Meeting of the SET Management Board

Date: Wednesday 01 May 2019
Time: 13.30–16.00pm
Venue: Blue Mezze 7: 157-197 Buckingham Palace Rd, Victoria, London SW1W 9SP

Members present: Barbara Van De Eecken, Anita McGowan, Jim Crompton, Martin Reid, David Russell, Dan Williams (Chair)
Apologies: Zayn Azam, Jenny Jarvis, Jill Saunders
In attendance: Naomi Dixon (SET Membership Co-ordinator), Gina Hobson (ETF Company Secretary; Item 6), Alana Horden (SET Operations Manager), Laura Marulanda-Carter (Observer), Patricia Odell (Head of QTLS & ATS; Item 4), Amanda Parkes (SET Administrator, Minute Taker)

Minutes
1a. Apologies and Welcome
The Chair welcomed new Board members to their first meeting and roundtable introductions were shared, including the introduction of Laura Marulanda-Carter as an observer in attendance. Apologies for absence were received from Zayn Azam, Jill Saunders and Jenny Jarvis.

1b. Declarations of conflicts of interest in the items on the agenda
None announced.

2. Actions from last SMB and feedback from last PAG meeting

a) SMB The Board received a paper detailing the actions that were identified following the last SMB meeting (15.01.19) and the development of those actions. The Board was informed that following further internal discussions, the decision was made to include an update on Local Network Groups in the September meeting.

The Board was assured that the decision would allow SET more time to evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches being piloted and the impact LNGs are having on members.

The Board reflected on the student membership target and sought clarity on SET’s plans if the student membership target was reached before the year end. The SET director addressed the Boards questions and informed the Board there would be a continual push for student recruitment even if targets were achieved before the year end.

b) PAG
The Board received an oral update detailing the main discussion points from the last Practitioner Advisory Group (PAG) meeting (08.03.19). The Board reflected on the positive mix of presentations, decision making and workshop activities that took place during the last PAG meeting.

The Board discussed the representation of the PAG. The Board noted that the PAG was ‘fairly’ representative of the sector, with the exception of schools and agreed the PAG was sufficiently diverse, however it was highlighted that it could not know for certain if the group was truly representative if it did not have the full demographic details of the members, such as age and job level to compare to the sector. Following further discussion, the Board agreed that it would be beneficial to obtain further clarity on the PAG representation in comparison with the sector through the sharing of data by SET. The Board highlighted that the data could aid future recruitment in addition to ensuring good governance.

The ETF CEO shared that the DfE was interested in meeting the PAG. The Board reflected that this could positively inform and drive policy.

3a. 2018-19 business performance review

The Board received the SET Operations Plan 2018-19 and the SET’s Director and Operations Manager presented an overview of SET’s activity over the last 12 months and a forward look at the business year ahead.

The Board discussed the prioritisation of the projects in the SET Operations Plan 2019-20. The Board noted the importance of the relationship between Charted Teacher Status and ATS and the SET Director outlined the purpose and focus of the SET twitter account for the Board.

The SET Operations Manager shared the growth trajectory of SET over the last five years. It acknowledged the positive growth of SET in comparison to the average professional membership body (15% compared with 3%). The retention and renewal rates were shared with the Board, highlighting the areas of largest growth. The Board sought clarity on the makeup of the numbers being presented; the SET Director informed the Board that SET could extract more data and better give clarity to the Board when the Staff Individualised Record (SIR) Data Insights was released. The Board asked that the SIR data would be shared once it was released.

3b. 2019-20 Business Plan

The Board received the final version of the SET Business Plan 2019-20 and the subsequent SET Operations plan 2019-20.

The SET Director shared the three key SET priorities over the next two years. The Board requested further clarity on SET’s plans to drive membership numbers without a sales or business development team being featured in the Business Plan. The SET Director clarified that SET was currently recruiting a Relationship Manager, to predominantly work with and maintain the current corporate partners and improve engagement, but also help drive new business.

The Board shared its feedback on the perceived prioritisation of the Local Network Groups (LNG) within the Business Plan and reflected on the importance of the LNGs. The Board was assured that the LNGs were woven into many of the other projects outlined in the Operations Plan. The ongoing analysis and collation of more formal feedback of the current groups will allow SET to know where LNGs are heading and where best to direct resource. The SET Director noted that SET will present an LNG updates and insights paper in the September meeting.

4. QTLS/ATS Strategy

The Board was joined by the Head of QTLS & ATS.

The Board receive a paper detailing the proposed two-year strategy for QTLS & ATS which aligned with the end-point of the SET three-year strategy and a draft copy of the QTLS & ATS Operations Plan. The Head of QTLS & ATS presented to the Board and summarised progress in relation to projects that are already underway. The Head of QTLS & ATS facilitated a session outlining the proposed core themes and objectives of the strategy. The Board was asked to assist with the prioritisation of the suggested projects in relation to growth and impact, taking three outlined questions into consideration.

The Board shared its feedback and was informed that the information and feedback provided during the session would be compiled in a report and used to help prioritise and inform the projects within the QTLS/ATS strategy. The Chair noted that members of the Board may have further individual feedback on the outlined projects and members of the Board were encouraged to send in their own notes to the Head of QTLS & ATS following the meeting.

The Head of QTLS & ATS left the meeting.

5. Membership Grades and student proposition

The SET Operations Manager presented the Board with recommendations on membership grades and designations for Board sign-off. The recommendations presented to the Board were removal of Honorary and Companion grades of membership; the introduction of a Student grade of membership and for SET to begin analysis and requirement gathering exercise to evaluate ASET, MSET, FSET as well as QTLS and ATS designations.

Following discussion, the Board approved the removal of the Honorary and Companion membership grades.

The Board discussed the possibility of misinterpretation of the wording ‘student grade’ membership. The SET Operation Manager acknowledged that SET will need to make it clear what is meant by ‘student’ and what the eligibility for the student membership is, highlighting that with the new proposed student sign-up process the eligibility criteria will be much clearer. The Board reflected on the operational positives presented to it regarding the introduction of a student grade and approved the work to introduce a Student grade of membership.

The Operations Manager presented the Board with a list of questions and limitations in relation to current SET designations. The Board agreed that SET should begin an analysis and requirement gathering exercise to evaluate ASET, MSET, FSET as well as QTLS and ATS designations.

The SET Operations Manager updated the Board on the on-going work with the student proposition, including embedding SET membership into ITE providers and working with members to develop online content specific to students and newly qualified teachers. The Board reflected on the importance of having content for those who are taking their first steps into the sector to help with the transitioning period and the importance of speaking directly with students for feedback.

6. Governance

The Board was joined by the ETF Company Secretary.

The Board received a governance paper providing an update on the recruitment exercises taking place across SET and recommending a minor change to SMB Terms of Reference (ToR. In addition, the Board received a PAG recruitment shortlist paper for review.

SMB Terms of Reference

The ETF Company Secretary shared the rationale behind the suggested changes to the SMB ToR and asked the Board to consider and endorse the changes. The Board sought clarification on the wording around appointing ‘additional members’ in point 4.1 of the ToR and the voting rights of those additional individuals in meetings. The ETF Company Secretary confirmed that the line was added to allow the Board to bring additional expertise into meetings where a need was identified. The Board asked that ‘co-opt additional individuals’ be used to address possible confusion.

The Board agreed the updated ToR subject to the above change 4.1.

Practitioner Advisory Group: Recruitment

The Board was asked to consider and, if appropriate, approve the appointment of the shortlisted individuals to the PAG, to then enable the new members to join the next PAG meeting on 07 June 2019.

The Board discussed the diversity of the applicants and the gap in student/trainee representation. The Board noted that if another space became available on the PAG or an applicant didn’t accept their place that SET would look to consider how it can actively target one or more student members to join.
The Board reviewed the ten shortlisted applicants and agreed on appointment.

Laura Marulanda-Carter left the meeting room while the Board considered her appointment to the PAG. The Board welcomed Laura’s interest in joining the PAG and reflected that her background appeared relevant. However, it asked that she complete the normal PAG application process before any appointment.

SET Management Board (SMB) Recruitment update

The Board was asked to consider the outlined recruitment process, including approving subsequent SMB appointments by e-mail. The Board was asked to consider delegating the shortlisting to a recruitment panel, which would be charged with making a recommendation on appointments to the SMB. The Board members were informed they should let the ETF Company Secretary know if they would like to put themselves forward for the recruitment panel, or the Chair position.

The Board agreed the outlined process and timelines.

7. Any other business

The Board noted that next SMB meeting date was 19 September 2019.