Minutes of the Governing Body Meeting – 26 October 2023

STEAM ACADEMY CONFERENCE ROOM AND VIA GOOGLE MEET – 4:30pm

PRESENT:

Judith Evans – Acting Chair
Emma Adamson
Viv Buckley – Principal
Lisa Dobbs – Staff Governor
Marion Evans – Staff Governor
Teodora Grancea – Student Governor
Claire Marshall
Joanne Oak – joined at 4.40pm
Stephne Puddy
Lloyd Tandy – Student Governor
Helen Verity

IN ATTENDANCE

Joe Baldwin – Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice)
Gemma Carr-Evans – Director of Curriculum
Nicola Eyre – Clerk
Andrew Gibbs – Deputy Principal (Resources)
Cath Luff – Director of People
Matt Rees – Vice-Principal (Work Based Learning and Commercial Activity)
Catrin Sullivan – Director of Curriculum

The meeting opened at 4.35pm

1. CHAIR’S WELCOME AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

The Chair gave a special welcome to the two new student governors, Teodora Grancea and Lloyd Tandy and also congratulated the following members of SLT on their recent appointments:

Viv Buckley – Interim Principal & CEO
Andrew Gibbs – Deputy Principal (Resources)
Joe Baldwin – Interim Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice)
Matt Rees – Vice Principal (WBL and Commercial Activity)
Cath Luff – Interim Director of People

Apologies for absence were noted from Jeff Greenidge (Chair), Trish D’Souza, Dawn Lewis-Whelan and Hayden Llewellyn.

Dan Biddle did not attend.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Trish D’Souza, although not present, had declared an interest in the ALN Policy (agenda item 7) as she had helped formulate the content with the Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice).

[REDACTED]

3. MINUTES OF THE GOVERNING BODY MEETING HELD ON 6 JULY 2023

The minutes of the Governing Body meeting held on 6 July 2023 were approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

4. MATTERS ARISING

4.1 Action Tracker

There were four actions on the Action Tracker – one green, one amber, one blue and one that had been superseded.

The members noted the actions and the update given against each of the actions on the Action Tracker.

4.2 Completed Actions 2022/23

The Chair commented that it is helpful to see this every year as it shows the amount of work being undertaken by the Governing Body and SLT.

5. PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE AND TEACHING AND LEARNING UPDATE

Principal’s Update

The Principal presented the following information:

In addition to the changes in the SLT listed in agenda item 1, Hayley Thomas will be joining as Vice-Principal (Curriculum & Quality) on 6 November 2023.
JoAnna Singh has been appointed as the new Success Hub Manager and Sion Whitehouse has recently been appointed as the new Wellbeing and Safeguarding Manager; both of these are external appointments.
Enrolment numbers have reached the Welsh Government (WG) target [REDACTED]
The WG is undertaking a detailed review of the way that it funds the FE sector as they are facing a £900m deficit for 2023/24. Some of the ways that they are looking to achieve this include changing the funding methodology for full-time learners, a reduction in part-time and WBL programmes, removal of funding for certain projects and changing the way Personal Learning Accounts are funded.

A member questioned whether, following the recent WG announcement, there is the potential of them recalling any funding in-year. It was confirmed that there is no impact on this year but they could look at the previous academic year and clawback any funding where targets weren’t reached.

Another member said that she would like to see what the impact of the reduction and removal of funding from certain areas means for the College. The Principal said that this work has begun internally and will be reported on when available (ACTION – VB).

The College has secured [REDACTED] of funding from the ‘Multiply’ programme following a competitive tendering process. This funding is to support learners with their maths and numeracy skills.
There has been a significant number of achievements between July and September (all listed in the Principal’s Report) and the Principal invited Lloyd Tandy to tell the Governing Body about his recent success.

Lloyd informed the members that after a competitive process, he had been appointed as one of four national Welsh Ambassadors for Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol for the 2023/24 academic year; Lloyd was a Welsh Ambassador for the College in 2022/23. The Governing Body congratulated Lloyd and wished him all the best in this role.

The Governing Body noted the update.

Teaching & Learning Update

The Principal explained that changes had been made to the induction process this year and that the feedback from the learners had been extremely positive – over 85% of learners stated that they are excited about their course and are happy to be at the College. It was noted that across the two days, there had been thousands of responses to the induction survey which has given very rich feedback to the College. The Principal thanked Gemma Carr-Evans and Catrin Sullivan, Directors of Curriculum, for their tremendous effort leading on this and said that the processes now in place are sector-leading.

The Principal also outlined the upcoming changes to the way that the Standards Committee will be run and thanked the Governing Body members who have agreed to attend these meetings after half term.

Finally, the members were informed of the creation of two new Lead Practitioner roles whose remit is to improve the standards of teaching and learning and to develop pedagogical practice with course teams. The Principal was pleased to announce that one of these roles is a bilingual role and that Marion Evans, staff governor, has been appointed into this position. Marion wasn’t present for this part of the meeting and the Chair said that when she joins, she’d like the Governing Body to congratulate Marion.

The Chair thanked the Principal for the detailed update and commented that it is really positive to hear about the feedback on the induction process. The Director of Curriculum (Pencoed) added that during the recent learning walks, the induction process was talked about a lot by the learners which demonstrates how well it worked.

The Chair also highlighted that funding is always a risk but this year, it feels a much greater risk and this was echoed by the Principal. The Chair added that the Governing Body is there to support the SLT and will help in any way it can. It was questioned whether CTER (Commission for Tertiary Education and Research) is involved in any of the funding discussions and it was explained that CTER doesn’t become operational until April 2024 but they are being liaised with in the interim.

The Governing Body noted the update.

6. GOVERNANCE MATTERS

The Governing Body APPROVED the following:

Terms of Reference for the Audit and Search & Governance Committees.
Amendments to the Standing Orders and the Instrument of Government to include the provisions for electronic approvals. The wording suggested by the Clerk and recommended for approval by the Search & Governance Committee is to be used.
The contents of the Clerk’s Report for 2022/23 and its onward submission to the WG on request. The Clerk informed the SLT that a discussion had taken place at the Search & Governance Committee meeting about sections of this report being used internally in other reports to avoid duplication of work.
The Governing Body’s committee structure for 2023/24.

The Governing Body NOTED the following:

The Governing Body Self-Assessment for 2022/23 and the Skills Analysis.
Joe Baldwin, Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice) has been successfully granted Responsible Individual (RI) status for the Day Nursery and Playscheme and is awaiting confirmation of the same for Weston House/Bevan College. [Clerk’s note: Confirmation of Joe Baldwin’s RI status for Weston House/Bevan College was received the day after the meeting].
The December Governing Body meeting will be held on Wednesday 13 December instead of Thursday 7 December.
The Governing Body Christmas Dinner will be held on Thursday 30 November and invitations will be sent out very soon.

The Clerk informed the Governing Body that risk management training has been arranged for the Audit Committee and SLT on 29 February 2024 between 1-4pm and all Governing Body members are invited to attend this in-person training. A diary invite had been sent to all Governing Body members’ College email addresses.

7. ADDITIONAL LEARNING NEEDS (ALN) POLICY

The Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice) explained that the ALN Act now includes young people up to the age of 25.

The following information about the policy was presented:

This is a new policy that has been through many iterations before being presented for approval.
Previously the contents of this policy sat within other policies.
The policy has been reviewed by the College’s legal advisors and is fit for purpose.
The College is responsible for creating, maintaining and reviewing Individual Development Plans (IDP) for learners.
The policy has a two-year review cycle.

The Chair asked when this policy needs to be adopted in order to comply with legislation. The Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice) explained that the policy needs to be in place by September 2024 but the College is piloting it early.

Another member questioned whether the 35 day turnaround time for an IDP is achievable, especially in certain areas such as apprenticeships and WBL due to pressure on resources. It was explained that this is the aim but the policy does allow for an extension of this timeframe if necessary. It was discussed that there is a lot of work to keep documentation and relevant parties updated.

The Governing Body approved the ALN Policy with the next review date agreed as October 2025.

5.00pm – Marion Evans joined the meeting

The Principal and Governing Body congratulated Marion Evans on her appointment as one of the Lead Practitioners and it was discussed that these roles demonstrate the College’s commitment to investing in teaching and learning. It was agreed that Marion would feed back on the work that she’s doing at a future Governing Body meeting (ACTION – ME).

8. TOWN CENTRE CAMPUS

The Governing Body had received two emails providing updates from the Deputy Principal (Resources) about the progress of the town centre campus project on 15 September and 5 October.

It was noted that the Resource Planning Committee had discussed the town centre campus in detail at its meeting held on 5 October.

[REDACTED]

The Governing Body noted the update.

9. SAFEGUARDING POLICY, PREVENT ACTION PLAN AND THE SAFEGUARDING ANNUAL REPORT

The Deputy Principal (Learner Journey, Systems and Inclusive Practice) presented the following information:

Safeguarding Policy

The UK Government has updated the Prevent Duty guidance which is effective from 31 December 2023. There have been no major changes for educational institutions but there is some new terminology used.
The only changes to this iteration of the policy are in Section 10 to reflect the above Prevent Duty guidance; it was noted that this is the third time that this policy has been updated this year.

The Governing Body approved the updated Safeguarding Policy.

Prevent Action Plan

The Prevent Action Plan has been updated following the new guidance issued.
The Prevent Duty is not devolved to the WG, however, the responsibility for Safeguarding is devolved to the WG.
The College must have a live risk assessment/action plan in place.
An internal audit for Prevent and Safeguarding is planned for this academic year.
There are three risk areas in Section 8 ‘Management of Space’ that require some further work e.g. a policy on venue hire. It was noted that work has started on these.

The Governing Body noted the Prevent Action Plan.

Safeguarding Annual Report 2022/23

A meeting had been held with Dawn Lewis-Whelan, governor responsible for Safeguarding, to discuss and review safeguarding and the annual report.
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
The complexity of safeguarding cases is growing.
All staff attended a mandatory staff briefing on safeguarding in June of this year.
Funding was secured from ‘Your Best Friend’, the only college to receive this. The aim of this funding is to empower young women and non-binary people with the knowledge and confidence to help their friends with key topics such as consent and peer-on-peer abuse. The College held self-defence courses, workshops and personal safety sessions with this funding.
The action on the Action Tracker has been completed – a new table showing the top 25 instances of safeguarding has been introduced into the report. The Governing Body was alerted to the fact that this table doesn’t include some of the major cases that occur infrequently e.g. Police involvement.
Mental health remains an ongoing concern.
The analyses of cases by curriculum area, by campus and by month were presented.
For the first time, staff safeguarding is being reported. [REDACTED]

The Chair thanked the Deputy Principal and everyone else involved for the update and commented that it is sad to see the high number of occurrences. It was questioned whether the Safeguarding/Wellbeing Teams have any support as they are dealing with this daily. The Deputy Principal confirmed that they have support from an external counselling service.

Another member said that she found the report very helpful and that it is important that the staff involved with these occurrences access the counselling available to them. A question was asked about any new trends with mental health. The Deputy Principal explained that there are two noticeable trends:

The involvement of multi-agencies including the Police, especially in relation to ex-school friends; and
Peer and home relationships – these are becoming more strained and this is partly due to financial pressures which are making situations more challenging. Evidence of this can be seen in the uptake of the free breakfast initiative which has risen dramatically this year.

It was discussed that for some young people facing challenges, the best place for them would be in education. However, the College needs to protect the safety of its other learners and staff and therefore it isn’t always possible for them to be enrolled at the College.

A staff governor said that one of her team had accessed the College’s counselling service and that she felt that having this support enabled her to remain in work. The advice, support and tools that she learnt from the counselling are being shared with her colleagues to help support the whole team.

It was questioned whether the WG collects statistics on safeguarding, mental health and wellbeing and it was noted that the College, via ColegauCymru, had been asked to provide information for the past four years (the information has recently been submitted). It was commented that the WG has been very supportive of the FE sector during this time.

The Governing Body noted the Safeguarding Annual Report.

10. UPDATE ON YEAR-END ACCOUNTS 2022/23, MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTS AND KPIs

[REDACTED]

The Governing Body noted that the update and that the external audit is currently taking place.

11. CORPORATE KPIs

The Governing Body had received the Corporate KPIs and the Balanced Scorecard. The Balanced Scorecard was blank except for the targets for 2023/24 and the actuals for 2022/23 as it is too early for the information for 2023/24.

[REDACTED]

The Governing Body noted the Corporate KPIs and Balanced Scorecard.

12. COMMITTEE MINUTES

12.1 Curriculum & Quality – 22 June 2023

The Governing Body RECEIVED these minutes.

[REDACTED]

12.2 Search & Governance – 28 September 2023

The Governing Body RECEIVED these minutes. All recommendations had been included in agenda item 6 ‘Governance Matters’.

12.3 Resource Planning – 5 October 2023

The Governing Body RECEIVED these minutes. There was one recommendation and one item for noting:

[REDACTED]

13. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

None

VALUES CHECKER

The meeting was well chaired.
Everyone had the opportunity to speak.
There was a lot of helpful information in the Safeguarding Report and update.
The College appears to be very supportive and caring for its staff and learners.

The meeting closed at 5.58pm.

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