Minutes of the Board of Directors

23 March 2017

Washwood Heath Academy – Information Centre

Meeting was quorate – Commenced at 6:00pm

Attendance

Mr Pete Anstey (Chair), Mrs Bev Mabey (CEO), Mr Nusrat Iqbal, Mr Cecil Knight, Mr Habib Rehman, Mr Ian Lowe, Mr Mick York, Mr Paul Bracher, Mr Clive Bailey
Delroy Bramwell – agenda item 9
Company Secretary/ Clerk: Mrs Angela Sutheran
1. /
Apologies
Mr Darren Walsh, Mr Aftab Chughtai
2. /
Declaration of Pecuniary Interests
/ Action
No pecuniary interests
3. /
Minutes of Previous Meeting
The Chair went through with the directors the minutes from the previous meeting held on 2 March 2017. They were accepted as a true record and duly signed and dated by the Chair with the following amendments:
Page 2 – 3rd paragraph – their to there
Paul Bracher referred to as Richard
4. / CEO Report
CEO updated the group as follows:
The International School
International School will not convert on 1st April as £3 million deficit needs sign off by cabinet on 18 April 2017. The school has been issued an Academy Order by the DFE, therefore will need to convert. Currently working to a conversion date of 1 May
Mick York asked will the TUPE process be complete.
CEO confirmed yes
Brownmead
SEF circulated prior to the meeting
Expansion project ongoing proposed new build to be single storey building located to the side of the current building having no impact on the EYFS area
Business case to be submitted to the RSC to approve expansion. Consultation ongoing re expansion, consultation meeting with stakeholder’s held 21 March. Main concern parking around the school site, stakeholder’s positive about the school and trust. September 2017, LA have requested Brownmead accommodate a ‘bulge class’ in year 2. Therefore, KS1 will consist of 2 forms of entry for each year group from September 2017
Chair questioned levels
CEO & Ian Lowe explained the 3 levels –
Children hit NA
Children below NA
Those above demonstrate greater depth of understanding
Gossey
SEF circulated prior to the meeting
Deputy Head Teacher recruited
Advertising for Assistant Head Teacher
Ashley Winters and the Leadership Team at Brownmead continue to support Sarah and the team at Gossey Lane
Rigorous process undertaken to ensure correct staffing structure
Standards are not currently where we want them but they are heading in the right direction
Paul Bracher confirmed staff now being held to account
Saltley
SEF circulated prior to the meeting
Maths projection strong – quality assurance seems accurate
Main area for concern English based on mocks. Pete Weir has a clear action plan in place, he will lead the department to secure outcomes
All secondary schools across the Trust working together moderating
All other areas performing well
Geography Department on action plan - review last week confirmed action plan having a positive impact
Mick York confirmed he is confident English will be sorted, but is concerned this is the 2nd year English has been a concern, it cannot happen again
Chair expressed concern that the Head Teacher is leading the department
CEO confirmed Saltley will be expanding to 240 places in year 7 for September 2017. This increase can be managed in house through the current curriculum. If there is year on year growth, there will be a need for a capital build
Chair questioned the issues with the hall
CEO confirmed a structural engineer has been instructed to prepare a report on the hall
Washwood
SEF circulated prior to the meeting
English projection strong
Concern around Maths – issues around Deputy Heads preference of exam board, decision now made
Concerns MFL/Urdu – support being provided by Saltley
Cecil Knight and CEO thanked Mick York for the continued support from Saltley with the MFL Department
Business Department a concern – member of staff on action plan
All departments on action plans have now received an external review
WHA year 7 to expand by 25 places in 2018
WHA Primary to open September 2017 for reception and year 3 in a temporary building.
Cecil Knight asked what is the intention of the structure, free standing or single all age Academy
CEO confirmed single all age Academy, there will a transition stage during the growth of the primary and awaiting the completion of the new build. The new build will be a split site which will accommodate some secondary classes
Cecil Knight asked if this is an active partnership not reallocation of duties. HMc needs job description to reflect what is expected
CEO confirmed HMc involved in all meetings. Partnership for few years to become through provision for 4 – 19 year olds
Cecil Knight confirmed it is important for those responsible to have clear job descriptions
Clive Bailey asked what are the predicted grades?
CEO confirmed WHA have just completed assessment capture
Saltley - English and Maths 43/44 - progress 8 strong
WHA – English and Maths top end of 30
CEO to send updated WHA data
Chair explained uncertainty around predictions
Paul Bracher asked if discussions have taken place with other Academies who have moved to all through provision
CEO confirmed yes. Mistakes have been made, secondary professionals who have no experience in the primary sector have come up against issues. We are fortunate as we have this expertise within the trust
CEO informed the group that she has been approached for the trust to be involved with an application for a free school in our local community. The application will be for a primary free school with an SMEH resource base
Chair confirmed members gave full support as it fits into the aims and objectives of the trust
Paul Bracher questioned persistent absence rates
Mick York confirmed trends at Saltley are being addressed and have reduced during SPR1
CEO confirms level of engagement around absence is high. Leads on attendance meet to discuss how issues can be addressed
Attendance report next meeting
Paul Bracher questioned WHA LGB minutes do not appear to show governors involvement in discussion
CEO confirmed she will speak to HMc to ask for minutes to depict questioning
Chair & CEO expressed their thanks to Cecil Knight for the huge contribution he has made to both WHA and Education in general over the years / CEO
CEO
CEO
5. / Finance and General Purposes Strategic Group
Chair confirmed the F&GP Group had a discussion around pensions and that each school had individual levels for pension contributions and all pay different rates to the pension scheme, group approved pooling to ensure all schools within the trust are paying one rate
H&S Policy – contracted Handsam to produce policy on our behalf and to ensure we comply with legal requirements. 1st draft was not workable due to size. They have now produced a set document that sets out behaviours/expectations together with a set of sub policies. All staff will be expected to understand the overview policy and to be familiar with the sub policies that affect them directly
F&GP Group minutes approved by all
Mick York referred to the Financial Regulations Manual, page 4 point 24
All agreed for this bullet point to be changed to: Approving the budget that has been proposed in collaboration with the school leaders and Finance Director.
6. / Staffing and Pay Strategic Group
Clive Bailey updated the group as follows:
Director of HR presented statistics detailing staff turnover
Long term sickness – if absence is stress related school to contact and investigate and support immediately
360 degree self-evaluation of leadership to be undertaken
7. / Reports from Local Governing Bodies
No further points for discussion as covered in CEO report
8. / Policies
The following policies were ratified with amendments as stated:
Financial Regulations Manuals – approved with the amendment as details in agenda item 5 above
Charge Card Policy – approved
Investment Policy – approved
Fixed Asset and Depreciation Policy – approved
Banked Hours Policy and Procedure – approved
Dignity at Work Policy and Procedure – approved
Grievance Policy and Procedure – approved
Complaints Procedure – approved with the following amendments, point 3.1 to read you must observe confidentiality not we would ask you to and appendices to be renamed to 6.1 and 6.2
Health and Safety Policy – approved
Code of Conduct for Employees - approved
9. / Catering Review
Delroy Bramwell confirmed he had been instructed to undertake a review of the catering provision across the trust. He commissioned a review to ascertain what is currently being provided which highlighted room for improvement. He met with Citiserve to try and improve the current provision which was not productive and they did not make much effort which didn’t materialise to anything.
Met with several catering consultants and spoke to several schools all reporting RMC being good consultants to engage with
RMC carried out reviews on our behalf at all school sites
Catering across the trust is operating at a substantial loss and has very low uptake
5 options available for the trust as detailed in the report circulated
RMC recommend option 5 as best fit for WHMAT
Chair confirmed F&GP Group have no recommendation to the best way to proceed but would welcome comments and experiences from the group
Paul Bracher asked if the trust can sustain £800k pension liability
Chair confirmed current liability is £6 million, therefore £800k no difference. All schools are in same position
Cecil Knight believes in providing the service in house in terms of value for money being the best options. Contractors are expensive and can provide poor provision
Ian Lowe asked if the provision is currently not good and we TUPE the staff how will the same staff provide a better provision
CEO confirmed current staff employed by Citiserve are unable to create their own menus and are only able to use certain providers. We have good quality staff in the kitchens who would prefer to come in house
Clive Bailey asked who would manage and take responsibility of the staff
Delroy Bramwell confirmed we could manage in house but have no one qualified or buy in a management service
Clive Bailey asked how do we know who could buy in
Delroy Bramwell confirmed there is a tendor process to follow which would include ensuring we have the right people to support the trust
Cecil Knight confirmed he has supported this process on several occasions. He said managers blossomed when not under constraints from the LA. It is an opportunity for MAT staff to come together to support each other
Paul Bracher asked if there could be issues finding sickness cover
Cecil Knight confirmed there are agency staff available
Nusrat Iqbal confirmed if we buy in the service we need to make sure what they are doing works
Chair believes we have the expertise of those already in kitchen but he is uncomfortable employing a manager and he wouldn’t want the responsibility to fall on Delroy
Cecil Knight suggested using a consultant to appoint key staff
Mick York confirmed both suggestions would involve bringing staff in house and this process needs to occur under TUPE
Chair asked the group if they supported current kitchen staff being employed by the trust through the TUPE process as total outsourcing is not the right way forward for the trust
All agreed - step 1 kitchen staff TUPE to MAT
Chair confirmed schools will have to work together with purchasing and leadership over the kitchens
Mick York suggested a skills audit of current staff
Delroy Bramwell confirmed each school has its own manager, the current issues are with Citiserve
Chair asked is the issues are created by Citiserve
Delroy confirmed the staff do not receive much support from Citiserve
CEO asked Cecil if schools employed a manager across the sites or is this outsourced
Cecil Knight confirmed the have a manager on each site and they have had no difficulty in recruiting staff
Chair suggests we need to hear staff views, cannot use existing points of reference i.e. Delroy. Need to ascertain from staff if they can manage this change between each other. Chair stated it is not clear how to transform leadership and management. Moving forward when more capacity is built into the central team catering should be a member of this team’s responsibility along with other responsibilities. CEO and Delroy to meet kitchen managers to seek their views
Chair confirmed there are clear requirements of financial control and management. He thanked Delroy for the support he continues to offer supporting all schools and thanked him for the quality of work being delivered / CEO/
Delroy
10. / AOCB
Nusrat Iqbal discussed the trust music concert and confirmed how well the event was managed and coordinated. He recommends all directors should try to attend
CEO confirmed staff involved have been written to and thanked for a brilliant event
Grand Iftari – 8th June all invited
Date of next meeting – Thursday 27 April 2017 at 6.00pm at Washwood Heath Academy

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