Sir George Monoux College

SIR GEORGE MONOUX COLLEGE

Minutes of the Corporation Board meeting held on Saturday 6th May, 2017 at

Sir George Monoux College

Present : Alan Wells – Chair of Corporation

Brian Westbury – Senior Vice Chair of Corporation

Johnathan Bush – Vice Chair of Corporation

Ali Alizadeh – Student Governor

Talia Chirouf – Governor

Tom Foakes – Governor

Sarah Gifford - Governor

Stephen Jones – Governor

Stewart McLean – Governor

Maureen Lewin – Governor

Riddhi Bhalla –Vice Chair of Corporation

Alastair Owens – Governor

Kaneez Shaid –Staff Governor

David Vasse – Principal

In attendance :Yaseen Akhtar – Assistant Principal/Student Services

Holly Bembridge – Vice Principal/Curriculum

David Ball – Vice Principal/Corporate Services

Yolanda Hughes – Interim Clerk to the Corporation

Agenda item / Business / Action
1. / Opening of Meeting, Apologies and Quoracy
The Chair of the Corporation opened the meeting at 9.30am and welcomed all present. He advised the Board that Yolanda Hughes would be standing in for the Clerk to the Corporation in order to minute the proceedings and formal introductions took place.
Apologies received and accepted from Rhys Moore and Bhavin Sosodaria.
It was confirmed that the meeting was quorate.
2. / Declarations of Interest
There were no new declarations of interest in respect of the agenda items under consideration.
3. / Minutes of the Corporation Board meeting held on 21st March, 2017
Agreed
The Corporation Board formally approved the Corporation Board Minutes of the meeting held on the 21st March, 2017. The Chair of Corporation to sign off the master copy.
4. / Matters Arising from the Corporation Board minutes of 21st March, 2017
There were no matters arising from the minutes.
5. / Corporation Board Membership – Election Results
The Chair of Corporation advised the Board that the outcome of the governor elections for the following positions had now been confirmed as follows:
Alan Wells – Chair of Corporation
Alastair Owens – Senior Vice Chair of Corporation
Riddhi Bhalla and Jonathan Bush – Vice Chairs of Corporation
Received
The Board formally accepted the election outcomes.
6. / PIAP – Post Inspection Action Plan – Verbal update
The Principal reported that the SLT had now updated the Post Inspection Action Plan in order for it to be more user friendly as it had become a large unworkable document.
The Principal stated that since the Ofsted monitoring visit in March 2017, the SLT revisited the original PIAP and archived out of date action points and they were now able to easily monitor and track progress with a clear succinct document. He added that the PIAP still needed to go to the Quality & Performance Committee in June 2017 after which it would be presented to the Corporation in July 2017 for approval.
Re-Structure and Financial Organisation Strategy
The Principal reported that the strategy agreed by the Corporation was in progress and on course for completion. He explained that further work had been undertaken in respect of the financial forecast and this had now been rectified as the funding allocations had been confirmed. The predicted 21.4% reduction in income was as expected. The planned reduction in payroll costs was on target which would see an overall reduction in costs of £1.9m. The Principal stated that he was confident that they were on course to meet the KPI of 67% in payroll costs.
The Principal provided details of the impact on staff and the progress made in respect of the recruitment and implementation of the new Pathway Leader appointments. The Pathway teaching appointments were largely internal but advised that the Deputy Pathway Leader appointments were on going.
Targets had been met in reducing administrative costs and there would be continued reductions in teaching staff, which would be achieved through the College voluntary redundancy process. The SLT were confident that this would result in a more effective teaching staff at the College.
The Principal was asked what his views were on the success rates for the coming year and he explained that the year had been largely about tackling the basic issues and the results would only be evident late in the summer. The Principal reiterated that it was unlikely that they would achieve the national benchmarking standards and this was largely due to inconsistencies in lesson planning and assessments.
The Chair of Corporation explained that as Chair and as a Board they were conscious that it would take time to achieve the desired results, particularly in light of the fact that there had been significant changes within the SLT and other influencing factors.
The Vice Principal/Curriculum provided details of the work being undertaken with staff to ensure that student assessments were consistent and robust as the historical assessments had not met this criteria. The recruitment and training of staff was crucial and she alluded to the number of staff that were moving on. Learning walks continue and monitoring and support of under achieving staff was ongoing. The Vice Principal/Curriculum explained that, where staff had been identified at delivering poor practice, support was being implemented.
Governors asked about the number of staff taking voluntary redundancy coupled to compulsory redundancy. The Principal provided details of the expected small number of compulsory redundancies and explained that the voluntary redundancy process was facilitating a cultural renewal at the College which was encouraging.
Lengthy discussions took place around the number of voluntary redundancies of which the process was due for completion on the 26th May, 2017.
Governors asked if the recruitment for new staff would meet the respective deadlines in order to ensure that they were appropriately staffed for the new academic year. The Vice Principal/Curriculum explained that they were confident that the planned timelines would be met subject to recruiting appropriately experienced/qualified staff. She added that they were not rushing into making rash appointments as this would not achieve the desired ambitions that they had for the College.
The Staff Governor provided some very positive feedback on the restructuring process being undertaken by the SLT.
Action
The Chair of Corporation requested that the Principal provide the Board with an email update on recruitment progress in early June, 2017. / Principal
7. / Corporation Board – updated Bye Laws
The Chair of Corporation presented the updated document and explained that the most significant changes to the Corporation Bye Laws was in relation to having co-opted members on corporation committees, particularly the Audit Committee.
The Board discussed the proposed amendments and requested that an additional section be included in the document around the Boards responsibility for Safeguarding, DBS Checks and contact with students.
Action
The Board agreed that they would defer approval of the document and that the Bye-laws be updated take into account the additional points on safeguarding and DBS checks. Governors were also asked to submit any further comments to the Chair of Corporation. / Governors/
Chair of Corporation
8. / Corporation Board - Code of Conduct
Approved
The Board formally agreed to the proposed Code of Conduct for Corporation Board members. It was also agreed that it should be a requirement for all Corporation Board members to sign a copy of the Code of Conduct upon appointment or, if already in office, that they should be provided with a copy which should be signed and returned to the Clerk to the Corporation for formal record. / Clerk to Corporation/
Governors
9. / Corporation Board – Confidential Reporting Policy for Corporation Members
The Board received the proposed document but sought clarification as to the purpose of the document, particularly in comparison to the Whistle Blowing Document.
Action
The Board agreed that the document needed to be reviewed and that clarification be sought from the Clerk to the Corporation as to the purpose of the document. / Clerk to
Corporation
10. / Corporation Board – Governor Role Description
Approved
The Board formally agreed to the proposed Governor Role Description.
11. / Communications and Marketing Plan
The Chair of Corporation advised the Board that a draft Communications and Marketing Plan was not yet ready for circulation to members. He said that the Task and Finish Group would work with staff to finalise the Plan.
The Chair of Corporation sought Board approval for delegated authority to enable the Chair of Corporation to approve the Communications & Marketing Plan to be endorsed by the Corporation in July.
Agreed
The Board agreed to delegating approval to the Chair to agree the proposed Communications and Marketing Plan. / Chair of Corporation
12. / Any other Business

Governor Link Scheme

The Chair of Corporation explained that this item of business had been delayed due to the staffing changes, but that he had now drawn up a draft schedule of the proposed Governor links with College curriculum areas of which the document was tabled.
The Chair of Corporation had also drafted guidance notes on how the Link Scheme would work and this would be shared with Governors in due course.
The Principal added that the guidance needed to be clear on the feedback mechanism and stated that the links were by and large linked to the College Strategic Plan and to Pathway Leaders. It was noted that the relevant members of staff would also receive guidance on the protocols to be followed during Governor visits.
Governors asked if there would be a review point so that the Board could evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the visits. The Principal agreed that this would be useful exercise and important for the development of the Board and staff.
Agreed
The Board accepted the proposed Link Scheme and it was agreed that Student Governors would also be linked to departments which would be appropriate to their specific interests.

Sir George Monoux Marketing Booklet

The Principal circulated copies of the new Sir George Monoux Marketing Booklet for Governors information.
Received
The Board received the Marketing Booklet and welcomed the new look and information available in the document.

Student Governor Reports

The Chair of Corporation and Principal informed the Board that they had discussed the notion of implementing a Student Governors Report to be submitted to the Board on a termly basis, and that this would be taken forward as an action for the Student Governors in due course.

College Events Calendar

Corporation Board members requested that they be provided with specific College functions which they could attend i.e. open evenings and special events which would enable them to have additional opportunities to visit the College.
The Board also discussed the role of the Clerk to the Corporation in facilitating this.
Action
Clerk to the Corporation to provide Corporation Board members with dates. / Clerk to Corporation

Corporation Board Self-Assessment

The Chair of Corporation requested that governors please return their self-assessment forms as soon as possible.
Action
Governors who had not yet returned their self-assessment forms to submit these to the Chair of Corporation. / All Governors
13. / Date and Time of the next meeting
Tuesday 4th July, 2017 at 6.30pm
14. / Meeting Closed
The meeting closed at 10.55am.
The Corporation Board meeting was followed by a Development Session on Ofsted.

Minutes of the Corporation Board meeting held on Saturday 6th May, 2017 was formally agreed as being a true and accurate record.

Signed by the Chair of Corporation

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Date ______