CORPORATE GOVERNING BODY OF GODALMING COLLEGE
Minutes of the Full Corporation Meeting held at the College on Tuesday 24th March 2015 at 7pm
Present:
Brenda Jenner (Chair)
Robin Galliver
Clive Morton
David Adelman (Principal)
Liz Graham
Ruth Nixon
Graeme Baldwin
Chris Hayward
Brian Richards
Stephen Cooper
Douglas Jack
Julia Roberts
Stephen Dennison
Philip Knights
David Wheatley
Angela Gallagher-Brett
Val Martin-Long
Apologies:
Andrea Dlaska
In attendance:
Di Elliot (Clerk to the Corporation) George Chantry (Student governor from 1/4/15)
Action
1
Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Andrea Dlaska and accepted by the Committee.
Toby Humphreys and Emily Klark did not arrive for the meeting.
2
Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
3
Draft Minutes of the meeting held on 9th December 2014
The draft minutes of the last meeting were signed as accurate by the Chair.
4
Matters Arising
The outstanding Declarations of Interest forms should be returned to the Clerk.
5
Chair’s Action
Use of the College Seal – Brenda Jenner and David Adelman had signed the remaining
Deed of Covenant with Bovis.
Brenda Jenner reported that she had attended her first Waverley Federation meeting and
outlined some of the work carried out by the Federation providing special courses for local
secondary schools in collaboration with the College.
Brenda Jenner had attended a performance of ‘Sunshine on Leith’ and other members had
attended the recent musical concert, both of which were felt to be wonderful examples of
student achievement.
6
Principal’s Report
David Adelman highlighted the range of enrichment activities at the College and the
summary of the Fourth Build. Brenda Jenner expressed thanks to the College SMT and
Douglas Jack for a successful tender process for both of the Fourth Build contracts.
Robin Galliver arrived at 7.12pm
The Sixth Form College Association VAT Campaign was highlighted to members and noted
Chair’s initials ……….
that National Insurance and pensions contributions were adding to overall costs to the
College. Following a query regarding the cost of the contribution to the pension scheme, it
was outlined that this was a statutory requirement that would increase by £130k a year
and that for the current figure, members should see the latest accounts. Brenda Jenner
requested that any governors who had not already signed the petition, and were willing,
should contact her for the link.
7
Fourth Build
This had been discussed under item 6.
8
a)
Committee Reports
Curriculum and Quality – Stephen Dennison reported that the committee had welcomed
Andrea Dlaska. Will Baldwin had presented the new Quality Group process to the
committee. Brian Richards had raised his concern that Disclosure and Barring Service
(DBS) checks were not required by the College for Governors and felt that Governors
should be checked in the same way as teachers as they have a position of influence. This
had been raised at Chairs Forum where it had been clarified that in their capacity at the
College, governors are never in an unsupervised position with students. This had been
previously discussed and the Forum agreed that no changes to the policy would be
recommended. Following wider discussion within the Corporation, there were some
differences of opinion, and Brian Richards restated his concern however the general view
was that the policy would stand but would be kept under review. David Adelman would DA
investigate the policies of other Colleges and if appropriate, their reasons for carrying out
DBS checks on governors. Brenda Jenner thanked Brian Richards for raising this point.
The Equality and Diversity Policy, Substance Misuse Policy and Child Protection and
Safeguarding Policy were recommended and approved by the Corporation.
Human Resources – David Wheatley reported that Julia Roberts had been welcomed to
the committee and Clive Morton would be joining next term. Any governor who would
like to be considered as the new chair from next year should discuss this further with
Brenda Jenner. The new pay structure and outline proposals from the SMT away day had
been presented to the committee.
The Code of Conduct, Equality and Diversity Policy, Professional Duties and
Whistleblowing Policy were recommended and approved by the Corporation.
Following a query, it was noted that if there had been differences between committees
discussing the same policy, this would be discussed at Chairs Forum. It was felt that a
cover sheet would be useful for members to indicate whether changes to a policy are
textural, substantive or as a result of legislation.
Finance and Estates – Brenda Jenner reported on the Fourth Build to confirm that, as
agreed in the process, Martin McCarthy is distributing mid-termly reports to the
committee. The two reports produced to-date had been accepted by the Committee and
Martin McCarthy had given an update at the meeting. The Management accounts to end
of January had been presented and these were in line with the budget as expected, noting
that teaching salaries will be over budget to cover the additional staff required for the
increase in student numbers.
Audit – Philip Knights reported that the committee had looked at the Total Systems
Review. It was outlined that instead of different areas being reviewed this year, the peer
review would be repeated following a different process as outlined in the minutes.
Chairs Forum – this had been held yesterday with all items covered other than the
investigation of meeting times which would be discussed under item 11.
Philip Knights left at 7.50pm
b)
c)
d)
e)
9.
Strategic Documents
David Adelman outlined that both documents had been reviewed by all committees.
Chair’s initials ……….
a)
b)
10.
College SAR and Development Plan – Following a query on item 23 regarding specialist
vocational and GCSE courses provided by Godalming College to Waverley Federation
Schools, it was noted that the College receive payment for providing these courses and if
another school in addition to Woolmer Hill pulled out these may not be viable.
Risk Register – David Adelman outlined that there are no current high impact risks, but
that the risks to funding would continue in future years. The tenders were under the
budgeted costs and the capital project would continue to be managed effectively. Brenda
Jenner informed members that the College had received confirmation of an additional
£600k funding for next year as a result of the higher numbers this year.
Proposed Term Dates 2016-2017
The proposed dates are currently under discussion with SMT and the item would be
carried over to the next meeting.
DE
11.
Timings of meetings
Brenda Jenner outlined the reasons for reviewing and bringing forward the timings of
Corporation meetings as outline in the questionnaire circulated to all members. In
particular, the difficulty for student members to attend meetings starting a 7pm when
College finishes at 4.15pm and recognition of the work/life balance for staff were
highlighted. Other benefits would be to enable members to see the College during the
working day and provide the opportunity to speak to staff and students.
In principle, members were in favour of earlier meeting times; however concern was
expressed regarding some working members and whether this would affect the availability
of potential governors. Brenda Jenner would ensure that times of meetings would be
discussed with prospective candidates, although it was noted that most employers are
encouraging with regard to governorships. It was felt that earlier meeting times could also
have a positive effect on prospective staff governors. It was noted that meeting dates
would be published well in advanced with suitable times reviewed within specific
committees and recognised that on occasion some members would need to give priority to
clients and work commitments at short notice. Brenda Jenner summarised that the
discussion suggested agreement for earlier meetings whilst being sensitive to work
commitments.
Members were requested to send their completed replies to the Clerk so that Brenda ALL
Jenner and David Adelmen could assess suitable dates and times for 2015-16 committee
and Corporation meetings.
12.
Corporation Terms of Reference
The Terms of Reference had been updated with clarification by Eversheds of the current
Education Acts. The Terms of Reference were approved by the Corporation and noted that
they were distinct from the Articles and Instruments as they outlined in general terms
what the Corporation does.
13.
AOB
There was no other business.
14.
Date of next meeting
The next meeting would be on 15th July at 7pm.
The meeting closed at 8.24pm.
Signed …………………………………………………………………………………..
Date……………………………………………………………………………………….
Chair’s initials ……….