of the Children and Young People’s Partnership. Following discussion at the Partnership Board and the desire to make the agreement as inclusive across the sectors, separate presentations have been given to the Voluntary and Community Sector, Children and Young People’s Forum and the Schools Partnership Executive Board. Comments have been incorporated into the revised framework.
4 / Recommendation
School Governors are recommended to have read the Knowsley Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan 2007-2010 as well as the Children’s Trusts: Statutory guidance on inter-agency co-operation to improve well-being of children, young people and their families and make themselves familiar with the changes that are coming into effect.
Whilst we are not seeking for individual schools to become a signatory to the Agreement, schools play a critical role in the delivery of improved outcomes across a range of issues, and it is hoped that further development will take place to obtain the agreement of the Schools Partnership to secure the commitment of schools to the Knowsley Partnership agenda.
Contact Officer: Sharon Fryer, Children’s Services Manager, Business Transformation, 0151 443 5669,
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Report to: / Governing BodiesReport from: / Executive Director of Children’s Services
Date: / Summer Term 2008
Standards and Personalisation
1 / Purpose
This report explains how we are working in partnership to ensure that additional Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for Personalisation for 2008-11 makes maximum impact on pupil standards in all four Key Stages. It also explains how this fits with the Standards Task Force which is being funded by the Council.
2 / Background
Nationally the (then DfES) document “Making Good Progress” in 2006 stated:-
“… we may be able to make a reality of the aspirations of teachers and support staff, parents and pupils themselves – regular progress for all, no child left behind, every pupil reaching his or her full potential.”
This is the vision for the standards agenda within Knowsley and the context for personalisation. The key messages from this quote are, “regular progress for all” and “no child left behind”. The focus is now on GOOD progress, and good progress is defined nationally as TWO levels per Key Stage.
Collectively, our challenge is to ensure that this is the case for ALL of the young people in Knowsley, as this will be their future. For us to achieve this, we need to ensure that progress is made in every year, across every Key Stage, and that all staff are swift to identify, and act upon gaps in pupil progress by explicitly planning for progression. Governors have an important role in ensuring that this is happening at your school.
Personalisation funding, in all its guises, is a major tool to enable all KnowsleySchools and the Local Authority to work in partnership to achieve this.
3 / Current Personalisation Funding Arrangements
Schools already receive significant resource to support the Personalisation Agenda. In 2008/09, Knowsley’s schools received £1.9m through Schools Standards Grant SSG (Personalisation) and £2.7m through their delegated budget to specifically support personalisation.
Work took place in 2007/08 to map funding against outcomes for children and this work will be continued in 2008/09 and will link to our School Improvement Partners.
As a Governor it would be useful for you to discuss how your school is utilising its personalisation funding to impact on standards and for you to know your school’s 2008/09 allocations both within the Individual Schools Budget (ISB) and from the School Standards Grant (Personalisation) SSG (P). Rough “average” school values for 2008/09 are:-
ISB / SSG(P) / Total
Primary (Based on 227 pupils) / £27,163 / £18,368 / £45,531
Secondary (Based on 818 pupils) / £174,722 / £133,020 / £174,722
Special (Based on 80 pupils) / £0 / £5,105 / £5,105
4. / Additional Funding (More Dedicated Schools Grant AND Council Funding)
Additional personalisation funding within the Dedicated Schools Grant has been announced and within Knowsley indicative figures (dependant on pupil numbers) are:-
2008/09
£000 / 2009/10
£000 / 2010/11
£000
DSG Personalisation Funding / 1,009 / 1,622 / 2,731
In order to work in partnership to deliver the outcomes for our Children and Young People, the Schools Forum has agreed the following approach and principles:-
- A planned three year strategy is required for allocation
- Funding to be targeted to specific, identified need at pupil level
- Need identified as pupils who are not making sufficient progress
- Funding to lever maximum impact and outcomes
- Determination of need to take account of strategic priorities
- Funding must be focused. This may mean a focus on different groups at different times within the three year period at sub-cohort level and to different schools
Standards Task Force
In order to increase the capacity to address the standards agenda, the Council has established a Standards Task Force led by a Service Director (Steve Stewart). This will be funded by £1m of Council Resource (in addition to the funding identified above) until the end of December 2009 and will complement our partnership work on personalisation and raising standards. The sole focus will be on implementing the strategies already established and approved by the Government Office North West (GONW) and the National Strategies in order to raise attainment in English and Maths across all four Key Stages (in the first instance this will prioritise standards at KS3 and KS4).
5. / Target Groups
In order to ensure support is delivered to pupils with the greatest need, in all four Key Stages, the Local Authorityhas developed a target cohort list identifying individuals on the basis of multiple “at risk of underachievement” factors, based on pupil and school prior attainment and contextual data sets. In line with Every Child Matters (ECM) priorities, the target group includes key vulnerable pupil groups as identified by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), for example Children Looked After, pupils with Special Educational Needs, English as an Additional Language, and those resident in the most deprived areas.
Details of the target group for Key Stage 4 2008 have been shared with Headteachers and Education Change Partners. Schools have now identified the target group for the first wave of support and will work in tandem with the Local Authority to identify target groups across all Key Stages for 2008/09 during the summer term.
6. / Recommendation
Governing Bodies are asked to discuss their school’s 2008/09 Personalisation allocations both within the Individual Schools Budget (ISB) and from the School Standards Grant (Personalisation) SSG (P), including how your school is utilising its personalisation funding to impact on standards.
Contact Officers: Elaine Ayre, 0151 443 3233
Steve Stewart, 0151 443 3037
Diane Williams, 0151 443 3250
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Report to: / Governing BodiesReport from: / Executive Director of Children’s Services
Date: / Summer Term 2008
Schools Forum 2008/09; 2009/10 and 2010/11
1 / Purpose
The purpose of this report is to let you know who will be representing you on the Schools Forum for 2008/09; the processes that are in place to ensure that you can keep in touch with the work of the Forum during the year and to start the process to recruit new members of the Forum for 2009/10.
2 / Background
In the spring 2008 briefing I explained that we will continue with 5 Governor Representatives in 2008/09 and this was discussed with Governor Chairs and Vice Chairs at their meeting on 15th January 2008. In addition the Chairs and Vice Chairs were keen to ensure that all Governors had the opportunity to express an interest in becoming Members or Observers for May 2009. I am starting this process early so that we can determine an appropriate election process and so that Governors can join us in 2008/09 (as observers) as part of their training. We will continue having Governor Observers as part of succession planning processes for the Forum.
3 / Schools Forum 2008/09
Your Governor Representatives for 2008/09 are set out in Appendix C. You may recall that “Observers” have full rights to participate in discussions at the Schools Forum. However, if any item is put to a vote (this has not happened to date in Knowsley) “Observers” do not have voting rights. If all Governor Members are not present the observer assumes member status.
4 / Schools Forum 2009/10and 2010/11 Nomination Process
Within Knowsley the Schools Forum is highly regarded and is an influential group that helps to ensure that resource is targeted to need via our local school formula. In 2009/10 we will need to recruit 2 Forum members for three years.
I am now writing to you to seek nominations for May 2009 with a view to attending the Schools Forum in 2008/09 in an observer capacity. Anyone who is interested is asked to complete the attached nomination form (Appendix D) and return it to me by 11 July 2008, outlining reasons for wishing to serve as a member of the Forum and the relevant skills/experiences you can bring to the Group. It is important to note that whilst you do not need to take this through your Governing body it may be useful to discuss at a Governing Body meeting.
CurrentSchool Forum Governors (with the exception of Mike Shankland who will represent Governors for the next three years) will also need to either complete a nomination form or ask me to re-submit their existing forms.
Dependant on the level of interest, this process may also generate membership for 2010/11. For instance, if we recruit Observers for 2009/10 they could become Members for three years in 2010/11.
School Governors do make a difference at the Schools Forum! To help you decide whether you are interested Appendix E provides some frequently asked questions and an extract from the current Terms of Reference (this will be amended in June) is attached at Appendix F.
5 / Keeping on Touch with the Schools Forum
I am really excited about the continued development of the Schools Forum and I am constantly striving to ensure the Forum meets your needs. In order for me to do this I need your feedback. So, for example, are you aware that all School Forum reports are on the Governors’ web site? Are you aware that there is a Governors’ Schools Forum summary briefing produced shortly after each meeting and posted on the web site? Does the summary meet your needs? If not, what do you want/need to keep you informed of School Forum decisions? Should the Schools Forum be a standing item on the Chairs and Vice Chairs meeting with Leadership Team?
Thelink below to the website, including the Schools Forum briefing summary,should help those of you who have not yet found your way around the site. In addition a nomination form is on the site if you wish to apply on line.
If you want more information about the Forum or what it is like to be a member or observer on the Forum please do not hesitate to contact me.
6 / Recommendation
Governors are requested to note the composition of the Schools Forum and contact me with any comments on our current processes, including the usefulness or otherwise of the Schools Forum summary briefing.
Individual Governors who are interested in joining the Schools Forum should complete the attached form and forward it to me by 11 July 2008.
Contact Officer:
Diane Williams, Education and Schools Resource Manager, 0151 443 3250
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