Branch and District Committee Meeting
Meeting notes:
Quorum Issues and Meeting Scheduling: James, Claire, and Rosie discussed ongoing challenges with achieving quorum for both branch and district committee meetings, leading James to propose scheduling an additional ad hoc meeting and initiating a poll among committee members to find a suitable time.
Quorum Requirements Explained: James clarified the quorum requirements for both branch and district committees, noting that branch requires 40% of its approximately eight members, while district requires 40% of at least ten members, with a minimum of five present. He also explained that general meetings such as OGM and AGM require ten attendees.
Scheduling Additional Meetings: Due to the inability to reach quorum for district matters, James stated that decision items would be postponed to an ad hoc meeting closer to the OGM, and he committed to putting a poll in the branch and district committee group to coordinate availability.
Attendance Challenges and Solutions: Rosie and James discussed the persistent issue of low attendance, attributing it to members not checking their calendars for conflicts. Rosie suggested that in future, reps should cross-reference their annual commitments with meeting schedules, and James proposed increasing committee sizes to improve the likelihood of reaching quorum.
Branch and District Committee Membership and Co-option: James, Claire, and Rosie reviewed current committee memberships, discussed the process and limitations of co-opting new members, and identified which participants were eligible for branch and district committee roles.
Committee Membership Status: James confirmed that Rosie and Chris are members of both branch and district committees, while Claire is currently only on the district committee. He noted the need to update the website to reflect Claire's role as Membership Secretary.
Co-option Process and Limitations: James explained that co-opting a new committee member requires the meeting to be quorate, which was not the case, so they could not proceed with co-opting Claire onto the branch committee during this meeting.
Briefing on Ballot, Funding, and Campaigns: James provided Rosie and Claire with a comprehensive update on the upcoming indicative ballot, government pay proposals, funding challenges, and the ongoing 'Save Education' campaign, referencing recent meetings and national communications.
Government Pay Proposal and Funding Cuts: James outlined the government's three-year pay proposal of 6.5%, highlighting that it remains below inflation and is not accompanied by additional funding, leading to anticipated cuts in support staff and potential teacher redundancies.
Workload and Curriculum Concerns: He described ongoing workload and curriculum issues, including the threat to the 1265 directed hours and proposed reductions in salary safeguarding for staff affected by restructuring.
Indicative Ballot and Member Engagement: James announced that an indicative ballot would launch on 28 February, coinciding with a special conference, and emphasised the need for all workplaces to hold members' meetings and update membership data in preparation.
Campaigns and Public Support: He noted that public support for education investment is improving, with political parties such as the Green Party gaining momentum, and that the 'Save Education' campaign will continue for the next three years.
Membership Data and Rep Effectiveness: James presented current membership figures for the district and branch, discussed the quality and engagement of workplace reps, and outlined plans to address inactive reps and improve data accuracy.
Membership Numbers and Data Issues: James reported 2,171 members in the district and 1,817 in the branch, with the overall count around 2,400 due to uncontactable members lacking email addresses. He stressed that while numbers are healthy, the quality of membership data needs improvement.
Rep Engagement Assessment: He described a recent email sent to reps, categorising their responses as green (fully engaged), amber (prompted to act), or red (completely inactive), and stated his intention to remove non-engaging reps after attempting to resolve any personal issues.
Plans for Rep Recruitment: James outlined the need to recruit new reps in schools without representation, proposing to hold larger members' meetings or visit schools directly, and to focus on ensuring that existing reps are effective and not just nominal.
Strategies for Increasing Rep Coverage: James, Rosie, and Claire discussed practical approaches to increasing rep coverage in schools lacking representation, including geographic grouping, collaborative outreach, and logistical support for meetings.
Identifying Schools Without Reps: James estimated that 15–20 schools have very inactive reps and that a significant number of schools, particularly private and special schools, lack reps entirely. He noted that some members in these schools are beginning to reach out for support.
Collaborative Outreach Plans: Claire and Rosie offered to help by reaching out to local schools, hosting joint meetings, and encouraging sign-ups, with Rosie suggesting combining meetings for efficiency and James agreeing to cover travel expenses if needed.
Geographic Grouping and Action Planning: James proposed that he and Claire, as Membership Secretary, work together to group schools geographically and plan targeted outreach, with a follow-up meeting to finalise the approach and James preparing the necessary groundwork.
District Agenda Items: Rally Funding and Motion Prioritisation: James informed Rosie and Claire about two district-level agenda items—funding a coach for a rally in London and prioritising motions for the OGM—explaining that decisions would be deferred until a quorate meeting.
Rally Coach Funding Proposal: James relayed a request from Dave for unions to underwrite a coach to a London rally on 28 March, with district funds covering member travel and remaining seats offered to the public, but expressed uncertainty about member interest based on past experience.
Motion Prioritisation Process: He explained that the process of prioritising motions for the OGM would be postponed until a quorate district meeting, and that he would poll members for availability, aiming to combine this with the selection committee for conference attendance.
Conference Attendance and Selection Committee: James, Rosie, and Claire discussed the logistics of attending the upcoming national conference, the process for selecting attendees, and the impact of school holiday schedules on participation.
Conference Dates and Availability: James and Rosie confirmed the conference dates as 30 March to 2 April, with travel on 29 March, and discussed how differing school holiday schedules affect members' ability to attend.
Selection Committee Formation: Rosie agreed to serve on the selection committee for conference attendees, and James extended the deadline for nominations, encouraging others who cannot attend to participate in the selection process.
Follow-up tasks:
Scheduling Additional Meeting: Put a poll in the branch and District Committee group to arrange an ad hoc meeting for motion prioritisation before 2nd February. (James)
Data Cleansing and Members Meetings: Share the PowerPoint slides in the chat after the meeting to brief the wider committee. (James)
Data Cleansing and Members Meetings: Focus on sanitising membership data and holding members meetings in schools without a Rep, ideally electing a Rep during the visit. (James)
Geographic Grouping of Schools Without Reps: Sit down with Claire on Teams in the next week or so to hash out geographic groupings of settings without reps near committee members, with James preparing as much as possible in advance. (James, Claire)
Conference Selection Committee: Put a message in WhatsApp to gather availability for a meeting to discuss motion prioritisation and selection committee for conference attendance. (James)
Conference Selection Committee: Send an email to remind people about the extended deadline for the conference attendance form once the selection committee meeting is scheduled. (James)
Note: Branch elements were quorate however District Items were not. Taken to OGM2