LIVERPOOL GOVERNANCE FORUM

Minutes of committee meeting held at 10:00 am on Tuesday 12 March 2019 at 
St Julies Catholic High School, Speke Road, Woolton Liverpool L25 7TN

Key note speakers: 

(1)	Tom Lambeth, CEO, Food for Thought (FFT, a not for profit company owned by its schools), gave an overview of the background to FFT and the importance of healthy school meals. Please see Appendix A.

(2)	Chris Harrison and Alison Holloway from SEND4Change provided an overview of their work facilitating a review of SEN arrangements in Liverpool. Please see Appendix B.
1.0 STANDARD ITEMS:

1.1	Welcome and Apologies

Present: Kathy Desmond (Chair), Frank McFarlane (Vice Chair), David Blythe (Honorary 
                     Secretary), Dave Owens, Cliff Barton, Pauline Warrington, Cynthia Carmichael.    
                     Barbara Murray, Marlene Taylor, Amanda Patmore, Avril O’Brian

Associates & Visitors: Howard Harris, Tom Lambeth, Chris Harrison, Alison Holloway

     Apologies: Maureen McDaid, Michael Morris, Dave Cadwallader
           
Absent without apology:  John Thornhill, Andy Chadwick, 
                                  
1.2	Declaration of Pecuniary Interest
There was no change since the last LGF meeting.

      1.3 Minutes of the December Meeting       
     The minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2019 had already been agreed by   
     email and posted on the LGF website. 

1.4	 Matter Arising
 KD’s power point on the subject of Pupil Premium, presented at the last LGF meeting is to 
 be removed from LGF website

 FM thanked governors for their support in contacting the Liverpool Safeguarding Board 
 regarding governor representation. 

 LGF Website – A further meeting to confirm the final specification/improvements for the 
 new website is needed.  
 Governors were asked to be aware that the prototype version is not fully enabled.  It is only 
 to provide a feel for the improved website which should be available in the near future. It 
 was noted that the final version will be smart phone friendly.  DB is able to circulate a 
 prototype version of new website to those governors that wish to see it.

LSF - FM reported that he had approached a colleague governor with regard to serving on the Liverpool School Forum but unfortunately had not received confirmation that they were available as yet. 

Marlene Taylor reported she had attempted to attend a meeting of School Forum only to find the date had been moved and she had not been informed. KD will write to Sandra Tia to ensure her records were up to date.

The Safeguarding Arrangement Consultation questionnaire has been completed by several governors.

School Admissions Forum – AO’B is to attend the next meeting however there is an issue with timing of meetings.  

KD reported that she had not had a favourable response from The Key regarding a reduced subscription for LGF members.  KD is to join as part of her school and will try to add LGF member’s email addresses to the list of subscribers.

AO’B reported that she had attended on behalf of the LGF the Liverpool Active Promise Launch.

2.0 LGF Matters and Events

2.1 Finance
      Finance information had been circulated prior to today’s meeting. DB reported that there       
      are no current outstanding invoices or debts.

BANK ACCOUNT	£	
Statement  31st December 2018	2589.92	
     
     2.2 Feedback from Events 
           There have been no events since last meeting.

     2.3 Future Events
The current version of the Schedule of Meetings for the Spring/Summer Term 2019 had been circulated prior to the meeting.  A copy is attached as Appendix C.
       
     2.4 Website
           There have been 224 hits since the last meeting making a total of 953 hits this year to date.

      2.5 Twitter Account
 There are currently 474 followers.  It was noted that the number individual followers is 
 increasing in comparison to schools/organisations. 

      2.6 Others  
             N/A
           
 3.0 Feedback from Representatives
			
3.1 Liverpool Schools Forum
      Cliff Barton provided feedback on the recent LSF meeting on behalf of all the LGF 
      representatives. The Early Years Rate review was the key item on agenda. As the LA has 
      a large deficit it has been necessary to make some unpopular cuts to funding for certain    
      area such as EFL etc.  The cuts were due to be put in place in April 2019 but have now 
       been delayed for one term.

3.2 LLP Executive Board
       A meeting of the LLP Executive Board took place on 6.3.19 which KD attended. The key 
       items to highlight from the meeting were:

•	New format LLP Strategic Plan for 2017/19 (Copies were distributed at the meeting). 
•	An overarching schematic diagram showing the top level priorities of the Strategic Plan and the main successes and achievements to date and the benefits of subscribing to LLP.
•	Standard Year 6 Pupil transition form which all schools have now agreed to use.

Governors were asked to encourage their schools to continue membership of LLP and to ascertain the situation at their respective schools and report back to the next committee meeting.

3.3 LLP All Learners
DB had circulated feedback on the LLP All Learners meeting that was held on 23.1.19, attended by KD and AC.  A copy is attached as Appendix D.

3.4 LLP LWNM.
AO’B and DB attended the meeting held on 30.1.19.  Feedback on the meeting is contained in the document referred to in 3.3 (Appendix D)

3.5 LLP Maths Group
A meeting of the LLP Maths group took place on 5.3.19 attended by PW who reported that the group was currently concentrating on Cohort 5.  The group is chasing up schools that have not signed up, the schools that have signed up but not yet attended and the schools that need to be reassessed. 

It was noted that the Maths Party is to be held on 21.6.19.  A new poster has been    prepared and the activity bags to be distributed to school are much improved. The bags will           be distributed to Early Years pupils and 30 schools on a first come first served basis.

      A Dragon’s Den activity, based on the topic of the ‘Year of Engineering’ still being followed   
      up. 

3.6 LLP Employment and Skills Group
      No feedback was available from John Thornhill.  DB is to contact JT.

3.7 Liverpool Safeguarding Board 
 It was noted that the last meeting of the LSB will be held on 21.3.19.  From 1.4.19 the LSB 
 will be known as the Liverpool Safeguarding Forum.
 
3.8 Other:
3.8.1 Review of Liverpool SEND provision: 
This links to the presentation given by Chris Harrison and Alison Holloway. As part of the exercise and process of gathering information, 4 specific focus groups have been set up on which LGF governor representative have been appointed:

   Focus 1, Liverpool’s SEN Support Offer attended by AO’B.
   Focus 2, Liverpool’s Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs Offer attended by MT
   and MD.
   Focus 3, Liverpool Specialist Offer, attended by CC. 
   Focus 4, Engagement and Commissioning attended by AP.

AP reported that she had attended the first Group 4 meeting which was well attended by a diverse mix. However, she felt that the focus of the meeting was not appropriate to her role as a governor.

AP also informed the meeting that she is unable to attend the next two Group 4 meetings to be held on 29.3.19 and 1.5.19.  KD stated that she may be able to attend the 29.3.19 meeting.

CC reported her group had received a similar presentation to today’s second speakers 
   
4.0 Other Items for Mention

4.1 NGA 
KD reported that she had attended the NGA Conference in Manchester where Vicky Beer (DfE Schools Commissioner) and Sam Henderson addressed the conference. One of the issues raised was ‘What do Governors want from Headteachers Report’s’.  Governors were directed to page 6 of the latest issue of Governing Matters which has more information on this issue. The conference was also addressed by the lead Ofsted Inspector for the North West who informed delegates that, in future, Ofsted inspectors will be looking at a whole school approach, stating that exam results and data are not the ‘be all and end all’ of an inspection as pupil’s whole school experience is to be looked at.  

         4.2 Other
                N/A

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS FROM TODAY’S MEETING	
No	TOPIC	ACTION BY	
1	Pupil Premium Power Point to be removed from LGF Website 	PA	
2	Website development – meeting to be held – date to be confirmed	KD, DB, AP, MM, DC	
3	LGF members to be included in The Key subscription – KD’s school	KD	
4	Confirmation regarding subscription to LLP to be ascertained from HT’s	All LGF members	
5	John Thornhill to be contacted regarding attendance at the LLP Employment and Skills Group	DB	
6	Chris Harrison to be emailed the details of the next LGF Conference	DB	

The meeting concluded at 11.55	

Appendix A

Key Note / Guest Speaker: 
Tom Lambeth, CEO of Food For Thought (FFT) gave an overview of the background and services provided by FFT.  FFT is a ‘not for profit’ organisation, committed to providing nutritious, locally sourced meals to Liverpool school children.  He explained that the company was set up 12 years ago after a group of 6 head teachers became dissatisfied with the service and quality of the meals provided by the local authority.  FFT is currently the largest provider of school meals for the primary sector in Liverpool.

FFT currently have 53 member schools with Rohit Naik as the Chair of the Board.  Each member school receives an annual share of any profit made after all expenditure has been met.  Currently schools are receiving £2,000 to £3,000 per year.  

FFT is also committed to the education of pupils and parents especially as childhood obesity is a major concern nationally.  FFT work with doctors, parents and other professionals such as Bernadette Lee, who previously worked for the Local Authority.  

All menus are nutritionally balanced and available on the FFT website. All schools take part in ‘Meat Free Monday’ to encourage pupils to consider the impact of eating meat on their health and the environment.  FFT work closely with Dutch Farm, a 3 acre farm site located in Speke where pupils can visit and learn about growing crops and looking after pigs and chickens.  FFT work with parents, holding cookery classes and encouraging them to access recipes from the website to replicate healthy meals at home. 

FFT are currently working with other organisations such as FoodShare and food banks to help reduce food poverty in Liverpool.  Last year FFT were able to provide 400 boxes for deserving families at Christmas time that included dried goods and meat vouchers from Asda etc. FFT are involved with community projects such as the Mayors Hope Fund and are currently working with 5 supermarkets tying to set up a ‘social supermarket’ where discounted food, baby clothes etc. could be made available.

Mr Lambeth explained that the company wants to grow in an organic way but is not prepared to diminish the service it currently provides.  FFT is beginning to work with some secondary schools and is particularly suited to working with special schools as it is able to cater for individual pupil’s needs. 

In response to questions from LGF members it was explained that meals are cooked in situ, utilising the school’s catering equipment and staff.  The school is responsible for replacement of equipment but assistance can be given to spread the cost of expensive purchases.

FFT are able to provide mobile chefs to cover the catering staff absenteeism.

Food is ordered by the school but the invoice is sent to FFT who then recharge the school at no additional cost.

Breakfast clubs can also be supported by FFT who have provided food banks at certain schools where parents can make a donation for food if they are able or just take food if they are not able to make a contribution. 

Subscription to FoodShare (£17 per week) can prove beneficial to schools.  FoodShare is a company that provides ‘surplus’ food at a reduced cost. 

Please find attached a power point presentation provided by Mr Lambeth.
Mr Lambeth was thanked for a very informative presentation.

Appendix B
Chris Harrison and Alison Holloway from ‘send4change’ provided an overview of their work facilitating a review of SEN arrangements in Liverpool.
It was explained that Chris Harrison and Alison Holloway had been invited to work with Liverpool City Council to look at the ‘High Needs Block’ funding. On the day they were due to start Ofsted and CQC announced that they were to carryout their SEN inspection. 
CH explained that they had met with many head teachers and other education professionals from mainstream and special schools as well as INM provision (Individual non-maintained) to get an overview of how High Needs funding was being spent and the impact of the spending across the city.

The recently published Ofsted report concluded that Liverpool has fallen behind other cities and its delivery of SEN support was not consistent.  Liverpool Council were instructed to put a plan in place to address this.

CH explained that send4change wanted the opportunity to work with governors to find ways of improving the delivery of SEN across the city.  It was noted that often the success of SEN delivery does not depend on the amount of High Needs funding an individual school receives but rather on the school’s ethos and commitment/mind set of the whole school staff.

It was also noted that pupils placed in INM provision require a disproportionate amount of funding (currently 120 pupils’ cost 4.5 million pounds).  Concern was expressed that pupils may not be placed in the most appropriate placement to meet their individual needs, often parental choice has a factor in determining a pupils’ placement.  This may not always the best provision for the pupil to thrive in.  Demand for special school places is increasing

CH stated that when consulting with education professionals there were many reasons for the lack of consistency across the city but what is needed is a process to bring systems together that provide consistent, financially sound delivery of SEN across the city that ensures the needs of individual children are met.  CH highlighted that the current EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan) are one aspect that definitely needs improvement.

It was noted that the city council receive £50 million in High Needs funding but are currently spending £53 million.
CH agreed to address the forthcoming LGF Conference to be held in May.
CH is to meet with BM at Cunard House to share his findings.  Date and time to be confirmed 
CH and AH were thanked for their informative presentation.

 
Appendix C
	www.livgovforum.org.uk	
	Twitter: LpoolGovForum	
	E-mail: admin@livgovforum.org.uk	
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES	
SCHOOL VENUE AND SPEAKERS	
2019 SPRING & SUMMER TERM EVENTS	
Tuesday 
12th March 2019
10:00 to 12:30 	St Julies Catholic High School, Speke Road, Woolton Liverpool L25 7TN
Guest speakers: (1) Tom Lambeth, CEO, Food for thought (a not for profit company owned by its schools), will give an overview of the importance of quality and healthy school meals. 
(2) Chris Harrison and Alison Holloway from SEND4Change will provide an overview of their work facilitating a review of SEN arrangements in Liverpool. 	
Tuesday
30th April 2019
10:00 to 12 noon	Mosspits Primary School, 21 Moss Pits Lane, Liverpool L15 6UN
Guest speaker: Heather Duggan, Chief Education Officer for Liverpool which is relatively a new role within our city. Heather will provide an overview of her role and how governors and trustees can provide support. 	
CONFERENCE Saturday 
11th May 2019
09:30 to 12:15	Partnership for Learning Centre, South Road, Speke, Liverpool L24 9PZ (Free parking is available)
The focus for our 7th conference will be “The effective governance of SEND”, which will be delivered by Janet Myers, Consultant, National Governance Association. The session will focus on the role and responsibilites governors / trustees have in ensuring the needs of SEND pupils are met in our schools.  It will be interactive and so provide information, activities and the opportunities for discussion. 	
Tuesday
Evening 
18th June 2019
17:30 to 19:30	St Michael In the Hamlet Primary School, Neilson Road, Liverpool L17 7BA
Guest speaker: Following his recent visit to the country, Cliff Barton, LGF Committee Member will give a brief illustrated talk on Education in a Rural Part of Kenya. 	
Tuesday 
9th July 2019
10:00 to 12 noon	Archbishop Blanch CE High School, 80 Earle Road, Liverpool L7 6HQ
Guest speaker: To be confirmed	
PLEASE NOTE	
To attend any Committee Meeting please book-in via the LGF e-mail account:
admin@livgovforum.org.uk	
VENUES FOR MONTHLY COMMITTEE MEETINGS	
We welcome offers from our city schools to host one of our committee meetings. Please do let us know if your school can accommodate us at the above email address. 	

Appendix D

LIVERPOOL LEARNING PARTNERSHIP

TERMLY STRATEGY COMMITTEE MEETINGS ATTENDED 

NB: Agenda Items 3.3 (LLP All learners) and 3.4 (Learners who need more)

1	LLP All learners, 23rd January 2019	Kathy Desmond & Andy Chadwick 	
2	LLP Learners who need more,  30th January 2019	Avril O’Brian & David Blythe	

LGF representatives attending the two meetings as indicated above and the key points to highlight to committee are as follows:

MENTAL HEALTH:

Liverpool’s partnership bid to achieve ‘Trailblazer status by NHS England for Mental health and emotional wellbeing’ has been successful. The project is for 2 years. In total NHS has awarded 25 across the country, however, Liverpool’s was the only city wide bid submitted and it is hoped to have the project up and running by Easter. 

Three mental health support teams will be established across the city based at the YPAS hubs and each school will be linked to their nearest hub.

Twelve MH support workers will be appointed to these teams and receive training at Salford University. During the first 12 months it is envisaged they will study 2 days at Salford and work the other 3 days.

The overall clinical lead will be based in Alder Hey Hospital. In addition, a Project Manager based at LLP is to be appointed to cover the first 12 months to coordinate and ensure the working arrangements are developed to operate effectively.

MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING:

Following the success with both the Secondary and Primary school mental health programmes, MYA are now developing a ROAR training programme specifically for special schools. 

ATTENDANCE:

The attendance ceremony at the Town Hall on the 6th November 2018 was very successful event. 30 Pupils received 100% attendance awards, including 2 who had 100% from reception to end of year 11. Further 40 pupils received awards for most improved attendance.  

Overall the 2018 autumn term figures for Liverpool show an improvement when compared to the 2017 autumn term. National figures for comparison are currently not available. 

A number of schools are starting the journey to achieve the ‘Attendance quality mark’, which requires meeting stringent criteria across 6 specific areas from data through to leadership and effective attendance procedures.

DRAFT LLP ACTION PLAN:

A draft action plan was presented for comment on its format and details. Most actions were ‘RAG’ rated green as the plan is nearing the end of its 2 year cycle. The key aim of the new format is to present information in the future more strategically and succinctly against each individual objective as they develop and progress through to completion.  The document is to be presented to the LLP Board for approval. 

TRANSITION / SUMMER SCHOOL:
From the initial evaluation the overall project was considered to be successful. The plan was for 200 vulnerable children to attend the school last summer. However, 740 actually attended, although some secondary schools opened the programme for all year 7’s at a cost to the individual schools. 

Further evaluation has subsequently been carried out and feedback has been positive, particularly with regards to attendance and wellbeing with the general view the children have settled well into their new schools and been more confident compared to their peers. 

In order that the project continues to run this summer, applications for funding is now being progressed. 
 
EMPLOYMENT & SKILLS: 

Sally Beavers is to head up a careers hub based at Notre Dame Collage.

KNOWSLEY LIBRARY OFFER:

To date 17 fiction boxes have been taken up by Liverpool schools with more schools expressing an interest. 

REVISED COMMON TRANSFER FORM (Primary to Secondary school): 

A standard form for all schools to use has now been agreed which has helped to simplify the process; this is a great step forward.

An early year’s transfer form was to be considered although this would be more complicated as there are over 200 providers all with different systems.

READATHON:

Just under £12K was raised. There was very good engagement with the various events, including local communities.

UNICEF BID:

No response yet to the bid to become a child friendly city. 

READING FESTIVAL:

Jenny Holder gave an update to the ‘All learners’ committee

Steering group was established with representation from all phases as well as libraries, the Reader Organisation and LJMU. Key points to note are:

•	Date for Festival is 24th June to 12th July
•	Funding has been secured from the Unwin Trust to buy books for schools
•	Diverse range of authors will participate
•	Hub schools had been identified to host events
•	30 places were allocated to each school.
•	Eventbrite will be used for schools to book onto events with details going out in February.
•	Corporate sponsorship was also being sought. 

LLP CULTURAL EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP:

Alice Demba gave report:

The Culture Pool website is to be user-tested by teachers on 5th February 2019
Task teams have been established for: Inclusion, employment/skills.   
They are looking at setting short, medium and long term goals. 
The cultural celebration event, October 2018, was very successful.  This was now to be an annual event.
Alice is currently working with 3 secondary schools on 2nd phase of Cultural Citizens Programme.  Funding is being provided from the Gwen Appleton Trust.

SAFEGUARDING CHARTER FOR ARTS ORGANISATIONS:

Currently Liverpool’s arts organisations operate different levels of safeguarding practice for dealing with vulnerable children. 

LLP with support from Phil Cooper have therefore been developing with the various organisations a standard safeguarding policy specifically for the arts industry. Certificates will be awarded to the organisations for adopting and implementing the standard / Charter. About 12 organisations are currently engaged including the Everyman, Merseyside Museums, Royal Philharmonic etc. 

SUMMER SCHOOLS’ PLAY PARTNERSHIP BID: 

Expressions of interest are being sought from secondary schools for summer 2019. 18 schools participated in 2018 with 700 children attending.
Elaine Rees was seeking funding for summer schools via an LCVS bid.  A key condition of the bid was that children would be provided with hot lunch. 

AOB:

Members at the ‘All learners’ committee noted their concern that the proposed new structure for the safeguarding board did not have representation from schools or governing boards.