Annual Governor Report to Parents 2016-17

Annual Governor Report to Parents 2016-17

YSGOL LLYS HYWEL

Chair of Governors / Clerk of the Governors
Cllr Susan Allen
Pen y Coed Farm
Whitland
Carmarthenshire
SA34 0LR / Mrs Irene Davies
YsgolLlysHywel
Market Street
Whitland
SA34 0QB

Membership of the Governing Body:

a). LA Governors

Cllr. Susan Allen(re-elected 3-9-2016, tenure extends to 2-9-2020)

Mrs Rhian Phillips (Co-opted 6-5-2015, tenure extends to 5-5-2019)

Vacant Seat

b). Parent Governors

Mr Rodney Powell – (Elected Feb 2017 – Tenure extends toFeb 2021)

Mr Steven Arnold (ElectedNov 2016 – Tenure will extend to Oct 2020)

Miss Sian Williams (Elected Dec 2015 – Tenure will extend to Dec 2019)

Mr Chris Hughes (Elected Feb 2017- Tenure will extend to Feb 2021)

c). Community Governors

Mrs Rozanne Kirk (Co-opted 7-3-2017, tenure will extend to 6-3-2021)

Mr Roger Penn (Co-opted 25-3-2014, tenure will extend to 24-3-2018)

Cllr Tanya Croston-Evans (Co-opted Jan 2017, tenure will extend to Jan 2021)

Parch. GutoLlywelyn (Co-opted 3-3-2016, tenure will extend to March2020)

d). Teacher/ staff Governors

Miss Alison Jones (Elected Oct16 , tenure will extend to Oct 2020)

Miss Elizabeth Richards (Elected Jan 2015, tenure will extend to Jan 2019)

f). Head teacher

Mr Eirwyn J. Griffiths

Resolutions from the previous year’s annual meeting.

A meeting with the governing body was not requested by parents of YsgolLlysHywelduring the academic year of 2016-17 therefore no resolutions have been passed.

A Message from the Chair of the Governing Body

The Governors and I are delighted with the progress of the pupils over the past year and would like to thank all of the staff for their committed effort to support all of the children. The year six pupils have moved on and my personal thanks go to them for their work on the ECO committee and for demonstrating their entrepreneurial skills. The pupils’ input into the Safe Routes project, working directly with the Project Manager, will help future families to be more safe in the vicinity of the school. It is a complex world and I am satisfied the skills and knowledge the children have acquired will give them the confidence and ambition to be the best they can. With my very best wishes to all the pupils moving to the secondary schools.

Cllr Sue Allen

Chair of Governors

Financial Report.

Please see below a summary of the school's final outturn position for 2016/17.
£
-471,346 / Net Expenditure 2016/17
489,075 / Formula Funding Allocation 2016/17
4,937 / Surplus Carried Forward from 2015/16
22,666 / Surplus Carried Forward to 2017/18

Utilising the Budget:

The budget delegated to the school during the academic year was utilised as follows:

• Staffing the school
• Maintenance of the buildings
• Buying in external services and providing swimming lessons
• Purchasing resources for the teachers to educate the pupils
• Paying insurances and service level agreements between the school and local authority

Gifts to the school.

The governing body would like to thank all people who have supported the school by raising money or contributing towards activities organised by the school. We would particularly like to thank the Parents and Teachers Association for their effort and financial support towards various resources.

Unfortunately, the PTA has not been able to function fully during the year due to a lack of a committee. We understand people have many commitments however we would greatly appreciate the establishment of a new committee next year. Your support throughout the years has been invaluable.

However, a special thank you is shared with all of the school community for the extraordinary support given and shown towards ‘Morgan’s Fight’. It is hard to believe the generosity of people and we greatly appreciate this for one of our pupils.

Governor Expenses

No member of the governing body made financial claims from the school for their subsistence or travel during the academic year 2016-17.

DATA

Foundation Phase

At the end of year 2, all pupils are assessed in their Mathematical skills, Language development and Personal and Social skills. The expected Outcome for the end of year 2 is Outcome 5. However, each child is individual and some will perform above the expected and achieve an Outcome 6 whilst others will perform below the expected. In appendix A, you can see the school’s comparative Data for year 2 during the academic year of 2016-17. Being a relatively small cohort each child holds a large percentage of the data. In 2016-17 each child represented 7.14%.

Key Stage 2

At the end of year 6, all pupils’ skills in Science, Maths, Welsh and English are assessed. The expected level for the end of year 6 is Level 4. However, each child is individual and some will perform above the expected and achieve a Level 5 whilst others will perform below the expected. In appendix B, you can see the school’s comparative Data for year 6 during the academic year of 2015-16. In 2016-17 each child represented 3.7% .

Tracking of children

Children in the school are continuously assessed and challenged to move forward in their learning. The head teacher and governing body review the pupils’ development to ensure pupils at YsgolLlysHywel manage to achieve good development, even if they do not attain the expected Outcome or Level.

Targets for Improvement

The main focus of the school development plan during the academic year, which was agreed by governors and the local authority were:

• Develop the Welsh language charter in the school
• Develop Science teaching within the school
• Develop the maintenance of the school buildings
• Further disseminate excellent teaching across the school
• Implement the digital framework across the school
• Further develop mental maths and tables recall with the pupils
• Develop reading skills of specific group of learners

Here are the targets we predict for the children at the end of year 6 in 2018 and 2019. The expected level for each child to achieve is level 4. Achieving level 5 is above the expected:

2018 (Level 4) / 2018
Level 5 / 2019 (Level 4) / 2019
Level 5
Welsh / 82% / 27% / 100% / 29%
English / 100% / 0% / 100% / 22%
Maths / 82% / 18% / 93% / 50%
Science / 91% / 36% / 100% / 57%

The percentages reflect the ability of individual pupils atYsgolLlysHywel. In 2018 each child holds a percentage value of 9% and in 2019 each child holds a value of 7%. These targets may vary as the children progress and as pupils move in and out of the school.

Attendance.

The Governing body tracks and reviews the attendance of all pupils frequently. Your child’s attendance in school is of the highest importance in order to ensure teachers can support your child’s educational development. Here are the attendance data for the school over the past 2 years:

2015-16 / 2016-17
Attendance / 93.94% / 94.59%
Authorised Absences / 5.56% / 4.97%
Unauthorised Absences / 0.51% / 0.44%

The Governing Body sets a target for the school annually in order to ensure a high attendance level at the school. During the academic year 2016-17 the target set for the school was: 95%. In order to improve attendance in the school, we work closely with the Educational welfare officer in order to resolve issues with families where attendance is low.

Sports and extra-Curricular Sports Activities

Sport is essential to ensure pupils develop as well rounded, healthy individuals. At YsgolLLysHywel we provide two lessons of PE weekly for the pupils. We also encourage pupils to be active during playtimes by providing sports resources. During the Autumn and Spring Term the pupils went weekly to receive Dance and Gymnastics lessons at the school. Also, pupils from year 3 to 6 receive three weeks of swimming lessons during the Spring term. As well as these lessons, pupils in years 5 and 6 attended DyffrynTaf to receive sports lessons from the students in the 6th form for half a term. These lessons provided a variety of sporting experiences for the pupils.

Pupils have also had a wealth of experiences competing with the Urdd. This year was particularly good since the school’s girls tag rugby team came second with their competition at county level and went forward to represent Carmarthenshire in the whole of Wales round and managed to achieve the 3rd position. Pupils havecompeted in the county cross country competition for Carmarthenshire and the three counties as well as taking part in the athletics competition for Carmarthenshire.

Our annual sports day took place on the 27th June 2017. Taf were the winning team this year.The sport boy and girl for years 3 to 6 were Jessica Lee and Cian Rees and the sport boy and girl for Nursery to Year 2 were Summer Davies and William Thomas.

The school strives to provide as much extra-curricular sports activities to the pupils as possible. We are fortunate that the Taekwondo club continues to run successfully after school on a Monday afternoon and the staff hold a variety of healthy living clubs for the pupils on a structured timetable. If any parents would like to volunteer to hold a club at the school we would be delighted to hear from you.

Links with the community

YsgolLlysHywel values community link very highly and considers it to be a vital asset in ensuring the pupils receive the widest and richest curriculum possible. Throughout the year the school has been on many visits including: fair trade football with the association, Urdd competitions such as the Eisteddfod,Dino 4 Hire, visit to Carew Castle, educational visits to local businesses in the town, a trip to Tesco in Haverfordwest, visit to the travle agents, the Dr Who experience, Folly Farm visit, peripatetic music concert, watching the Christmas production in DyffrynTaf, Pets at Home Visit, Cinema visit, Kidwelly castle visit, a Welsh language and environmental course in Cardiff and of course the annual trip to Caldey Island.

As well as going out in to the community, many companies have also been into the school to enrich the pupils’ experiences. These includes:workshops with PC Cath, PSE lessons with the school nurse, workshops with the MenterIaith, kerbcraft, cycling lessons, assemblies with Guto, operation Big bang assembly, recycling workshop,first aid training for year 5RNLI workshop and Attendance workshop.

Performing is also valued highly by YsgolLLysHywel in order to develop confident pupils who are able to talk and communicate with the wider community. Throughout the year people have enjoyed the pupils competing successfully in the various Urdd Eisteddfods. The children performed very well in the Christmas Concert and also did an excellent job performing in the switching on of the Christmas lights and presenting in celebrating the learning events such as the 60s party. This year the school was represented at national Eisteddfod level by Harvey Nash and Bella Lennon reciting and by Jessica Lee, Liam Thomas, Tashka Davies and Dafydd James in the sketch.

Teaching pupils to be responsible citizens is also very important at YsgolLlysHywel. During the year, the school council has organized events to raise money for the RNLI, Children in Need, Morgan’s Fight and Cancer Research UK.We have established a relationship with a school in Italy and a school in Kenya following Mrs Caroline Thomas and Miss Alison Jones’ visit to Italy. These links will hopefully teach pupils how to be active citizens of a global community.

Policy and Strategy Review

A range of new e-safety policies including social media policy were adopted by the governing body this year. Also a new policy of Helping Pupils with Medical needs was put in place as well. All policies were reviewed by the governing body and amendments were made to policies to reflect the new Digital framework and national legislations.

All policies are available at the school and copies can be obtained by asking the head teacher.

Adaptations to the School Prospectus

The school’s prospectus is updated every year with new information. This year the prospectus was revised to include an updated list of school staff and to reflect the new price of school dinners which is now £2.50.

The layout of the prospectus has also changed due to a review by the governing body and is now in a more user friendly layout.

Also within the new prospectus are the dates for the coming academic year.

If you would like a reviewed copy of the school prospectus please contact the head teacher.

Healthy eating and drinking

The school is a healthy school where the promotion of healthy eating and drinking is important. During lessons pupils are allowed access to clean drinking water. During playtimes children are permitted to bring fruit to school. Also, the school holds a fruit tuck shop every morning where pupils can buy fruit at a minimal cost. The school also holds a cooking club during the year where pupils are taught the important life skill of cooking healthy foods.

A healthy balanced meal is served to pupils during the day through the catering department. We encourage parents to provide the pupils with a healthy packed lunch if that is their preference. During appropriate educational themes the school teaches the children how to prepare and maintain a balanced diet.

We discourage the children from drinking fizzy drinks in the school and other foods which are high in fats and sugars.

Curriculum Delivery

YsgolLlysHywel was divided into five classes for the academic year with Nursery and Reception being taught by Mrs Caroline Thomas, supported by Kelly Davies and Carys Jones. Years 1, 2 and 3, Welsh Stream were taught by Alison Jones who was supported by Liz Richards. Years 1, 2 and 3, English Stream were taught by Jane Thomas who was supported by Jayne Stephens. Years 4 to 6, Welsh stream were taught by Beryl Bowen. Years 4 to 6, English stream were taught by Simon O’Leary supported byEirian Davies and Samantha Jenkins. Mr Alan Owen and Mrs Brenda Hancock Evans also supported the pupils by providing specific interventions in wellbeing, literacy and numeracy.

Years 3 to 6 follow the National Curriculum, written and published in 2008 with the adaptations published in 2015. Nursery through to year 2 follow the Foundation Phase framework. All classes also taught the National Literacy and Numeracy frameworks.

YsgolLlysHywel teaches a lesson of literacy and numeracy in the morning, and in the afternoon the pupils study all other subjects using a thematic approach. The themes studied in the school during 2016-17 included:

Y Dderwen

Electrical rainbow, Dragons tales, Paws, claws and whiskers, Battle of the dinosaurs and tasty.

Y Fedwen & Y Boplysen

Blood, bones and gory bits, Travel Agents, Land Ahoy, Children of the revolution, Robot Rampage and The Big Dip.

OnnenYrHelygen

Skin deep, what a wonderful world, Off with her head, More than Mods and Rockers, Summer Camp and Flight engineers.

Additional Learning Needs

The school recognises pupils who need extra support in their learning. If pupils need extra support they are placed on the additional learning needs register and receive extra support which has been tailored for their needs. Pupils on the additional learning needs register receive Individual Educational Plans which are reviewed frequently.

The school is also proactive in engaging with external agencies to support the pupils. During the year the school has co-operated with educational psychologists, a dyslexia specialist teacher, physiotherapists, occupational health and the speech and language service. Mrs Caroline Thomas is the school’s Additional Learning Needs co-ordinator and MrsRhian Phillips monitors the school’s provision on behalf of the governing body.

Here are the numbers of pupils on the school’s additional learning needs register:

School action: 19

School action plus: 13

Statement: 2 pupils

This equates to 24% of the school’s population which is near the national average.

Language Delivery of the School

YsgolLlysHywel is officially categorised as a Dual Stream School. This means that the main language of communication in the school is Welsh with significant use of English in some classes. In Nursery and Reception the language of tuition is Welsh. In Year 1, parents and guardians can choose the language of tuition they wish for their child.

Welsh Stream

In Year 3 English is introduced as a subject. Welsh continues to be the main language of tuition. Roughly 80% of the lessons in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 are through the medium of Welsh and the remaining 20% in English. Mathematics and Science are both taught through the medium of Welsh.

We would encourage all pupils who transfer from YsgolLlysHywel’s Welsh stream to continue with their Welsh education in the secondary school, since there are many advantages to being fully bilingual.

English Stream

If parents have chosen the English Stream then the main language of tuition for the pupils will be English from year 1 upwards. However, in these classes, a large percentage of the lessons will include incidental Welsh. Pupils will also be taught Welsh as a subject in the English Stream but the percentage of lessons taught in Welsh will be about 20%.