Meeting of the SET Management Board

Date: Thursday 19 September 2019
Time: 11.15am–15.00pm
Venue: Blue Mezze 7: 157-197 Buckingham Palace Rd, Victoria, London SW1W 9SP

Members present: Dan Williams (Chair), Zayn Azam, Wendy Coley, Jim Crompton, Philip Green, Anita McGowan, Martin Reid, David Russell, Sarah Simons, Barbara Van Der Eecken
Apologies: Jenny Jarvis
In attendance: Alana Horden (SET Operations Manager), Jez MacDonald (Head of Digital & IT; Item 3) Patricia Odell (Head of Professional Status; Item 4), Amanda Parkes (SET Co-ordinator, Minute Taker)

Minutes:
1a. Apologies and Welcome
The Chair welcomed new Board members to their first meeting and roundtable introductions were shared. Apologies for absence were received from 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 (01.05.19) and the development of those actions. The Board was informed that SET has continued to look at the make-up of the Practitioner Advisory Group (PAG) and is confident that it is representative of the further education and skills sector. It was acknowledged, however, that it didn’t include any members who work in schools. Following further discussion, the Board agreed that SET should look at the relevance of SET for practitioners working in schools, the implications for SET and how to ensure representation on the PAG. The Board reflected on how SET can actively target student members when recruiting for the PAG and discussed the idea of setting up a student and early career practitioner specific advisory group. The Board agreed it would be a good idea to have a separate, less formal student steering group, however, noted that it would still be beneficial to include early career practitioners within the existing PAG. The Board agreed that, when SET next recruits’ members for the PAG, applications are encouraged from early career practitioners.

b) PAG
The Board received an oral update detailing the main discussion points from the last PAG meeting (07.06.19). The Board discussed sharing the SMB and PAG minutes on the SET website to give visibility of SET's priorities to the membership. Following further discussion about how best to share the information, the Board agreed that the meeting minutes should be shared on the SET website.

c) SET performance and Operations Plan 2019-20
The SET Director and Senior Operations Manager presented an overview of SET’s current
performance. Following feedback from the Board regarding the revised annual membership target, the Senior Operations Manager assured the Board that the new target would still mean a 15% year on year growth. The Board acknowledged the revision in the SET membership target and the process behind the change. The Board sought further clarity on the revised corporate partner target. The SET Director provided the Board with reasons for the change and assured the Board that the recent introduction of the Relationship Manager role means SET can focus on building and strengthening existing corporate relationships The Board received the SET Operations plan 2019-20. The Board sought clarity on how SET mitigates the risk of ongoing projects as part of the SET Operations Plan. The SET Director assured the Board that projects are updated quarterly and as projects progress, they are flagged according to their progress and completion target. The Marketing manager informed the Board of the progress of the SET membership survey. The Board agreed that the Marketing Manager would share the results of the survey once analysis was complete.

3. Transform project update
The Board was joined by the Head of Digital & IT. The Head of Digital & IT presented an overview and progress of Transform; the digital transformation project currently being undertaken by ETF and SET and the impact the project will have on SET and the membership.
The Board agreed that it would be beneficial to include the views of SET's members as part of the discovery phase of Transform, in relation to the SET website. The Board highlighted that it was important the PAG be involved in the requirements gathering to provide member feedback and ensure the relevant areas of Transform are led by SET’s members’ needs. The
Board agreed that Transform should be included in the next PAG meeting agenda.
The Head of Digital & IT left the meeting.

4. Local Network Group updates and insights
The Board received a SET Local Network Groups (LNG) strategy paper for review. The Membership Coordinator presented an overview of the joint SET and ETF offer, providing a
background of the current LNG’s, the major challenges facing the current LNG model and SET’s view on creating a combined ETF/SET national professional network offer. The Board discussed the pros and cons of the integration of SET and ETF groups, including non-member attendance and the impact on creativity and formality of the groups if combined and external funding introduced. The Membership Coordinator facilitated a session to gain feedback from the Board on what the joint provision might look like and compare the features of the SET Local Network Groups and the ETF Professional Exchange Networks. The feedback from the session will be reviewed by the Membership Coordinator and taken into consideration as part of the on-going development of LNG's. The SMB were encouraged to get in touch with the Membership Coordinator if they had any further thoughts and ideas.

5. Professional Status: Key projects update
The Board was joined by the Head of Professional Status and received the completed QTLS/ATS strategy. The Head of Professional Status presented a forward look at the current strands of work being undertaken within SET as part of the QTLS/ATS strategy. The Head of Professional Status informed the Board of an arrangement SET was piloting of providing QTLS accreditation to universities as an extension of the current offer. The Board sought clarity on
the financial implications for SET and the universities of having teacher trainers assess QTLS work and submissions. The Head of Professional Status informed the Board that SET currently used external moderators for QTLS which had high costs and highlighted the capacity limitations within the immediate SET team. The Head of Professional Status assured the Board that QTLS would be provided at a reduced cost as part of the scheme to balance out any financial implication for the university. The Head of Professional Status presented SETs plans to include and consult the membership on an alternative route to ATS and an early careers toolkit.
A fire alarm and evacuation meant disruption of the meeting. Item 5 was shortened as a result.
The Board was encouraged to get in touch with the Head of Professional Status with any
further question about the proposals. The Head of Professional Status left the meeting.

6. Fellow eligibility criteria
Item 6 was postponed due to a fire alarm and evacuation. The Board agreed item 6 would be
included in the next meeting agenda.

7. Governance updates
The SET Director shared the suggested dates for next year’s SMB and PAG meetings and informed the SMB that the meeting dates would be circulated with the meeting minutes. The Board acknowledged the recommendations for the Chair and Vice Chair roles and acknowledged that the next step in finalising the appointment of the Chair role is to obtain a final sign off from the ETF Board. The Board agreed that the Lay Member applications should be anonymised and shared with the Board so the Board can provide feedback on the applications. The feedback will be shared with the interview panel for consideration.

7. Any other business
The Board was encouraged to provide the ETF CEO with one question they would want
presented to the Secretary of state. The Board thanked the Chair for his time, expertise and commitment to SET and SMB over the past three years. The Board noted that the next SMB meeting date was Thursday 16 January 2020.