ISCA COLLEGE OF MEDIA ARTS GOVERNING BODY MINUTES

COMMITTEE: / Full Governors / DATE:
TIME: / 20thMay2013
18.00
CHAIRED BY: Gina Woodcraft (GW) / CLERKED BY: Rebecca Jackson (RJ)
PRESENT: / AGENDA:
Lewis Banfield (LB) /
  1. Apologies

Paul Bird (PB) /
  1. Declarations of interest

Anthony Boulton (AB) /
  1. Minutes of the last meeting: 18thMarch 2013

Rachael Brown (RB) /
  1. Matters Arising

Helen Crossfield (HC) /
  1. Headteacher’s Report

Bernard Dugdale (BD) /
  1. Introduction from new headteacher

Michelle Lester (ML) /
  1. Current governance procedures

Matthew Macan (MM) /
  1. Governor communication

Brahm Norwich (BN) /
  1. Academy conversion update, including name and timeline

Anne Oxborough (AO) /
  1. Moving towards a new governing body

Ian Rogers (IR) /
  1. Review of meeting

Tracey Spink (TS) /
  1. Date of next meeting: Monday 8th July 2013

John Staddon (JS)
Mandi Street (MS)
Jessica Tanner (JT)
Simon Weir (SW)
Beverley Martin (BM) - observer
MINUTES:
  1. Apologies
  2. Apologies were accepted from KCB.
/ ACTION:
  1. Declarations of interest
  2. There were no declarations of interest.

  1. Minutes of the last meeting: 18thMarch 2013
3.1 The minutes were agreed as an accurate reflection of the previous meeting.
  1. Matters Arising
  2. With reference to item 4.7, it was agreed that RJ should circulate all communications regarding the academy conversion that had been sent to staff.
  3. With reference to item 5.4, it was agreed to discuss this later in the meeting under item 10.
  4. With reference to item 8.5, RJ had added the frequently asked questions to the website.
  5. With reference to item 10.1, GW requested that governors wishing to attend the E4L meeting should let her know.
  6. With reference to item 3.5 of the extraordinary meeting minutes, MM believed that DM had agreed to share a copy of the school’s agreement with governors when it was available.
  7. With reference to item 3.9, governors agreed that there was not a consensus but more an acceptance and understanding of the need to convert to academy.
  8. Governors agreed that a formal vote needed to be held on academy conversion. HC proposed a motion: Following a consultation with stakeholders, this governing body supports the move to become an academy with only the TWT as a sponsor subject to the PFI and financial elements of the transition being acceptable to this governing body. The motion was seconded by BD. 15 governors voted in favour of the motion, 2 abstained, and 0 opposed.
/ RJ
  1. Headteacher’s report
  2. MS began by expressing her disappointment at the day’s teaching and learning review. She felt that the findings from the day did not accurately represent the quality of teaching and learning in the college. GW invited governors to attend the feedback session the next day.
  3. AO asked whether data and books were scrutinised and MS reported that they had been and that this had been very helpful as it offered the opportunity to triangulate information. AO asked if the leadership team had the opportunity to comment on the findings and MS explained that the leadership team had been involved as far as possible. ML asked whether the senior leadership were themselves being moderated and BM confirmed that they were.eporther'n (MM)M) - observerbodyg name and timeline
  4. BD obtained confirmation from GW that the TWT were funding the review; he asked whether the governing body would have the opportunity to look at the results. GW explained that the review was a shared activity between the governing body and the TWT.
  5. AB asked who had identified the inspectors. BM explained that she and RF had been involved in the choice, adding that effort had been made to avoid any local inspectors.
  6. BM explained that the results of the internal teaching and learning review would be fed into the education brief that be put together by the TWT for the DfE.
  7. HC asked whether staff immediately received feedback. MS explained that inspectors would feedback as far as possible but senior leadership would pick up the rest. HC was keen that all staff should receive feedback from the exercise. SW explained that this would not always be guaranteed because if the teacher who was observed did not have time available to see the inspector and if a member of the senior leadership team had not been at the observation then this was not possible.
  8. JT asked how much notice staff received. MS explained that she was alerted at 2:30pm on Friday and she had immediately informed staff.
  9. MS turned to her report. She explained that attendance remained an area of challenge for the college but that there needed to be some consideration about how the college was coding absences. SW reported that the passport to prom scheme had definitely had an impact and the college was looking at extending it to year 10 students for the following year. He acknowledged that there was still not a similar incentive for KS3 students to attend.
  10. SW agreed that persistent absence, students with 85% or less attendance, remained a problem amongst some. MS added that a small group of students inversely affected this figure.
  11. MS informed governors that redundancies had been identified from a pool of volunteers and that 2 FTE teaching staff redundancies were being made and 6 FTE support staff. She added that 20 of the 25 staff on temporary contracts were also working out their notice. She summarised that 25% of teaching staff and 30% of support staff at the college were working out their notice. MS confirmed that it had been made very clear to staff that the redundancy process was the result of the college’s budget. She and BM agreed that the academy finances may lead to a different picture. AO observed that it must be extremely difficult to have such a proportion of staff working out their notice.
  12. MS reported that a new assistant head post had been advertised. BM summarised that the field had been very strong and she was keen to have governors involved in the recruitment process.
  13. HC explained to governors that the minutes and the papers from a recent presentation on the revised KS3 curriculum by BM would be circulated. MM raised his concern that changes to the curriculum from September would be taking place without all of the governors on the teaching, learning, and curriculum committee, which was delegated responsibility for monitoring this area, having the opportunity to comment. JT added that it was only after the presentation that she had been able to fully absorb some of the proposed changes. BM reassured governors that the proposed changes were grounded in the RAISEonline data and that she believed the changes would allow the college to meet better the needs of students at KS3. She pointed out that if the changes did not start from September and were not shared with governors now then another year would have to go by without them being implemented. SW explained that the proposed changes were an extension of what the leadership group had already been working on and that from the perspective of the leadership group the changes were positive. MM reiterated his belief that any changes should be made in the context of the college’s policies or the governing body should be approached in order to change the policies accordingly. JT explained that she had some concerns about PSHE teaching taking place in tutor time. PB and AB agreed.
  14. BM wished to reassure governors that she had met with the member of staff most impacted by the proposed changes to PSHE. She explained that PSHE remained important and the proposed changes to the curriculum extended its reach across more subjects. She explained that she would continue to monitor and report her findings to governors once the changes had been instigated.
  15. GW asked that the email communication from the member of staff in question be rescinded.
  16. MM asked for further information about the introduction of GCSE law. BM explained her concerns about the subject being included in the KS4 options and stated that the KS4 curriculum would be reviewed from September when a final decision would be made.
  17. MS returned to her report. She explained that the leadership team were confident that the year 11 results would be above the target set by governors although English remained something of an unknown.
  18. MS finished by announcing that the year 11 boys football team had retained the Exeter and East Devon Cup and that they had worn tribute shirts to celebrate the influence of MH in their progress.

  1. Introduction from new headteacher
  2. BM believed that she had now met most governors in various situations. She stressed that the invitation for governors to be involved was genuine and she welcomed their input.
  3. BM wanted governors to know that she had been impressed by the students at the college and the relationships they had, which she judged to be exemplary.
  4. TS asked whether students had officially been introduced to BM. MS explained that an assembly would be held to introduce her to each of the houses.

  1. Current governance procedures
  2. This item had been tabled by BD. He wished to make it clear the importance of governors being aware of their responsibilities and of the correct governance procedures.
  3. AB declared an interest in the company providing governor support, Babcock, but believed that it was a service that the college should subscribe to as an academy. IR thought that DAG was a useful resource for governors too. GW reported that the TWT wished to subscribe to governor support services.
  4. TS stressed the importance of the clerk in ensuring correct governance procedures.

  1. Governor communication
  2. LB had requested that this topic be added to the agenda. He felt that a number of earlier conversations had referenced the importance of communication between the governing body and other stakeholders and the fact that the governing body needed to do this better. He felt that if the governing body could do better in this area then parents would be more engaged with the school. GW reminded governors that in her letter to parents following the end of the consultation she had requested parents to approach her with suggestions to improve communication.
  3. BM explained that she had in the past held afternoon tea sessions that were open for any parents who wished to ask questions to come along. She believed these had worked well in other schools and she followed up any issues raised with a letter to all staff. She thought it also worked well if governors could attend.
  4. MS left the meeting at 20.24.

  1. Academy conversion update including timeline and name
  2. GW reported that DM thought a conversion date of September 1st was still realistic. She explained that the TWT were waiting for further information from DCC about certain financial and contractual issues. MM believed the financial implications remained of interest to governors and wished to be kept up to date with this.
  3. In terms of the name of the school following academy conversion, GW reported that the trust had agreed on Isca Academy. IR thought the reference to Academy could be problematic. BD agreed that all three groups in the consultation process had indicated that they were opposed to Academy in the name of the school. MM believed that the reference to Academy had no positive connotations and that it could fall entirely out of favour with a change of administration. AB felt that including Academy in the name indicated that the college had been forced to convert. It was noted that none of the other schools locally who had elected to convert to an academy had referenced it in their name. AO felt this was extremely relevant, as did PB. GW offered to take the views of the governing body to the project steering group on 21st May.
  4. BM explained that she wished to discuss her thoughts on the college’s uniform and logo with the communications and marketing group before bringing it to the whole governing body.
/ GW
  1. Moving towards a new governing body
  2. GW explained that DM had asked for a list of all governors with their email address, the nature of their role, and the expiry date of their term of office. She stated that the TWT intended to invite all governors who wished to remain on the governing body to express their interest and then a skills audit would be conducted.
/ RJ
  1. Review of Meeting
  2. There was a brief review of the meeting.

  1. Date of next meeting: Monday 8thJuly 2013

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