Global Schools Association
YHGSA Board Meeting Minutes
21st September 2007
10.00 AM at Skell 1, York St John University
Notes of the meeting and action points
1. Present:
Sylvia Usher (Chair)
Bob Huey (Vice Chair)
Charlotte Hunt (Board Member)
Margot Brown (Board Member)
Ray Kirtley (Co-ordinator)
Gill Sanderson (Minutes)
Apologies:
Anne Barker (Secretary)
John Errington (Board Member)
2. Matters arising
Correction to the minutes of the meeting of 8th June 2007: The QCA meeting ‘Teaching Controversial Issues’ was attended by Mick Bradley and not Margot Brown. Notes from the meeting will be requested. The minutes of the meeting of 8th June 2007 were approved as a correct record and will now be published on the YHGSA website.
RK confirmed that two new bank accounts have been opened for the new Working Groups) one already existed). The letter confirming the 5 year funding period has now been received from DFID.
3. Work in progress (RK)
i) DFID Evaluation Report (2006-2007)
Copies of the report had been circulated to Board Members. There has been no reaction to the report so far from DFID. A meeting for EES Co-ordinators will be held in October in Birmingham where a synthesis of all the reports from the UK will be discussed.
ii) Transition work prior to the establishment of Working Groups
Kathryn Tissiman, Yvette Fox (CCPD Group) and Ray Kirtley met in late August to adjudicate the current batch of applications to run courses. By the July deadline, 23 applications were received and logged by RK. Courses which received approval will take place between now and the end of March. (A list of these courses was circulated to the Board.) The courses up to December have also been advertised (briefly) in the British Council newsletter and details have been sent to YHGSA members. The forthcoming YHGSA newsletter will carry all of the approved courses in more detail.
iii) Other activities
The YHGSA Member’s Conference will take place at The Cathedral Hall, Leeds, on November 15th. Registration forms have been sent out to all members. Invitations will also be sent to non-members, such as Working Groups, Local Authority partners etc.
The Board took the opportunity to thank RK for his inspirational work achieved in a year of tight deadlines.
4. Approval of the existing YHGSA membership by the Board
A list of existing YHGSA members was circulated to the Board and received approval. The Board felt that as part of the future application process there should be a clearer appreciation by the applicant of the purpose of the YHGSA. Potential new members will, in future, join the YHGSA in two stages. Firstly by filling in an initial form requesting details of the YHGSA then by being sent an ‘application pack’ which will include the membership form and a new leaflet which will indicate the nature and aims of the YHGSA. Finally members will receive their membership number.
There will be a paragraph on the application advising that the YHGSA complies with articles as set out in the Memorandum of Association of the YHGSA. The members can request a copy of this document if they wish.
Action: Hazel Parker at Hull DEC should be advised of the new, two-stage procedure prior to producing the next YHGSA newsletter (which usually includes a request for new members).
Future new members will be approved at each Board meeting.
5. YHGSA Board and Consultative Committee - procedures prior to and at
the AGM
A letter has been sent to all YHGSA members outlining the procedure for the election of the Board and of the Consultative Committee. This letter was circulated at the meeting. The Board discussed the issue of members missing Board meetings. It was decided that should Board members miss three consecutive meetings they will be deemed to have removed themselves from the Board. RK reminded the Board that the plan is for the Consultative Committee to meet on the same day as the Board. This group will include the leaders (or a representative) from the 3 Working Groups and the suggestion has been made that a further meeting of these three workers with the Co-ordinator would also be useful. This would cut down on travel costs but make a long day for anyone having to attend all three meetings!
6. Consideration of remaining Working Groups and LA Support Applications
The Resources and Communications Group has now responded to questions raised by the panel. RK stated that all concerns had been answered and this group should start work without delay. This was agreed.
The North South Partnerships Group has produced a second, revised, application which was circulated to the Board. The application was discussed and RK described how many points raised by the Panel had been tackled. He also mentioned that the group intended to use the underspend (of the previous Strategy Group) to run a series of training courses. It was understood that this group will submit a final version in the near future.
The Curriculum and Continuing Professional Development Group has not completed their final application yet, again following questions from the Panel. RK reported that a second group planning meeting had taken place on the previous day and a revised application will be received by 11th October. Concerns were expressed over the large underspend retained by Leeds DEC as the former leader of the predecessor group from last year. The Board understood from RK’s report of the group meeting that this will be divided and allocated to the sub-regions to be used as an initial payment to support schools in the Global School Award scheme. RK also reported that initial interest in the GSA will be addressed to RK who will pass the school’s details on to the relevant DEC contact.
Like the other groups the CCPD Group will submit an evaluation report after the first year. However the Board requested that details of the funds spent by each group to be given by RK at future Board meetings. This will be possible now that the budget monitoring is more centralised. In response to a question raised by two of the groups the Board confirmed that invoicing will be done retrospectively unless a rationale is received for the advance of funds. Any such requests will then be referred to a Board member before approval is granted.
It was agreed that final approval for the remaining groups will be the responsibility of a Board member meeting with RK. This will enable these groups to be given the go-ahead speedily.
There was a discussion about the extra funding from the Fair Trade foundation which is being handled by the CCPD group. RK stated that some funding has already been allocated to two proposed courses. Mick Bradley has now attended a training session and will be managing this part of the CCPD budget.
One completed Local Authority support application has been received from DEC (SY) in respect of Sheffield and Rotherham LAs. This was recommended for approval by RK. The appointment of a worker is proceeding in North Lincolnshire but the formal application for funding has not yet been received by the YHGSA. There has been no application from Leeds DEC (but it is understood the partnership will be with Bradford Education). The Centre for Global Education is working with one AST in York for one year, in addition there will be a small amount for work with North Yorkshire but after one year this funding pattern will be reversed and North Yorkshire will receive the majority of the work with a lesser amount going to York LA. RK had been involved in the York process.
The Board requested that this LA budget should be monitored closely and that the subject of potential underspends in any of the new activities be included on the agenda for the next meeting.
7. The future sustainability of the YHGSA (MB)
It was decided that this should be a major discussion point for the YHGSA meeting on 16th April.
8. A.O.B
There were no further items for discussion.
9. Date, time and place of Board meetings*
*The following dates were previously agreed to follow the AGM on 15th November:
16th January 2008
16th April 2008
9th July 2008
These will be afternoon meetings, the Consultative Committee will meet in the morning.
Ray Kirtley
YHGSA Co-ordinator
3rd October 2007
16th April – Friends Meeting House York
9th July TBC
