SCHOOLS’ NEWSLETTER

Information for governors and staff of diocesan schools

Diocese of Leeds Office for Education and Schools

September 2013

CONTENTS Welcome Action Required on: School Contribution Ser-vice Professional Development Programme 2013-14 Year of Faith—Cafod Up-date Little Way Week Northern Diocese Leader-ship Programme Headteacher Emergency Contact School Governance Regs Code of Conduct Appointment of School and RE Leaders Discretionary Transport Section 48 Admissions Churchmarketplace Capital Matters Living Wage Obtaining a Charity No Contact information National Leaders of Gov-ernance Teaching Schools Information Role of Governing Bodies CES DfE Advice Academy Conversion– school Complaints Policy Case Law Dates for the Diary New HTs Contact Us Diary of Courses

Welcome to the new academic year at last a summer with sun and warmth.

I hope you all had an enjoyable summer break and return rested and ready for

the new school year.

The celebrations of the Year of Faith continued throughout the year and it was

rewarding to see the many different ways in which schools fulfilled Pope

Emeritus Benedict’s request 'to give fresh impetus to the mission of the whole

Church to lead human beings out of the wilderness in which they often find

themselves to

the place of life,

friendship with

Christ that gives

us life in full-

ness.' As the

Year draws to a close on 24 November, our last event will be the Mass for

Governor’s on Tuesday 19th November at the Cathedral. I hope as many gov-

ernors as possible will attend. Mgr John Wilson will preside at the Mass.

Every Catholic school in England and Wales has been invited to conclude the

'Year of Faith' by having a week of prayer and service inspired by a young

saint.. The joint initiative of the Bishops’ Department for Education and For-

mation, and also Evangelisation and Catechesis, is called ‘Little Way Week’ and

is being run from 5 - 11 October (see page 2)

Last year was an incredibly busy time for everyone with the implementation of

a new s48 framework, two academy trusts being established and 14 schools

converting to academies, a large increase in the number of our schools being

inspected by Ofsted and the resulting s48 inspections. s48 inspections were

also carried out for schools who had not been inspected by Ofsted for over

five years. Schools and ourselves lobbied local authorities and the Department

for Education about transport, EBacc subjects and GCSE marking. Major build-

ing projects were completed in several schools providing new and exciting

learning environments.

My thanks to all governors, headteachers, and staff who have worked consci-

entiously and diligently as always to support the future of the children in our

schools. Your work is appreciated and valued by the Diocese.

I won’t even try to predict what may be on the agenda this year but we wish

you all continuing success.

Angela Cox

Diocesan Principal Education Officer

ACTION REQUIRED

School Contribution Service

Thank you to all those schools who have supported the School Contribution Service for the year. Catholic schools constitute 10% of all schools in England and as such play an important part not only in providing education for our local Catholic families but in the wider community when parents choose to send their chil-dren to us. Overall standards in our diocesan schools rose once again last year and over 20% of our schools were successfully inspected by Ofsted (not including subject and monitoring visits). The education provision of the Diocese was funded through the parish assessments. Most Dioceses have moved this responsibility from the parishes by using a different approach. They have established a school contribution scheme where schools have the opportunity to donate towards the costs of their provision. This varies across dioceses but is in the region of £10 - £20 per pupil with each diocese contributing additional amounts. In this Diocese, a decision had to be made as to whether parish assessments should be in-creased or whether a contribution scheme should be introduced. A school scheme allows all to contribute to the education they request from our schools whether they are Mass attendees and donate to the parish or not. The Contribution Scheme funds those staff and processes required by the Bishop by which Catholic educa-tion is provided as a result there are benefits for the schools. A relatively small Diocesan team ensures:

• Appointment of foundation governors

• Inspection of schools for Catholic life and RE including drafting of diocesan protocols in line with na-tional agreements

• Training of s48 inspectors

• Provision of diocesan school buildings and land and relevant professional advice

• Review of school standards information

• Appointment of practising Catholics to school leadership roles

• Induction and development of staff in our schools

• Appointment of school chaplains

• School admission policies appropriate for Catholic schools

• Guidance appropriate to Catholic schools

• Funding of the Catholic Education Service

• Liaison with CES, National Board of Religious Inspectors and Advisers, DfE, Ofsted, National College, local authorities and other bodies

• Reporting to the Diocesan Trustee and ensuring compliance with Charity Commission requirements

The education and property team carries out its work in such a way that benefits may accrue to schools and colleges. These include:

• An annual professional development programme for staff and governors that is free of charge for fully contributing schools irrespective of the numbers attending courses

• Development opportunities for staff through secondments

• Enhanced guidance on Catholic schools, e.g. Schools of Discipleship, Governors’ Handbook etc

• Headteachers’ conference and support for retreats

• S48 Guidance and procedures briefings for staff and governors

• Advice, guidance and model documentation for the appointment of leadership staff

• Guidance and newsletters to schools

In setting the contribution at £10, the cost has been kept low. In order for the education provision to con-tinue as it is, it needs all schools to contribute their share. Schools are only Catholic schools because they are a part of the Diocese under the jurisdiction of the Bishop or in our case Diocesan administrator. We urge all governing bodies to make their contribution this term.

ACTION REQUIRED

Professional Development Programme 2013-14

This year we have extended the courses on offer, so we hope that there is some-

thing for everyone and there will be a good take up of the opportunities on offer.

Despite the pressures of time and economic constraints, it is important that we

enable and encourage the continuing development of our school staff and gover-

nors which, in turn, will strengthen the Catholic identity and mission of our schools.

As always, we have listened to what people found useful in previous courses and

tailored this year’s portfolio to meet the needs that have been identified. The full

brochure and two other summary booklets have been produced (one for governors

and one for RE staff ) all of which are available on our website. In addition, all

schools have been provided with a hard copy and a pdf version of each booklet for

use in school. Courses planned for this term are listed at the back of this newslet-

ter.

The programme includes courses for school leadership including aspiring head-

teachers and deputy headteachers, details of the headteacher wellbeing confer-

ences, training for RE teachers and co-ordinators at both primary and secondary level. Governors sessions includes

guidance on admissions and capital matters as well as preparation for s48 and most importantly the role of founda-

tion governors. Alongside this are courses on spirituality, cathechists preparation and Foundations in Faith.

Together with the Four Northern Dioceses, we have been fortunate to obtain funding from NCTL to allow us to estab-

lish residential events once again for newly appointed primary headteachers and for aspiring headteachers and dep-

uty headteachers at a reasonable cost. I do hope that as many as possible will take the opportunity to consider the

ministry to which they are called, alongside colleagues from the other local dioceses. It is hoped that a residential

event for newly appointed secondary headteachers will be held later in the year.

From the Diocesan RE Co-ordinator

∗ In the ‘Primary and Secondary RE’ section (page 11) there are details of a series of days for different year groups

on ‘Creative Teaching of the Way, the Truth & the Life’. These days are led by Lat Blaylock and Fiona Moss from

REToday. Each day is focused on a particular year group and so is targeted at the Class Teacher of that particular

year group.

∗ A similar taster day on ‘Better RE: Theology, Creativity and Personal Engagement’ is offered to Secondary RE

teachers (page 11)

∗ There are details of a morning session that provides an opportunity for both primary and secondary phase teach-

ers and governors to learn, engage and reflect upon ‘Preparation for S48 Inspection’ (page 12).

∗ A full day course for ‘Support Staff new to working in Catholic schools’ is offered, (page 13). Please encourage

your new or recently appointed support staff to take up this opportunity to enhance their school based induction

programmes.

∗ I have planned two visits to other places of worship, an Orthodox Synagogue and a Mosque, for teachers and gov-

ernors in order to support personal preparation and planning of a visit with children or simply to aid personal un-

derstanding. Details of the visits are on page 13 of the CPD booklet.

∗ Chaplains in our schools also have the opportunity to attend termly meetings to support them in their role. Please

encourage their attendance.

∗ Finally, on pages 15 and 16 of the CPD booklet I have listed all the available dates for RE Co-ordinator and RE Sub-

ject Leader meetings across the Diocese. With the exception of the ‘Diocesan Heads’ of RE Meetings’ these meet-

ings are cross-phase so I encourage each school (primary and secondary) within a particular cluster, partnership

or academy to send an appropriate RE representative.

ACTION REQUIRED

Year of Faith - Update from CAFOD

Once again very many thanks to all our schools for the wonderful support you give to CA-

FOD.

Early in September you will receive your Harvest Packs with an invitation

to take part in the ‘Bog Share’. For Primary Schools, pupils aged 7-11,

there is an exciting opportunity to ‘Design a Sock’ – a project we have

undertaken with Sock Shop. Details are in the Harvest Fast Day Pack.

For Advent, there will be our usual, very popular resources so look out

for those later in the term.

In the meantime have a look on the CAFOD website www.cafod.org.uk

for more resources including an update about our work in Syria.

Finally, special thanks to the primary schools who sent in prayers for the CAFOD Primary

School Prayer Book.

YEAR of FAITH

Little Way Week 5th-11

th October 2013

The Home Mission Desk, with the support of the CES, is planning to run a second Little Way Week in the autumn term to help schools in their celebration of the Year of Faith. Resources are available at www.catholicnews.org.uk/lww2013 to support schools in their seven days of prayer and service in the footsteps of St

Thérèse of Lisieux. As part of Little Way Week there will be an Art Competition, run by Premier Ra-dio, and a free ‘Wednesday Word’ Resource (http://www.wednesdayword.org/school/index.htm). For more information please contact the Home Mission Desk (mission.volunteer@cbcew.org.uk 0207 901 4818).

Headteacher Emergency Contact

We have had several occasions when we have needed to contact headteachers out of school hours in an

emergency. To facilitate this we would be grateful if headteachers would forward your home and/or mo-

bile number to Bev on beverley.sice@dioceseofleeds,org.uk

Northern Dioceses Leadership Programme Career Pathway for Teachers in a Catholic School Following work by the CES national working party on Catholic leadership, the Northern Dioceses Leader-ship Programme has developed a pathway to guide discussions on experiences, responsibilities and devel-opment that should be considered as teachers progress through their career. It cannot cover all opportuni-ties but is intended to act as a prompt when considering nest steps. It is available on the diocesan website and from schools. Mentoring Programme for Headteachers New to Catholic Headship In the next couple of weeks an updated and revised mentoring programme will be available for newly ap-pointed Catholic headteachers and their mentors to use as a framework for induction and development. We hope you will find it useful and will be pleased to receive feedback.

School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regula-

tions 2013 S.I No. 1624 (“2013 Regulations”) IMPORTANT As no doubt you will know from local authority newsletters, these new regulations come into force on 1st September 2013. The regulations were an attempt to reduce regulation on schools but in doing so have cre-ated some issues that LAs may not recognise. For more information, the briefing for chairs and clerks on Tuesday 17September 2013 6.30pm at Hinsley Hall will include a session on implementing the new regula-tions. Some elements that are no longer prescribed by the regulation could be considered best practice so governing bodies may want to continue with existing practices e.g. Regulation 13 only requires an agenda to be circulated 7 days prior to a meeting, personally for an effective governing body I would still expect that the papers including the headteachers report were circulated 7 days in advance of a planned meeting. Regulation 19 of the 2013 Regulations changes the position (as contained in the The School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations 2003 (as amended)) so that the Governing Body may delegate, to an individual, any function or power imposed on it in respect of admission arrangements. This is at odds with The School Admissions Code (the “Admissions Code”) which provides that decisions on admissions must be made by the governing body or a committee appointed by the governing body for that purpose i.e. not by an individual. In response to enquiries, the DfE has clarified that there is no intention to change the Admis-sions Code to reflect Regulation 19. In summary, the Admissions Code is a statutory document and must be followed over-riding the regula-tions. VA governing bodies as the admission authority must establish an admissions committee if decisions on admissions are to be delegated in any way. Under no circumstances should decisions on admissions be delegated to an individual. Your attention is further drawn to Regulation 24 which changes the position so that associate members may now vote on a resolution concerning admissions, pupil discipline, election or appointment of governors and the budget and financial commitments of the governing body. Governing bodies need to be aware of this as there may be a potential shift in the balance of voting powers away from the Foundation Gover-nors. It is easily remedied by including in the terms of reference of any committees dealing with these mat-ters that ‘associate members only have a vote if a majority of foundation governors are present at the meet-ing’

ACTION REQUIRED

Code of Conduct for Governing Bodies

A reminder to all governing bodies that it is good practice to consider the code of conduct (available on the

website) and readopt it at the first meeting of the year.

APPOINTMENT OF HEADTEACHERS, DEPUTY HEADTEACHERS, CHAPLAINS AND HEADS OF RE

It is essential that any school, academy or college follows the ‘Bishops’ Memorandum on the Appointment

of teachers to Catholic Schools’ (available on the CES website). When a vacancy occurs for a Headteacher,

Deputy Headteacher (or Head of RE or a chaplain in secondary schools), it is Diocesan policy for the Educa-

tion Service to be informed before any action is taken to fill the vacancy. This should be done by the

headteacher or the chair of governors as appropriate. No action should be taken to fill a vacancy at this

level without receiving advice from Diocesan officers. Leadership posts are reserved posts and applicants

must be able to fulfil eligibility criteria. It is the governing body’s duty to ensure the Catholic ethos of the

school so the Diocese will always attend the planning, short listing and interview meetings to give advice.

Guidance is available, on request, for chairs beginning to consider leadership recruitment, please contact

Beverley Sice.

ACTION REQUIRED

Discretionary Transport As you may be aware, the DfE had issued new guidance on Home to School travel and transport in March 2013 . The revised guidance was considerably shorter than the previous document and removed much helpful content. At the time, the CES (on behalf of dioceses) expressed its disappointment that they were not consulted on the draft, or indeed even informed by the DfE that the document had been published. They also expressed the view to the DfE that the removal of the helpful content, reducing the guidance to set out the statutory requirements only, and pointing out that there was no general statutory duty requiring local authorities to provide free transport to ‘faith schools’, was damaging. It provided even more encouragement to local au-thorities to continue with the removal of discretionary transport. The CES was not alone in complaining either about the manner in which the guidance was published or the content of it. It would appear that as a result of such representations the DfE has decided to reinstate the statutory guidance which applied immediately prior to the publication of the new guidance on 3rd March 2013. We understand that the DfE will be consulting on a revised version of the statutory guidance during Autumn 2013. Here is a link to the DfE website setting out the position: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/travelandtransport/g00224737/home-school-travel-transport As soon as we know when the consultation is planned we will alert schools. It is essential that all diocesan schools will make responses setting out the importance of discretionary transport to our Catholic families.

Section 48 Inspections The new s48 framework was introduced in the Spring term and feedback from schools inspected since then has been very positive. Our gratitude to the members of the Diocesan Board for Inspections for all their work in planning and implementing the new framework as well as to the inspectors who were supportive of the changes. We encourage all schools, following inspection, to complete the questionnaire and provide welcome feedback to us on the process. In this year’s CPD brochure there are two courses aimed specifically at supporting schools with s48 inspec-tion: Tuesday 22 October 2013 6.30pm - 8.30pm A session for school governors on ‘promoting RE and the Catholic life of the school’. This session will focus on the duties of foundation governors and how school governors evaluate these areas and can prepare for a s48 inspection. Tuesday 22 October 2013 9.30am - 12.30pm A morning session that provides an opportunity for both primary and secondary phase teachers and gover-nors to learn, engage and reflect upon ‘Preparation for S48 Inspection’. Section 48 SEF Data Sheet In recent years there have been several revisions to the Section 48 diocesan inspection schedule. These revisions are reflected in the outline guidance and grade descriptors of the Self-Evaluation Form (SEF). These changes are not reflected in the existing SEF Data Sheet that schools fill in before a Section 48 In-spection. Consequently, the data sheet for the Primary and Secondary school SEF has been updated (September 2013) to include the percentage of levels of progress in Religious Education. In the SEF for the primary phase schools are asked to include the percentage of 2 and 3 levels of progress in Religious Edu-cation. In the SEF for the secondary phase schools are asked to include the percentage of 3 and 4 levels of progress in Religious Education. The reason for recording levels of progress for Religious Education in the SEF is to aid the conversation between school and diocesan inspector about progress in Religious Education.

Admissions

Admissions Timetable for the 2015-16 Academic Year

2015/16 may seem a long way off but the process for determining admissions policies to operate from September

2015 begins early in readiness for the formal consultation period starting 1 November 2013. The CPD brochure has

several different sessions for governors, headteachers and school staff dealing with admissions and appeals so please

have a look at what is appropriate for you. The sessions are

• Admission—Preparing for consultation and the year to come (Thursday 3 October 2013, 9.30am—11.30am)

• Admissions—Managing expectations (Tuesday 19 November 2013, 9.30am—11.30am)

• Appeals training Schools (Tuesday 25 February, 2014 9.30am—12pm)

• Appeals training Panel Members (Tuesday 25 February, 2014 1pm—3pm)

With this in mind here are key reminders of what you must do in the next few weeks with regard to admissions.

Sept /October2013

At the first meeting of the year of either the full governing body or the admissions committee, the admissions policy

should be considered as to whether schools need to make any changes for the 2015/16 admissions round. Academies

wishing to make any changes must discuss their proposals with their academy trust. All admission policies must be in

line with the diocesan model policy and a copy of the draft policy should be sent to the diocesan office. If you have

any queries please contact Beverley Sice.

Schools or academies who are not making any changes to their admission policy can determine their 2015/16 policy

at any point before 15 April 2014. Copies of the policy must be placed on the school website by 1 May 2014—this is a

legal requirement—please check if you are unsure as to which admission policy should be on your school website. A

copy of your agreed policy should also be forwarded to Beverley Sice.

Schools or academies that do wish to make changes should discuss this with Beverley prior to 1st November 2013. If

consultation is required then appropriate advice will be given. Schools would be well prepared for consultation and

for all parts of the admission year if they attend the training on 3rd October—please book your place now.

The Schools’ Ombudsman has indicated that in the event of a challenge, she will require documentation that all steps

have been followed and decisions made correctly so please ensure that the minutes of the committee or governing

body meetings are an accurate record. The new termly briefing for chairs and clerks will provide more detail on this

ACTION REQUIRED

Churchmarketplace

Churchmarketplace now has over 2,400 members, over one third of which are schools. In this first phase, savings of

over £400,000 have been made so far and significant savings are being made by schools in the areas of IT, stationery

& school supplies, photocopiers, telecommunications and health & safety. Please encourage your school to register

at www.churchmarketplace.org.uk to take advantage of the great discounts negotiated.

The second phase is now underway and at the request of School Commissioners, the CES are working closely with

Churchmarketplace to be able to offer schools a list of approved providers of HR, Legal and Payroll services at keenly

negotiated prices.

A Consultative Panel, with representatives from schools and School Commissioners from most of the Dioceses and

the CES has been formed to assist the Churchmarketplace procurement experts, 2buy2, in writing the specification

for the EU tenders and choosing the providers.

Your help is critical to ensure that the right providers are chosen for our Diocese. To assist the panel it would be

great to gather information on what schools already buy and we ask if you will scan and email a copies of your SLAs

for HR, Legal and Payroll to: jonathan.morgan@2buy2.com. All documents and questionnaires received will only be

used for the purposes of this procurement project.

ACTION REQUIRED

LIVING WAGE

Unison have produced a guidance document for Catholic schools (attached by email) which they have re-quested could be circulated to all Schools’ Commissions. Unison have already made contact with several dioceses to discuss how they can support the Living Wage in Catholic schools. The CES is producing a series of other resources on the Living Wage for Catholic schools which will be available from October on the website. These will include a pdf guidance document, a film produced by stu-dents at St Charles Sixth Form College, a business case model and a collection of short films on Catholic Social Teaching & the Living Wage.

Obtaining a Charity Number for Academy Trusts

An academy trust can obtain a charity number in the following way. Academy Trusts are classified by the Charities

Commission as a 'non-exempt charity' and they cannot register with the Commission. Therefore in order to get evi-

dence of charitable status the Academy Trust must apply direct to the HMRC for a HMRC charity number by complet-

ing a form CHA1. The Charities Commission website confirms this, see link below.

http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Start_up_a_charity/Do_I_need_to_register/Types_of_charity_index.aspx

Capital Matters

• A reminder that the new term will mean it is time for the school cluster groups to meet again to dis-cuss and prioritise projects for LCVAP funding in 2014-15. Can headteachers of schools that have not already got a cluster group meeting arranged please contact the property office to arrange a suitable date.

• New this year : A CPD session on VA capital funding for all those wishing to know more about capital funding and building projects in schools Monday 23 September and Monday 7 October, 6.30pm - 8.30pm A CPD session on academy capital funding for all those wishing to know more about capital funding and building projects in academies Wednesday 6 November 2013, 6.30pm - 8.30pm • The Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust was successful with most of its bids for capital funding

during the first round. Directors and governors of The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust, please note that an announcement on successful bids under Round 2 of the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund is expected mid October.

• Finally a reminder to Academies that they should be giving consideration to what projects they might

like to put forward as bids to the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund 2014-15. Guidance for this round of bids is expected in October-November, with a deadline for submissions likely to be Janu-ary-February 2014. Details of bids will need to be submitted for approval by the Diocesan Council for Education and James Martin will be contacting the headteachers of academy schools with further details / guidance in due course. If they would like to discuss possible projects in advance of this, please contact James in the property office.

CONTACT INFORMATION

To enable us to communicate effectively with Governing Bodies, it would be helpful if we could email your

Chair of Governors directly. Please check your Chair is happy to pass his/her email address to us and then

send it to us at beverley.sice@dioceseofleeds.gov.uk

ACTION REQUIRED

NCTL News

National Leaders of Governance (NLG)

The National College for Teaching and Leadership will open its fourth National Leaders of Governance (NLG) designa-

tion cohort on 13 September 2013.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership is opening applications for the fourth cohort of National Leaders of

Governance (NLG). Catholic schools are significantly underrepresented nationally and locally and we urge chairs to

have a look at what the training entails and if possible to give serious consideration to applying. Please download the

NLG fact sheet to find out more about the role http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/docinfo?

id=176025&filename=national-leaders-of-governance-fact-sheet.pdf

If you are interested in applying, please email chair.ofgovernors@education.gsi.gov.uk and NCSL will add your details

to their alert list.

Teaching Schools

We are aware of several partnerships hoping to establish a teaching school in the Diocese and support is avail-

able to them through the Diocesan NCTL link associate who can be contacted through Angela Cox.

Cohort 4 is the last planned application round and will open on 13 September and close 18 October 2013.

Schools are therefore encouraged to apply for this application round should they wish to be considered for des-

ignation as a teaching school. Beyond this, there may be limited opportunities for schools to apply, with priority

given to schools in under-represented regions and phases. This is dependent on funding and further details will

soon be available.

If you would like to be added to DfE’s alert list and receive an email when the application round opens, please

email teachingschools.enquiries@education.gsi.gov.uk

The development of teaching schools has also been a key strand of the development work of Leeds Trinity Uni-

versity. I am grateful that Professor House and her staff continue to give priority to working with our Catholic

schools in developing the new models of teacher training and promotion of the need for Catholic teachers in our

schools. Several schools have partnered with LTU to provide School’s Direct places—the system by which the

majority of teachers will train in the future. This gives schools the opportunity to recruit and train their own staff

and is even more effective when offered across a partnership where trainees can experience different schools.

Has your governing body discussed the opportunities? Further details are available at

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/careers/traininganddevelopment/b00205704/school-direct

INFORMATION

The second report from the House of Commons Select Committee on ‘The Role of School Governing Bod-ies’ was finally published at the end of June 2013. The full report (all three volumes) is available at http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/publications/ For those of you not inclined to wade through all those pages here is a summary of the main conclusions and recommendations. We wait to see what changes the Government may implement as a result of the re-port. 1 Less prescription as to the constitution of governing bodies to assist with recruitment. Ministers have agreed to remove the ‘juniority principle’ where the most recently appointed governors leave if reconstitu-tion results in an excess of governors

2 No evidence that smaller governing bodies are more effective than large governing bodies 3 Government should raise the profile of governance as well as promoting school governance opportunities to businesses including reviewing incentives for businesses to release employees for governor duties.

4 Government should consider payment for governors in some circumstances e.g. helping other schools. 5 Too many governors have not had suitable training and mandatory training may be necessary. The Gov-ernment says this can be encouraged through Ofsted and will monitor the availability of training beyond that offered by LAs in the light of more academies and reductions in LA services

6 Poor performance by governing bodies should be challenged at the earliest opportunity, The report sup-ports the external review of governance that must be undertaken by schools ‘requiring improvement’ Self assessment of governing bodies to be encouraged

7 Use of the Ofsted Data Dashboard and other good data is important. Further work is needed to to develop questioning skills

8 An effective clerk is vital to the success of a governing body. Clerks’ roles should be more professional and similar to that of a company secretary providing high quality information and guidance to governing bodies

9 Interim Executive Boards should be used more and on a timely basis to address failings in governance. Ofsted should be able to make the implementation of an IEB as an area for action in an inspection report

10 More clarity needed on the role of the LA in tackling underperforming governing bodies 11 The roles of the head teacher and governing body to be reviewed to ensure clarity of roles and responsi-

bilities. Training for headteachers in governance as well as joint headteacher/chair training 12 Powers needed to remove poorly performing governors 13 Consideration for some governing bodies to govern groups of schools (similar to federations and Multi Academy Trusts).

DfE Advice – Who can drive the School minibus? The DfE has recently published a non-statutory advice jointly produced with the Department for Transport

and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on driving licence entitlement when driving a school mini-

bus.

The Departmental Advice is aimed at school employers including school governing bodies and proprietors of acad-

emies and free schools as well as headteachers and other school staff. The Advice will assist in determining

whether a member of school staff with a car driving licence (category B) can drive a minibus, although we would

remind schools that they will always need to check their insurance and any employment policy they adopt in this

regard.

The Departmental Advice can be accessed here: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/guidanceandadvice/

f00224308/departmental-advice-minibuses

Academy Conversion – School Complaints Policy

Upon conversion to academy status, schools become subject to the Education (Independent School Standards)

(England) Regulations 2010 (subsequently amended in 2012) (“the 2010 Regulations”).

Ofsted will look for evidence of compliance with the 2010 Regulations during an inspection. On conversion,

academies must update their complaints policies to ensure that they are compliant with the 2010 Regulations

which set out different requirements for the complaints process as compared with maintained schools. It has

come to our attention that some academies have been directed to amend their policies by the Education Fund-

ing Agency. Part 7 of the 2010 Regulations governs the way in which complaints are handled and academy con-

vertors must ensure that their policy complies with Part 7.

INFORMATION

Our thanks to the CES who keep us up to date on the new legislation. The notes are summarised below for the most recent changes. All government legislation is available at www.legislation.gov.uk. Cut and paste the title into the search bar. In all legal cases, the information is to raise awareness, advice must be taken on a school’s own particular circumstances

CES The Catholic Education Service website is available at www.catholic-education.org.uk The latest contracts, application forms etc can be accessed directly from the front page.

Barden v. Commodities Research Unit International Holdings Limited [2013] EWHC 1633 (Ch)

This case is an important read for those engaged in the settlement of disputes by compromise agreement. The

case involved a negotiated settlement through mediation whereby the Claimant accepted the sum of £1.35m to

settle their claim(s). The compromise agreement wording was silent as to whether that payment was to be paid

to the Claimant gross or net of income tax. The lesson? Make sure you stipulate in the compromise agreement

itself whether the amount paid to the employee is the gross amount (which would be the more usual course of

action) or the net amount.

Toal and Anor v. GB Oils Ltd UKEAT/0569/12

By law, employees have the right to reasonably request to be accompanied by a companion at a disciplinary or griev-

ance hearing. At a grievance hearing, the employer refused to allow the Claimant to bring his choice of companion

i.e. a trade union official so a substitute official accompanied the Claimant. AT EAT the finding was that the only limi-

tations placed on an employee’s right to bring a companion are those in s10(3) Employment Relations Act 1999 i.e.

the categories of person being a trade union representative and a fellow worker. Within those categories, the em-

ployee may choose who he wishes to accompany him.

WELCOME!

A warm welcome to the following headteachers who take up their new posts in the Diocese

Chris Power, Barkston Ash Catholic Primary School, North Yorks

Liz Snelling, St Walburga’s Catholic Primary School, Bradford

Simon Stockdale, Our Lady and St Brendan’s Catholic Primary School, Bradford

Helena Angstmann (acting), St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Halifax

Andrew Bastable (acting), St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Bishop Thornton, North Yorks

Clare Gardner (acting), St William Catholic Primary School, Bradford

Christine McHale (acting), St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Hunslet, Leeds

Our best wishes to all of them in their new roles.

Dates for the Diary 26th September Headteachers’ Conference, Wheeler Hall Mass at 9.30am -3pm 19th November Governors’ Mass, St Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds 7pm Bookings for all events should be sent to evangelisation.admin@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

The annual Profession Development Programme from the Diocese with events for school staff and governors is available in school and on the website. The courses for this term are listed on the

pages overleaf. Please note the dates of training you wish to attend.

INFORMATION

Contact Us:

The Diocesan Education Team may be contacted in the following ways:

Telephone: 0113 -261 8040 (Administrators - Catherine Green or Angela Fieldhouse)

Fax: 0113 - 261 8044

Mail: Hinsley Hall, 62 Headingley Lane, Leeds, LS6 2BX

Website: www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/education

Email: evangelisation.admin@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

The members of the Education Team are:

Fr John Wilson Episcopal Vicar for Evangelisation john.wilson@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

Angela Cox Principal Officer for Education angela.cox@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

Beverley Sice Admissions and Governance Officer beverley.sice@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

Christopher Devanny RE Co-ordinator chris.devanny@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

Bridget Forbes Primary S48 Co-ordinator bridget.forbes@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

Annette Dews Secondary S48 Co-ordinator annette.dews@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

Co-ordinator for Headteachers’ Wellbeing

Karen Naik 07557111278 karen.naik@dioceseofleeds.org.uk