Minutes of Personnel Committee Meeting
Date:
9 November 2012
Present:
Keith Cockman (Chair of Governors), Fiona Ives (Chair), David Kennedy,
Dave Allman
Apologies:
Mario Castiglione, Lauren Morbey
Time:
10:00am-11.15am
Items
Apologies for absence
Accepted
Action
Declaration of interests
Keith Cockman declared he was Governor of Rye Park Nursery School.
Approval of Personnel Minutes held on 1 June 2012
Approved.
Matters arising
None
Items of other urgent business to be considered
Confidential staffing matters and report on tribunal
proceedings
Confidential matter is discussed and which is recorded in part 2 minutes.
Headteacher's Report
The Headteacher presented his report to the committee and took governors
through the revised complaints policy of the school which had previously
been circulated as Appendix A. The policy had been prepared by the deputy
Headteacher/company secretary after extensive consultation and input from
Stone King. The Company Secretary reported that the complaints policy
remains substantially the same up to page 5 which looks in detail at how
complaints are dealt with and particularly the issue of vexatious complaints.
He indicated in detail to governors how the revisions were arrived at and how
they fit with other school policies.
CS/Clerk
The Chair of governors asked when the policy would next be reviewed and
the Headteacher indicated it would be in October 2013. It would be the
general practice that it would be checked by our school's legal and
personnel advisors.
The Headteacher reported that there were three members of staff who are
scheduled to take maternity leave. Appropriate arrangements to cover their
absence had been put in place.
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Items
Company Secretary/Clerk to Governing Body. The Headteacher indicated
that a number of staff had satisfied the criteria for threshold
 Andi Petrou, BA, MA
 Charlotte Bone, BSc
 Samantha Cove, BA
 Natalie Plant BSc
 Ryan Taylor BA
Action
and he was delighted with the progress of staff. The Chair asked for some
explanation as to the nature of the change to the duties of staff and there was
a detailed discussion of Appendix B which showed in detail the requirements
for UI, U2 and U3.
A governor asked whether the change into the U grades was automatic and
the Headteacher indicated that it was not. They were required to demonstrate
performance against criteria and to continue to maintain a high standard of
teaching. It was possible to remove the grading though in our case that had
never been the case. The Chair asked if some staff did not go through the
threshold and the Company Secretary replied that this was the case but it was
very rare. He explained that a full programme of support was available for
staff to achieve their highest possible level of professional competence and to
maintain that.
There was an extensive discussion on the provision of legal and personnel
advice which was provided to the school. This review was prompted by the
need to have a first rate personnel advice which was suited to the needs of an
academy which are substantially different to schools maintained by the local
authority. There was a wide range of discussion prior to the meeting and as a
result of this and with further reflection, it was agreed that the school's
personnel advice would now be handled by Stone King, our legal advisors. It
was felt by all concerned that this would provide the school with the most up
to date and effective means of discharging its personnel functions. The
transition from local authority personnel team to Stone King would be
handled by the Company Secretary.
It was anticipated that there would be minimum disruption and extensive
discussions have been had with Stone King It to ensure that the service we
receive from them will be fit for purpose and timely. The school has
obtained a detailed breakdown of the services they offer and made a
comparison with that provided by the Hertfordshire County Council. The
school will move to having a retainer with Stone King which in outlined
terms includes the following:




An initial review of contracts of employment and employment
policies
Telephone and email HR advice for the SLT and Governors
Advice regarding STPCD, Burgundy Book, Green Book and other
Collective agreements
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Items
 Advice on individual contractual terms
 Advice on policies and procedures
 Assistance with consultation on introduction cases (eg redundancy,
disciplinary, capability, ill health and grievance)
 Advice with advertising new roles, interview process, references
 Absence Management
 Exit interviews
Action
AOB
Additional papers were circulated at the meeting for information. These
were:
A report from David Mansfield, MA, MBA our challenge partner replacing
the SIP.
Articles by Dave Allman, Deputy Headteacher entitled ‘Linking CPD to a
positive school culture’ and ‘Coaching-style CPD: a role for the outsider’.
Information on a one day conference being held by John Warner Staff entitled
‘Inspiring and Outstanding Senior Leadership: how to develop your capacity
to bring about and sustain improvement in the current educational climate.’
Meeting ended at 10.00am
Next meeting: Friday 15 February 2013 at 9.00am
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