Hampshire Governors Representative Group
Notes of meeting
Date 4 October 2000
Time 6.00 pm
Venue The Professional Centre,
Winchester
Present Cynthia Hicks Winchester
Robin Gray Fleet
Martin Holmes Fleet
Sylvia Vine Havant
Vernon Petherick Havant
Jim Watt New Forest
John Brailsford Havant
Ian Chrystie Fleet
John Mason Winchester
Carol Barfoot Parent Governor
Representative (Special)
Ginny Assinder Parent Governor
Representative (Primary)
Hazel Round HCC
Apologies Apologies were received
And and accepted from Martina
Welcome Humber (New Forest) ,
Linda Lawson (special
school representative),
David Goodman
(Winchester), Glyn Wadey
(Havant), Lyn Hodges
(Parent Governor
Representative). The two
parent governor
representatives were
welcomed to the meeting
and introductions made.
Action
1 Election of Officers and Representatives
HGRG - Notes of Meeting - 4 October 2000
The following officers and representatives
were appointed:
Chairman: Ian Chrystie
Vice Chairman: John Brailsford
Treasurer: John Brailsford
Rep for Education Committee: It seems that
Martina Humber is happy to continue and HGRG
supported this
NGC Rep: Ian Chrystie
Rep for Southern Careers: Vernon Petherick
will consider whether he can take on this VP
role and let the chairman know.
Rep on Asset Management Steering Group:
John Mason will continue
Numeracy Strategy: John Brailsford will
continue.
2 Notes of 25 May 2000 were agreed as a correct
record
3 Matters Arising
The Chairman had written to the special
schools representatives explaining that HGRG
now wished one co-opted place to be for
special schools and the other for secondary
schools with sixth forms. No reply had yet
been received. The Chairman would write to IC
the chairmen of governors of secondary
schools with sixth forms inviting nominees
for the co-opted place.
Page 3, item 7 - The final outturn figure for
the budget was £5031. IC
Page 4, final paragraph - Park House received
papers about school closure in time to tell
staff and parents before the news hit the
press. This was very much appreciated and
should be fed back to county forum
4 Draft County Forum Agenda
HGRG - Notes of Meeting - 4 October 2000
Item 5 - Budget timetable - The Chairman
explained that HGRG sends representatives to
budget meetings in mid December and January.
He will let the parent governor
representatives know the dates so that one of IC/JM/JW
them can attend if they wish to do so. Ian
will attend. John Mason will do so if he is
free on the dates chosen and Jim Watt will
stand in if the others are unavailable.
It was noted with concern that there appears
to be an increasing percentage of secondary
schools in deficit whereas the primary
percentage remains static. Those attending
County Forum will raise this matter and seek
information on whether this is a Hampshire IC
problem or general across other LEAs.
They will also ask Roger Mead to confirm that
schools will be given early warning and
adequate training in the new County
Treasurer's system. There were concerns
about the way in which figures will be
presented and whether the system is
sufficiently user-friendly.
Additional Agenda items: HGRG felt that the
implementation of Performance Management
should be discussed as item 6. There were
concerns over the time schedule for the
introduction (see paper from Jim Watt
attached) and the problems of obtaining
advisers, which HGRG wished to feed back to
the DfEE through the National Governors JB
Council.
Items 6-9: HGRG asked that clarification be
sought on whether these items required
significant governor input. Andrew Seber was
asked to decide whether to move them to the
end of the agenda for discussion or whether
the matters could be dealt with by providing
papers for information only.
Item 10: should be moved to number 7 as
representatives felt there were important
issues to discuss.
Dates of future meetings: John Brailsford
will mention the need to allow for local
forum meetings when scheduling County Forum
dates.
5 Amendments to Representing Hampshire
Governors Leaflet
The suggestion was made that Bob Poulton be
asked to update the leaflet along the lines HR
of the website entry and a proof be sent to
Jim Watt for approval
6&7 Correspondence and Chairman's Items
None were raised
8 Treasurer's Items
Expenditure stands at £717.04 against a
budget of £8000. NGC subscription has been
paid, bills for secretarial and IT services
are expected. Claims for travel expenses
should be sent to Angela Donnelly.
9 HGRG reps feedback from meetings
Education Committee - Parent governor
representatives had found the meeting
worthwhile and felt they were made welcome.
National Governors Council - Ian Chrystie was
unable to attend the last meeting.
Numeracy Strategy - the strategy has been
implemented very smoothly in Hampshire and
this group will only meet once per year
unless circumstances require extra meetings.
Asset Management Plans - written report
attached. The group felt that the division
of responsibilities for buildings needs to be
clarified. Further briefings and revision of
"Your Building or Ours" are under
consideration for 2001-2002. In the meantime
local forums could ask Shirley Turner to
speak.
HGRG - Notes of Meeting - 4 October 2000
10 Local Forum items
New Forest - Appointing LEA governors had
been discussed. There was an individual case
which had caused concern but HGRG did not
feel problems were widespread. A Governor
Services Working Group will be reviewing the GS
process and there will be consultation on any
proposed changes.
Discussions on safety took place and
governors were advised to seek advice from
ROSPA before making changes to traffic
management. Removing traffic jams and
encouraging reversing both add to the danger GS
for children.
Fareham & Gosport - Glyn Wadey is the new
HGRG representative for this area. The clerk
will check Lorraine Robinson has his details
The forum has invited headteacher
representatives to the next meeting and is
considering invitations to local councillors.
The website had been accessed by most
governors present and was felt to be an
excellent initiative. Suggestions for
additions were: a glossary of terms, a
chat-room, examples of good practice, the
highlighting on the home pages of new or
changed items. There was a discussion about
the uptake and quality of school meals.
This was also discussed in the New Forest.
Members were asked to raise it through HGRG
feedback as an item for future discussion and
ask whether information could be provided on
the county system for monitoring quality and
the procurement process.
Winchester - No meeting had been held. It
was confirmed that schools need to request
the award of long-service certificates as
Governor Services computerised records do not
go back far enough to prompt them
automatically. In response to a query about
the best ways to schedule meetings it was
confirmed that this is a matter for
individual forums.
Fleet - Meeting to be held on 19 October.
11 Any other business
DfEE/Ofsted Conference - 8-10 February 2001,
Swindon
The Chairman and Sylvia Vine will keep the
dates free with John Mason as a reserve. IC/SV/JM
HGRG will pay travel expenses but assumes
accommodation is provided.
National Governors Council - Saturday 18
November, London SV
Sylvia Vine will go and feedback Hampshire MH
governors views on performance management.
Martin Holmes will check his diary and let
Angela Donnelly know if he can go.
Written feedback for HGRG and for use in
Hampshire Governor would be appreciated from
delegates to both these events.
12 Future dates: Dates were accepted but future
scheduling needs to allow more scope for
forums to meet beforehand - see item 5 above
The meeting closed at 8.30 pm
HGRG - Notes of Meeting - 4 October 2000
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