MINUTES OF THE HAVANT PATCH FORUM MEETING HELD AT THE DAME JUDITH PROFESSIONAL CENTRE, COSHAM
Date: Thursday 20th February 2003
Present: 21 Governors (See attached list)
Apologies: 3 Governors (See attached list)
Clerk: Denise Chesney
Guest Speaker: Claire Cafrine - Principal Admissions Officer
Mr Petherick took the chair and gave a warm welcome to Claire Cafrine, Principal Admissions Officer,
1. NEW DRAFT HCC ADMISSIONS SCHEME
Claire Cafrine gave a presentation on the new draft HCC Admissions Scheme. Government legislation requires every admission authority to have a co-ordinated scheme in place by 2005, and HCC will effect changes for Secondary Schools from 2004. The following policy changes will be introduced:
· New methods for assessing school capacity will be used
· Consultations will be required with neighbouring schools
· A common application forms will be used within Hampshire and Portsmouth schools
· Supplementary form for aided and foundation schools to be used
· 3 preferences - was originally 2
· Maximum cross-border co-ordination in preparation for 2006
Ms Cafrine advised that 95% of children in Hampshire receive their first preference choice. It is proposed to introduce the new scheme in 2004 but retain the pre Christmas first preference offer date for 2004. Government legislation proposes a national offer date of 1st March for 2005.
The new scheme will have several effects:
· Parents will only have one offer of place - currently they may hold 3 or 4 offers. This should eleviate parent's concerns whilst waiting for confirmation of places.
· Government expects offers to be made by the LEA and not schools. Offers will be made through the schools in 2004. It is hoped that offers for 2005 will be made by the LEA through schools.
· Appeals delayed to March 1st offer date (currently secondary appeals are set up before and start in March, thereby greatly reducing the time scale)
· Primary co-ordination for 2005 but more flexibility. Primary schools currently have a national start date but no offer date or cross border co-ordination.
· Importance of revised Code of Practice on admissions.
Concern was raised from the Forum about the place of Foundation Schools on the draft application form. Ms Cafrine assured Governors that negotiations were currently taking place with church schools to address any concerns.
Concern was also raised regarding catchment areas for Schools of Excellence. This is also being reviewed and the question of transport costs has been raised.
Ms Cafrine advised that this was the first of several consultations and presentations taking place and her department welcomed any concerns or questions by telephone or e-mail.
(Claire Cafrine 01968 846234 Claire.cafrine@hants.gov.uk or Rosalind.capey@hants.gov.uk)
2. FEEDBACK FROM HGRG AND COUNTY FORUM MINUTES
Mr Chiswell gave a report on the HGRG meeting held on 24th October 2002.
SCHOOLS FUNDING
· A School Forum, with equal representation from Headteachers and Governors from secondary, primary, special and early years sectors along with the diocese and County Education Executive. has been set up to discuss the proposed changes. Three very successful meetings have been held and the Forum looked at a loan scheme whereby County could make use of very substantial financial reserves from school budgets to fund capital programme.
· The Forum also considered budget changes for the forth-coming year. Major changes to the Standards Fund will be offset by a lot of the funding being fed into the main budget.
Mr Chiswell also gave a report on the County Governor Forum meeting held on 12th November 2002.
GUIDANCE FOR CLERKS
The draft Guidance on Clerks to Governing Bodies is currently being considered by Headteachers and unions and aims to standardise terms and conditions. A job description and personal specification have been produced and Hampshire is currently running an excellent training and accreditation scheme for clerks to gain a qualification status.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Proposed new arrangements where the LEA will be involved along with Hampshire Inspectors and provide integral part of monitoring for school improvement and current categorisation of schools
SCHOOL REORGANISATION
In the current climate of falling rolls there is a significant surplus in places within schools. Hampshire ensures that all children's educational needs are met and that there is an effective use of education resources. The County is currently looking at re-classify spaces within schools.
6-TERM YEAR
Mr Chiswell advised the meeting has reported limited feedback from the consultation process for introducing a 6-term year. Strong concern was raised from the Forum that their views from the last meeting had not been considered. Mr Clarke had assured the meeting that it had been a genuine consultation document and if there were massive criticism the proposal would not go ahead. Mr Chiswell agreed to take these concerns back to the next meeting and emphasise the objections raised initially. It was also agreed to approach County for an update on the situation. ACTION:
(Post Meeting Note
HCC has advised that consultations are still in process with immediate local authorities. A document containing three options will be put forward to Headteachers and Chairs of Governors in March and one will be selected)
3. ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR
· A Governor raised the question of salary scales for school office staff and highlighted a situation where teaching assistants were on a higher pay point than the Admin Officer. It was agreed that Governing Bodies were able to re-grade office staff, reflecting their responsibility, and take on extra staff to cope with the additional workload. Some Secondary Schools had also been able to opt out the Service Level Agreement to run their own payroll systems. However, additional costs had to be met through the school's budget. It was agreed that Governing Bodies should review the situation and liaise with neighbouring schools to discuss similar issues.
· PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FOR HEADTEACHERS
A question regarding the rotating of inspectors for the Headteacher's Performance Management Review was raised. It has been agreed that the Independent Inspector should rotate after a maximum of 3 appraisals within one school to discourage familiarity. Governors expressed varying views about the decision. It was felt that continuity with the Independent Inspector offered an opportunity to build on the process and valuable time was wasted when taking on a new inspector. Another view felt that the Independent Inspector was there to oversee the process and provide independent advice where necessary.
It was agreed to confirm where consultation time for the appraisals was being reduced. Action:
(Post Meeting Note
The LEA confirmed that Hampshire Inspectors would ensure that schools would monitor target setting and performance as in Performance Management mentioned in paragraph 2 above. This has nothing to do with the detailed CEA scheme for the provision of advisors to assist governors with Headteacher's target setting and performance monitoring. As far as the LEA are aware there are no changes to this procedure.)
GOVERNOR FORUM MINUTES
The Forum asked if the minutes from the meeting could be distributed as soon as possible following the meeting. The clerk advised that these were usually passed to Governor Services within 10 days of the meeting and sent out by Governor Services with the agenda for the following meeting. It was agreed to confirm that the minutes were available on the Governor's web-site. Action:
(Post Meeting Note
The LEA confirmed that a hard copy of the minutes is sent out with the agenda papers for the next meeting. However a copy appears on both Hantsnet and the web-site.)
CLAIMS FOR INJURY
A school had received a request for information about an injury for a child. This had generated an enormous amount of work and highlighted the importance of keeping accident records.
4. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
15th May 2003 from 7 to 9.00 pm
The meeting closed at 8.30 pm
DIVISIONAL GOVERNOR CONSULTATIVE PATCH MEETING
20th February 2003
PRESENT:
V Petherick Crookhorn School
F Moon St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School
A Woodford St James Primary School
S Jefferies Bosmere Junior School
Cllr O Kennedy Purbrook Infant School
M Gray Waite End Primary School
K Davis Sundridge
D Chiswell Front Lawn Junior School
D Morris Meadowlands Infant School
J Harwood Herne Junior School
S Waller Horndean Community School
J Morse Trosnant Infant School
T Parkes Hart Plain Infant School
B Davison Purbrook Infant School
P Morse Glenwood
G Olway St Peters RC School
J Mallard Bidbury Junior School
A Turk Purbrook Park School
I Williams Denmead Infant School
P Ward Horndean Junior School
D Richardson Trosnant Infant School
APOLOGIES
P Wilkinson Padnell Infant School
Mrs Baines Padnell Infant School
S Vine Bidbury Infant School