LIVERPOOL GOVERNANCE FORUM

Minutes of committee meeting held on Tuesday 10th July 2018 at 10:00
(Dovecot Primary School, Grant Rd, Liverpool L14 0HL)

Key Note / Guest Speaker 

Terry Brown, School Improvement Liverpool to facilitate discussion on “School Exclusions”.
Please see Annexe 

1.0 STANDARD ITEMS:

1.1	Welcome and Apologies

Present: Kathy Desmond (Chair), Frank McFarlane (Vice Chair), David Blythe (Honorary Secretary), Cynthia Carmichael, Avril O’Brien, Pauline Warrington, Maureen McDaid, Andy Chadwick, Barbara Murray, Michael Morris & Julie Moss-Jones (Governor, Dovecot School)

Apologies: Mary Donohue, John Thornhill, Cliff Barton, Dave Owens, Amanda Patmore,
                   Dave Cadwallader & Sharon Cody

Absent without apology: Mark Rea, Henry Mooney & Clive Jervis

      1.1 Declaration of Pecuniary Interest
       No change.

       1.2 Minutes of June Meeting 
       Already agreed by email and posted on the LGF website. 

1.3	Matter Arising
       All covered by the standard agenda

1.4 Finance: 
      DB emailed the current financial details to all committee members ahead of the meeting as follows:

 	£	£	
Bank statement at 30th June	-	2469:92	
Less two cheques currently not cashed	- 95:00	2374:92	
Less outstanding conference invoice 	- 432:00	1942:92	
Plus LPHA payment to be cleared by  bank 	2750:00	4692.92	

  

  Confirmation was provided by DB that payments from all three management associations have been
  received. 

2.0 FEEDBACK FROM LGF EVENTS & REPRESENTATIVES:

2.1 LGF Events 
          The draft 2017/8 Annual Review was distributed in advance of the meeting.  Noted financial data at   
           year end (31st August, 2018) needs to be added. 

           The committee was in agreement for the report to be circulated to the suggested recipients, once the 
           financial data had been added.

           Suggested recipients of the 2017/18 LGF Annual Review:
           Chairs of the 3 Head Teacher Associations with a request to circulate to their Head Teachers and 
           Governors 
•	Elaine Rees
•	Steve Ready
•	Malik Killen
•	Sandra Tia
•	Lesley Chadwick 
•	LGF committee members to circulate as appropriate
•	The LGF Website

DB was thanked for his hard work in preparing the document.

2.2 Liverpool Schools Forum 
The meeting, held on 26th June, was well attended by LGF members.  At the meeting, concern was expressed regarding the rising number of schools currently in a budget deficit situation. Consultation may take place regarding an appropriate level to cap surplus funds for those schools with a large carry forward figure and a system for reclaiming some funds.  It was noted that the new Universal Credit system could have a detrimental effect on the amount of Pupil Premium funding a school receives.  

      2.3 LLP (Executive Board, All Learners, LWNM & Maths Group)
      Executive Board   

       KD provided feedback on the LLP Board meeting held on 20th June noting:

*Attendance was a huge focus at the meeting as an effective, city wide campaign for improvement in 
 both school and the workplace is needed.

*All schools now have a Mental Health Lead.  Noted - this has required training and support may be needed for the Mental Health Lead, such as counselling, to maintain their own mental health.

*Reading Clubs are proving popular and there are now 74 Reading Clubs in schools. These are for disadvantaged children.

       *This year’s Readathon is to take place in November 

       *Numeracy is improving 
       
       * The final of the annual Dragons Den took place on 2nd July

       *Liverpool Promise is now on hold
 
*Pupil Tracker – Secondary schools using this resource well.  It was noted that the programme was only as good as the information it contains

LLP – The subscription is to be reduced to £6 per pupil for 3 years.  Previously the charge had been £3 per pupil per year.

All Learners     No further information since the last meeting

Maths Group    No further information since the last meeting

      Learners Who Need More   No further information since the last meeting

2.4 Liverpool Safeguarding Board
      FM reported that two Young People’s Champions addressed the last meeting of the Safeguarding Board.
      The Young People’s Champions had been tasked with talking with young people who were at risk.  It was  
      suggested they should be invited to address LGF’s meeting to be held in October 2018. FM is to provide
      the contact information to DB who will contact Jacqui Taylor regarding an invitation to the meeting.

It was noted that the Safeguarding Board is no longer needed in the same format as before.  Governors expressed a hope that they would still have some involvement in the future.

2.5 Liverpool Schools Promise
As previously stated this has been put on hold.  It was suggested that the schools’ contact list compiled for the Liverpool Schools Promise should be used to send out the exclusion procedure survey as discussed with T Brown earlier in the meeting (see Annexe A).

2.6 Others  
KD reported that she and two other committee members (MD & AP) had taken part in the short listing process for the new Chief Education Officer panel.  This had been a laborious but necessary task that would have been made easier had information been circulated in good time.  Eight candidates have reduced to a final 6 who will be interviewed on 19.7.18.  Overall this had been a good experience and the committee members were pleased to have been able to help.

3.0 ITEMS FOR MENTION:

3.1 Twitter Account      
Noted there are currently 420 followers and circulation widening.

3.2 Website
DB reported that the website is up to date and there have been 52 hits since last meeting. A link to the LGF Twitter account is to be sent with the thank you messages by AO’B once the minutes from today’s meeting have been uploaded to the LGF website. PA is to inform AO’B when the minutes have been uploaded. 

3.3 Future events (Meetings, Venues, Conferences, AGM etc.)

Scheduled Dates for 2018/19 LGF Meetings 
Information regarding suggested dates for forthcoming meetings and events were shared prior to meeting – Please see Annexe B. There was a discussion regarding whether to abandon evening meetings due to a history of poor attendance.  Decision was made to keep June 2018 meeting as evening meeting.  The suggested dates were agreed.

AGM – Concern was express regarding the poor attendance by others other than committee members. It was noted that in 2015 the AGM was attended by 28 people which included 11 committee members.  In 2016 the AGM was attended by 25 people which included 11 committee members. 

A discussion took place regarding the best time to hold the AGM. It was decided the AGM will be held at beginning of committee meeting to be held at 10:00 on 16 October 2018 at Archbishop Blanch School.  Noted - papers will be prepared and circulated prior to the meeting.  

LGF Conference
Topics for the future conference were discussed. A list of suggested topics was circulated by DB prior to the meeting. Please refer to Annexe C. A discussion took place and it was decided the following topics will be included on the agenda for the conferences. 

*Governing Body Self-Assessment and NLG’s role. (Annexe C items 13, 15 & 17).  KD is to contact Ruth Agnew regarding availability and charges for delivering a session at the conference.

*Retention of Staff and Do governors really appreciate demands/pressures/expectations of teachers? 
 (Annexe C items 12 & 16) 

*Governors’ Code of Practice

*What should be expected of governors by Ofsted? / Statutory duties of governors 

It was also suggested that guest speakers could be invited depending on the cost.  BM reported that she had recently been very impressed at another meeting by the mother of a boy, who had been groomed on line and then murdered.  Likewise, BM had also been impressed by another speaker who had addressed a meeting on the subject of gangs and knife crime. BM	to investigate the cost of the above speakers with a view to considering inviting them to deliver a session at a conference depending on cost.

DB was thanked for his work in putting the original list together.

3.4 NGA    No information since the last meeting

4.0 OTHER ITEMS: 
4.1 Governors Hub – KD reported she had received information regarding a new data base which will be 
available to schools via SIL. The data base will contain lots of information that governors may find useful and will provide a means of governors communicating with other governors, use of a calendar for planning meeting etc. and is GDPR compliant. However, the cost is expected to be £400 for each individual school although there is an initial £70 discount.  Subscription to this service was discussed but it was felt the cost would be prohibitive. It was noted a secure folder on every school’s website for Governors’ use would also be GDPR compliant. 

Governors no longer receive a hard copy by post of the Termly Governors Newsletter. It is now placed    on the SIP Website. Dave Cadwallader is to be contacted regarding alerting governors when the Governors Newsletter has been published.

This being the last meeting of the academic year KD thanked all for their hard work and attendance throughout the year.

The next LGF meeting will be held at 10:00 on 18th September 2018 at Belle Vale Community Primary School, Besford Road, Liverpool L25 2QF

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 11.43

       Summary of actions required from this meeting:

No	TOPIC	ACTION BY	
1	Contact information for Jacqui Taylor to be provided to DB	F M	
2	Jacqui Taylor to be contacted re an invitation to October’s meeting for Young People Champions 	DB	
3	AO’B to be informed when minutes of today’s meeting have been uploaded to the website	P A	
4	Link to twitter account to be circulated	AO’B	
5	Ruth Angnew to be contacted regarding cost of delivering a session at the LGF Conference	KD	
6	Dave Cadwallader to be contacted regarding an alert when the Termly Governors Newsletter has been posted on the SIL Website	KD	
7	Terry Brown to work on article on school exclusions for the Termly Governor’s Newsletter with Maureen McDaid	MM	
8	Terry Brown to confirm rate of exclusion in Liverpool	TB	

Annexe A

Key Note / Guest Speaker 

Terry Brown of School Improvement Liverpool addressed the meeting to facilitate discussion on “School Exclusions” 

His address focused on Governor Involvement with exclusions and the pre-exclusion process rather than statutory requirements and how different schools had different procedures and levels of governor involvement in the process.  

A discussion took place regarding bringing together information from different schools to identify best practice. 

It was noted that a problem may arise if governors are involved in a school’s pre-exclusion process as this may then rule them out of the statutory process. It was also noted that governors should be informed of any exclusions that have taken place in the termly Head Teacher’s Report to Governors although no pupil should be identified by name.  It was noted pupils cannot be excluded from a school purely because the school cannot meet the needs of the individual.  

As exclusions increase other schools are expected to admit challenging pupils’ mid-year. This may have a detrimental impact on a school’s results. School’s work hard with parents and pupils to prevent exclusions as this is perceived as a mark against the school.

It was suggested that a strategy laid down for all governing bodies for dealing with exclusions and the pre-exclusion process would be beneficial.

It was suggested an article in the Governor’s Newsletter could highlight the need for a strategy after which schools could be sent a survey to ascertain the different procedures employed by schools.  This could in turn be collated and used to produce a best practice document. MM is to work with Terry Brown on the article.  .  Suggested this issue could also to be highlighted as part of the Termly Directors Chair of Governors meeting. 
  
Terry Brown is to confirm exclusion figures as they are not currently available although a general increase has been identified.

In an unrelated item FM expressed concern regarding the cost of training offered by Governor Services.  He felt, whilst the training is good, the cost can be prohibitive. BM mentioned that Ofsted have criticised schools regarding the level of governor training.  It was suggested the FM he considers taking up a Service Level Agreement with SIL which allows for a one off set fee regardless of how much training individual governors from the school undertake.  The charge is currently £74 per governor for the SLA. KD remarked that whilst it was appreciate governing bodies are reluctant to spend school funds it is essential that governor training takes place to support the school’s SLT.

Annexe B

2018/19 TERM DATES AND PROPOSED DATES FOR LGF EVENT

(A) 2018/19 ACADEMIC YEAR (Details taken from LCC Website)
Autumn Term 2018
•	Starts: Monday 3rd September
•	Ends: Thursday 20th December
•	Half Term: Monday 22nd to Friday 26th October
Spring Term 2019
•	Starts: Monday 7th January
•	Ends: Friday 5th April 
•	Half term: Monday 18th to Friday 22nd February
Summer Term 2019
•	Starts: Tuesday 23rd April
•	Ends: Wed 24th July 
•	May Day: Monday 6th May
•	Half Term: Monday 27th May to Friday 31st May
•	Ends: Wed 24th July 

(B) PROPOSED DATES FOR LGF FUTURE EVENTS

2018/19 ACADEMIC YEAR	
AUTUMN TERM	
Tuesday	18th September 2018	Committee Meeting	
Tuesday	16th October2018	Committee Meeting & AGM	
Saturday	17th November 2018	Conference	
Tuesday	11th December 2018	Committee Meeting	
SPRING TERM	
Tuesday 	22nd January 2019	Committee Meeting	
Tuesday 	12th March 2019	Committee Meeting	
SUMMER TERM	
Tuesday	30th April 2019	Committee Meeting	
Saturday	11th May 2019	Conference	
Tuesday	18th June 2019	Evening Committee Meeting	
Tuesday 	9th July 2019	Committee Meeting	

NB: The conference topic together the details of our keynote speakers which precede our formal committee meetings will be advised as soon as details have been finalised. 

Annexe C

Topics for LGF Conference

SUGGESTED SPEAKERS / TOPICS FOR FUTURE CONFERENCES
(Taken from previous conferences feedback forms and committee meetings) 	
1	English Transcription 
	
2	Working with the Clerk of Governors
	
3	Risk Assessment Schedules
	
4	Prevent Duty
	
5	Mental Health 
	
6	Dyslexia 
	
7	Therapies / Sensory Needs
	
8	School funding
	
9	Safeguarding
	
10	Family Advisory Service
	
11	Emotional First Aid
	
12	Retention of Staff
	
13	Governing Body Self-Assessment
	
14	Code of Practice 
	
15	Ruth Agnew, NLG
	
16	Do governors really appreciate demands / pressures / expectations of teachers? It is such a hard profession and I’m not sure all governors appreciate the workload. 
	
17	A short explanation of NLGs role and availability within the city to provide FREE support to governance boards. 
	
PREVIOUS CONFERENCE TOPICS	
October 2015	Head teacher Wellbeing 
	
October 2016	Head teacher Appraisals and Philosophy for Children
	
March 2017	Budget Reductions, Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing & Improving Children’s Wellbeing through Yoga
	
October 2017	Mental Health (The touch that matters and Attachment Friendly Principles)
	
April 2018	Online Safety & Liverpool Promise