MINUTES. Committee members, Cathy Fernley and Website

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1 Meeting Date/Time: Location: Distribution: FINANCE STAFFING AND PREMISES COMMITTEE 11 th November 5pm Committee members, Cathy Fernley and Website Quorum 3 Attendees Pat Beach (PB) - Governor Elizabeth Wylie (EW) Chair of Governors Sarah Hextall (SHX) Chair of FSP Frederique Haddad (FH) - Governor Simon Charleton () Headteacher governor Cathy Fernley (CF) School Business Manager DISCUSSION AND DECISIONS 1 Welcome The full committee was in attendance at 5.15 and SHX opened the meeting. 2 Declaration of Interest of items tabled. No declarations were received when invited. Before the meeting and SHX completed the review of the annual declarations of interest and the summary document was to be retained in governor records. 3 Minutes of last Meeting The previous meeting had been inquorate, CC no longer worked at the school and FJ was no longer on the GB. who had been in attendance signed the minutes in confirmation that it was a true record and it was countersigned by SHX. The whole committee had received and scrutinised the minutes and all papers. Some of the recommendations from the meeting had already been addressed at the FGB and the remaining were now ratified. 4 Matters Arising 4.1 Renaming of the road the consultations were continuing. Is there a time frame? There were another few weeks to run. 4.2 The premises report from was accepted. 4.3 It was agreed the number of governors on the committee would continue to be reviewed. 4.4 Staff training. Is the 2000 training now in the budget? Yes 4.5 advised no staff qualified for increase in progression so no report was required this year. 4.6 EW confirmed HTPM arrangements were in hand and on track for completion by the end of the year. 4.7 was still working on induction procedure. 4.8 had been working with the school s ICT (GT) link to improve governor communications and security. An update was requested for FGB. 4.9 had met with GT to set up a new system for the display of policies on the website and portal. Paper copies of the policies were held with the GB minutes and on the portal as well as on display at the school if appropriate. SHX recommended a full set of paper copies be ACTION EW Page 1 of 6

2 collated as this had been a requirement at a recent Ofsted visit she had experienced. 5 Finance report* The finance reports, including performance against budget had already been scrutinised by governors who now raised queries with CF. F5.1 Salary. SHX What items are included in salary? Agency, supply and contracted personnel. F5.2 Premises. How are premises works being attended to? Contractors were being called in. Is the LA helping? They will find someone to do the work but invoice the school anyway. They have not been particularly helpful. They no longer have their caretaking service, with no hand over no one knew how anything worked and it has been difficult to find an English speaking caretaker. SHX considered that must have been very difficult to deal with. advised the cold, unclean buildings had had an impact on staff morale. What is the situation re the cleaning staff? The school was down to one cleaner whose hours had been increased but it was not really sufficient. F5.3 Curriculum. SHX suggested and it was agreed it was a good time of year to remind budget holders of spending to date. CF F5.4 Transport. complained that whenever taxi times were changed at the end of the day the school had to pay. SHX Do you have to pay if you give notice? No. advised he wanted to move to a position where taxis brought children to school then they had a bus pass to get home. It was likely there would be further changes to the transport scheme with it being delegated to the school. SHX supported with a proviso to keep it in context costs were low in comparison to the agency budget and it would be better to deal with the immediate needs of the learner. F5.5 Income. Starbucks. The report had already been seen. There was discussion as to whether it should be treated as voluntary funds. CF would take this forward. SHX congratulated with the link with Starbucks that is continuing and it was noted Applemac computers were are also to be provided. Welfare officer. CF advised the new welfare officer was working at the PRU as well and there was an arrangement (in writing) for payment for their time. CF SHX checked there were no areas of concern and the reports were accepted. S5.1 Staffing report added an up-date following a capability procedure and sickness. CF was thanked for all her support for the school. It was confirmed SHX would attend the interviews. The report was accepted. SHX Page 2 of 6

3 P5.1 Premises report This was accepted. P5.2 Caretaker. Governors had already read the report. added Jo Lyons said school was not yet at the stage to consider an alternative use. We do have staff here to deliver outstanding residential provision. Gillian Churchill s main concern was leaving the site unattended The occupants would be given notice to leave in January and support has been given. They would probably have to leave in March. A condition survey would be completed If used as a residential unit for the school it would be for short respite breaks and in accordance with care plans P5.3 Governors supported the school in the steps taken to deal sensitively with the unfortunate situation. EW had had experience with empty caretakers accommodation elsewhere and echoed concern with the long term security of the site and lack of clarity regarding legal aspects. Governors recalled the inclusion of the residential plan in the restructure plan and were excited by the opportunities in improving outcomes it afforded. They were also aware the SEN review outcome was awaited. P5.4 Have there been any police reports or problems? No What will happen with any outstanding bills? They will fall to the school. Would you need to re-licence? Maybe Have we incurred any significant expenditure on the house over recent times? There may be some capital work needed. SHX recommended the condition survey be completed as both a residential and educational resource. SHX where would the money come from [to change to residential provision]? This had yet to be addressed. What would be the grading scale? it must be a C following the restructure. P5.5 It was agreed the option to offer residential provision at the site was to be retained. Time was required to take this forward. A caretaker s post at scale C for a fixed term from Easter 2015 to summer 2016 or January 2017 with accommodation should be pursued, with timings adjusted to allow for any required works. P5.6 How is work to be covered in the meantime? Keep going as at present. SHX requested the LA contact with the occupant be up-dated and confirmed he would discuss with the occupant any preferences regarding the gates. Governors recognised the additional burden on staff. Page 3 of 6

4 6 Looked after Children numbers. tabled a brief report. Governors read through and queried - Are they all LAC or are some 16-19? We don t have Are you getting the funding directly? Yes, the first 1000 then the rest after the personal education plan is completed. Do mainstream schools continue to get additional funding? Yes but Special schools do not. When followed up previously the response received was that Special schools were funded in a different way. Who has the responsibility of deciding appropriate expenditure? It is established as part of the PEP meeting process. The report was accepted with thanks. 7 Scheme of Delegation Thanks were passed to for drawing it up to ensure the committee had appropriate powers. SHX invited comments. Virements were discussed. It was agreed showing overspending was correct but there was a place for Virements e.g. if new budget areas were created. Are you happy re the petty cash arrangements and limit? Yes. What is the limit for the insurance? This was not known and SHX suggested this was checked. /CF The Scheme of Delegation was agreed for recommendation to the FGB with limits at A7 to be 5000, B5 to be 5000 and C ; and subject to the amendments at D16 to include Phase leaders after Curriculum and D17 the removal of TA s. 8 Performance Management (PM) update summary. advised it would be fair to say PM had a higher profile than in the past and the school now used the appraisal module within SIMS. This was particularly beneficial for TAs where the process was not so formal. All the standards for UPS, teachers and TA s were on SIMS and other members of staff were in course. All the teachers have had PM meetings and the TAs are more on-side. With the move away from lesson judgements Ofsted places more emphasis on PM. There may be staff who are not meeting the criteria and for those in that position the main issue is teachers on post threshold. PB sought clarification. Those whose next step up would be UPS but there are now clear increased expectations at this scale which may not be met at present. FH confirmed it is now more professional, frequent and with greater emphasis on timing. They had been rarely reviewed before 2014.She confirmed within SIMS, objectives have been linked to the School Improvement Plan. SHX would like to see that. Who did it all? GT under direction. FH left Policies* 9.1 Statutory: Pay Policy Governors had received the guidelines and draft pay policy and suggested amendments were now discussed. They directed to ensure it was clear decisions (including at 9biv) would be made by reference to an agreed structure appropriate for the school s needs and would not be subjective. They requested the Teachers responsibility document be included as an appendix if possible. SHX/ Page 4 of 6

5 9.1.2 At 9biv does it apply to unqualified teachers? we don t have them working as teachers at present. SHX offered to confirm whether an unqualified teacher can be granted a SEN allowance. Which elements are contentious? We have deviated a little bit from the LA wording. Governors agreed any issues needed to be discovered and resolved now rather than after the performance cycle. SHX minor amendments agreed were: At S 10 amend will to may and remove negotiated. 9biv Amend to ADHD. Pg 26 to include reference to the Teachers responsibilities document Way forward EW we should offer the staff opportunity to comment on it. would resend to Simon with the minor amendments and he would work up the document for circulation to staff. Staff would have a month to respond to the amended pay policy Monitoring. Governors wanted to have systems to check the outcomes and impact including trends in progression across specific groups of teachers to assess its effect and compliance with equalities legislation. They considered this would continue to be by way of monitoring the budget and recruitment process, particularly if there was a failure to recruit. In addition governors supported in his desire for there to be greater involvement with union representatives. It was agreed there was to be a termly meeting with and staff representatives to discuss the pay, appraisal and performance policy and report back to this committee where pay and appraisal was to be a standing item on the agenda. There were no representatives at present so it was requested two people were elected to attend. 9.2 Appraisal and Capability SHX/ Governors had already received the adoption guidelines and LA model policies. Monitoring. The outcomes and effectiveness of the policy was to be assessed alongside the pay policy. There would be a report on performance management to the governing body annually and at each FSP which would also reference any capability procedures. Is there a model for support staff? Yes CF would circulate it and would download the guidelines for LA workers from the Wave. The policies were recommended for ratification by FGB subject to any queries being raised by with SHX by Friday. CF All Page 5 of 6

6 9.3 Non Statutory: Lone Working Policy SHX enquired whether there was a register. advised the school risk assesses every one. Who does it? The link worker, or often by someone from another service in the LA. Has the policy been shared with staff? Yes and they found it appropriate. The inclusion officer drew up the addendum. EW is there caller display on the switchboard? Yes but if in danger the instructions are to call 999. The Lone working policy was agreed. 10 Dates of Next Meetings: 25 th February 5pm 3 rd June 5pm 11 AOB advised the school was closing half an hour early to enable the funeral to take place. The meeting closed *standing item ACTION POINTS Agenda Who Action required By when item by 4.6 EW Continue to ensure HTPM is completed Complete induction procedures Continue to liaise GT re governor s. Provide up-date for FGB 4.9 Continue to liaise GT re policy display. Obtain further paper copies F5.3 CF Remind curriculum budget holders re spending to date F5.5 CF Starbucks. Conclude as to treatment of the donated assets. S5.1 SHX Attend interviews and report back P5.4 Note re property condition survey P5.5 Report back on progress as appropriate ongoing P5.6 Up-date LA contact as appropriate Ongoing 7 CF Amend S o D and forward to CF. Take to FGB Liaise SHX re suitable method for confirming objectives linked to SIP Forward Teachers responsibility document for circulation Make adjustments to policy as agreed in meeting and return to for final completion SHX Confirm if an UQT can be granted a SEN allowance if required Set up pay appraisal and performance meetings. Arrange election for representatives /SHX note for future agenda 9.2. Finalise Appraisal and Capability policy documentation liaise ASAP as required. Note for future agenda 9.2 CF Circulate Support staff models Download LA guidelines for LA workers 9.2 All SHX with queries on Appraisal or Capability policies Complete policy document procedure Page 6 of 6