Cringleford Church of EnglandVA Primary School

Minutes of Governors Meeting held on

Wednesday 22nd January2014

Present: Mrs J Jones (Chair), Mr N Henery (Headteacher), Mr R Ashton,

Mrs S Barker (Deputy Headteacher), Mr K Barnes,

The Revd Canon H Butcher,Dr J Cahir,Mr J Drew (Vice-Chair),

Mrs T Fowler, Mr A McCrum,Mr A Sexton, Mrs J Smith.

Apologies:Mrs H Burr, Revd M Young.

Also Present: Dr N Brewin (Clerk),

  1. Welcome & Prayer

At 7.30 pm, the Chair opened the meetingwith prayer.

  1. Declaration of Interests

There were no declarations of interest relative to the agenda.

  1. Minutes of the Meeting of 4th December2013

The minutes were approved and signed.

  1. Matters Arising from the Minutes

4.1. Visiting Speakers:Canon Butcher asked that, in future, invited speakers should be given a time-limit for their presentation: this proposal was accepted, in principle.

4.2. DBE Academies Trust: It was agreed to invite Miss Christine Douglas (the newly appointed officer for DNEAT) to the Governors’ Meeting on 13th May to speak for 20-25 minutes about DBE plans for Academy Schools.

4.4. Governors’ Communications:The Headteacher agreed to place a copy of the minuteson the website once they have been approved by Governors. A Governors’ Notice Board will also be arranged in due course.

  1. Headteacher’s Report

Mr Henery was thanked for his report and a discussion ensued.

5.1. The achievement of pupils at the school: Full reports of pupil achievement are available in the VLE Gallery section (under ‘Data analysis 2013 tab’) and on the DfE site

.While pupils’ overall achievement in the school is good, three areas for development have been highlighted: (1) progress of higher attaining pupils in writing in Key Stage 2; (2) Year 1 phonics; (3) attainment of Level 3 in maths, reading and writing by the end of Key Stage 1. Following a question from Canon Butcher, it was explained by Mrs Barker that the school receives a “Pupil Premium” for six years of support for each disadvantaged child so that, with these additional resources, each child should achieve its full educational potential.Mr Henery explained howthe priorities for curriculum development fed into the SIDP (see below).

5.2. Hethersett schools cluster. The composition of the Cluster has changed somewhat with new headteacher appointments, but it was reported by the headteacher that the Hethersett Cluster continues to work very effectively on school improvement issues. Through clusters and other local networks, schools are increasingly expected to develop collective responsibility for their own improvement in a collaborative way’. Mr Aston, Mr Sexton and Mr McCrum suggested the further development of links with UEA, the Science Park, local firms and local churches (through links with parents).

5.3. Devolved Formula Capital Money: Governors were dismayed to learn from Chris Hey (NCC) that, despite a significant underspend on the school building project, there was no available Devolved Formula Capital funding available to make good any deficiencies or shortcomings in the buildings. The Headteacher agreed to consult on this matter with Mr David Hicks (the new School Projects development Officer at DBE).

5.4. Road Safety: Canon Butcher, the Headteacher and Mr Drew agreed to co-ordinate the responses of parents and to draft a letter to the MP urging that specific actions should be taken to reduce the risks at potential accident sites such as (1) the pedestrian crossing on the A11; (2) the slip-road leading onto Colney Lane (3) the outlet from Harts Lane footpath onto Colney Lane.

5.5. Cluster Inset Training: This was proving to be an efficient and cost-effective way of providing INSET training for teaching staff. Twilight sessions are being planned for History, Literacy/Numeracy and ICT.

5.6. School Improvement and Development Plan: An overview of the seven elements of the current SIDP was projected on-screen for discussion and the full information can be found in the Gallery section of VLE (SIDP 2013 tab). These issues will be discussed in detail by the Leadership and Effectiveness Committee.

  1. Committee Business

None of the Committees had met since the previous meeting of Governors.

6.1. Leadership and Effectiveness: Mr Sexton reported on a course that he had recently attended on the new curriculum. There will be significant changes in assessment criteria. The content of the ICT curriculum will change fundamentally with a new emphasis on programming and software applications (Apps). Mr Henery said that, with a new building and new computing equipment, the school and its staff were well placed to pioneer the development of the ICT curriculum with the support of the local curriculum adviser, Jill Duman, who is coming into the school on a regular basis. Mr Sexton emphasised that delivering the national curriculum was only part of the School’s mission. As a Church School, it was important to have a clear and well publicised Statement of Aims and Values that underpinned all educational objectives within the school. The new curriculum will only become a statutory requirement for KS1 and KS2 in 2016, so the school must decide at what stage it will make this transition.

6.1. Community Hub: Mr Drew reported on a meeting that he had had recently with the management team of the community hub project. Now that the school buildings are fully operational it was agreed that Mr Drew, Mrs Jones and Mr Henery should arrange a scoping meeting to identify the opportunities for broader use of the school buildings by the community. Major issues that need to be decided range around the extent of use during the day (with the school probably needing to ring-fence at least 2.5 days per week for its own use); costs and revenues; and security issues to form the basis of a TOCA agreement.

Committee meetings scheduled for this term are as follows:L&E 10 Feb; PAWB 27th Feb; F&F 13th March.

  1. Reports on Governors’ visits to Classes

A new form was adopted to record governors’ visits to classes. This was supported by a new document giving appropriate policy guidelines. Governors were encouraged to visit their designated classes approximately once per term and to record the outcome of these visits in the log-book which is held in the school office. The record should be countersigned by the class teacher.

  1. Correspondence and General Administration

8.1.Disposal of a small apron of Land: The Clerk and Headteacher had held further discussions by e-mail with Mr John Atkins (NCC) regarding either the sale of the small apron of land to a neighbouring householder or a short-term leasing arrangement. In view of the fact that the triangle of land was being well maintained and that the present arrangement was of no inconvenience either to the school or to the neighbouring householder, it was agreed unanimously that no further action should be taken.

8.2.Wi-Fi in Schools: Another e-mail message had been received from a concerned parent. This took the form of a response at national level by SSITA (Safe Schools Information Technology Alliance) to the statements made by Public Health England, about thesafety of Wi-Fi technology for use in schools. However, the governors saw no reason to discuss this matter any further.

  1. Training Courses

Governors were all encouraged to sign up for the extensive range of (free) courses provided by the Norfolk Governors Service. At the cluster meeting on 3rd February, the Chair willtry to arrange a suitable date for a group training session later in the year.

  1. Any Other Business

10.1. Nomination for ADP: architectural award.Mr Henery informed the governors that the new school building had been nominated for a Civic Trust Award.

  1. Date of Next Meeting (and Refreshment Organisers)Tue 18th March (Martin Young)

Date of subsequent meetings:-

Tue 13th May (Jenny Smith)Tue 1st July (Julia Jones).

  1. Closing Prayer

At 9.00 pm, the Chair closed the meeting with the Grace.

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