Bpsc minutes mar2018

TAIPEI EUROPEAN SCHOOL

British Primary Section Council

Meeting: Date: Time: Location: Attendees:

British Primary Section Council Meeting March 15, 2018 6.30pm EPC Duncan Millward (DM), Cathy Wang (CW), Michele Anderson (MA), Chin-Hsin Jo Chen (CJC), Charlotte Hsu (CH), Zsuzsanna Riffer-Koch (ZR), Justin Littlefield (JL), Alex Weng (AW), Chin-Hsin Jo Chen (CJC), Susana Galvan (SG), David Gatley (DG)

Lillian Lin (taking notes and representing BoD)

Apologies: N/A

Minutes by: SG

1.

2.

Approval of minutes from previous meeting

Minutes from the previous meeting (March) approved.

Discussion with CEO on Submitted Questions (IN CONFIDENCE)

Mark Lintott was intending to attend this meeting but was unable to. He will arrange a separate meeting in April. Lillian will follow up.

Heads Dismissals – the CEO emphasized that very serious breaches of conduct that had been going on for some time. Beyond “performance management”. BOG document (articles) has no legal grounding and therefore there is no “obligation” to consult or inform the Councils of the decisions related to the dismissals of the Heads.

CEO made the decision about the dismissals, and this was endorsed by the BOD.

There was a discussion and debate about the role of the BPSC and the engagement of the CEO with issues discussed at the meetings, and his attendance at these meetings. It was generally felt that, if the CEO had been more actively engaged with these meetings (or read the minutes, where all the discussions are documented), we could have probably avoided the upheaval of recent months and quite likely we would not be where we are today.

Action required

Lillian to follow up on: Meeting with ML Status of BPSC/AGM

TAIPEI EUROPEAN SCHOOL

British Primary Section Council

3.

Recruitment ongoing. Appointment for Secondary to be made in April, hopefully.

Staff retention – some measures that can be taken to improve communication and engagement with teachers. Work needs to be done to improve

Everyone agreed that teachers have been extremely professional, considering the challenging circumstances. Focus on curriculum, teaching and learning.

Student retention – there is certainly a degree of uncertainty and anxiety amongst some parents about the leadership and the management situation of the school, which might impact on numbers of applications and leavers.

Clearly need for more regular and transparent lines of communication with the parents’ community.

Fundraising – Lillian hired initially for fundraising but this wasn’t communicated to her properly and there were a number of miscommunications around this. DG has previous experience on fundraising for educational purposes and believes this responsibility should fall under the CEO. There is a lot to be done in this area and there is a plan in place to move this forward.

Elections for BPSC and AGM? – what is the position on this? We need an urgent response to this. Lillian to follow up with BOD (DG cannot confirm this and says this is a BOD matter).

Governance Update

Interim Governance structure. New governance structure to be finalised

by February 2019.

Many of us feel communication could and should be significantly improved, and processes could be handled faster. It is also generally felt that this current temporary structure is not working either.

Decisions on the governance structure, ultimately, will be made by the BOD.

TAIPEI EUROPEAN SCHOOL

British Primary Section Council

4.

Mark Lintott will be meeting with the BPSC in April – perhaps a further discussion on governance structure status and plans can be had then?

Discussion about the difference between a parent-governed school (parents involved in governance issues) and a parent-run school (parents involved in operational issues).

Head’s Report

Enrolment Status – Maximum Pupil Number at 720. Possibility of limiting class numbers to 22 to allow flexibility for two extra places for potential European passport-holder entries.

Staffing Update provided – Leadership Team, Year group and Primary specialist teachers information. Update on new appointments for 2018/19.

British Primary School Action Plan – Duncan took us briefly through the plan, which sets out the strategic priorities over the coming academic year:

• Curriculum • Pupil support • Staff • Quality and Accountability • Resources and Facilities • Community and Governance

Parents would benefit from more information about what happens in the classroom, through more communication and access/engagement with the teachers.

Follow up on Anti-Bullying Policy, which has been extended into three policies:

• Anti-Bullying Policy • Behaviour Policy • Exclusion Policy

TAIPEI EUROPEAN SCHOOL

British Primary Section Council

5.

6.

PE Review and Action Plan Update • Updating curriculum and assessment documentation for 2018/19 • Duncan Millward working with Heads and Kerry Nockolds on provision for sporting ECAs next year • Purchase of equipment • Enhancing playground environment • Professional development for all staff • PE staff contributing to the EPC Development Plan in terms of PE / Sporting facilities • Increasing staffing in the PE department

AGM Preparation Lillian to follow up

Will get clarification from the BOD on Elections/AGM AOB

Questions raised about student IDs, medical checks and medical insurance.

Discussion about teaching days being reduced because of a number of events taking place: parent-teacher days, celebration days, extra holidays. Parent-teacher days should be marked in the school calendar.

Meeting closed: 21.25 Minutes approved by:

_________________________________ Date: _____________________