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Meetings
9 articles
Agendas
- A clerk's guide to producing the agenda The agenda can be the difference between an efficient, productive meeting and one that rambles on endlessly. Find out how to prepare, draft, and finalise your agenda so you can run efficient meetings.
- Autumn term 2019 agenda items and how to prepare Here's a rundown of the headline issues you're likely to cover in your full governing board or committee meetings this term. Read on to understand each issue, and feel prepared with links to further reading and questions to ask about each item.
- Curriculum and teaching and learning committee agendas Download our template agenda for a committee covering the curriculum and teaching and learning, and read recommendations about what to include.
- Finance committee: purpose, membership and agendas Find out what a finance committee should do, who should be on it and how often it should meet. See examples of terms of reference and meeting minutes.
- Governing boards without committees - the 'circle model' Be clear on how this model is different, what you should focus on and what you can do to make it work. See examples of terms of reference.
- How to prepare for your next governing board meeting Prepare fully for your governing board meetings to make sure you add value and can hold the school to account effectively. Download our pre-meeting checklist to stay on top of the agenda, get to grips with the critical information in the headteacher's report, and plan questions to ask.
- Spring term 2020 agenda items and how to prepare Here are the headline issues you're likely to cover in your full governing board meeting this term. Read on to understand each issue and feel prepared with questions you can ask to interrogate the agenda items effectively.
- Summer term 2020 agenda items and how to prepare Your summer term agenda won't be business as usual. Find out what headline areas to cover, so you can keep your remote meeting focused on urgent, time-bound decisions.
- Termly agenda templates for governing board meetings Use our termly agenda templates to ensure that your full governing board meetings cover key termly items and tasks. Each template includes suggested agenda items for maintained schools and academies.
6 articles
Minutes
- A clerk's guide to producing minutes Getting the minutes right is essential to your role as a clerk. Use our minutes template and advice on taking and writing up notes, and our checklist for checking the minutes, to help you do this.
- Amending and approving draft meeting minutes Our guide for clerks on amending draft minutes, recording the changes and filing the minutes.
- Committee meeting minutes: procedures What are the procedures for signing and distributing minutes from committee meetings? We look at the regulations on agreeing, signing and distributing committee meeting minutes in maintained schools. We also relay good practice advice for academies, who can decide their own procedures.
- How to handle confidential minutes from meetings Understand when and how to make minutes confidential and what to do if you've had a breach. You'll also learn when and how to release confidential minutes under the Freedom of Information Act.
- Minutes checklist for chairs and headteachers Use this to check over the minutes from meetings. It will help you spot errors and be sure your clerk hasn’t missed anything out.
- Publishing governing board minutes online Read this article to find out what's required and what's best practice when publishing meeting minutes on your school website.
7 articles
Procedures
- Accepting governors' apologies for absence What is the process for accepting an apology for a governor’s absence? Our associate education experts give advice on how governing bodies should consider and accept apologies for absence, and how to record them. We also link to examples of school policies on considering apologies for absence.
- Extraordinary meetings of the governing board Find out when extraordinary meetings are called, and the process for calling one in maintained schools and academies. You can also see examples of minutes from extraordinary meetings.
- Governor meetings: attendance, voting rights and conflicts of interest Read about who has the right to attend and vote at meetings of the governing board, committees, board of trustees, and local governing bodies. We also help you to understand the rules around when people are required to withdraw from meetings and not vote.
- Governors' meetings: is voting by proxy allowed? Can school governors vote on decisions by proxy? In this article, we look at governing body voting procedures in maintained schools and academies. You will also find the rules on alternative voting arrangements, including voting by telephone and video conference.
- Quorum for meetings Learn what it means for a meeting to be quorate and how to calculate a quorum to ensure you have the votes you need to get business done.
- Registering governors' attendance: template You must publish your meeting attendance records on your website. Use our template for registering attendance to help you with this.
- Virtual meetings: your complete guide Your board should be meeting remotely while schools are closed due to coronavirus. Find out how to run your virtual meetings effectively with our one-stop shop for chairs and clerks.