Noadswood School
Governing Body
School Improvement Committee
20 November 2013 at 5pm
MINUTES
Governors Present:
Chris Blake CB
Matthew Hewitt MH
Alan McElevey AMC
Carolyn Millar CM
Alison Munden (Chair of SI Committee) AM
Jim Watt JW
In Attendance:
Sally Callander (Clerk) SC
Steven Pike SP
Jackie Rapson (Chair of Governors)
Jael Robinson JR
Apologies:
Val Cacchi
Tracy Gates
Mike Roberts
Absent:
Bruce Downie
The meeting opened at 5.04pm
Agenda Item / Action1 / Apologies for Absence
Apologies received from Val Cacchi, Tracy Gates and Mike Roberts
2 / Declarations of Personal Interest
None declared.
3 / Approval of Minutes of last SI Committee Meeting on 25 September 2013
· AM talked through the Minutes. MH asked for the following amendments to be made to the Minutes:
5.1 – MH asked for the line referring to vertical tutoring to be removed.
7.1 – Second paragraph, Nikki Dossett is setting up the links with Schools Direct, not SP and MH.
Jackie Rapson (Chair of Governors) also attended the SIC meeting on 25th September 2013.
· The Governors approved the Minutes subject to the amendments being made. SC to pass updated Minutes to CM for signing. / SC
4 / Matters Arising
· MH stated that there are big changes coming into schools in the next year and he would like the following to be placed on the Agenda for the next SIC meeting on 22nd January 2014:
National Curriculum Changes
New Assessment
Progress 8 / AM/SC
5 / Introduction of Jael Robinson, Attendance Officer
5.10pm Carolyn Millar arrived.
· AM introduced Jael Robinson to the Governors. Jael then talked to the Governors about her role at Noadswood and explained that there was an Attendance Policy on Noadswood website for Governors to view if they needed. Jael also talked briefly about her future plans of visiting feeder Primary schools to talk about attendance issues with Year 5/6 pupils and she is also exploring the use of PP funding to aid vulnerable families who are struggling with getting their children to school at Noadswood.
5.15pm Chris Blake arrived.
JW praised Jael for the efforts she was putting into pupils with attendance issues and she was thanked by AM for giving up time to attend this meeting.
5.35pm Jael Robinson left the meeting.
6 / GCSE results against targets (internal performance data)
· This item will be discussed at the next SIC meeting on 22nd January 2014 / SC/AM
7 / Curriculum Targets for External Assessments in 2014
· This item will be discussed at the next SIC meeting on 22nd January 2014 / SC/AM
8 / Review Pupil Progress and Attainment including Vulnerable Groups, Attainment of Gifted and Talented and outcomes of 1:1 for Pupils
· SP talked through a PowerPoint presentation about exam results Vulnerable Groups. This was taken from a document called GCSE Results 2013, copy of which was circulated to Governors on 25-11-13. The gaps are
FSM -23.3% (5 A* to C incl English and Maths)
SEN -50.8% (5 A* to C incl English and Maths)
G & T +40.2% (5 A* to C incl English and Maths)
SP talked in great detail through each of the above.
AMC stated that we had 37 SEN children in Noadswood and asked if this was similar of other local secondary schools. SP confirmed it was.
AM asked how does the school feel about the levels of progress made. SP explained that every pupil is capable of making 3 levels of progress and this will be discuss fully with teachers at the next INSET day in school.
JW asked if the baseline SEN data (before pupil premium came along) was available and SP confirmed that he could put the figures together.
CM asked about the impact of catch-up funding for Year 7’s. SP confirmed that any pupil coming to us with less than level 4 in English is getting the support needed. Maths is falling behind slightly but SP felt that is was important to get English first to enable to pupil to access the lesson, Maths will then follow.
AM asked about the 7 (of the 37) pupils with unknown history. SP confirmed that these were usually older pupils where their previous school had not provided the relevant information. Information is more readily available on Year 7 pupils.
AMC asked about trends year on year. MH explained that results from pupils on SEN register may not always go up but their needs would always be met and the results of this cohort would need careful analysing each year.
CB asked about interventions for the most needy/struggling pupils and MH explained these.
SP talked through the gap trends for FSM, G&T and SEN
· SP handed out a document – Progress Analysis: Autumn 1 2013 and talked about the 3 levels of progress and how the aspirational progress is 4 levels.
CM commented that the progress is linked to pupils and asked if the is data regarding department progress. SP explained that this would be possible by examining classes and AM commented that this would help with performance management. CB asked how often the information is collected and what would be done with the results. SP confirmed that the information is gathered 6 times and year but next year this would be reduced to 5. The information will be used to discover the areas where progress is not being made and address that.
· JR asked SP if he would like to come along to the FGB to discuss Pupil Premium Progress. SP to let JR know. / SP
SP/JR
9. / Review of School Development Plan Progress
· MH handed to Governors a document called Monitoring Data Dashboard November 2013 and talked through the details of this.
CM wanted it minuted that a couple of years ago, not all teachers would have taken part in observations/drop in sessions. CM felt that MH should be credited as his ability has turned around the culture of the school. The school would not have had these good outcomes if MH had not been recruited.
· MH handed out a document detailing the FROG Usage Stats and talked through the details of this. MH explained how the pupils and teachers use FROG and described the Parent Portal.
· MH stated that at the next SIC meeting he wanted to talk about the Curriculum National Update and he would try and email details to Governors.
6.54pm SP and MH left the meeting / SP
10 / Any Other Notified Business
None
Date of Next Meeting:
Wednesday 22nd January 2014 at 5pm
The meeting closed at 6.58pm
Minutes Approved by……………………………………………
Position……………………………………………………………
Signature………………………………………………………….
Date………………………………………………………………..