Clarendon Governing Body Report 2015 – 16
This document provides a summary of the work of the Governing Body over the year. In the past annual reports to parents included a lot of information about the school and pupil results that is now reported in detail elsewhere on the school website so this document focuses on the practical ways in which we as a governing body have endeavoured to fulfil our functions:
· Setting the strategic direction for Clarendon
· Holding the headteacher to account for performance and improvement of the school
· Ensuring financial health, probity and value for money
Composition and Attendance of Governing Body
This year we have seen a few changes in the governing body with Neda Hormozi stepping down to focus on her other commitments after actively contributing to the governing body in a number of ways, not least in helping to rationalise the school policies for which we are most grateful. We have been delighted that Keith Tysoe and Primesh Kalia have joined us bringing valuable expertise to the table in the areas of education and buildings respectively; both are already making valuable contributions to our work. The governors are a group of volunteers who give up a lot of time and energy to get to know the school well and to both support and monitor the quality of its work through a series of meetings, committees, extra working parties and visits. They take on a special area of interest as link governors and also undertake training to ensure that they are properly equipped for their role. An outline of some of the year’s work is summarised in the table below.
Governors / Term Expires / Committees(Chairs in Bold) / Link Roles / Visits / Working
Parties * / Training / Main Meeting
Attendance ** / Committee Attendance
Parent
Cathy Kafka / 04/12/18 / Partnerships
Pupil Pastoral Wellbeing / School Council / 3 / 2 / Safeguarding for Special School Governors
Disability Awareness Training
LSCB workshop to raise awareness of PREVENT
School Data & Assessment / 85% / 67%
Vacancy
Gaelle Newland / 19/12/18 / Finance
Pupil Pastoral Wellbeing / Pupil Pastoral Wellbeing / 6 / 1 / E Safety Responsibilities for Governors
School Financial Management
Safeguarding for Special School Governors
Getting it Right as a Parent Governor
LSCB Safeguarding Children Level 1
Information Sharing and Consent
LSCB workshop to raise awareness of PREVENT / 100% / 100%
LEA
Prem Kalia / 30/11/19 / Health & Safety & Premises
Pay & Personnel / 2 / Intro to Health and Safety Responsibilities (Hounslow)
School Data & Assessment / 85% / 50%
Staff
John Kipps
(Headteacher) / Pay & Personnel
Finance
Health & Safety & Premises
Partnerships
Pupil Achievement and Curriculum / N/A / 3 / 100% / 100%
Yvonne Coney / 26/09/18 / Pay and Personnel
Pupil Achievement and Curriculum / 1 / Disability Awareness Training
Getting to Grips with Governance / 100% / 100%
Co-Opted
Kayleigh Lee / 21/04/19 / Pupil Pastoral Wellbeing
Premises Health and Safety / Disability Awareness Training
Getting to Grips with Governance / 100% / 100%
Jo Dixon
(Chair) / 30/11/2016 / Pay & Personnel
Finance
Pupils Pastoral Wellbeing
Pupil Achievement & Curriculum
Partnerships / Newhouse / 7 / 6 / Governors MAT Conference
Headteacher Appraisal and Capability – Governor Responsibilities
Exclusions from School
Safeguarding for Special School Governors
Special Needs Safeguarding Conference
Safer Recruitment
Disability Awareness Training
School Data & Assessment / 100% / 100%
Robert Harvey / 30/11/2016 / Finance
Pupil Pastoral Wellbeing / Gateway / 1 / 5 / Safer Recruitment / 100% / 75%
Keith Tysoe
/ 31/07/2019 / Pupil Achievement and Curriculum
Partnerships / Pupil Premium / 2 / 1 / School Data & Assessment / 100% / 67%
Vacancy
Maurice Press
(Vice Chair) / 02/10/2017 / Finance
Pay & Personnel
Pupils Pastoral Wellbeing
Premises, Health and Safety / Personnel, Child Protection, Safeguarding LAC & Equalities / 1 / 3 / 100% / 85%
Associate Members
Sarah Bright
(Gateway) / 30/01/2017 / Partnerships
Pupil Achievement and Curriculum / N/A / N/A
Dave Francis (Newhouse) / 05/05/2020 / Premises, Health & Safety
Pupils Pastoral Wellbeing
Partnerships / N/A / N/A
· - Includes recruitment panels and HT performance management panels
** Includes Strategy Day and all Full GB meetings
Meetings
It has been another very busy year for everyone in school. This year we had an infant class for the first time and welcomed the new pupils and staff who quickly became an integral part of Clarendon. Governors started the year before term by meeting with the headship team for a strategy day to do some long term planning as well as to set the school priorities for this year.
Achievement: It is really important that all governors understand the data that they receive from school and many governors, together with some parents attended a very useful workshop on data and assessment run by Mrs Field in the summer term. Through the year governors have also been hearing about all the changes to assessment systems that have been introduced by the government and how they have been affecting Clarendon.
Curriculum: A lot of hard work has gone in this year in making sure that the new curriculum is working as smoothly as possible, particularly in Computing, Maths English and Science. Governors have also had input into and been reviewing the new life skills curriculum, which is an area particularly important for the pupils at Clarendon and their families.
Pastoral: Recognising that pupils need to be healthy and ready to learn there is a wide range of work in the background that has been reviewed and revised to support all pupils to be safe and supported pastorally as well as academically and enabled to grow in their social skills and in how they can live healthy lives. Governors have been supporting and monitoring this work.
Personnel: There has been a focus on the use of training and professional development to ensure that this is better evaluated and shared. Governors have also been monitoring how staff are supported to deliver the highest standard of teaching in their lessons, including through all the opportunities for training, observation and visiting other schools.
Partnerships: There have been a number of project groups as well as this committee looking at academisation and beginning to work with Strathmore as well as the local authority to ensure a smooth transition as the Auriga Academy Trust starts life. Initial thinking has also gone into sponsoring a free school to broaden local provision for pupils with special educational needs. This has all involved lots of consultation with staff, parents and the wider community to ensure that everyone’s views are heard and that everyone is kept well informed. There are also some different partners involved in the redevelopment to co-ordinate and communicate with.
Newhouse: Lots of work has continued to go into tailoring the curriculum at Newhouse for the pupils there. Additionally, following the Local Authority decision to close Newhouse there has been a focus on ensuring the best possible alternative provision for pupils and supporting pupils, families and staff through the resulting transitions.
Gateway: Gateway were included in the staff survey this year and there is a link governor to visit and support the Gateway. A governor is also involved in recruitment panels when they arise. There is a termly report to governors which is discussed at full governing body meetings.
Committees
A lot of the more detailed work of governors is done in the six different committees that monitor the different areas of school life and feed back to the full governing body:
Pay and Personnel
We do an annual survey to ensure that governors hear from those on the front line about the opportunities and challenges in school, we received a lot of positive feedback from staff but also lost of ideas and suggestions for the future. Mr Kipps and the committee have also been doing a lot of work looking at the staffing structure and making sure it evolves appropriately as the school itself grows and develops, particularly with the redevelopment in mind. The appointment of a School Business Manager to oversee the increased administrative load has been part of that process.
Pupil Achievement and Curriculum
This committee helps make sure that the right curriculum, in its widest sense, is in place along with all the policies and procedures that help ensure everyone knows what they are delivering. As well as hearing about pupil progress this committee hears about how staff identify which pupils need some extra help to achieve their potential and the wide range of interventions that are available to support those pupils.
Pupil Pastoral and Wellbeing
This committee monitors pupil attendance, lateness and behaviour regularly and hear about the work to improve each of these areas. They have been hearing about how therapy provision is organised and delivered and how this might be improved in the future in some cases. They also monitor all the visits, school journeys and extracurricular activities that support pupils learning, and independence.
Finance
This committee works with the headteacher to agree and to monitor the budget over the year. Every year the committee has to do a comprehensive audit of how money is managed and the finances monitored in school. It is their job to check that the money the school is allocated is calculated correctly before it gets to us and is then spent wisely and carefully. The financial policies are also reviewed and kept up to date.
Health, Safety and Premises
This committee does a lot of work to make sure that the school environment is a safe as possible. The team do walks around the school, undertake risk assessments and maintain an overview of the work that needs doing to keep our buildings as fit for purpose as possible until the redevelopment. This can include both big and small jobs. This committee reviews all the first aid and Team Teach training as well as all the buildings and safety policies and audits. They also see all the redevelopment plans and work to ensure that our new buildings provide the best possible environment for pupils and staff.
Conclusion
The summer term celebrations of achievement, both at the year 11 Record of Achievement evening and the end of year Achievement assembly were once again wonderful celebrations of all that our pupils achieve and are opportunities also to see their growing independence. The year has seen the addition of both an infant class and an additional specialist class which already seem to have been always part of the Clarendon family. There has been a lot of work behind the scenes both towards the badly needed redevelopment and towards forming a multi academy trust with Strathmore. Throughout, we have been absolutely focussed on ensuring the best possible provision to enable all our pupils, both now and in the future to learn and achieve their potential. The priorities that emerged from the Auriga Academy Trust inaugural vision meeting were both ones already key for Clarendon staff and governors: to provide skills for future employment and independent living and to ensure that all staff (including therapists) are approachable, professional and skilled, and those are objectives that we will continue to work towards delivering.
Jo Dixon
Chair of Governors