MEETING OF THE CORPORATION OF COLLEGE

TUESDAY 13 DECEMBER 2016 – 9.30 AM

BOARD ROOM – M219 PART I

Clerk: Mrs R Clare

Present: Mr Mark Sharples Chair Mrs M Grant Miss V Herbert Mrs R Kay Ms S Musgrave Prof A Sutcliffe Mrs C Trasler Dr K Williams Mr M Wright Mrs G Bell Miss S Simpson Miss A Sumner

In attendance: Mrs G Lagan Mr P Sharples Mrs T Cosgrave (item 4 only) Mr R Hedge (item 3 only) MINUTES

Item Title Action 46/16 Welcome and Apologies for Absence The Chair welcomed Members to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received for David Harrison, Jerry Green, Harold Davenport and Nigel Schofield. The Student Members of the Corporation were welcomed to their first meeting.

47/16 Declaration of Members’ Interest There were no declarations of Members’ interest.

48/16 The Macclesfield Academy The paper for The Macclesfield Academy was presented in advance of the meeting. Richard Hedge reported that the provisional progress 8 measures have been published by the DFE. The scores for East were shared with the Members. The Academy is in joint 1st position. performance overall was disappointing.

It was stated that the budget for 2016-17 is based on numbers in September 2015 which means that the Academy is currently teaching 90 unfunded students.

Q: How are the new Governor arrangements working? The new governors attended their first meeting. One of the new governors attended the

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Academy this morning to familiarise himself with the Academy data. The next meeting is on Thursday of this week. The Academy is currently in discussions with other schools regarding forming a MAT.

49/16 Presentation from the Director of Commercial Services A presentation was provided by the Director of Commercial Services on Apprenticeships followed by a question and answers session. Members thanked the Director of Commercial Services for her informative presentation.

50/16 Minutes 4 October 2016 Gill Bell will be added to the attendance record and Valerie Herbert will be removed. RC Item 44/16 should read: The predictions made last year were higher than what the Academy actually achieved. The minutes will be updated and the Chair will sign the amended minutes.

51/16 Appointment of Student Member of the Corporation The President of the Student Union for 2016/17 was welcomed to the Corporation meeting. Sam Simpson introduced herself and stated that she is currently studying Level 3 Aero Engineering.

Members approved the appointment of the Vice President of the Student Union for 2016/17. Ashleigh Sumner introduced herself and stated that she is currently studying Electrical Engineering and is based at the College one day a week. She is employed by Siemens.

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Item Title Action

52/16 KPIs 2015/16 and The Principal Report The KPIs for 2015/16 were presented by the Principal. The Principal highlighted a number of points:  A number of the Apprenticeship TvA were red due to the high targers which were well above provider rate.  The lesson observations for 2015/16 were at 75% for good or better. This was assessed by Ofsted at being the right level. In previous years there has previously been an over grading of lessons at the College.

Q: From the report in June it was reported that retention dropped two months later. What reassurance can you give that this won’t happen again? The monitoring is now more rigorous. 60 high risk students have been identified and these students are being monitored closely and parents are involved at an early stage. Withdrawals are now monitored by the Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality. The IAG is now more rigorous and the census data are better managed. There are now pre-meetings with Mary Grant and the Vice Principal of Curriculum and Quality to scrutinise the data. The meetings provide support and challenge.

A Member commented on the excellent improvement to L3 vocational value added GL going up by 20%.

A Member requested that line 6 ‘14/15 v 15/16’ column should be changed to RK red.

KPIs 2016/17 The KPIs for 2016/17 were presented by the Principal. A target for HE Retention, Pass and Achievement will be added for the January meeting. GL

Q: Maths and English is a risk. How are we monitoring this area? The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality has a meeting every two weeks to review maths and English. A more detailed report on maths and English will be GL presented at the spring Corporation meeting.

A report on destination data will be provided at the spring Corporation PS/GL meeting.

Q: A governor enquired about the target for the staff survey. The Principal explained that the engagement for the staff survey has been low. A note was going out on the staff payslips reminding staff to complete the staff survey. The staff survey will be launched next week. There has been a historic lack of confidence from staff on whether the individual results of the survey are confidential. ELT have asked staff if they would prefer the survey to be online or on paper but staff confirmed an online survey was preferable.

Principal’s Report The Principal’s report was received in advance of the meeting. The following points were discussed:  Three high profile joint-brand academies have been launched with Seddon, Siemens and Marshall  reached the final of the prestigious Education Investor Awards  Macclesfield College performed well in the first ever rankings table published by FE Week  An extra full staff development event was delivered on 1st September by keynote speaker Bradley Lightbody  The College is fully prepared to implement the new GCSE grading scale from

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numbers 1 – 9 in 2017.  A new Head of HE has been appointed  The new Marketing Department has been established and two Open Evening Campaigns have been launched and completed  The Principal reported that collaboration with the local schools has continued to be developed. The College has been better received since the removal of A Level provision. The College was invited to Fallibroome Academy for the first time  An application to the LEP has been made  The College is hosting Apprenticeship week and this is being sponsored by the Council  There will be a new HE intake in January. A marketing campaign will be created to advertise the new offer. One of the courses will be for Teaching Assistants in schools. This is a course that employers are looking for and will help to recover some numbers  A Governor commented on the positive appointment of a school liaison officer

53/16 Quality and Curriculum

Report on achievement rates 2015-16 The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality provided an update on the achievement rates for 2015-16. The following points were made:  The overall achievement rate for 2015-16 was 80%  The most significant gain for the College was an increase of 5.1% in the 16- 18 achievement rate  The pass rate for 2015-16 was 92.07%  The main retention issue is on Level 3 Vocational programmes, where a significant number of Study Programmes are legacy 2 year programmes that started in 2014-15  Higher Education overall retention, pass and achievement rates show a three year improvement trend.  A governor commented on the data sheet attached within the paper as it easily identified the strengths and weaknesses. A governor raised that functional skills remains a weakness

Report on value added measures of student performance 2015-16 The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality presented a report for Level 3 graded programmes in 2015-16. The following points were made:  Level 3 performance shows an improvement in 2015-16  The Vocational and AS programmes increased by 20% and 19%  Over 73% of L3 Vocational students exceeded their minimum target grade  Computing was much improved with an increase of 64.92% of learners achieving or exceeding their minimum target grade  54.55% of students for Sport, Leisure and Tourism achieved below their expected target grade. There is a correlation between value added and poor achievement  Visual and Performing Arts and Health and Social Care failed to reach their predictions and are being addressed through the College Improvement Plan

Q: Does there need to be investment into the pastoral care in these areas? No, a number of mental health students were on these courses that could not reach their maximum potential. Members discussed that a number of the local schools are currently providing a good performing arts offer which is causing competition.

The College has continued to achieve results until the provision ended.

A full Value Added report will be provided at the spring Corporation meeting. GL

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The Safeguarding Annual Report for 2015/16 and the Annual Health and Safety Report The Safeguarding Annual Report for 2015/16 and the Annual Health and Safety Report were provided in advance of the meeting. The Chair attended the recent Safeguarding meeting where the document was discussed in detail. The Chair reported that the staff within the department remain committed. Members discussed the pink column on the graph on page 13. Members discussed that the pink column reflects safeguarding across the board. A staff governor reported that staff are vigilant and that all issues are taken seriously. The SPOC results indicate that students feel safe at Macclesfield College. Mark Sharples will continue to deputise for Valerie Herbert at Safeguarding meetings when required.

The Chair congratulated the new security guard who was creating a safe environment for students, staff and visitors. The Chair reported that the College had recently been awarded the kite mark “Disability Confident Employer” from the Department for Work and Pensions. The award acknowledges that the College can demonstrate that it has evidence to show a commitment to removing barriers to the employment of disabled people and an increasing understanding of the issues involved. The College is now working towards achieving the level 3 award.

Safeguarding Policy The safeguarding policy was approved.

HR and Equality and Diversity Annual Report 2015/16, Human Resource Strategy 2016-17 and the Equality and Diversity Policy The HR and Equality and Diversity Annual Report 2015/16 and the Human Resources Strategy 2016-17 were received in advance of the meeting. Members discussed the retention and competition for attracting high calibre staff due to the location of the College.

Equality and Diversity Policy The Equality and Diversity Policy was approved.

Draft Self Assessment report for the academic year 2015-16 The draft Self Assessment report for the academic year 2015-16 was received in advance of the meeting. The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality presented the key self assessment grades: Overall effectiveness: Grade 3 Effectiveness of Leadership and Management: 2 Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment: 3 Personal Development. Behaviour and Welfare of Learners: 2 Outcome for Learners: 3

Members discussed improvement in retention and the welfare of students being immense in the last 12 months. Members agreed that the Self Assessment report accurately reflected the College’s current position.

Post Inspection Action Plan The Post Inspection Action Plan was presented in advance of the meeting. The Vice Principal for Curriculum and Quality outlined the actions that have been taken following the Ofsted inspection in May 2016 and the self assessment for 2015-16. The following points were made:  On page nine, there is no colour next to ‘Lesson observation evidence GL captures good use of feedback and learner voice in most sessions to support learner improvement’. This will be changed to amber.  The destinations data and an English and maths report will be presented at GL the next Corporation meeting  The Vice Principal explained that there will be another formal report GL

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presented in 2 months to monitor the impact of the action plan  It was stated that some of the columns have not been colour coded as they have not met the deadline yet  Further data will be provided once it has been validated GL

It was reported that the Faculty Head for Public Services has resigned from the College. An interim has been appointed who is performing well. It was stated that the new structure is working and is having a positive impact on the outcomes for Teaching and Learning.

54/16 Audit The minutes of the Audit Committee on 22 November 2016 were received.

Annual Internal Audit Report The Annual Internal Audit report prepared by BDO was received for 2015-16. The Vice Principal for Finance and Resources informed Members of the following points made in the report:  The risk management activities and controls in the areas which we examined were found to be suitably designed to achieve the specific risk management, control and governance arrangements, and  Based on the results of the audit work carried out, BDO have assessed that the governance, risk management and control arrangements provide reasonable assurance that the related risk management, control and governance objectives were achieved during the period under review. There were no significant control failures identified.

The Annual Internal Audit Report was approved.

Annual Risk Management Report and Heat Map The Annual Risk Management Report and Heat Map were received in advance of the meeting. The papers were reviewed in detail at the Audit Committee. The implementation of IT and the Bank Covenant have been added as risks to the Heat Map following the recommendation of the Audit Committee.

The Audit Committee recommended two changes to the Annual Risk Management Report. The two changes have been made. The Annual Risk Management Report was approved.

The Chair of the Audit Committee informed Members that the process for Risk Management and for the Schedule of Outstanding Recommendations has been changed. A meeting took place with Members, the Vice Principal for Finance and Resources and David Fletcher from BDO. The Audit Committee found the streamlined process much more effective.

Q: 9.1 on the Heat Map shows that the College struggles to attract/retain sufficient staff at the required level when required. Is this impacting on growth? Pay scales to attract suitable staff are a challenge across the College. Macclesfield can be difficult for some staff to travel to and therefore an action plan is in place to address the issue and flexible working hours are considered when necessary. The Principal is hopeful that spot salaries can be introduced over time. The Chair stated that there was consideration to staff salaries at the Remuneration Committee and this will be reviewed in January in line with budget planning. The importance of the College recruiting numbers was highlighted and it was suggested that this could be linked to pay.

Risk Appetite The Report on Risk Appetite was received in advance of the meeting. The report

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was reviewed and approved.

Audit Committee Annual Report 2015-16 The Audit Committee Annual Report for 2015-16 was received in advance of the meeting. One of the Governors’ names has been updated as a recommendation from the Audit Committee. The report was approved.

Audit Committee Terms of Reference The Audit Committee Terms of Reference was received in advance of the meeting. The Principal will no longer be a Member of the Audit Committee. The Chair informed the Committee that once a new Governor is appointed with the relevant skills then the Corporation may decide to appoint a new Member to the Audit Committee. The terms of reference were approved.

55/16 Business Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2016 The Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2016 have been reviewed thoroughly by the Auditors and the Audit Committee. The financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2016 were approved by the Corporation. The MS/RC statements will be signed by the Chair of the Corporation at the end of the meeting.

The Chair thanked the Vice Principal for Finance and Resources for his work on the financial statements.

Final Audit Findings Report The Final Audit Finding report was received in advance of the meeting. The Vice Principal for Finance and Resources informed Members that he was happy with the clean audit and the comments made within the report.

Letters of Representation The letters of representation were presented in advance of the meeting. The letters were approved.

ECAT and Cheshire Solutions Limited The accounts for ECAT and Cheshire Solutions Limited are dormant. The accounts were approved by the Corporation.

The Student Union Accounts The Student Union Accounts were reviewed and approved.

The Executive Summary relating to the College accounts for the period ended 31 October 2016 P Sharples presented the executive summary for the period ended 31 October 2016. Members enquired about Table 3 - Risks. The Kings School student does not represent the same funding as a full time student. A member requested some PS indication of FTE.

56/16 College Calendar 2017/18 The College Calendar for 2017/18 was approved.

57/16 Search The minutes of the Search and Governance Committee on 8 November 2016 were received.

Search and Governance Terms of Reference The terms of reference for the Search and Governance Committee were

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approved. The Governor Visit forms will be circulated with the Corporation RC papers in the future.

Self Assessment of Governance

The Clerk provided a verbal update on the Self Assessment of Governance. A review of governor attendance was provided at the committee. Based on the evidence within the report the Corporation approved the overall grade for the review of Governance as a 2.

Martin Wright provided an update on the interviews with two potential governors.

Alicia Whittaker works at East Cheshire Hospice and is responsible for Apprentice

training and has some innovative ideas about training with the College. She has approval of her Director to engage with the college and it was thought her expertise would be beneficial to the College. Kevin Cook currently works in company transformation. He is on the Board of East Cheshire Chamber of Commerce. He works with a lot of companies and has connections through the Chamber. His strengths to the Board would be industrial and business connections. He would add

commercial skills at a time of discussions with LTE and industry/business knowledge

at a time where we are focusing on apprenticeships. The Corporation approved the appointments of Alicia Whittaker and Kevin Cook.

The Chair discussed another possible potential Member who has experience of venture capital and would be a great asset to the Board. He lives further afield and RK/MS may need to be appointed as an Associate Member. The Principal and Chair will

follow this up.

The Chair informed Members that Jerry Green has resigned as Vice Chair and Member of the Corporation. The Chair stated that Jerry’s expertise will be missed. The Chair highlighted his appreciation for the work that Jerry has undertaken during his long service and for his personal support since being appointed Chair. Jerry Green will continue to provide support on the dissolution of The Macclesfield Academy sponsorship.

58/16 Standing Orders The Standing Orders was received in advance of the meeting. The Clerk informed the Members that the changes to the Standing Orders were to reflect the removal of the Business Services and Teaching and Learning Committee. The document highlighted the changes that have been made. Members approved the Standing Orders.

59/16 Date and time of the next meeting The next Corporation meeting will take place on 17 January 2017 at 9.30am.

60/16 Any Other Business The Chair informed Members that the Support and Challenge visit with Ofsted has taken place and was very useful. Another visit will take place on 24 January 2017.

An initial application has been made for the Transitional Grant to be split with the

LTE Group and Macclesfield College. John Thornhill will be attending the next Corporation meeting to provide a further update. Meetings with the LTE Group

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Trust Governor

The Clerk presented a report to recommend that the College moves to a secure platform to offer a fully paperless environment, before, during and after meetings, with email communications, meeting and document management and a forum. The platform allows for policies, a governor database, self-assessment and skills audit to be stored. A number of options were explored. The Corporation approved the recommendation to move to the ‘Trust Governor’. The Clerk will inform the contact RC at the ‘Trust Governor’ and establish whether Members require a device to be used at meetings.

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