Meeting of the SET Management Board (Hybrid)
Date: Thursday 16 September 2021
Time: 11.00am – 3pm
Venue: Hybrid – Blue & Yellow meeting room ETF Office / Microsoft Teams
Members present:
Wendy Coley, Jim Crompton (Chair), Philip Green, Anita McGowan, Martin Reid, David Russell, Sarah Simons, Palvinder Singh, Barbara Van der Eecken (Vice-Chair), Sarah Whiteside-Jones.
Apologies:
Lynette Leith
In attendance:
Andrew Dowell (Head of Professional Status and Standards), Sandeep Hampal (Membership Co-ordinator, Minute Taker), Mike Harvey (Director of Business Strategy), Alana Horden (Head of Membership), Ellie Locke (Membership Engagement Manager), Amanda Parkes (Membership Engagement Officer), Paul Tully (Strategic Research Consultant)
Minutes
1a. Welcome
The Chair informed the Board a recent discussion had taken place with Peter Latchford OBE (Chair of the ETF Board) and positive feedback was given with regards to the role of SET and the ‘ONE ETF’ approach.
1b. Apologies for absence
Lynette Leith had sent apologies in advance of the meeting.
1c. Declarations of conflicts of interest in the items on the agenda
The Board were reminded to complete a declaration of interest form and to be sent to the SET Membership Co-ordinator prior to each Board meeting and to pay attention the wording in box number 1.
1d. Minutes
The Board signed off the May meeting minutes and confirmed these are an accurate reflection of the meeting.
2. Actions from last SMB and feedback from last PAG meeting.
The Board reviewed the meeting actions from the May SET Management Board meeting. It had been recommended for the SET team to include Career Framework and next steps to the January 2022 meeting agenda. The Membership Engagement Manager informed the Board, the SET Conference gold sponsors are NCFE and Essential Teaching. It was indicated to distinguish between a Sponsor and a Partner. It had been recommended for SET to target tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Canvas Technology LLC.
The Practitioner Advisory Group meeting actions were pre-circulated to the Board.
3. ETF Stakeholder Plan, followed by Q & A
The Director of Business Strategy presented the ETF Stakeholder Management Plan. It had been highlighted the Plan would support delivering ETF’s strategic objectives and will guide ETF’s stakeholder management strategy in supporting Reputation, Competitive Advantage, Governance, Risk Management, and Licence to Operate.
The Board participated in a deeper discussion to reflect on who are the stakeholders critical to SET’s success, how can/should the Board help deliver SET’s plans e.g., as assets to help influence ETF’s key stakeholders, and how can/should members of the Board influence ETF’s plans (as stakeholders affected by our actions).
The Board recommended key stakeholders and suggested for the ETF to come up with a plan on how it will engage with stakeholders, influence, and develop a close working relationship with larger stakeholders such as OFSTED but to align any advocacy in line with ETF’s ideologies. The Board also recognised that further work was required to understand what SET’s members consider to be important to them, to communicate to members what success looks like and to acknowledge members’ concerns and worries.
The SET team will include the ETF Stakeholder Plan to a future Practitioner Advisory Group meeting agenda.
4. Performance Updates
The Board received the 2021/22 Membership Performance Report prior to the meeting for review.
The Head of Membership presented an overview on 2021/22 performance. It was indicated SET are in line with September Membership target and have more paid members joining in comparison to student members. The Board were informed the QTLS campaign and ITE Outreach campaign have assisted with retaining membership for September and October.
The Board acknowledged the positive response received from members wanting to join the PAG; record QTLS registrations; 120 ATS applications; and double the amount of SET Conference tickets being sold in comparison to previous years. It had been highlighted there had been a global campaign in getting individuals to upload more data on special interest groups, which has contributed towards increasing engagement. A broader approach towards awareness across SET has meant working towards more paid advertising campaigns, trade press, working more collaboratively across ETF and co-branding. There has been a boost in confidence in QTLS/ ATS applications, possibly due to more members teaching in person, and the impact of the new CRM system and website.
The Head of Membership updated the Board on retention of students, where, although the Trainee Teacher Advisory Group have provided input on targeted content, fortnightly newsletters, and timely upgrade campaigns to encourage students to upgrade to paid membership earlier on, there was only a 15% uptake into paid membership. In contrast, student membership retention goes up by 42% in two years. The Board had an open discussion on engagement and recommended for SET to drive an advocacy approach in providing members with confidence, to re-evaluate our current communication channels effectively, to consider a referral scheme and to utilise social media platforms.
5. Reviewing the Code of Practice
The Membership Engagement Manager provided a short summary of the Code of Practice and highlighted new pieces have been incorporated around safeguarding and the Board’s recommendations have been considered. It was suggested by the Board, for SET to champion the Code of Practice and to implement it across the membership. The Membership Co-ordinator will share a final version of the Code of Practice paper for the Board to approve/ reject. The new Code will be known as the Code of Ethics and Conduct.
6. Honorary Fellows Update
The Membership Engagement Officer provided a short background on Honorary Fellowships, including data collated from the Membership Matters research, consulting with PARN and by reviewing other membership bodies in terms of their offers. The Board acknowledged the Honorary Fellowship is separate to the current SET Fellowship. The Board had an open discussion on Honorary Fellowships and recommended for SET to consider using ambassadors from the membership, having clear criteria on whom should be awarded Honorary Fellowship, having Practitioner Advisory Group representation on the panel, making it a lifetime fellowship to advocate SET and being clear on what is required from members.
7. Pillars of Professionalism
The Head of Professional Status and Standards and Strategic Research Consultant presented the Board with some initial proposals to demonstrate SET’s ideas on the pillars of professionalism. The Board agreed SET should consider introducing a CPD scheme as it enables and facilitates effective practice and encourages confidence. It has been suggested by the Board, for SET to consider supporting individuals in recording CPD as reflective practice but without any barriers.
8. AOB
The Membership Co-ordinator will share a Microsoft Forms link with the Board to complete, so SET can gather feedback on how SMB meetings are run and for continuous improvement. This will also, feedback into the Annual ETF Board report.
The Membership Co-ordinator will inform the Board via email with regards to the next SMB meeting date.
Minutes signed off by the Board: 28 January 2022