Minutes of the Fareham and Gosport Patch Forum held on Thursday 16th October 2003 at Lysses House Hotel, Fareham
Present:- 29 Governors (see attached list)
Apologies:- None received
In attendance:- Roger Mead, Assistant County Education Officer,
Resources and Planning
Russell Wheeler, EdICT Business Manager
Paula Paul, Clerk
Joy Preston introduced herself and reminded governors that John Brailsford had decided to stand down as a governor and consequently as a member of the Patch Forum at the end of last term.
1. Overview and discussion of EdICT services
JP introduced Russell Wheeler, EdICT Business Manager. Russell began by introducing himself and his role with EdICT services. He mentioned that he had been told the he would receive questions from the governors in advance of the meeting but had not received any.
Russell said that EdICT services have approximately 90 members of staff who provide support to schools the largest being the primary phase. EdICT services have not yet been inspected/reviewed but as a business unit schools have the opportunity to change to another service provider if they are not satisfied that they are getting good value for money.
He added that there is a governing body made up of SICATS and PICATS (Headteacher representatives) which consider the service and gives ideas of how the service can be improved and what would be useful. Computer technology isn't the easiest thing and the role of EdICT services is to make it more user friendly. He confirmed that the governing body also have access to all the EdICT accounts and papers and can monitor how things are going.
Russell said that in his opinion the service provided by EdICT is excellent and that mistakes will always be made but his staff always endeavour to ensure that they are rectified as quickly as possible.
Russell confirmed that he will be holding a seminar on Friday 17th October at 9.30am at the Solent Hotel in Whiteley and said that any of the governors present would be welcome to come along.
He explained that the main change to the Service Level Agreement is that the schools now have more choice/combinations of the level of subscription that they choose. This enables schools to identify where their money is going and pay for the what they need.
Russell added that SIMS software is currently going through a huge update and that schools are being charged an extra sum to get it rolled out.
One representative said that he felt that the software provided by EdICT was okay but asked why the hardware provided is more expensive. He confirmed that his school six months ago had bought a computer from EdICT at a cost of £800 which could have been bought direct from DELL for only £600. Russell replied that when EdICT provide hardware they do not make any money on it and that he could not really comment on it without looking into it more thoroughly. He agreed that he would speak to the governor after the meeting for further details so that he could investigate further.
Another representative said that the staff at his primary school are trying to get to grips with SIMS and have been informed that they will need to spend at least £2,000 on a computer and asked if this was not excessive. Russell replied that he was not a technical expert and that each schools requirements will be different but that he would be happy to look into it further if the school contact him directly on his email address RussellWheeler.hants.gov.uk.
Russell confirmed that between 15-20 schools have got wireless networking but that these schools tend to have onsite support. He confirmed that in his experience cable is much faster and more robust than wireless and that the networking equipment is generally cheaper.
One secondary school representative said that problems arise when operators are not available in school and would EdICT provide any support for this. Russell said that unfortunately there is not a pool of SIMS support staff that can be sent to schools but there are SIMS training courses/workshops where delegates can bring there own data to work on. He also said that SIMS will be much easier to use once the updates have been completed.
Russell added that most of the problems can be sorted out over the telephone and it is usually possible to ascertain whether it's a hardware or software problem but occasionally it is necessary for someone from EdICT to visit the school.
JP thanked Russell Wheeler for his update and his time.
2. Elections of Officers
Chairman
Two candidates were received, Roy Lee and Dianna Hopkins. Both were asked to introduce themselves and explain why they would like to become the chairman starting with Dianna. At which point Roy decided to stand down and DH was elected as the Chairman.
Vice Chairman
Joy Preston was asked if she would like to continue as Vice Chairman. She said that she would and was duly elected.
HGRG Representatives
Dianna Hopkins and Roy Lee were elected as HGRG representatives.
Steering Group Representatives
No volunteers received. AGENDA ITEM
2. Items from the floor
Following a question from the floor, DH confirmed that schools are responsible for the costs involved in obtaining Police Checks and that for some schools this was putting a strain on their budget. She went on to say that there is still a back log of checks to be done on new teaching staff and that until that is done existing staff cannot be Police Checked. DH agreed to raise the concerns at the next HGRG meeting. ACTION - DH
3. SAP roll out to school - January 2004
DH introduced Roger Mead, Assistant County Education Officer who had come to talk to Governors about the imminent change to ICT in schools and the introduction of SAP (Systems Application Processes). Trials and fine tuning of the system have been taking place during the past 18 months, working with Admin Officers from 14 schools, in readiness for rollout to begin in January 2004. The feedback from the AO's trailing the system had been generally positive and further changes are being made.
Adequate, staggered training will be available locally for Admin Officers from 540 schools with a possible 9 days training, taken in blocks of 2 day modules. Training will be given in such a way as to minimise the gap between training and using the live system. Headteachers will also need to undergo some training.
Schools will be set up to have direct access to the SAP software running on computers in Winchester. This will require some changes to schools' computer systems, details of how this will be achieved will be sent to schools as soon as possible.
Roger explained that as and when FMS was introduced, training would be free but no reimbursement of any cover costs would be available for training days. Enterprise Learning Zone will be available on the Web, as will local drop in/ring in surgeries to share experiences and good practice and to receive advice. Additional people would also be made available to help support staff.
Roll out is due to begin in January 2004 with groups of about 40 schools at a time with the aim to complete by December 2004, although this may run into the spring of 2005 at the very latest.
Roger informed the governors that a suite of reports have been trailed which would be at least as good as they receive from FMS, if not better. He explained that SAP offers the potential for great savings in time and money, and will cut the mass circulation of paperwork.
BUDGET UPDATE
Roger explained that the Cabinet were starting to consider the County Council budget for next year. The 15% increase in Council Tax this year has enabled all front line services to be maintained. It was expected that the Government Grant would be decreased again next year and Council Tax would need to rise by 6-7% just to stand still for services and allow
for schools. The Government requires County Councils to indicate their Minimum Schools Budget far earlier this year. Roger said that we would be doing very well to have a stand still budget. The cost of placing special needs children out of county would be increasing significantly.
Roger stressed that it was very early in the budget process. He wanted to alert governors to potential problems. The Cabinet were consulting with the Hampshire community. They had already had a meeting with members of the schools Forum and would be meeting with them again in January when the picture would be much clearer.
Roger asked if there were any questions. One representative asked if the old and the new system would overlap. Roger replied that the two systems would not overlap and that the old system would be switched off.
A question was asked about virus problems. Roger was able to report that due to very good anti-virus software and expert knowledge, no problems had arisen or were envisaged.
A governor present asked if the schools computers would be able to cope with the new system. Roger replied that the needs for each school will be very different and that EdICT have been aware for a while about the new system and will be advising schools accordingly.
DH and JP thanked Roger for the updates and his time and he left the meeting.
4. Feedback from HGRG and County Forum Meetings
DH confirmed that she had only been able to attend one of the meetings. Several of the representatives asked why they had not received copies of the minutes from the HGRG and County Forum Meetings. The Clerk agreed that copies are normally distributed with the agenda for this meeting and that she would check with Governor Services. ACTION - CLERK
5. Date of next meeting
To be confirmed
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
POST MEETING NOTE
The next Fareham & Gosport Patch meeting will be held on Thursday 26th February 2004 6.45pm for a 7.00pm start , at the Lysses House Hotel, Fareham.
Minutes of the Fareham and Gosport Patch Forum held on Thursday 16th October 2003 at Lysses House Hotel, Fareham
PRESENT:
Jane Baker Crofton Anne Dale
Linda Byrne Swanmore College of Technology
Keith Butler Rowner Infant
Colin Channon St John's Primary
Jane Edsell Meonstoke Infant
Rosemary Gudgeon Uplands Primary
Roger Hobbs Park Gate Primary
Dianna Hopkins Peel Common Jnr / Haven Early Years
Trevor Howard Wallisdean Infant
Jan Hughes Ranvilles Infant
Roy Jones Baycroft School
Stephen Lang Orchard Lea Infant
Roy Lee Harrison Primary
Dianne Little Crofton Hammond Infant
Sue MacDonald Holbrook Primary
Linda Monk Neville Lovett
Mary Nadolski Locks Heath Infant
Mike Pengelly Grange Infant
Nicky Platt Alverstoke Infant
Joy Preston Wallisdean Junior
Mick Prior Redlands Primary
Elaine Remnant-Ashton St Francis
Stuart Rowe Peel Common Junior School
Pete Riches Wicor Primary
Iris Satherley Orchard Lea Junior
Geoff Strong Northern Junior
Maureen Sygrove Henry Cort Community
James Tylor Whiteley Primary
John Westbrook Oak Meadow Primary