Meeting
Board of Governors
Date &
Time
Wednesday 8th February 2017 at 9.30am
Attendance and Apologies
Parent Governors
Staff Governors
Victoria Sharkey
VS
P
Ann Stahler (Ex Officio)
AS
Dean Lythgoe (Ex Officio) DL
P
P
Co-opted Governors
Helen Heap (Chair) HH
Jenny Stewart
JS
Marie Tormey
MT
Petrina North
PN
Other Attendees
Jade Parkinson-Hill JPH
Anna Jones
AJ
P
P
Ap
P
P
P
(key: P = Present, Ap = apologies received and accepted, ApN = Apologies received
but not accepted, A = absent)
Clerk -: Deborah Moss
Action
Owner
No Item
1 Welcome & Apologies - Chair
HH welcomed all to the meeting. Apologies were received and accepted for
Marie Tormey who was away with work.
DL then introduced two members of the school council to the governors –
Taelor and Ria.
School Council Update – Taelor & Ria
Ria and Taelor explained their role on the student council – related to
organising events and trips. The students explained that there are 8
students on the council, 4 from each year and that the other roles
undertaken are accounts, visitor managers, school improvement. Ria and
Taelor explained how ideas get taken through to decisions on the council
and talked about future involvement with the Duke of Edinburgh scheme
along with a reward trip to Blackpool. Governors commented on the diversity
of the trips they organise and Ria and Taelor explained the different types of
skills developed on each.
AS then asked Ria to comment on the recent visit by the RSC and her role
that day. Ria explained what she had showed the RSC round the school and
how they had discussed the differences between this school and her
previous. Ria had commented on the better discipline at the Studio.
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AS advised the governors that Ms Beer had written to Ria to thank her for
looking after her so well and that Ria should take a lot from this as it
happens very rarely.
AS asked if the council would like to ask anything of the governors or see
anything done differently in school. Taelor advised that a slightly later start
would be preferred due to travel arrangements. Most students don’t arrive
until 8.35/40am due to buses. Taelor advised that this is based on research
that has been carried out in school. AS stated that this was really interesting
asked Taelor to put this in a report form with the evidence and send to Mr
Lythgoe so that a formal decision can be made.
Ria also briefly mentioned the potential for introducing pinafores to the
uniform. AS advised that the council should discuss and that this could then
potentially be brought to a future governors meeting for consideration as in
other trust schools.
2 Declarations of Personal or Business Interest for items listed on the
agenda – Chair
Nil
3 Any Matters To Be Raised Under Any Other Business - Chair
Nil
4 Review and Acceptance of the Previous Minutes – Chair
Accepted as a true record.
5 Update on Significant Matters or Actions arising from Minutes - Chair
Item 5
 Policies are an item on the agenda today.
 Traineeships – JPH has visited the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce
and identified 16-18 training funding. JS advised that there will not be
a joint funding bid due to complexities this presents and that the
chamber will support the training programme through provision of
placements. AS advised that JPH hours have been increased by one
day, due to the demands.
Item 6 – completed
Item 8
 The Studio website has been re-vamped. Some population of
information is still needed and the policies need uploading too. Tom
Moylan is leading on this. DL flagged that there is a need to monitor
that the website remains very clear about the ethos and offer at the
school.
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 Newsletter/Parent Engagement – DL sent out a newsletter to
parents approximately four weeks ago and no regular production plan
is in place as yet.. Engagement with parents continues to pose
challenges. AS advised DL to seek the support of Tom Moylan so
that a regular newsletter is issued.
 Organisation Chart – Item on the agenda today.
 Snow and Safeguarding – DL advised that the process for managing
such incidents is in place but not yet tested. AS advised that the
member of staff who is the nearest contact to school needs to be
made aware that the HT and Asst. HT will contact them if they are
having difficulties getting into school to manage the situation.
 Marketing & Recruitment – Item on the agenda today.
Item 11 – Policies on the agenda today.
Item 14 – Safeguarding review underway and 175 Audit being completed.
Item 17 – HH has provided a training summary to DM and reminded all
governors of the need to keep DM informed regarding training.
6 2017 Student Recruitment and Marketing Strategy - JPH
JPH provided and talked through detailed presentation slides in hard copy
form, on the day.
JPH explained the marketing campaign which began in January and is
based on the ‘#make it’ theme, giving an overview of the costs and return on
investment associated with the work so far.
The partnership with Studio 76 was discussed in detail and AS explained the
arrangements.
JPH also explained to Governors the changes to the School Information Act
and how this may help with reaching out to prospective Y10 students. AS
explained some of the challenges of marketing in relation to working with
other schools.
JS advised that she could provide a contact into the Liverpool Challenge
Group to help with marketing.
Action – JPH to send a briefing note to JS for the meeting
JPH went on to highlight that Y10 and Y12 recruitment is looking healthy and
applications are of a good standard. DL added that where at this point last
year much of the recruitment plan was based on initial expressions of
interest, this year there a firm applications.
The targets for 6th form numbers were then talked through along with the
next phase of marketing events.
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JPH
Action – DM asked if JPH could raise the Parent Governor opportunity
in suitable marketing events – a chance for parents to influence how
the school is managed and have a real input into their child’s
education.
JPH
Governors thanked JPH for her informative presentation and the work
carried out so far.
7 Employer Engagement and Work Placements – AJ

Work Placements
AJ provided governors with a summary of work experience placements and
employer engagement strategy objectives in advance of the meeting.
The current position was then discussed. AJ explained the challenges in
securing suitable placements and meeting the individual needs of students,
providing a few recent examples.
AS reminded the board that some students are not work placement ready at
this point and that some students will take longer to get to this point than
others. AS added that support is resource intensive but vital to ensuring that
students get the right places and are able to actually get to those
placements.
Challenge – Governors asked for clarification of the employer engagement
resources. AJ explained the current resources and the plans to further
support this along with how the resources are deployed across the Trust.
AJ stressed how important dedicating enough time getting to know the
students and gaining their trust is, in order to be able to identify suitable
placements.
DL explained the additional challenges that having students in school who
are planned to be out on placement poses. AJ has recently started working
with Tom Moylan, delivering sessions on CV writing, using social media and
developing other skills for work.
Governors agreed that work experience should be formally reviewed in three
months’ time and that this should include a review of the required resources.
Action – Review of work experience to be presented to the June Board.
Governors also asked that DL consider what provision there needs to be for
students who will not be ready for a placement while at the Studio. JS
offered to be involved in any separate meeting to discuss this.
HH advised that employer engagement is also important to the DfE in
relation to the Studio and that setting up an Employer Engagement Group
may be the natural next step.
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AJ
Action – AJ to arrange an initial meeting with Helen Heap, Jenny
Stewart, Ann Stahler, Victoria Sharkey and Joyce Thomas.

AJ
Employer Engagement Strategy
AJ explained that the strategy is in the early stages and is really initial
thoughts at this stage.
AJ talked through the elements not covered in the item above.
8 Update on DfE and RSC First Visits – HH
HH advised that the letters and reports have been shared in advance and
highlighted the key improvement areas;





Attendance needs to be nearer to the national average.
Behaviour needs to improve.
Teaching needs to be good or better.
Items identified in the Safeguarding Audit to be actioned.
An Employer Engagement Strategy to be developed and
implemented.
** Victoria Sharkey joined the meeting at 10.45am
There will be a return visit after Easter.
Action – Governors asked that DL contextualise the priorities in the
SEF using the Trust template.
PN kindly offered to review once prepared.
9 Head Teachers Report – DL
DL had provided a report in advance of the meeting. He then talked through
the key aspects.
DL also provided a hard copy report showing an updated breakdown of the
intake since Sept 16 and confirmed that gaining access to the student
records from previous schools was still proving to be a challenge.
The challenges of the current demographic, including potentially
undiagnosed SEN were then discussed.
Governors asked about SENCO support available. DL gave an overview of
the current work being undertaken with the SENCO and explained some of
the challenges. Governors asked VS for a teacher view. VS advised that as
the school is small, teachers get to know the students more easily and this
helps in identifying particular needs. This is a different approach than in
some schools and may be more challenging for newly qualified teachers but
generally works well.
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DL
Staff are working on how to share information to ensure needs are
consistently addressed.
VS also explained that formal assessment of each student by the SENCO
takes an hour to undertake and the same or more to write up. DL advised
that the identification stage is key and how to undertake this needs
consideration. Governors suggested the potential use of an inset day to
work on establishing files.
AS explained SENCO resources across the Trust and explained the need to
prioritise what is focused on in the Studio at this time. Improving attendance
and student recruitment are key priorities. An Attendance Officer is being
appointed next week.
DL acknowledged this and also emphasised the need for staff to understand
student needs as soon as possible so that students are retained and
behaviour is well managed.
AS advised that managing the prioritised plan is key.
Exclusions - DL provided an overview of exclusions to date including ongoing matters. There have been no permanent exclusions since Christmas.
Fixed term temporary exclusions are still being used to address incidents of
poor behaviour.
Attendance – Attendance remains a key issue. There have been
improvements in the attendance of many students at the studio when
compared with attendance in their previous schools but overall attendance
remains low compared to other schools nationally. DL provided an overview
of the resources allocated to help bring further improvements.
Progress Measures - DL confirmed that more analysis of performance will
follow and this will be undertaken by John Parry.
Action - Governors asked for a detailed presentation at the March
meeting.
AS advised that AP3 is end of Feb/March so the timing should be very
appropriate.
Staffing – The impact of staff absences in Year 10 was discussed. VS
explained how roles are being covered from within school and across the
Trust. Governors asked for confirmation of the referral to occupational
health process and keep in touch arrangements. AS advised.
Buildings and Equipment – DL and VS explained the recent issues with
temperature control in the building and how this has been risk assessed and
managed.
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DL
Communications with Parents – DL confirmed that as discussed earlier, JPH
is to assist with Parent Governor recruitment.
AS advised that Parent View also needs to be used to engage with parents.
Action – DL to begin using Parent View for parental engagement and
update at the next meeting.
DL
10 Safeguarding Report/175 Audit – DL
HH advised that MT has been updating governors on the actions taken so
far after her visits into school.
The 175 Audit is due for submission in early March.
Action - HH and governors agreed to delegate responsibility for formal
sign off to MT.
MT/DL
DL advised that two students have gone onto Child Protection plans.
11 Policy Updates/Ratifications – DL
Action - Curriculum and Behaviour & Learning policies are to be
submitted to the T&L Committee in March.
DL
The Admissions Policy has been circulated for comment previously.
Action - the revised version is to be added to the school website.
AS and DM advised that a schedule of statutory policies and also one of non
statutory policies has been developed and will be shared in the next week.
The schedule will be discussed at the next meeting and then reviews will be
planned in. The policies will also need to be put on the school website.
12 Legal Update – DL
Nil to report
13 Any Other Business – Chair
Nil
14 Feedback on the Meeting – Chair
Nothing to report
15 Date and Time of Next Meeting – DM
Wednesday 8th March at 9.00am (revised time)
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DL