Schools forum
What the Schools Forum does and information about its members
What the Forum does
The Schools Forum is a statutory body comprised mainly of headteachers and governors from Bristol. It usually meets once a (new) term and is independent of Bristol City Council, but supported by it.
It considers proposals drawn up by the council to allocate the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). This is received by Bristol City Council from the the Department for Education and is earmarked for education funding in Bristol.
Currently the DSG is principally allocated through the use of the “formula”. Any changes to this “formula”, and any additional specific funding proposed by the council must be approved by the Schools Forum. This accounts for approximately 70% of the total funds spent on education in Bristol each year.
In order to undertake its role of dialogue with the council, the Forum is also interested in how our budget for education is spent, to ensure that it understands the “wider” picture as well. It will be seeking to understand the financial implications of various initiatives, such as:
- The inclusion programme of placing special schools alongside secondary schools
- The creation of further academy schools.
Because of its role to consider local authority proposals, the Schools Forum is unable to ‘champion’ any individual causes, but is always interested to be advised of issues.
Membership
The Schools Forum draws representatives from schools, governors and non-school members.
- Chair: Carew Reynell, Governor at Henbury School
- Vice Chair: Christine Townsend, Governor at Whitehall Primary
- Clerk: Billy Forsythe
Bristol Schools Forum has 31 members compromising the following:
School members
- Secondary: 4 headteachers, 4 governors (3 places in each category reserved for academies)
- Primary: 7 headteachers, 7 governors (3 places in each category reserved for academies)
- Special: 1 headteacher, 1 governor
- Nursery: 1 headteacher, 1 governor
- PRU: 1 HT or management committee representative
Non-school members
PVI Early Years (1), Diocese of Bristol Board of Education (1) Diocese of Clifton Board of Education (1), recognised teaching professional associations (1), support staff representative (1), Post 16 Providers (1).
Meetings
All meetings are open to the public.
Contact the Clerk for more details.
Elsewhere on the web
- DfE website Go to http://www.dfes.gov.uk/ (opens new window)
- Schools forum: a guide for schools and academies at GOV.UK Go to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-forum-a-guide-for-schools-and-academies (opens new window)
- Schools forums operational and good practice guide 2015 at GOV.UK Go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-forums-operational-and-good-practice-guide-2015 (opens new window)
- Schemes for financing schools at GOV.UK Go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schemes-for-financing-schools (opens new window)
Downloadable files
- Schools Forum members (pdf, 106k) (opens new window)
- Schools Forum Constitution (pdf, 297k) (opens new window)
- Growth fund policy revised 2016 (pdf, 101k) (opens new window)
- Scheme for financing schools March 2017 (pdf, 192k) (opens new window)
- Forum Training October 2016 (pdf, 1.2MB) (opens new window)
Contact information
Billy Forsythe
City Hall
College Green
Bristol, BS1 5TR