LONGLEY PARK SIXTH FORM COLLEGE

LONGLEY PARK SIXTH FORM COLLEGE MINUTES of the meeting of the CORPORATION held on 17 OCTOBER 2012 at 5.00pm at the College, Horninglow Road, Sheffield Present: Observer: In attendance: Kevin Clifford (Vice-Chair) (in the chair) Omer Abdulqader Nick Duggan Alan Hancock Alan Law - from Minute 9 Jeremy Lonsdale Julie Munday Mo Nisbet (Principal) Alastair Reid Karen Squires Mike Westerdale - from Minute 9 Paul White Josh Wilson - to Minute 16 Richard Allen (Emeritus Governor) Donald McLean (Vice-Principal (Student Engagement)) Sharon Langridge (Clerk to the Corporation) Apologies for absence were received from Sevgi Akin, Bob Bridge, Dave Darwent, Margaret Ferris, Doug Liversidge, the Vice-Principal (Curriculum & Quality) and Assistant Principal (Resources). 1 CHAIR Action by Who When In the absence of the Chair it was agreed that the Vice-Chair should chair the meeting. 2 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS The Chair welcomed Julie Munday and Josh Wilson to the meeting and invited everyone to introduce themselves. 3 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. 4 APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNORS/CHAIR OF AUDIT COMMITTEE The Chair sought Governors approval to the appointment of Sevgi Akin and Josh Wilson as Student Governors following Student Council elections held earlier that day and also the appointment of Julie Munday as Parent Governor. He advised Governors that 1

Margaret Ferris had indicated that she would be willing to continue as Chair of the Audit Committee if the Governing Body wanted her to. The Governing Body approved the appointment of: (a) Sevgi Akin and Josh Wilson as Student Governors for a oneyear term of office; (b) Julie Munday as Parent Governor for a two-year term of office; and (c) Margaret Ferris as Chair of the Audit Committee. 5 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11 JULY 2012 The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 th July 2012 were approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair. 6 MATTERS ARISING Quality Improvement and Operational Plan (Minute 7) The Clerk reported that she had received responses from some Governors regarding the areas that they would be interested in linking with. She asked any Governors that had yet to respond to notify her of their preference and said that she would present the list to the next meeting of the Search, Governance & Remuneration Committee. Govs Nov 12 7 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 12 SEPTEMBER 2012 Governors noted that Karen Squires had been omitted from the list of attendees. The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 th September 2012 were subject to the above amendment approved as an accurate record and signed by the Chair. 8 MATTERS ARISING Preparing for Inspection (Minute 1) The Principal informed Governors that feedback from recent inspections indicated that inspectors were using a range of benchmarks. She therefore intended to continue to use all college benchmarks as a starting point. 9 PRINCIPAL S REPORT The Principal presented her report. She informed Governors that she had met with the Head Teacher of Firth Park to try and establish a reason for the fall in numbers coming to the College. He believed that this might simply be a reflection of the changing 2

demographic, as twenty four young people had moved onto school sixth forms. The Senior Management Team was considering ways of raising awareness of the opportunities the College provided amongst teachers in partner schools, for example by establishing a shadowing arrangement. Governors suggested that opportunities for staff from partner schools to teach in College would allow them to develop a stake in promoting it to their learners. The Principal highlighted the introduction of a new tracking and monitoring system called firefly. She explained that some teething problems had been encountered and were being addressed. The system would take time to become embedded. Specific training was being provided as issues arose. It was intended that access to the system would eventually be extended to students and then parents/carers. She circulated copies of the College Expectations leaflet which had been issued to students and parents/carers. Governors were advised that the Senior Management Team had begun the year with a keen focus on attendance and punctuality. The firefly system had enabled early identification of learners that had potential to fail. The Vice-Principal (Student Engagement) added that students with good attendance liked the affirmation provided by the high profile presence of the Senior Management Team in the public areas of the College and in lessons. The Vice-Principal (Student Engagement) reported that there appeared to be an increase in UCAS applications which indicated that the decline the previous year could have been merely a reaction to the furore surrounding tuition fees. Professor White confirmed that this reflected the national picture. Governors were pleased to note the high level of interest in Longley Park Extra activities. Governors asked if there was any indication of common characteristics for the learners that had enrolled and subsequently left the College. The Principal explained that many had enrolled and then arrived to start their course; other withdrawals had been to positive destinations. She intended to ask the City Council if they could provide destination data. Governors agreed that it would be useful to receive a breakdown of the destinations of learners that had progressed to higher education courses. 10 PREPARING FOR INSPECTION The Principal circulated benchmarking data for headline course levels. She explained that as the College s learner profile was atypical to the rest of the sector, because of its lower point score on entry, direct comparisons could be difficult to make. However, by breaking down the course level data, it was possible to identify 3

for example that the College exceeded sixth form college benchmarks for the extended diploma which formed the bulk of its Level 3 provision. Governors agreed that this data was very useful and requested that it be RAG rated for ease of reference. They would also find it useful if an indication of the volume of provision could be included. The Principal agreed to amend the summary accordingly and to re-issue it later that week. MN Oct 12 Governors agreed that the reports from each Directorate provided a good narrative on the variation in success rates for AS and A2 and the variation between Directorates. The Principal circulated some example questions that inspectors might put to Governors with supporting data that could be used in response. Governors recognised that there were some issues that were currently being addressed which would not have an immediate major impact such as increased entry requirements for certain course. The Principal said that these would have an impact for AS in the current year. She added that two external consultants had been working with the College to review teaching and learning in areas of underperformance. Action was being taken to address the issues that they had identified. Governors found the information on teaching observations useful. They noted that a major change in the College s approach was taking place with the introduction of subject learning reviews, which would provide a wider more comprehensive assessment. Governors were informed that underperformance in retention and achievement by particular ethnic and gender groups was being analysed. Data on support for these groups was also being interrogated. 11 STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE The Principal withdrew this item as the retention, achievement and success targets needed to be replaced with the benchmarking data for headline course levels considered earlier in the meeting. 12 MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS A summary for September had been provided by the Finance Manager and was circulated. Governors were asked to consider this outside of the meeting and to come back to the Assistant Principal (Resources) with any questions or queries. 13 ANNUAL GOVERNANCE REPORT The Clerk to the Corporation presented the annual governance report and drew Governors' attention to the recommendations contained within it. 4

The Chair advised Governors that the Clerk had received two nominations for the staff governor vacancy and would be making arrangements for an election to take place. Governors questioned whether both nominees could be taken on in order to maintain the level of interest. The Clerk explained that the composition of the Corporation was currently at capacity in line with the determination of membership, but stressed that the College had never turned away interested parties and had used co-option and observer status to involve them. A discussion was planned for the next meeting of the Search, Governance & Remuneration Committee on the composition of the Corporation to ensure that it had the right balance of representation. The Clerk informed Governors that the Resources Committee had proposed an additional amendment to its terms of reference to clarify the quorum to ensure that there was a majority of non-staff members. Governors agreed that this should be applied to all Corporation Committees terms of reference. The Clerk reported that the Chair and Vice-Chair had discussed the importance of utilising the College s governance resources to best effect with members of the Senior Management Team. They recognised that it would be vital for the longer term to ensure that the College had the right people with the right skills and that they were used effectively. It had therefore been agreed that the Vice- Chair should serve on the Curriculum & Quality Committee. Governors agreed that the documents attached to the report should include version control details. They also said that it would be useful if the Clerk could direct them to the key sections of long documents, when circulating information from funding or other agencies. The Corporation: (a) accepted the composition of the Corporation for the academic year 2012-13 or until the composition needed to be amended; (b) considered and noted the attendance information contained in the report; (c) re-affirmed the Attendance Policy; (d) approved the revised Terms of Reference for Corporation Committees as amended; (e) confirmed the Corporation Committee structure; (f) approved the membership of Corporation Committees; (g) noted the calendar of meetings for the Academic Year 2012-13; (h) approved the revised Standing Orders; (i) agreed that the process of up-dating the Register of Interests and Declaration of Eligibility remain on an annual cycle, managed by the Clerk to the Corporation; (j) agreed that the Corporation should continue to receive termly progress reports on the Governance Performance Indicators for 2012-13; 5

(k) agreed that management information should continue to be sent to Governors by the Clerk on a regular basis; (l) noted the development activity undertaken in 2011-12; and (m) agreed that the Clerk to the Corporation should continue to present an Annual Governance Report at the first Corporation meeting of each academic year. 14 SAFEGUARDING UPDATE The Vice-Principal (Student Engagement) presented the report from the Student Services Manager. He explained that the start of the year had been exceedingly busy in relation to safeguarding. A larger team had been put in place for staff, which had enabled the Senior Management Team to be less actively involved. All of the Directors of Teaching and Learning had now undertaken advanced safeguarding training. A range of training had been provided for the twenty five new members of staff to bring them up to speed. The Chair recalled that Governors had undertaken a useful training session on e-safety at the last strategic planning day. He felt that given that safeguarding was an area of continual change it would be beneficial to include another training session for the strategic planning day on 16 th November. Governors acknowledged that staff on the safeguarding team dealt with extremely sensitive issues. They accepted that it was important for the Corporation to be in a position to support them strategically and for Management to provide them with opportunities to develop the necessary skills and support networks. There was some concern that the Government s position could potentially undermine the profile of safeguarding. Governors approved the proposed amendment to the Safeguarding Policy and agreed that it should apply to students as well as employees and volunteers. 15 RISK MANAGEMENT HEADLINES The Principal presented the report from the Assistant Principal (Resources). She explained that the bursary continued to be an issue as its administration involved a substantial amount of work for Student Services and Finance staff. The inequality of the scheme had not been addressed nationally and there were examples of some colleges being unable to spend their allocation. Governors noted the risk management headlines. 16 REPORTS/RECOMMENDATIONS FROM COMMITTEES (a) Audit Committee Governors considered the report of the meeting of the Audit 6

Committee held on 20 th September 2012and noted that the sole recommendation regarding the terms of reference had been covered earlier under the Annual Governance Report. Paul White and Alan Hancock offered to answer any questions that Governors might have. (b) Resources Committee The Chair reported on the meeting of the Resources Committee held on 10 th October 2012. Consideration had been given to proposals for the capital project. The Principal explained that the plan was to utilise part of the courtyard to develop a flexible learning and social space for students. Feedback from the Learning Conversation day was that students wanted more work, a study timetable and space to study. The Chair explained that it was intended to minimise any disruption by carrying out a lot of the construction work over the summer break. A report had been presented on the staff survey and the Investors in People report. The Chair asked the Clerk to circulate this to all Governors. The Assistant Principal (Resources) had provided a financial update including the position regarding the loss-making catering service. Consideration was being given to outsourcing the service. The College s financial targets for the previous year had been achieved and a higher surplus had resulted from the receipt of additional funding and savings. Expenditure in the current year was front loaded at the beginning of the year. Governors acknowledged that the funding reduction as a result of the fall in student numbers would cut in from the following year. SL Oct 12 The Committee had approved the following revised policy documents: Financial Regulations; Procurement Policy; and Lone Working and Working from Home Policy. 17 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Governors noted that a lot more papers were being presented on the night. The Principal apologised and explained that there had been a number of difficulties that term which had resulted in the delayed production of reports. Wednesday 19 th December 2012 at 5.00pm. The meeting ended at 6.35pm. Signed:... (Chair) Date:... 7