MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CORPORATION
OF SIR JOHN DEANE’S COLLEGE,
HELD AT THE COLLEGE ON WEDNESDAY 1st OCTOBER, 2014 AT 2.30 PM
Present
Also in Attendance
Mr T Rawling
Mr P Allanach
Miss J Brandreth
Mrs T Dover
Mrs J Hough
Miss K Kirkwood
Miss R Lloyd
Mr I Oulton
Mrs S Powell
Mr A Redley
Mr D Sandbach
Mrs J Thomas
Mrs J Tickridge
Mr A Boden – Deputy Principal - Curriculum
Mr A Sumner – Deputy Principal - Finance & Resources
Mrs S Armstrong – Clerk
Prior to the meeting Mr Colin Lupton presented the annual update on Health and Safety to Governors.
1.
Apologies
Apologies had been received from Mrs L Allen, Mr J Fifield, Mrs D Grayson, Mr A Lowe and Mr
J Train.
2.
Declarations of Interest
None.
9b
To receive an update on Project Proposals
Mr F Aftab and Mr B Bourne from AA Projects joined the meeting for this item.
Mr Sumner said that, at a previous meeting, the Board had agreed to fund AA Projects to carry out
a feasibility study of what might be possible at the Leisure Centre. He had asked Mr Ahab and Mr
Bourne to give an update on the work that AA Projects had done so far.
Mr Ahab gave an overview of the project. He said that they had been looking at various options for
the current Leisure Centre. Access was difficult due to the road that passed by the main entrance
and the brick walkway through the centre meant that a lot of space was wasted. The building,
which is over 30 years old, was generally tired looking. AA Projects had explored ideas in terms of
how the space would work. He said that, at this meeting with Governors, he wanted to introduce
basic concepts and to show them some provisional plans.
The plans included the provision of teaching rooms, gym facilities and improved viewing for the
pool. The entrance would be changed and the building would be seen much more as part of the
campus rather than a stand-alone building.
Funding from outside agencies would be required if the plans for the Leisure Centre were to go
ahead. Mr Ahab said that there was likely to be some funding available from the DfE for capital
projects in the near future. Bids for that would probably be submitted in January. Funding from
Sport England would also be bid for. Following the feasibility study Governors would be able to
decide whether or not they wanted to proceed. AA Projects would have discussions with the
various funding agencies in order to have a good understanding of what might be available and
544
they would then look to Governors for approval to proceed. Planning permission for any proposed
plans would also be required.
Mr Ahab said that AA Projects were looking at an option that would be feasible if only one bid for
funding was successful and an alternative option that would be possible if both bids were
successful.
A governor questioned the timing of applying for planning permission in December and submitting
a bid for funding in January. Mr Ahab said that a requirement of the bids was that the project was
sufficiently well advanced to allow it to be finished before the end of the funding year. AA
Projects had already approached the Planning Department to have a pre-planning meeting. Mr
Sumner said that there would come a point where the College would need to take a decision to
spend a certain amount of money that was at risk if the project did not go ahead. The Board would
need to understand the level of risk involved.
Mr Ahab said that the Property Data Survey (PDS) which had been carried out should be
challenged as that had not indicated problems with the roof but their survey had shown that it was
saturated. A Governor asked how common it was that they found reason to challenge the findings
of a PDS and Mr Ahab said that there had been some doubt as to the accuracy of every one they
had seen. The process of the survey was that there is a series of questions to answer and if they
cannot get access to a certain area they have to deem it as being Category A. He said that they do
realise that there are anomalies and they are willing to hear challenges to the results of surveys.
The Chair said that he thought it was important to challenge the survey and let them know that the
statement about the roof is incorrect.
A Governor asked if, when looking at the criteria for funding, the new Lifestyle Centre in
Northwich would affect the bid. Mr Ahab said that it would but the extra facilities that the College
could offer with having the all weather pitch would also be taken into consideration.
Mr F Ahab and Mr B Bourne left the meeting at this point.
9a
To approve the Property Strategy
Mr Sumner said that the Property Strategy briefly outlined the ideas that had come from the
strategic planning days and as part of the approval of the financial forecast. Priorities identified
over the next three years largely focused on maintaining the new building to the highest possible
standard. Small scale remodelling works would also be needed to improve the facilities and
respond to changing requirements e.g. the work that had been carried out in the library to make
different areas more useable. There are aspects of the estate that were “tired” as they had not been
involved in the recent new build.
When considering a property strategy, Mr Sumner said that thought needed to be given to what to
do if the College grows beyond 1,650 students. When the project was originally approved, the
target was for modest growth to 1,360 with the primary focus being on improving the facilities
rather than significant growth. However, the development had enabled the College to grow in size
to 1,550 students for 2014/15.
Mr Oulton said that consideration could be given to gaining extra space by using the space in the
Chapel. He said that that could prove a quick and cost-effective way of expanding. Mr Sumner
said that that could be added as an extra item to be looked at in the property strategy.
The Chair said that the College should have a 25 year site development plan which could be revisited every few years. This should identify where, if needed, another teaching block could be
built. Having the plan would help when looking at short-term solutions to space problems so that it
could be ensured that any smaller building project did not prevent possible larger projects in the
545
future. The Principal said that curriculum developments would underpin all strategies. There were
compelling curriculum areas which the College would need to look at and future development
could be to provide more lab space.
Resolved that the Property Strategy by approved with the addition of an outline 25 year
property vision/plan and reference to potentially developing the Chapel at some stage.
9b
To receive an update on Project Proposals
Additional Catering Outlet
The new Starbucks outlet had been completed and was operational. It had originally been hoped
that Caterlink would provide some investment towards the cost. They had said that they would
invest but it was on the condition that the College extended their existing contract by 3 years which
the College had not been prepared to do at this stage of their contract. £58,400 had been budgeted
for the project and the actual cost, including VAT, had been £53,520.
Governors asked if consideration had been given to opening Starbucks on weekday evenings for
people using the sports facilities and Adult Education. Mr Sumner said that that would be a
commercial decision for the caterers to make but that, so far, that had not been considered.
Renewal of the artificial pitch
Following the submission of an expression of interest form to England Hockey, the College had
been invited to make a full bid. Confirmation that the bid was successful had since been received
but they had only offered £20,300 of the £49,000 that was bid for. Having been awarded that
finance, this gave the College an improved chance of a bid to Sport England being successful.
Plan4Sport had advised the College in early September that Sport England was about to announce
the opening of a very short bid window for funds from the Improvement Fund specifically targeted
at new and replacement artificial pitches. The key advantage of that fund was that the minimum
level of partnership funding was lower. The College submitted the required checklist and had been
invited to submit a more detailed express of interest form by 8th October. Final notification on
whether a bid has been successful or not would be received by the end of February 2015 and the
College was hoping to carry out the work between May and July.
Leisure Centre Development
The Board had approved the appointment of AA Projects to carry out a feasibility study of the
options available for the re-development of the Leisure Centre. The feasibility study will provide
outline plans, indicative costs, likely timescales and potential sources of funding. The decision as
to whether to use the additional space for classrooms or leisure centre and gym space had not yet
been made.
Mr Sumner said that the next stage of the project would be an exploratory survey and consultancy
work which would cost £5,000. A governor suggested that the figure approved should include a
contingency fund for the work to be carried out.
Resolved that the expenditure on survey and consultancy work be approved with a target of
£5,000 and with a maximum of £7,500 for the work.
Governors questioned whether AA Projects had spoken to the students and other end users of
potential leisure facilities. Mr Sumner said that the plans were not at that stage yet and the
Principal said that a final decision on what the additional space would be used for would be based
on the 16-18 curriculum, as that was a main priority. A governor said that she had concerns that a
546
lack of consultancy with users of the facilities might have an impact on the success of any funding
bid.
3.
Minutes of meeting held on 9th July, 2014
Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 9th July, 2014 be approved.
4.
Matters Arising
None
5.
Governance Items
a.
To receive a report from the Chair to include any training issues
The Chair reported that Performance Management reviews had been carried out with the Principal,
Deputy Principals and the Clerk.
The Chair had also met with the Remuneration Committee and they would be reporting to the
December meeting of the Board..
b.
To receive a report from any governor having attended a meeting of a College Committee
There had not been any meetings of College Committees this term so far.
c.
To receive an update on the Operating Statement for Governance and Performance Targets for
2013/14
Governors reviewed the four targets on the governance quality improvement plan for 2013/14 as
follows:
Target 1 – Work with HEIs had continued and 31 universities had attended the student HE
information day held at the College. The Principal said that the relationship with HEIs was still
relatively superficial. Local universities had been contacted and both Liverpool and Manchester
universities had been offered a link with the College. This would give them the opportunity to
recruit some of the best qualified students in the North West. A series of events was planned with
Liverpool University.
The Principal said that the College now had more effective relationships with parents. The Parent
Portal had been very successful. Most of the parents of Lower Sixth students had already been into
College this year and they had met with the Progress Mentors. There had, however, been 11
complaints following the examination results and the College would be modelling areas where they
have more effective dialogue with parents.
The Principal said that she was considering that one of the focus groups that governors meet with
for their strategic planning day should be made up of parents. Governors agreed that this would be
a good idea.
The College’s relationship with employers had broadly improved and it had connected more with
apprenticeships. However, only 36% of the current Upper Sixth students had been on a work
placement last year and so there would be a strategic push to work more closely with employers
this year. The notion of work readiness will become more important in any successful Sixth Form.
It was agreed that the work with employers would remain on the Governance Quality Improvement
Plan for 2014/15.
547
Target 2 – Mr Oulton said that it had rapidly become clear that the aspirations for e-governance had
cost implications that were not feasible at this stage. It was agreed that the governance section of
the website would be enhanced and would include photos/profiles of Governors. Miss Brandreth,
Mrs Hough and Mr Redley offered to make up a working group to look at the website.
Target 3 – The Chair said that he felt the target to embed QA processes was complete. He said that
the governors were now a lot better informed and were, therefore, in a better position to challenge
and the hold the SLT to account. He thanked everyone for the work that had been done in this area.
Target 4 – The mission, vision, strategic direction and brand of the College had all been amended.
The working party which was set up to review the mission of the College had met in July 2013 and
the results of that meeting had fed into the amendments which had been made.
d.
To receive a summary of the responses received to the Governance Assessment Questionnaires
The Corporation had introduced a new Self Assessment process which had been used for the first
time. Individual self-assessment forms had been completed for each committee as well as the form
for the review of the Corporation as a whole.
The self assessment had not highlighted any issues. Governors were satisfied with the level of
information they received in papers for the meeting and said that anything that was unclear was
well explained at meetings. All relevant information was shared with Governors and time is given
to ensure that informed decisions can occur. A few Governors commented on the length of the
agendas but all Governors felt that they did receive the papers for the meeting in sufficient time to
prepare for the meetings. Occasionally a paper had to be tabled at the meeting but there was
always good cause for that and Governors were advised when that would be happening.
New Governors all said that they had received a good induction to their role. Several topics had
been suggested for Governor training sessions throughout the year and these would be reviewed by
the Principal and Clerk and appropriate training organised.
Several Governors had commented on start times for meetings and it was agreed that each
committee would ensure that it was meeting at the time that was most suitable for its members.
Resolved that the summary of responses received to the Governance Assessment
Questionnaire be received.
e.
To receive the Clerk’s Report to the Corporation for 2013/14, to support formal assessment of the
performance of the Corporation, identifying strengths and weaknesses
The report identified that performance indicators for the Board had been met and that attendance at
meetings had exceeded targets. Training events which had been held for Governors, including the
full day Strategic Planning and Training Day had all been well attended. There had been a high
level of governor representation at all College events held during the year.
The Chair thanked all Governors for everything they had done during the year.
Resolved that the Clerk’s Report to the Corporation 2013/14 be received.
f.
To develop an action plan to address weaknesses (Quality Improvement Plan for Governance and
Performance Targets for 2014/15)
The Clerk confirmed that this would be prepared to reflect the discussions at the meeting and
548
would be submitted to the December meeting of the Board for approval.
g.
To approve a recommendation for any change in status of confidential papers for the last year
The Chair reported that he and the Clerk had reviewed the confidential papers from the previous
year. These comprised of Part 2 minutes relating to issues involving named personnel which
should always be regarded as confidential. No change in status of confidential papers was
therefore recommended.
Resolved that all confidential papers for the last year should currently remain confidential.
h.
To confirm receipt of completed register of interests, certificate of eligibility and skills matrix
The Clerk said that many of these had already been received back from Governors and she
requested that any outstanding ones be sent to her as soon as possible.
6.
Report from the Chair of the Curriculum and Quality Committee
a.
To receive the draft minutes of the meeting held on 24th September, 2014 and to receive a report
from the Chair of the Curriculum and Quality Committee
Resolved that the draft minutes of the meeting held on 24th September, 2014 be received.
b.
To receive a report on Results for the Academic Year 2013/14
The results for the Academic Year 2013/14 had been discussed in detail by the Committee. The
overall success rates had stayed the same at 90% in 2014, with a slight improvement in retention
and a slight reduction in achievement. AS results remained strong with ALPs again being a grade 3
and on the cusp of a grade 2. This was particularly pleasing given that many of the NQTs had
largely focused on teaching AS level.
A2 performance in value added terms remained at a grade 5, which is value added neutral, with
pass rates remaining constant. High grades did fall by 5.4% reflecting, to some extent, a slight fall
nationally in high grade performance. High grades at A2 therefore remained the key college focus
for 2014/15.
The first year of the BTEC Certificate in Performing Arts had been a major success with a 96%
pass rate and 64% of students earning a distinction* or distinction.
Repeat GCSE Maths and English was again on a relatively small scale with eight of thirteen
students gaining the GCSE grade C in Maths and two of seven students gaining the GCSE grade C
in English.
c.
To receive an update on Enrolment
The enrolment numbers were very pleasing. The target for funding purposes had been 1473 and
the College had aimed to grow by an additional 40 on top of that number. The actual number of
students enrolled at the College was 1564 which meant that the College had doubled its planned
growth. 35 students had not accepted places because they were offered an applied programme
rather than an academic one.
The Principal said that they had learned a lot about recruitment this year and what the College
would need to do to achieve the target of 1650 students.
549
Resolved that the update on Enrolment be received.
d.
To receive an update on Complaints
The College had received several complaints arising from examination results and also due to some
of the changes that had been made to the enrolment process. The College had also received two
unexpected complaints, one of which had gone to Ofsted.
The Principal summarised the complaints that had been received and the outcome of each.
Resolved that the update on Complaints be received.
7.
Principal’s Report
a.
To receive the Principal’s report
A detailed report from the Principal had been included with the papers for the meeting. This
included information on the examination results, KPI achievement and on the start of the academic
year. There had been a very smooth start to the year and the introduction of Progress Mentors had
been successful. Students had welcomed the re-introduction of the House System.
There had been very high attendance at the two “welcome evenings” for parents of the new L6.
The purpose of the evenings had been to outline the care and support for students which underpins
their academic success.
Work over the summer had ensured that the Estate remained outstanding and continued to be one
of the College’s most important marketing tools. The traffic management system had been
reviewed, primarily for exiting the campus at the end of the day. Parents had been asked not to
park at the front of the College, on the roundabout or along the road leading from the campus on to
Monarch Drive. The new measures have ensured that the buses are able to both enter and exit
campus easily and on time.
College activities and engagement included the Performing Arts department having a key role in
the Winsford annual Salt Fair. A series of art exhibitions and musical performances were being
planned for 2014/15 with the intention to take the College out to the community.
The Principal outlines the emphasis that would be placed on engaging leaders, teachers and support
colleagues in professional development. Teachers had had a full professional development
programme during the week before L6/U6 induction and a morning session had been arranged for
business support colleagues.
8.
Principal’s Reporting Items, Part 2
a.
To receive a report on financial control issues
The minutes of the latest SMT control meeting had previously been circulated. The year end
forecast outturn was £40k with a projected operating surplus of £10k. All key performance
indicator targets would be met with the year end accounts.
The Leisure Centre had performed extremely well and governors recorded their thanks to the team
for all they had done.
b.
To receive a report on other operational review items
550
There was nothing to report under this item.
c.
To receive a report on Comparative Financial Data for the year ended 31st July, 2013
The comparative financial data compared the financial performance of the College with the 94
sixth form colleges as a whole and also separately with the original 10 Maple Group colleges.
Overall the data showed a similar picture to the previous year in that the College remained
relatively small with less income than the sector average. This was in part because the College has
fewer students and also because the College received less funding per student than both the sector
average and the Maple Group comparator Colleges. The College was at the lower end of the sector
with regard to staff numbers but each staff member cost more than the average. Mr Sumner said
that this would change next year when the benchmarking data reflected the current age and salary
profile of teaching staff.
The data showed a strong correlation between the size of the College and financial security.
Smaller colleges were more likely to report an operating deficit than the larger colleges.
Resolved that the report on Comparative Financial Data for the year ended 31st July, 2013 be
received.
10
Regularity Audit
a.
To approve the Regularity Audit Self Assessment
The Regularity Audit self-assessment form had been revised over the summer. It was now shorter
and some of the questions had changed, but the most significant change was the new requirement
that the Chair sign the form as well as the Principal. In the past the Audit Committee have
reviewed the document and recommended it to the Board. However, the form needed to be signed
prior to Murray Smith’s visit which meant that the Audit Committee would potentially have to add
in an additional meeting prior to the first Board meeting of the year. The change had been
introduced too late for that to happen this year and so the document was being presented directly to
the Board for approval. Members of the Audit Committee had received an electronic copy for
review prior to the meeting and had all recommended it be approved for the Chair to sign.
Resolved that the Regularity Audit Self Assessment be approved.
11.
Review of Policies and Procedures
a.
Cheshire Pension Fund Employer Discretions
Changes to the Local Government Pensions Regulations introduced in April 2014 meant that the
College’s policy statement needed to be reviewed and updated. Mr Sumner said that the approach
he had taken was that if there was likely to be a cost to the College of exercising a discretion, the
College would not normally do so. There may be situations where it was in the College’s interests
to exercise a particular discretion so he had not excluded the possibility but had ensured that it
would only be in exceptional circumstances and with the Board’s approval.
Resolved that the Cheshire Pension Fund Employer Discretions policy be approved.
b.
Health and Safety Policy Statement – Part 1
Minor amendments to reflect the changes of nomenclature had been made to the Health and Safety
Policy Statement – Part 1.
551
Resolved that the Health and Safety Policy Statement – Part 1 be approved.
c.
Recruitment Policy
The recruitment policies had been revised to reflect the actual recruitment and selection processes
that happen across the College. The Policy had not yet been approved by the College SCA. There
were no significant changes apart from including the Head of Personnel and to say that all posts
would be advertised externally.
It was agreed that the process for recruitment of a Senior Post Holder should also be included in the
Policy.
Resolved that the Recruitment Policy be approved with the amendment to include Senior
Post Holders. The Principal will report to the next Board meeting whether the SCA suggest
any amendments which are to be included in the policy.
12.
Any Other Business
None.
13.
Date and Time of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 10th December, 2014 commencing at 2.30 pm.
552