Global Schools Association
YHGSA Board Meeting Minutes
Wednesday 19th December 2007
10.00 AM at DEC (South Yorkshire)
Notes of the meeting and action points
Present:
Ray Kirtley
Bob Huey
Anne Barker
Sylvia Usher
Mike Smith
Gavin Townsend
Charlotte Hunt
Apologies:
Margot Brown
1 Welcome to the Board
Sylvia welcomed two new members on behalf of the Board - Mike Smith and Gavin Townsend. Each gave a brief resumé. For Mike Smith this included his role as secretary of Sheffield International Linking Committee, his time with UKOWLA and his initial background in local government, training and schools. Gavin Townsend is currently Lead Teacher in Geography at Birley Community College and he spoke about their international links, his role in teacher and student exchanges and in promoting global education in school.
2 Matters arising from the meeting of 21st September
These minutes were previously approved for inclusion on the YHGSA website.
There were no matters arising.
3 YHGSA Board:
i) Decisions on the responsibility for named posts on the Board
It was agreed that:
Sylvia Usher remains as Chair.
Anne Barker continues as Secretary.
Bob Huey will now be Treasurer and retain his Line Manager role with RK.
A proposal will be made at the next meeting that Margot Brown takes on
the role of Vice-Chair.
There followed a discussion about the role of the Board. This built on information concerning the Board and Consultative Committee which was circulated to the Board Members following the 2007 AGM.
It was suggested that Board Members may wish to be associated with a Working Group. This would enable the Board to offer advice or guidance with any issues and have more of an understanding of the Working Groups.
The Board also felt it was important for the Treasurer to meet with RK to discuss financial issues and give an overview to the Board.
Some Board Members were unsure of the responsibilities of their positions within the Board. SU agreed to write a role description for the position of Chair.
ii) Co-option of a further Board member (or members)
The Board agreed that having a teacher or headteacher and a member of a Local Authority on the Board would be valuable as the area of focus is working towards school agendas. It was agreed that Alan Holmes and Yvette Fox from the Consultative Committee be invited to join the Board (they had previously expressed interest).
4 Approval of new YHGSA members by the Board
RK gave a summary of the new procedure to become a YHGSA member. This includes an initial enquiry form requesting further information and an application pack. The pack is sent out with an application form which must be signed and returned to RK as a hard copy. The new member receives Board approval at the subsequent Board Meeting and is then added to the YHGSA database and receives a membership number.
The applications of new members received since the previous Board meeting were approved.
The Resources and Communications group are aiming to set up a database of attendees at CCPD courses. There were some concerns regarding the Data Protection Act and how this information could be used. It was agreed that an opt-out clause should be clearly available for teachers not wishing to be contacted.
5 YHGSA Consultative Committee:
i) Role of Board members
It is intended that the Consultative Committee has full control over its own meetings. SU, BH and RK will attend the first meeting to provide any information which may be needed and ensure that the meeting is not delayed due to lack of information. A brief overview of the Terms of Reference, the DFID 5-year plan, report from the Working Group leaders and future agendas will be given.
ii) Proposed agenda for Wednesday 16th January
The Consultative Committee will, in future, set their own agenda. However for this first meeting the group included some operational matters:
• What are the thoughts regarding the YHGSA newsletter and website?
• Should there be additional centralised support for the Global
School Award and CCPD courses?
• What North/South support is felt necessary?
(Part of Item 3 on the Consultative Committee agenda)
6 YHGSA activities:
i) Conference – review of the event
RK gave an overview of the YHGSA Regional Conference held on 15th November. Evaluation forms and the participant list were available. It was felt that further discussion is needed with the QCA on how to promote Global Dimension in schools.
ii) DFID national evaluation report (sent earlier) plus reporting for 07/08
Copies of the DFiD evaluation report had already been circulated. Harm-Jan Fricke (EES Adviser) at DFID felt that the report by the YHGSA was the easiest to understand. By 15th February a 1-year plan (based on the 5-year plan) has to be produced. This will be an item on the agenda for the next meeting.
iii) Working Groups and LA support
The application process to run courses and apply for the Global School Award has now been centralised to the Co-coordinator. RK circulated a list of approved courses and explained the application and adjudication process. Only one course during the first term did not proceed. It was felt that more training should be given to adjudicate for the Global School Award and the wider adjudication group should have some training opportunities before the main school assessments in July.
The Resources and Communications group are working as planned and there are no major concerns.
The North/South group had so far only one meeting in October, the next meeting being late February.
Local Authority support is proceeding although the situation regarding Leeds DEC and Bradford Education is still unclear.
7A Role of Global Schools Award alongside UNICEF RRS Award (CH)
The UNICEF region that Charlotte represents is wider than that covered by the YHGSA. UNICEF will explore working with the YHGSA as a partner to help build capacity in the Local Authorities to support the Rights to Respecting Schools Award. Charlotte proposes to spend time with RK outside the meeting and report back to the Board.
7B The future sustainability of the YHGSA (from the last meeting)
This item was brought forward by MB and will therefore be discussed at the next meeting when she is present.
8 A.O.B.
RK's employment contract with YHGSA ends on 31 March. Ray explained that the existing contract was much more complicated than was necessary because it was based on a contract of employment and he is not employed by the YHGSA. It was suggested that it be replaced with a more usual contract with the University of Hull to buy his time at the agreed rate.
The Board wished to send a letter of thanks to John Errington for his time on the YHGSA Board (SU).
9 Date, time and place of Board meetings*
* The following dates were previously agreed:
16th January 2008 – venue York (exact location tbc)
16th April
9th July
