16 April 2012
Minutes of Board Meeting: / Winstanley College Board of Governors
Location of Meeting: Conference Room / 6 February 2012
Front cover / Meeting No: 03/11-12
Meeting opened at 18.30
MEETING ATTENDED BY:
Name and Category of Governors:
Present
David J Rosbottom Chair – Governor
Joanna Bailey Principal
Jane Bridge Staff Governor
Barbara Clarke Parent Governor
Nicola Green External co-opted
Mark Hage Staff Governor
Pat King Governor
Tom Nixon Student Governor
James Pearson Governor
Karen Taylor Governor
Jenny Venables Student Governor
Stan Walker Governor
Charlotte Fitch Clerk to the Governors / By invitation
Mel Chadwick Vice Principal
Conor Edwards Director of Finance & Resources
Apologies:
Robin Atkinson Governor
Brian Davies Vice Chair – Governor
Mark Hanrahan Governor
ISSUED BY: CF / DATE: 13 February 2012
Approved Minutes of meeting
Winstanley College Board of Governors
Date of meeting:Monday6 February 2012
Venue:Conference Room
Attendees:See cover sheet
Distribution:All governors, Mel Chadwick (Vice Principal), Conor Edwards (Director of Finance & Resources) and Sue Edgerton (PA to the Principal)
In his opening remarks, the Chair welcomed Nicola Green to her first Board meeting as an external
co-opted member of the Audit Committee. The Chair explained that the focus for this evening’s meeting was to allow discussion and information gathering in respect of items which are sometimes referred to as the ‘white space’.
1. Declaration of Interest
James Pearson had advised the Clerk that he wished to update his register of interests’ declaration and this had been done.
Members had no further interests to declare which would conflict with the items on the agenda for this meeting.
2. Apologies for absence
The Clerk advised the Board that she had received 3apologies for absence from Robin Atkinson, Brian Davies and Mark Hanrahan. The Clerk confirmed that this point the meeting was quorate.
3. Minutes of the previous Board meeting
The minutes of the previous Board meetingheld on Monday 12 December 2011 were accepted as a true and accurate record. The Chair sought a proposer and the minutes were seconded and signed for the Board by the Chair.
4. Matters arising
The numbers in brackets refer to the previous minutes.
The Chair invited governors to raise any matters which had arisen from the previous meeting in addition to the points which he and the Clerk wished to raise for clarification and closure.
(5) Matters arising, industrial action – referring to the previous minutes the Principal advised the Board that the Sfcf had responded to the NAS/UWT directive to members to undertake a work to rule and advised that they were not in scope to carry out this action as it applied to teachers in schools. Hard on the heels of this aspect of industrial relations, the Principal advised that the College had been advised that following a ballot of its members the NUT had a mandate to take industrial action on two counts; in respect of pay against the employers (Sfcf who had stated no pay award for the current year) and pensions (the Secretary of State for Education in relation to pension reform). The implications for the College were such that if teaching staff did respond to a strike call it would be difficult to keep the College open for students due to the percentage of staff who were members of the NUT.
(6.5) Appointment of roofing contractor – the Director of Finance & Resources confirmed that work on the over roofing of the College had begun and staff and students had been advised that whilst there would be some disruption due to noise, the College had contingency plans in place to move lessons as and when appropriate. The view was expressed by one of the student members that this had not been disruptive thus far.
(8) INSET – A working party had been convened comprising governors and senior management to discuss and agree the programme for the governors’ INSET being held on 7 March 2012 at the Lancashire Manor. The Chair of Curriculum & Quality who had attended the meeting gave a brief resume to the Board. A programme enabling governors to have informal but focused dialogue and discussions looking at safeguarding, progression and inspection issues had been created. In addition and as a way of addressing some of the issues arising from the learning board programme there would be an opportunity to discuss what constitutes a good chair and what it actually means to be Chair of the Board. The student governors were working on one aspect of the programme to enable a view to be taken on what is actually happening in the minutes and what does the terminology mean. Clear objectives were being set so that these could be measured.
(8) Attendance – the Chair advised the Board that Gordon Best had submitted his resignation from the Board which had been acknowledged and accepted on behalf of the governing body by the Clerk.
(8) Succession Planning – the Clerk advised the Board that as directed by the Search Committee an approach had been made to the unsuccessful parent candidate and an application form has now been submitted.
(8.5) Learning Board Programme – the Clerk confirmed that the responses from the Board in respect of an evaluation of the process had been conveyed to LSIS together with a final overall evaluation which had been requested four months after the process had been completed. On the back of the Board’s participation in this programme, the College had been approached and would be taking part in research being conducted by Ron Hill and Ian James in respect of improving the contribution of senior staff to governance. This was a timely intervention, as the Board, having already identified this as a development opportunity stood to benefit further from participation in the discussions. The Clerk was also able to announce that an application to LSIS to write a case study on Emerging models of Governance had been successful.
5. Governance
5.1 Code of Governance
The Chair invited governors to comment on the Code of Governance as submitted as part of the Sixth Form College’s forum consultation process.
He reminded governors of the reason for the forum insisting on running its own consultation process and the importance of agreeing a course of action which could be reported to the governance committee at the forum. During discussions, the Board took the view that the content was unremarkable in that it stated what was considered to be good practice and in most aspects the College was compliant. Where there were discrepancies these were aspects which the Board aspired to and which had been highlighted in the Learning Board report.
Outcome
The Board of Governors took the unanimous view that it would endorse the Code and would accept this in due course if this was the outcome of the consultation process. The Clerk was advised to convey this view to the SFC forum.
5.2 Review of Agenda items classified as confidential
The Board of Governors considered the report which had been prepared by the Clerk and the Chair in respect of the minutes and items discussed during 2010-2011 which had been given a ‘restricted disclosure’ in respect of the exemptions under the FOI act.
The Board accepted the report and its recommendations as submitted and agreed that a further time limit of 12 months be applied to the minutes which by their nature were commercially sensitive.
6. National Issues and Core Business
6.1 Simplification of Funding
The Director of Finance presented his briefing paper on the funding simplification process, advising the Board that the outcome from the consultation process is still awaited but any changes would take effect from 2014. This means, in essence that at the end of the current three year cuts to funding entitlement there would be a new funding system in place for 2014. The key proposals which formed the body of the consultation document reflect the way in which the funding system may be headed i.e. remove elements from the current system which support disadvantage and which promote retention and achievement in favour of a simplified rate applicable across all curriculum areas, based on the presumption that a full time student would be funded for around 600 hours
Governors reflected on the data before them and the input from the Finance Director. Governors were concerned that having been encouraged to support students who were doing a variety of options as part of their full time A level courses; additional units of study such as the EPQ might in future be penalised. The balance appears to be on driving down costs whilst simultaneously maintaining effective courses.
6.2 Marketing – the way forward
The Vice Principal summarised the way in which the College was developing its marketing strategy to take account of the demographic dip, increasing competition and increased transport costs.
Governors discussed with the Vice Principal the key points in her paper which due to its commercial sensitivity has been classified ‘restricted’. A summary of the key points of the discussion has been retained separately for governors.
6.3 A discussion around the costs and benefits of time remission for Heads of Department
The Principal had submitted a paper outlining the various proposals and discussions which had taken place at senior management level and with a working party examining the unusual situation at College whereby middle managers did not have remission for their duties as a head of a curriculum area. Governors heard how the link between a subject specialist as a Head of Department (HOD) was one of the factors in the success rates for students and the importance of middle managers improving quality (as evidenced by discussions at Curriculum and Quality Committee meetings). Governors understood the difficulties and challenges faced by Management and recorded that whilst the Board would not support an increase in expenditure to facilitate remission time for HODs if a way could be found to neutralise costs and achieve remission time then this would be desirable. The Board’s position was that having managed funding cuts and preserved the number of staff currently employed at the institution, it would not be wise to put this in jeopardy.
A record of the detailed discussion has been retained separately as the Board deemed the nature of the talks to be commercially sensitive. The Senior Management Team would continue its discussions and dialogue ahead of taking a decision.
6.4 Abraham Guest Academy
The Principal was asked to present her first report to the Board as the Strategic Director for the Academy. The Principal reported that the launch of Abraham Guest Academy had happened very smoothly. She is receiving weekly bulletins from the Academy Principal and will be holding monthly meetings of up to two hours duration to explore issues in more detail and depth. Email and telephone conversations are also taking place.
An article from the Wigan Observer (17 January 2012) had been circulated with the papers and the Principal was pleased to report that the Academy had set the bar high for the dress code for the students and expected and was enforcing complete compliance with its uniform policy.
The Principal outlined the strategy which the Academy was following in respect of successes at GCSE targeting those pupils who were currently performing below the A*-C grade boundaries.
6.5 Report from the Chair in respect of the protocols associated with the College being the sponsor of Abraham Guest Academy
The Chair outlined for clarity and as a record for the Board of Governors how he envisaged the College and the Academy should relate to one another in terms of its relationship whereby Winstanley College is the named sponsor for the Academy.
The College, he stated sets the strategy and Mission having agreed with the Academy Principal and its governing body the tone, targets and vision of the Academy. The College is accountable to the Secretary of State.
The Academy Trust comprising members of the both the College and the Academy governing bodies is the fulcrum between the College Governing Body and the Academy Governing Body. The Trust has appointed 8 of the governors who are on the Academy Governing Body and will continue to monitor the performance of the members of the Academy Governing Body, holding them to account in terms of the Mission and strategic objectives. The remaining membership of the Academy Governing Body will be made up of staff and parents who will be elected to the governing body.
The appointment and accountability of the Principal of Winstanley College as the Strategic Director for the Academy also ensures that there is direct link to the governors at Winstanley College. The expectation is that this arrangement will last for an initial period of 12 months. Any request for the continuation of these arrangements will need to be referred to the College’s Governing Body by either the Academy Governing Body or the Trust.
6.6 Appointment to the Academy Trust
Given the nature of the role of the Academy Trust and the importance of having a clear link to the College’s governing body, the Chair proposed that a member of the College’s Board should be appointed to the Trust as a representative of the College. The College’s governor representative would help to ensure that the Academy Governing Body was being effective and would provide a direct line of communication with the Winstanley Governing Body.
Members of the College’s governing body are not representative of a ‘body’ as they owe the College a fiduciary duty. It was therefore worth clarifying for the sake of the minutes that in this very specific instance, the governor appointed to the Trust would be a representative of the Winstanley College Board of Governors.
Pat King and James Pearson expressed interest in standing for the appointment. The Board was delighted to receive two nominations and agreed that both members could share the role. Papers should be sent to both governors and they would take it in turns to act for the College as a corporate member of the Academy Trust.
7. Finance and Estates
7.1 Management Accounts
Copies of the Management Accounts for the period ended 31 December 2011 had been distributed to governors. The Director of Finance gave a brief resume of the accounts at December. He assured governors that the College was in good financial health with pay costs remaining within Budget and non pay costs continue below Budget at this point in the financial year. Overall the College’s cash surplus remains strong and is £150k ahead of the Budget at this point.
7.2 ALRA and Winstanley College – Performing Arts Foundation Course
The Vice Principal spoke to the paper which she had submitted to the Board of Governors seeking governors’ approval to enter into a partnership with the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) based in Wigan to deliver a Foundation Diploma in Performing Arts at the College and accredited by ALRA.
20.15 Mark Hage left the meeting at this point.
Governors listened to the rationale being put forward for the College to enter into a partnership with ALRA for an initial 12 month arrangement, providing facilities and teaching staff to deliver the 1 year full time course with approximately 24 contact hours over 4 days. The students would be Winstanley College students and would be charged fees in accordance with other similar institutions as the course is aimed at 18+year old students.
During a wide ranging debate, governors and management explored and answered the concerns and questions raised by governors. The Board of Governors was satisfied that the course represented a good use of the College’s resources; the risk was low and the likelihood of any reputational risk minimal. There was no financial risk to the College as an insufficient take up would render the course uneconomic and it would not run.
Approval
A formal proposal was put to the Board to approve the proposal in principle and to set fees as described to the governing body. This proposal was seconded.
The Board of Governors approves in principle the way forward for the College to continue its negotiations with ALRA with a view to facilitating a one year Foundation Diploma in Performing Arts at the College.
The Board of Governors accepted that the course would be full cost recoverable as fees would be charged by the College. The Governing Body agreed to delegate authority for the charging and recovery of fees of £7,000 per student to the Management of the College.
7.3 Appointment of Design Consultants for the re-development of the Learning and Resources Centre and the Physics Department
The Chair advised the Board that the Chair and Vice Chair of Finance & Resources had sat with members of the senior management team to consider the submissions from a number of practices who had completed tender submissions for the appointment of design consultants to design and project manage the latest phase of the College’s re-development scheme.