Joint Committee of Governors of Ansford Academy & King Arthur’s Community School
Minutes of a meeting of the Joint Committee held from 6pm on Wednesday 13 December 2017
at King Arthur’s School, Wincanton
Present: Chris Culpin Chair of Committee and Chair of Ansford Academy Trust
Neal ChislettHead of Educational Effectiveness, Somerset LA
Amanda EllingworthGovernor at King Arthur’s Community School
Peter GaneGovernor at Ansford Academy Trust
Arthur Llewellyn Governor at Ansford Academy Trust
Debbie NelsonGovernor at King Arthur’s Community School
Shonogh PilgrimPrincipal at Ansford Academy Trust
Ian WilmshurstGovernor at King Arthur’s Community School
In Attendance: Mel HillmanIndependent Clerk
1. / Apologies for AbsenceThere were no apologies for absence.
2. / Declarations of Interests
Debbie Nelson declared possible conflicts as a Staff Governor. There were no other
declarations.
3. / Minutes of Previous Meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2017 were approved with the correction of spelling of the names of Neal Chislett and Ian Wilmshurst.
4. / Matters Arising
i)Minute 2 Vice-Chairman. Chris Culpin suggested that it would be sensible to appoint a Vice-Chairman of the Committee and nominated Ian Wilmshurst. This was seconded by Peter Gane and unanimously agreed.
ii)Minute 5 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It was confirmed that this had been signed by the Chairs of Governors from both schools on 24 November 2017.
5. / Function of the Joint Committee
Chris Culpin stated that the meeting would have focussed on the role of the Committee and its work as well as receiving an update on the MAT process. However, the OFSTED Inspection at King Arthur’s School in the previous weekwith the disappointing outcome, had changed things considerably.
Neal Chislett was asked to outline the next steps. He stated that the outcome started a chain of events. Normally the LA would apply to the DfE for an Interim Executive Board to be set up to take over the running of the school. However, as the two schools already had a signed partnership agreement, the Joint Committee could take on the Governance role for King Arthur’s School. The Committee already had representatives from King Arthur’s School who could provide the local knowledge required. This would save time as the normal set up time could be between six to eight weeks. He suggested that the Academy order in the future would be that the Ansford Academy Trust would take responsibility for both schools and that King Arthur’s members be actively considered for membership of the Trust Board.
Chris Culpin suggested that the meeting now considered two aspects:
i)What needed to be done from now until the OFSTED Report was published.
ii)What was required to be done to progress the MAT formation.
Neal Chislett confirmed that the King Arthur’s Governing Board remained as it was until the publication of the Reportand an agreement made on its future. It was anticipated that this should be around 15 January 2018. The school would have five days to comment on it. Neal Chislett considered contacting OFSTED for clarification of the publication date.
There was then a wide ranging discussion on how to proceed. This included:
- The need for an additional meeting of the Governing Body at King Arthur’s School.
- The need to hold a parents’ meeting to explain the situation and future plans – the parents could be reassured by the plans already in place for the joint futures of both schools. There would need to be considerable thought given as to who led this meeting and what briefing and preparation would be needed. Neal Chislett advised that this should be left to the professionals.
- The need for the Joint Committee to take responsibility for the management of both schools. The Committee would need to meet fortnightly from now on to keep in control of matters and to receive regular reports from the leadership teams.
- There would be a requirement for a parents meeting at Ansford. It was confirmed that parents of Ansford Academy were aware of the principles of forming a MAT and this would be a continuation of that process. It was accepted that due diligence would need to be carried out.
- The need to have suitable positive press releases in place to respond to the publication of the OFSTED Report. This could include confirmation that a joint agreement had already been signed and the need for change had been recognised for some time. The education of students would be enhanced through movement of teaching staff. It was also suggested that a Q & A sheet be issued.
- To hold a joint meeting with the staff of both schools on the scheduled INSET day on 8 January 2018.
- To clarify the additional funding available to enable the changes to take place. Neal Chislett confirmed that the Office of the Regional Schools’ Commissioner did hold funds under the Strategic Schools Improvement process. Schools could bid for these funds through a Teaching School.
- Ansford Academy had made an application to the Regional Schools’ Commissioner to become a Sponsoring Academy in May 2017. The RSC would want to be sure that Ansford Academy had the capacity to maintain current standards and lead improvement across the MAT.
- There was some concern that yet another plan would be produced which would not work. There would need to be a costed business plan which would be acceptable to all parties and not eventually ‘bring down’ the MAT. In response, it was made clear that, although there were no guarantees, the current plans were well-founded and had been preceded by joint work between the two schools for over a year.
- It was confirmed that staff did understand that there would be some rationalisation of staff in the future and that some staff were under-employed at the moment.
- The need for someone from Ansford Academy to attend the King Arthur’s School Governing Body meetings to clarify the future arrangements.
6. / Formation of the MAT
Discussion on this item continued from the previous item. It was confirmed that retaining the status quo was not an option. Ansford Academy had not yet built a track record in the successful supporting of another school. There would need to be evidence that it could do so quickly, which the Joint Committee would monitor.
Neal Chislett confirmed that the LA had engaged the services of Lorraine Heath, Principal of Uffculme School, Devon to help with the bid to the Strategic School Improvement Fund (SSIF) and support Ansford Academy through the process. The engagement would be for 10 days in each half term. In response to questions about the ability to commit to this time away from her school, Neal Chislett confirmed that Lorraine was a very experienced Principal and could also provide several SLEs to school to help developments. Uffculme School was a highly successful Outstanding 11-16 School. Neal Chislett also confirmed that he was in regular contact with the Office of the Regional School’s Commissioner to try to move the application on. The intention was for the MAT to be created from 1 September 2018.
It was agreed that the Service Level Agreement (SLA) should be left for the time-being until consideration could be given to the back-filling of time at Ansford Academy. It was confirmed that a sponsoring school could not take on another school with a deficit budget. The SSIF bid would be important in this process to help enable improvements to take place.
Questions were asked about the positions of the Headteacher and Chair of Governors at King Arthur’s School. It was confirmed that they both remained in position.
In answer to further questions, it was confirmed that if the Governing Body of King Arthur’s School stands down, the Joint Committee would take over responsibility.
7. / Dates of Next Meetings
With the need to meet fortnightly, the following meetings were agreed:
Wednesday 10th January 2018, 6pm at Ansford Academy
Tuesday 23rd January, 2018, 6pm at King Arthur’s Community School
The Chairman and Clerk would discuss future dates outside of the meeting and circulate to members.
The meeting closed at 7.50pm / CC/MH
Joint Committee Meeting 13/12/17 Page 1 of 3