Agenda and minutes

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2012

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2012 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

            Paddy Bradley (Head of Commissioning, Economy/Attainment) presented a report advising of changes needed to the Forum’s membership as a result of new Regulations which come into force on 1 October 2012.

Mr Bradley commented on the report highlighting the changes that would be needed to comply with the Regulations compared to the current membership. A significant change was the requirement for six academy head teachers and members commented on the difficulty of electing representatives as there was no over-arching association for academy heads within the town. It was noted that both the primary and secondary head teacher associations would be meeting within a few days so their final representatives could be determined but the academy heads would all need to meet to agree their representation. Lynne Fletcher (Swindon Academy) agreed that a holistic approach was required but remarked that the Academy was routinely omitted from consultations and communications because it was a stand-alone establishment. Andy Hazelton (Governor, Secondary Academy) offered to draft a letter to all academies inviting them to a meeting to elect their representatives, if the Local Authority would facilitate such a meeting.

 The Forum generally agreed with the new membership structure set out in paragraph 3.12 of the report, with the exception of the governor representation, which was considered to be too low. Members determined that there should be two primary and two academy governors on the Forum, with the total membership adjusted accordingly.

In view of the short time available until the next meeting, it was agreed that the membership should be reconfigured in line with the new Regulations using the current members of the Forum. New areas of representation would be approached and asked to join and any vacancies would be filled in the coming months with the final academy representation in place by January 2013.  

            Resolved – That the Schools Forum:

1)   Notes the requirements of the Regulations and agrees the revised

membership as set out in paragraph 3.12 of the report with the exception of the governor representation which should be amended to 2 Primary and 2 Academy Governors. The increase in governors would not affect the head teacher representation and the overall Forum membership would increase to 24.

2)   Agrees that its membership be reconfigured in line with the

new Regulations using the current members until such time as final appointments are made.

3)   Requests the Local Authority to help in facilitating a meeting of

academy heads or proprietors to enable them to elect their representatives to the Forum  

The next meeting is on Tuesday, 9 October 2012 at 4.00 p.m. in Committee Room 6, Civic Offices, Swindon

            It was noted that the next meeting of the Forum would take place on Tuesday, 9 October 2012 at 4.00 p.m. in Committee Room 6, Civic Offices, Swindon.