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 Page 1 of 8 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. Page 2 of 8 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 Page 3 of 8 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? Page 4 of 8 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.
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