MINUTES OF THE HAVANT PATCH FORUM MEETING
held at the
DAME JUDITH PROFESSIONAL CENTRE PORTSMOUTH
Date: Thursday 26th February 2004
Present: 17 Governors (See attached list)
Apologies: 3 Governors (See attached list)
Chair: Mrs Sylvia Vine
Clerk Mrs Denise Chesney
In Attendance Mr Bob West (Local Governor Services Co-ordinator)
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were accepted and Mrs Vine welcomed new representatives and Bob West (Local Governor Services Co-ordinator) to the meeting.
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
Minutes of the meeting held on the 16th October 2003 were circulated and agreed. Mr West apologised that these had not been circulated prior to the meeting due to a change with admin staff in the local office.
3. MATTERS ARISING
OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARDS
Mrs Vine clarified that the outstanding service awards referred to special awards nominated through County for contributions to governance beyond those of the school's Governing Body.
CIRCULATION OF GOVERNORS' PAPERWORK
Mr West confirmed that expanded minutes from HGRG and County Forum meetings now appeared on the Governors' website. He raised concern about the amount of paperwork involved in sending all minutes to 180 schools as the best use of resources. Representatives agreed that these minutes were valuable for representatives to feed back to individual Governing Bodies and expressed concern at the expense of having to download e-mail from the website. The Forum discussed alternatives for distributing paperwork and agreed it was essential to encourage greater attendance at meetings by letting all schools have hard copies of all meetings. Mr West confirmed that Governor Services would always do whatever the Forum preferred. and agreed to action the decision. Papers will be sent to named Forum Representatives or the Chair of the Governing Body. Action: Mr West
2. FEEDBACK from HGRG & COUNTY FORUM MEETINGS
Mr Turk gave feedback from the HGRG meeting held on 4th November and County Governor Forum meeting held on 18th November 2003.
HGRG
· Hampshire Strategic Partnership Six governor representatives had attended the annual conference in October. It was agreed to encourage greater liaison between boroughs in the interest of consistency.
· Deprivation Fund Consultation will take place to make changes to the way deprivation is funded through Local Management School formula. The impact will probably mean that some schools will receive less money in order to subsidise schools with children experiencing higher levels of deprivation. Hampshire has created its own index which should allow access to a share of £2 million and results will be announced shortly.
· Workforce Remodelling Concern was noted about problems with workforce remodelling in the New Forest.
County Governor Forum
· Falling Rolls: Concern was raised regarding falling rolls and Andrew Seber will meet with schools particularly affected.
· Green Paper - Every Child Matters:The concept from this paper is to extend the school roll into the community - something which is already happening in some areas. It is also proposed to have a central County Representative responsible for children.
· Work force Remodelling:Two schools have been nominated as early adopter schools - Sun Hill and Park Community School. Some schools have been able to introduce the remodelling without involving additional funding but Sun Hill (one of the early adopters) forecast the costs being up to £80,000.
· Building Schools for the Future:This initiative is aimed at secondary schools and a new system for capital funding comes into effect for 2005/06. Nationally £2.2bn will be available and criteria for access will be based on the highest Free school Meals and the lowest 5 A* to G GCSE's. Based on these criteria it is inevitable that Hampshire will not benefit in the early years of this 10-15 year programme. Portsmouth has been unsuccessful in their first bid.
· Ofsted Inspection and Effective Governance in Hampshire:Ofsted inspections during January 2000 to July 2002 were encouraging within Hampshire schools. Governing Bodies in primary schools were better than the national average with secondary performance nearer to that of their statistical neighbours.
Grade descriptors have raised the expectations for satisfactory governance and three Governing Bodies within Hampshire schools have been classified as unsatisfactory this term. Governing Bodies are encouraged to self audit using Ofsted forms S3 and S4. Mr Turk highlighted a consultative document from the National Governors Council Ofsted Consultation: The Future of Inspection which shows a move to shorter but more frequent inspections with less preparation. Mr West confirmed the document had been highlighted in the Stop Press of Governor Services website.
4. CURRENT ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION
Workforce Remodelling - Work/Life Balance
Mr Turk advised that discussions at Primary Heads conference had priced the initiative as costing from £35,000 to £80,000. Mr West advised that a major issue is the introduction of 10% for non contact time for teachers and some schools were combining classes for afternoon sessions to release staff. Members of the Forum felt this could be a particular problem in small primary schools and affect the 30 children per class size. Many schools acknowledged the additional burden on support staff through the transfer of the 24 admin duties and some schools reported teaching staff preferred to continue collecting trip money and put up displays.
Mr West introduced the proposal of "Sharing Good Practice" and advised that Education Personnel were working to identify schools already undergoing the process and ways of disseminating their findings. Governing Bodies should be reviewing work loads - numbers of committees and meetings - when re-constituting. A revised Self Evaluation Pack will be issued in the light of recent changes.
The Forum concluded their discussion and agreed that additional responsibilities required the support of additional funding and the time scale was unrealistic.
Governing Body Reconstitution
Mr West advised that 30 schools from a possible 180 schools in South East have undergone the reconstitution process. The effect had reduced Governing Bodies by an average of 1.5 governors. The new instrument becomes effective when it has been agreed and signed by Andrew Seber (CEO) and appears on Governor Services website. Mr West drew the Forum's attention to a Governor Services' document regarding Best Practice for Governing Bodies which should be available by Easter.
A member of the Forum questioned the role of Associate members. Mr West confirmed that they were appointed for a term of office between 1 and 4 years. Associate members can attend Governing Body meetings but do not have voting rights, but can provide support and guidance. Mr West further confirmed that LEA Governors could not be appointed from any one paid to work in the school.
5. Items from the Floor
Accessibility Legislation
A member of the Forum questioned the Accessibility Legislation and who was responsible for funding recommendations in the school's plan. Mr West advised that the costs for "reasonable adjustments" fell with the school's responsibility. Members of the Forum felt that new capital work did not take into account specific disabilities, particularly for access for visitors. County Architects involve Health & Safety when drawing up any plans for new buildings.
Early Closure Schools
A Forum member asked about the legality of closing schools after afternoon registration at the end of term to alleviate the problem of secondary school children hanging around primary school playgrounds. Mr West advised that this was not legally permitted and secondary schools often split In service Days to allow for early closure.
Maintaining the Differential between Pay Scales
The Forum discussed the problems of maintaining the differential between the post of Deputy Head and those of the teaching staff going through threshold. Grave concerns were raised for the recruitment of Deputy Headships and acknowledging the additional responsibilities of the post financially. Reviewing the school's ISR would provide additional financial burden on the school. Mr West advised schools with particular concern to contact Education personnel.
Legal Support within Schools
A question was raised regarding legal support within schools and community life. It was confirmed that legal support under the school's SLA covered school staff but not third parties. Governing Bodies were recommended to request public liability certificates for parties holding a letting on site.
6. Items for Next Agenda
Work Force Remodelling
Any further items for the agenda should be passed to Mr West.
7. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
20th May 2004
DIVISIONAL GOVERNOR CONSULTATIVE PATCH MEETING
26th February 2004
PRESENT:
F Moon St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School
S Vine Bidbury Infant School
D Morris Meadowlands Junior School
D Thomas Meadowlands Junior School
S Waller Horndean Technology College
B Davison Purbrook Infant School
I Williams Denmead infant School
A Turk Purbrook Park School
S Brett Padnell Junior School
P Dixon Mengham Infant School
S Jeffries Bosmere Junior School
M Gray Waite End Primary School
C :Preston Horndean Junior School
J Harwood Herne Junior School
T Tidd The Petersfield School
J Carruthers Sundridge EBD Secondary School
F De Park Community School
APOLOGIES
V Petherick Crookhorn School
J Coates-Jones The Hayling School
N Barker Froxfield Infant School