MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CREWE MULTI ACADEMY TRUST (“CMAT”) HELD AT THE OAKS ON THURSDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2016 – 10AM
Trustees Present: Mrs Gill Bremner (GB) Mrs Emma Hooley (EH) Principal Mr Andrew Kent (AK) Mr Jasbir Dhesi (JD) Mr Simon Yates (SY) Chair
Also in attendance: Mrs Jenny Gough (JG) Clerk
Apologies from: Mr Andrew Hubert (AH) Mr Fintan Bradley (FB) Vice-Chair Dame Pat Bacon (PB) Mrs Andrea Herron (AHe) Observer
PART ONE MINUTES – NON-CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS
1. Introductions and welcome
The Chair welcomed those attending the meeting.
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received and accepted from PB, FB, AH and AHe.
3. Declarations of Interest
Trustees were asked to declare any potential pecuniary interest or conflict of interests with the business to be discussed during the meeting.
Mr Andy Kent is Chair of Governors at Didsbury Road School, Stockport and the Chair of an IEB for Spinney Avenue Church of England Primary School in Widnes. Dame Patricia Bacon is a governor at Oakfield Lodge School, Cheshire East and Chair of Governors at South Cheshire College
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Mr Fintan Bradley is a member of two of the South Cheshire College’s committees – The Corporation’s Finance and Resources Committee and the Corporation’s Management and Performance Committee. EH is a director of the Chimney House Alliance.
JG reminded GB, EH and AK that declaration of pecuniary and personal interest forms need to be completed and returned to JG.
4. Review of minutes from meeting held on Thursday 13th October 2016 and actions arising from the minutes
4.1. There were no amendments to the minutes, they were approved for accuracy. SY signed the minutes.
4.2. The Trustees reviewed the action log and the action log was updated accordingly. See November 2016 Action Log.
4.3. With regard to the meeting of the pay committee it was noted that once the targets for all staff have been set which should be completed by 2nd December then the pay committee can meet.
4.4. The Board delegated their powers to the pay committee to determine amendments to individual salaries as a result of the assessment process.
4.5. The Board noted that an action log showing all of the completed actions would be needed at the end of the year to assess how long it takes the board to complete actions.
5. Corporate Administration
5.1. Register of Persons with Significant Control
The Register of Persons with Significant Control was circulated in advance of the meeting.
JG confirmed that she had spoken to Eveyln Davies-Jones (solicitor and clerk to the South Cheshire College Corporation) and in their joint opinion Andy Kent, Gillian Taylor and Simon Yates do not need to complete an entry on the register for CMAT because they do not fulfil the criteria for doing so. The only entry required on the register for CMAT is for South Cheshire College Corporation (“SCCC”) because it holds the right to directly or indirectly appoint or remove a majority of the board of directors.
The Board approved the Register of Persons with Significant Control as drafted.
As a matter of interest the question below was raised.
Q. Why has SCCC got the right to appoint or remove the majority of the Board? A. The answer was not known and the following action was agreed.
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ACTION JG to seek clarification from Eveyln Davies-Jones as to why SCCC has the right to appoint or remove the majority of the Board
5.2. Appointment of directors/trustees The Board resolved that the appointment of AHe as a trustee has been recorded in error and is ineffective.
Amendments have been made to the minutes for the meetings held on 29th June 2016, 9th September 2016 and 13th October 2016 and the amended minutes were circulated in advance of the meeting. The Board approved the amended minutes for the CMAT Board meetings held on 29th June 2016, 9th September 2016 and 13th October 2016.
ACTION JG to email to EH a copy of all updated minutes to publish on the School website.
ACTION JG to check the trustees’ terms of office.
It was noted that JD and FB are in the process of identifying new trustees for the Board. The Board agreed that it would be desirable if all of the members could meet any new trustees before their appointment.
5.3. Meeting of Members
It was agreed that a meeting of the CMAT members would take place on Thursday 15 December between 08.30-09.30.
ACTION JG to check the articles and speak to Evelyn to see if FB needs to be a member to become the Chair.
ACTION JG to see if Evelyn is available to attend the members meeting.
6. Financial Matters
6.1. Audit Committee Meeting date.
It was discussed that JG should email PB, FB and AK to check availability for the first week in December, however the trustees mooted whether the audit committee could meet on 15 December instead because the Board would need to approve the minutes of the audit committee meeting before the audit could be submitted. This alternative would prevent trustees having to travel over twice in a short space of time. The Board meeting would not be able to receive written minutes from the audit committee on 15 December however they could receive verbal feedback.
ACTION
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JG to check with AH whether the audit committee could meet on 15 December and the Board would receive verbal feedback on the audit committee meeting of the same day.
6.2. Conditional Improvement Fund (“CIF”) Bid
EH reported that the bid last year covered the phase 1 works to the roof and the phase 1 works to the windows. The application process is now open for this year’s bids. It is only possible to apply for two items of repair.
EH recommended to the Board that:- 1. they use the same consultancy firm to compile the bid on the basis that the bid last year was successful; 2. the first item of repair is to upgrade the fire alarm; and 3. the second item of repair is phase 2 of works to the windows.
Q. Why are the windows being prioritised instead of the roofing? A. Those parts of the roof which most urgently needed work have been repaired under phase 1. The new windows installed under phase 1 have made a big impact on teaching and learning and they are more energy efficient. By not completing the phase 2 roof works now, it will not have a detrimental effect on the new windows.
The Board approved EH’s recommendations regarding the CIF bid.
EH confirmed that the bid needs to be submitted by Christmas and the outcome of the bid will be known by March. Once funds are received there are 12 months to spend the funds.
7. Membership of the Chimney House Alliance (“CHA”)
EH’s report on CHA setting out the purpose and benefits of being a member of CHA and a document called “Raising Achievement through Collaboration 2016-17” were circulated in advance of the meeting.
EH explained how the School is currently collaborating with other schools. At the moment there is no network for solely headteachers of secondary schools in Crewe. EH has been working with St. Thomas More Catholic High School in relation to joint CPD provision and cross-moderation. The School has improved relationships with Ruskin Community High School and they are working together to retain pupils. EH receives support from the Dean Trust which does have collaborative groups that the teachers from the School could attend but the sessions are based towards Manchester and Liverpool and the distance to travel makes it hard for staff at the School to attend.
CHA is a group of 13 schools based in Crewe, Alsager, Congleton, Holmes Chapel, Sandbach and Middlewich. CHA is separate to the teaching school. CHA meets half termly and is a network of support for the School. There is a buy-in cost of £2K p.a. for the services received from CHA. The buy-in payment is charged to cover the costs of the allliance’s administration.
Q. What is the quality of the support obtained from the CHA?
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A. The maths staff have gone to the maths hub sessions and they were really useful. North West Maths Hub Three has contributed to the sessions making them very worthwhile. The English teachers meet regularly and they are looking at the curriculum changes.
Q. Are the sessions held during the school day? A. They are usually held before or after school. Due to the locality of the sessions it often means that only one lesson needs to be covered, rather than a half day, which is the case when staff attend sessions held by the Dean Trust.
The maths department is going to take a trainee teacher for a placement and the School is paid for that. It is hoped that taking on trainee teachers for placements may aid the process for recruiting new teachers to the School.
It is hoped that in time as more trainee placements can be offered the revenue received from offering these placements will pay for the buy-in payment.
Q. Does CHA do any data sharing? A. Not at the moment.
Q. Are Crewe Engineering and Design UTC involved? A. They are involved in CEASH (Cheshire East Association of Headteachers), but not in CHA.
The Board resolved that the School should subscribe to CHA.
ACTION EH to produce a report at the end of July to examine how beneficial membership of CHA is to assist in deciding whether to re-join for the following academic year.
8. Policies
8.1. Grievance Policy
It was agreed that the grievance policy would be considered at the December meeting.
8.2. Safeguarding Policy Update
A copy of the updated safeguarding policy was circulated in advance of the meeting. A review of the safeguarding policy was not due until January however as requested the policy has been updated to include operation encompass recommendations.
It was noted that the dates of policies referred to in the safeguarding policy need to be updated.
It was suggested that a house style for the format of policies should be adopted. They should all have a front page about responsibilities and the layout and font should be consistent throughout.
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ACTION EH to arrange for the formatting of all policies to be consistent.
The Board agreed the safeguarding policy.
8.3. Appraisal Policy
A copy of the updated appraisal policy was circulated in advance of the meeting.
It was noted that the reference to governors should be changed to trustees and the governing body should be board.
The Board agreed the appraisal policy.
8.4. Update on Pay Policy
The salaries have been amended to include the 1% pay uplift which was announced on 2nd November. The announcement was well received and a message of thanks from one staff member was given to the trustees. The consultation ends at the end of this week. It was made clear to the staff that the pay policy may not follow the same format next year.
The Board agreed the pay policy.
8.5. Joint Recognition Agreement
The draft Joint Recognition Agreement was circulated in advance of the meeting.
The Board was asked to consider a revision to clause 4.4 of the agreement proposed by Keith Bradley from Unison. He proposed to add the following:- “on terms no less favourable than national terms and conditions.”
The Board considered the requested amendment and decided a decision to incorporate the amendment could not be made.
ACTION EH to check the terms and conditions set out in NJC green book.
9. Trustee Monitoring, Development and Planning Arrangements
The proposed operational plan for reporting to trustees was circulated in advance of the meeting. The Academy Improvement Plan (“AIP”) is now in use.
EH proposed that the Academy Improvement Plan spreadsheet is brought to each meeting and then at the beginning of each meeting a different part of the AIP will be reviewed. The relevant senior leadership team member will present to the Board.
ACTION EH to move Key Improvement 8 from December to January on the Operational Plan.
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The Operational Plan provides for every area of the AIP to be reviewed twice in each academic year. The senior leadership team will present on the impact of their actions not on the actions completed. The trustees will then have the opportunity to ask questions of the senior leadership team.
The AIP will be reviewed every half term and every term EH will share the Self-Evaluation Framework with the trustees and this should give the trustees a clear view of the work of the School.
The Board approved the Operational Plan.
10. Dates of Future Meetings
A list of the proposed meeting dates for 2017 was circulated in advance of the meeting. The Board agreed the following dates:-
Thursday 12 January – 09.30 Thursday 16 February – 09.30 Thursday 16 March – 09.30 Thursday 18 May – 09.30 Thursday 15 June –09.00 (N.B. earlier start) Thursday 20 July – 09.30
The Board agreed to dispense with a meeting in April.
The Board agreed the meeting schedule for 15 December as follows:-
08.30-09.30 – Members Meeting 09.30-10.00 – Audit Committee 10.00-12.00 – Trustee Board Meeting
The Trustee Training Day is on 13th December 09.00-12.00 at the College.
ACTION JG to email all trustees with the above dates for their diaries.
11. Any other Business
11.1. Ski Trip
EH asked the Board for their approval to a joint ski trip with St. Thomas More Catholic High School during 2017-2018. The trip runs every couple of years and the cost is approximately £800 per pupil. There is a possibility that the trip could be part-funded for any children who are eligible for pupil premium. There were 15 children who went on the last trip.
Q. Has the ski trip ever created any tension amongst other pupils? A. Not that EH is aware of.
It was commented upon that the spending of pupil premium funds need to be justified.
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It was also noted that if any Special Educational Needs children wanted to attend it could increase the cost to the School if extra staff were needed to make sure they were safe.
The Board approved the ski-trip subject to the usual risk assessments.
11.2. GB and AK gave their apologies for the January meeting.
The meeting moved to part 2 at 11.33am
Chair:……………………………………
Date: ……………………………………
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