Decisions and minutes

Members declared the following general personal interests in the business in the agenda:

Councillor Runciman – Governor of Joseph Rowntree School and Trustee of the Theatre Royal.

Councillor Cuthbertson – Governor of Headlands Primary School

Councillor Kind – Governor of Burnholme Community College & Haxby Road Primary School

Councillor King – Governor of Burton Green School

Councillor I Waudby – Governor of Lakeside School

Dr D Sellick – Governor of Derwent Infant & Junior School

Mr J Bailey – Governor of Huntington School

Ms F Barclay – Teacher at All Saints School; Teacher governor at All Saints School. ATL: Branch Secretary for City of York.

Ms B Reagan is a teacher at Joseph Rowntree School, SENCO and Secretary of the York Association of the National Union of Teachers.

The following interests were also declared:

Councillor Runciman declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 Building Schools for the future – one-School Pathfinder’ as she was a governor at Joseph Rowntree School and a ward member for Huntington & New Earswick.

Ms Barbara Reagan declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 Building Schools for the future – one-School Pathfinder’ as she was a teacher at Joseph Rowntree School.

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the last meeting of the Executive Members & Children’s Services Advisory Panel, held on 8 June 2006 be approved and signed as a correct record.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Members received a presentation on the results of a Parents and Carers School Survey, carried out by the Local Authority to find out how schools interact with parents.

57 out of 69 York schools took part with an overall response rate of 33% which was considered to be a good response level.  The survey included 20 generic questions and was further modified for each individual school to include up to 5 questions specific to their areas of interest.

In order to gain statistics from the results of the survey, parents were asked for the gender and year group of their child attending the school.

It was noted that the findings differed between primary and secondary schools but there were some common responses:

·              Parents of boys answered more positively than parents of girls

·              A high number of parents did not know what year group their child was in

·              A majority of parents responded that their child liked school and was making good progress

·              A majority of parents agreed that their child behaved well in school

·              A majority of parents did not agree that their school took action as a result of the views they expressed

·              A majority of parents did not agree that schools dealt effectively with incidents of bullying

 The presentation outlined two case studies which showed the impact of the survey on schools and parents.  In both cases the survey had highlighted areas of concern.  At Robert Wilkinson Primary School the survey showed:

·              that parents needed more information on how their child was getting on in school.  In response, the school produced a curriculum newsletter per year group which explained the areas of work to be covered in the school year

·              that staff did not provide enough explanation on how parents could help their child at home.  In response, the school updated their homework policy and arranged extra meetings for parents on specific curriculum issues

At St Mary’s Primary School the survey showed:

·              that parents did not agree that the school dealt effectively with incidents of bullying.  As a result of this, the school’s bullying policy was updated and made more transparent and a behaviour incident log book was created.

Members were informed that a further survey was planned for the summer of 2009 and that following the success of the first survey, more schools had expressed an interest in taking part.  It was recognised that the results of the first survey would provide a baseline on which to measure the areas of improvement next time.

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member note the results of the survey and thank those officers involved for all their work.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:            That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:            To progress work in this area.

Members considered a report which highlighted the current position with regard to vacancies for Local Authority seats on governing bodies, listed nominations for those vacancies and requested the appointment, or re-appointment of the listed nominees.

It was noted that all governing bodies were required to reconstitute by 31 August 2006 under the terms of the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003.

Many governing bodies had agreed to adopt a new constitution and in some cases that had affected the size of those bodies.  It was noted that this had resulted in a larger number of governor vacancies than would normally be the case - Annex one of the report detailed the current position of each governing body.

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member be advised to appoint, or re-appoint LA Governors to fill vacant seats as proposed in Annex One.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:            That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:            To progress work in this area.

Members considered a report which highlighted the current position with regard to vacancies for Local Authority seats on governing bodies, listed nominations for those vacancies and requested the appointment, or re-appointment of the listed nominees.

It was noted that all governing bodies were required to reconstitute by 31 August 2006 under the terms of the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003.

Many governing bodies had agreed to adopt a new constitution and in some cases that had affected the size of those bodies.  It was noted that this had resulted in a larger number of governor vacancies than would normally be the case - Annex one of the report detailed the current position of each governing body.

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member be advised to appoint, or re-appoint LA Governors to fill vacant seats as proposed in Annex One.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:            That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:            To progress work in this area.

Members considered a report informing them that York had been selected as one of 25 pathfinder authorities to be invited to build a single new secondary school under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The DfES had prioritised the order in which Local Authorities entered the scheme using the joint critieria of school standards and ward deprivation factors.  However, in the case of York, the DfES had recognised that this would mean a considerable wait before schools with major condition and suitability issues could be renewed. 

It was noted that there were a number of mandatory terms and conditions set by the DfES as part of their offer, including:

·         The new building must be opened by September 2009

·         The scheme must be delivered on budget

·         The scheme must be consistent with the authority’s long-term secondary strategy and the educational vision of BSF

·         The scheme is required to achieve a schools BREEAM ‘very good’ rating in terms of its environmental performance

·         The scheme must use the Design Quality Indicator for Schools and adopt best principles in project procurement

·         The LA must evaluate the outcome of the project and share the results with the DfES, Partnerships for Schools (PfS) and other LAs.

Members were informed of the analysis undertaken to consider which of the secondary schools in York should be nominated as the Pathfinder school.  This included school capacity, pupil numbers, building condition, school improvement targets and standards.  Four schools were short listed but the final report recommended that Joseph Rowntree school be selected as the pathfinder school as it was in need of at least £3.2 million worth of condition work to bring basic facilities to a reasonable standard.

The next stage involved consultation on design and Members asked that the results be presented to the committee once completed.  It was also noted how important it was to ensure the inclusion of facilities for community use and it was recognised that grants could be sought to enhance this part of the project. 

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member be recommended to:

·              Note that York had been selected as one of 25 pathfinder authorities to be invited to build a single new secondary school under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

·              Nominate Joseph Rowntree School as York’s pathfinder and request officers to work with the school in order to prepare and submit a detailed proposal as required by the DfES.      

 Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:            That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:            To progress work in this area.

Members considered a report informing them that York had been selected as one of 25 pathfinder authorities to be invited to build a single new secondary school under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

The DfES had prioritised the order in which Local Authorities entered the scheme using the joint critieria of school standards and ward deprivation factors.  However, in the case of York, the DfES had recognised that this would mean a considerable wait before schools with major condition and suitability issues could be renewed. 

It was noted that there were a number of mandatory terms and conditions set by the DfES as part of their offer, including:

·         The new building must be opened by September 2009

·         The scheme must be delivered on budget

·         The scheme must be consistent with the authority’s long-term secondary strategy and the educational vision of BSF

·         The scheme is required to achieve a schools BREEAM ‘very good’ rating in terms of its environmental performance

·         The scheme must use the Design Quality Indicator for Schools and adopt best principles in project procurement

·         The LA must evaluate the outcome of the project and share the results with the DfES, Partnerships for Schools (PfS) and other LAs.

Members were informed of the analysis undertaken to consider which of the secondary schools in York should be nominated as the Pathfinder school.  This included school capacity, pupil numbers, building condition, school improvement targets and standards.  Four schools were short listed but the final report recommended that Joseph Rowntree school be selected as the pathfinder school as it was in need of at least £3.2 million worth of condition work to bring basic facilities to a reasonable standard.

The next stage involved consultation on design and Members asked that the results be presented to the committee once completed.  It was also noted how important it was to ensure the inclusion of facilities for community use and it was recognised that grants could be sought to enhance this part of the project. 

Advice of the Advisory Panel:

That the Executive Member be recommended to:

·              Note that York had been selected as one of 25 pathfinder authorities to be invited to build a single new secondary school under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

·              Nominate Joseph Rowntree School as York’s pathfinder and request officers to work with the school in order to prepare and submit a detailed proposal as required by the DfES.      

 Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:            That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed

REASON:            To progress work in this area.