THE MANOR ACADEMY
MINUTES OF EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE FULL GOVERNING BODY
HELD ON 27th JUNE 2013 IN THE PE CLASSROOM
PRESENT:
(“A” donates absence)Mrs M J Lovell (Chair)
Mr N A Melton (Vice Chair)
Mr G Taylor
Mr S Dutfield
Mrs J Parnham
Mrs M Govan
Mrs G Shelton
Mr D Stanley
Mr J S Sale
AMr H Jackson
Mrs A H Williams
AMrs V L Rees
Mr D E Keward
ADr W Pearce
AMr C B Richards
Mr B George
Mr J P Hickman
Mr M Davis
Mr M J Douglas
Mr G Hillyard
ASSOCIATE MEMBERSAMr D Bickley (Head Boy)
AMiss O Singleton (Head Girl)
IN ATTENDANCE Mrs C Bartram (Clerk to the Governing Body)
Mrs D Casey (Deputy Head Teacher)
Mr P Croot (ICT Systems Manager)
Mr S Singleton (Business Leader)
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Victoria Rees – prior commitment
Harry Jackson – unwell
Bill Pearce – Holiday
Chris Richards - Holiday
- DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Mr Hillyard and Mrs Lovell declared an interest in the staffing Restructure.
- WIFI UPGRADE
Mr Hickman explained that the meeting had been called for governors to consider the proposal to upgrade the infrastructure for the Wi-Fi network.
Q – the paper distributed with the agenda has no recommendation to consider.
Mr Hickman clarified that the recommendation was that the Academy proceed with the upgrade.
Mrs Casey explained that both she and Mr Croot had put a lot of work into looking at options for this proposal and stressed that, regardless of whether the Academy subsequently decide to progress with portable devices, the network still needs upgrading in order for the Academy to use the network effectively. The current Wi-Fi system is ok but was put in 10 years ago and is currently limiting what the Academy is able to deliver for staff and students. The new package will last for the next 10 years at least.
Mr Croot explained that when the existing network was put in it was designed simply to enable staff to have wireless networking for their laptops in classrooms. Since then internet usage has massively increased, speeds are much quicker and expectations are consequently higher. Social networking didn’t exist 10 years ago, teaching is now using much more media in class and the network was not designed for students to access the internet as well as teachers. The network is still fine for what it was originally designed for but doesn’t have the capacity for progress and matching the change in technology.
Mr Croot went through the breakdown of the pricing in the quote they have had for the upgrade. For the hardwired network equipment, wireless network equipment, cabling/fibre installation and associated professional services the quote is a total of £248586; the work is expected to take 5 weeks to complete.
Mr Croot went through the equipment that will be required and explained that the academy needs to be able to cater for the potential of all students accessing data, either on their own or school’s device. The Academy is currently being offered the upgrade at a considerable discount due to several factors:if the Academy proceed then it will be a flagship school in Nottinghamshire and future schools will be modelled on Manor, HP don’t currently have a foothold in the education sector which is a market they are keen to break into, and the UK Manager’s nephew is a student at Manor so he has a vested interest in the school. Mr Croot acknowledged that it is still a considerable sum of money but stressed that this is a time limited offer and if Manor put it off then they would be looking at it costing twice as much in the future.
Mrs Casey said she felt the Academy has a moral responsibility to provide the best service to students and also Ofsted expect ICT provision to be embedded. People are already looking at Manor as they are doing something different in terms of the curriculum offer and structure, and this is an opportunity to showcase both the school and the equipment and show the provision as outstanding. The company will need 6 weeks to install the equipment so this can only be carried out during the summer holidays; therefore if it’s not this summer then the Academy will have to wait a full year before upgrading. By that time the cost will have doubled as Manor would no longer be the flagship school.
Mr Croot reiterated that the existing equipment has not failed but simply reached the end of it’s life.
Q – has a similar system been seen in a school elsewhere?
Mr Croot said that each system is different but the kit has already been used in other schools which are running portable devices. The proposed kit will work in school to run 30+ devices in each class. Mrs Casey said she had used similar equipment before in other schools but Manor is looking at using a different company as they offer a better deal.
Q – have they seen how it works elsewhere?
Mr Croot said he had. The equipment they are looking to install is business grade so it will work well.
Q – is it possible to upgrade again in the future? What does ‘built in redundancy’ mean?
Mr Croot explained that doesn’t mean the equipment will become redundant, it means that all the equipment has 2 connections so one could fail and there wouldn’t be any noticeable impact on the system.
Mrs Casey said currently teachers are worried to use IT in class in case it fails and gives them a poor judgement in lesson observations. This will ensure that staff can be confident to use media and technology in lessons.
Q – what about the speed of the internet coming in to the Academy?
Mr Croot said it is currently 100MB which he thinks may be fats enough, however if the Academy later decide to bring in devices then they could possibly upgrade to 200/500MB. He added that he has also requested 4000 new IP addresses as the Academy is currently near it’s limit.
Q – is there a recycle value to the kit that would be removed?
Mr Croot confirmed that there was some residual value to some of the kit amounting to a few thousand pounds.
Mr Hickman acknowledged that the big question is how will the upgrade be funded. Governors need to decide if it is the right thing to invest in and if so if now is the right time to do it. the autonomy of the Academy doesn’t extend to significant financial commitments as most options require the approval of the Secretary of State. The Head agreed that it was a challenge financially but he still felt that the Academy needed to commit to invest and improve for the sake of the students.
The Chair asked governors to vote on whether they agreed to invest in the Wi-Fi upgrade if the finances can be arranged.
AGREED – all in favour with one abstention (Mr Hickman)
Mr Singleton presented the financial impact report. He agreed that it was a fantastic deal and explained that procurement was through NCC so was properly tendered etc. He is satisfied that the quote received is value for money. Mr Singleton ran through the risk assessment for the proposal and then explained the options open to the Academy with regards to financing the upgrade:
1)Buy
2)Loan
3)a) Finance Lease
b) Operating Lease
Option 1
Mr Singleton explained that this cost had not been budgeted for however the Academy does have a contingency/reserve of approximately £500000 which could be used to purchase the new system outright. However, by his calculations all of the reserves will be needed in order to make the 2013/14 budget balance due to the funding reductions.
Option 2
The Academy has taken out loans before to finance capital investment, however these were through the LA at a very favourable interest rate (around 1%). Now that Manor is an Academy they can no longer borrow through the LA (he has asked and been refused). Mr Singleton said he had approached Lloyds TSB whom the Academy bank with but they have never before loaned any money to an educational establishment in the UK. The Academy would need to present a business plan and the bank would carry out a risk assessment on this. The interest of any such loan is likely to be in the region of 5-8% and the Academy would also need to gain consent from the Secretary of State before the bank would even consider it.
Option 3a
A Finance lease is still classed as borrowing so again the Academy would need to obtain approval from the Secretary of State. Mr Singleton said this would be his recommendation if it weren’t for the need to gain consent, however he doesn’t know how long this is likely to take and it’s unlikely to happen quickly enough to secure the deal offered. If the Academy did go with this option it would cost £50000 in interest over 5 years.
Option 3b
If the Academy decides take out an operating lease of 3 years or less, then this can be agreed by the trustees. Anything over 3 years would again need Secretary of State approval. Mr Singleton has obtained quotes from 2 companies, SISCO and Investech which he shared with governors. At the end of the 3 year period the Academy can either hand the equipment back, or extend the lease for a further year at the end of which the equipment would be ‘abandoned’ to the Academy.
The only option not requiring prior approval by the Secretary of State is 3b. Mr Singleton said that he agrees with the principle of upgrading and is happy with the procurement procedure, but feels it is a very difficult decision in face of the budget pressures for the next year.
Q – if the Academy went with option 3b could it afford the repayments?
Mr Singleton explained the Academy had been paying £63000 a year, for a loan it took out for the improvements to the Quad, which ends this year. They would need to find another £20000 on top of this to make the lease payments. He told the meeting that he’s not yet finalised the budget for 2013/14 but thinks they should be able to meet the repayments for that year; however the following 2 years will be more of a challenge as the Academy will need all of its reserves to balance the budget in 2013/14 and this can only be spent once.
Mr Hickman said if they decide to go ahead with the upgrade then they will just have to make the budget work and find the money if they decide this is a priority. He added that the Academy has also been paying back a loan for the catering equipment which has now ended so there is no other borrowing.
Q – if the Academy is a flagship for this system could it attract more students and consequently funding?
Mr Hickman agreed that if it is used effectively and this is reflected in student outcomes then it can be used as a marketing tool.
Mr Taylor said he was concerned about the proposal as he has always been against borrowing as he feels that in effect this means a deficit budget. He added that he felt the ultimate objective was to provide students with portable devices and is concerned that governors will soon be asked to approve even more expenditure to finance these devices.
Mrs Casey agreed that the upgrade was needed for the devices but reiterated that even without these the upgrade is still necessary. Mr Taylor accepted this and conceded that he agreed with the principle of providing the technology for the students, but governors need to be mindful of the financial position of the Academy.
Q – if NCC want to use the Academy as a flagship school why aren’t they contributing towards the financing?
Mr Hickman agreed that if governors decide to go ahead with the upgrade then he would go back to the LA again and ask if they would be prepared to loan the money. The Academy could also look at paying some of the costs up front from the reserves and borrowing the rest. He reminded governors that the figure needed for the Wi-Fi is similar to the amount the Academy was going to have to spend on the new boiler before Mr Singleton managed to secure funding for that; he had also secured £200000 of funding for the flat roofs which would otherwise have had to have been funded by the Academy. Mr Hickman stressed that the school need to acknowledge the reality of the environment students are growing up in and suggested that governors could decide to invest in this infrastructure now they no longer had to fund the boiler or the roof.
Q – how much will the staffing restructure save?
Mr Hickman said the restructure would save approximately £200000 per year but further reductions would be needed again the following year. The Academy is trying to do this through natural wastage but this is a challenge as they can’t guarantee losing staff from the right areas. The Head acknowledged these are financial very challenging times and the Academy has already used some of it’s surplus to try to avoid redundancies to reduce the impact on morale, however a further £200000 saving needs to be made the following year, therefore he is not hopeful that the Academy could fund the Wi-Fi from the surplus although they may be able to fund some of it.
Mr Singleton suggested it may be worth asking HP if the Academy could pay instages – some now and some in the next financial year.
ACTION: Mr Hickman to contact Anthony May regarding funding from the LA.
Mr Hickman to make enquiries as to how long it would take to get Secretary of State approval for any borrowing.
The Chair asked governors if they agreed to Neil Melton, Gordon Taylor and herself looking at the options when more work has been done on them. Mrs Casey added that the offer expires at the end of July so if the Academy does go ahead then the work will begin at the start of the summer holidays.
AGREED – Wi-Fi upgrade to take place as soon as possible subject to the above named governors approving the finances when more detail is known.
Mike Douglas, Paul Croot and Donna Casey leave the meeting
- STAFFING RESTRUCTURE
Mr Hickman outlined the context for the staffing restructure and told the meeting that the proposed new structure went to the HR committee 3 weeks ago who approved the Academy to begin the consultation period. Consultation has since been held with both staff and the Trade Unions with a Q&A session held for staff and another for the Unions. No comments have been received from any of the professional associations. Written feedback from staff was recived around the following areas:
1)Individual job grades – Mr Hickman suggested the Academy acknowledge these and inform staff that these will be addressed in phase 2 during the Autumn term.
2)Redundancy in the Environment team – Mr Singleton has been in consultation with the team and they have put forward suggestions as to how the Academy can achieve it’s objective without redundancy. They have discussed the possibility of taking on some tasks which are currently outsourced. Discussions around possible options are on-going.
3)Staffing in the LRC – again Mr Hickman suggested this was addressed in phase 2.
4)CSA hours – currently the CSAs work 5 hours per day. The suggestion for the new structure is that they work 8am – 1pm and 12pm – 5pm which would provide additional cover at lunchtimes. The staff have suggested 8am – 1pm and 11am – 4pm to provide greater crossover at lunchtime as they don’t actually need to be here until 5pm. Mr Hickman said he would like to eventually move towards one person working 8am – 4pm with lunch cover provided differently.
Overall there have been relatively few questions about the restructure so the Head presented the new structure for the governors approval.
Q –with regards to the Environment team, PAT testing has been carried out in-house previously and was ineffective. Also if they take over aspects of grounds maintenance won’t there be implications for machinery required?
Mr Singleton explained that if the team were to take on some tasks currently outsourced then certain hours would be allocated for doing these, higher level, tasks. The grounds maintenance tasks they would look at taking over would be those with a lower demand for equipment. He added that there is actually an electrician in the team so they would be well able to do the PAT testing. Overall Mr Singleton said the team had been very positive and creative in trying to address the issues and he feels they deserve time to give their suggestions proper consideration.
Mr Davis said that as HR Officer his recommendations to governors were:
1)To accept the restructure subject to further consideration of the issues raised
2)To accept the restructure as it is
Mr Singleton explained that he had planned to produce a skills audit and mapping exercise, in line with the LA procedure, however he and Mr Davis had reviewed this and concluded that it was unnecessary and would cause delays to implementation. The new posts in the structure are open to anyone in the institution to apply for and they will be recruited in the usual way. Mr Davis confirmed that there was no legal requirement to adhere to the skills audit as the Academy is not in staffing reduction situation.