Heacham Infant and Nursery School
Draft Minutes of the meeting of the Governing Body held on
Thursday17th September, 2015 at 7.00pm
Queries/questions - in Blue Replies to queries/questions - in Green
Present:
Mr. Robert Dale (Chair) / Mr. Andrew England / Ms. Louise JacksonMrs. Charlotte Ferguson / Mrs. Joanne Kellythorn / Ms. Patricia Young
In attendance:
/ Mrs. Jane Hill (Clerk)Action / By whom
Welcome and Introduction
The Chair welcomed all the Governors to the meeting.
None of the Governors had any conflicts of interest to declare.
- Apologies for absence
- Minutes of the last meeting on 16th July
DECISION: Trish Young proposed that the minutes of the 16th July be agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting, this was seconded by Joanne Kellythorn and all the Governors voted in favour of this proposal.
3. Election of Officers
Chair: Robert Dale agreed to stand again and there were no other candidates. He said that as he had been in post for several years, he would only serve for one year as it was good for the school to have a change of chair.
DECISION: Charlotte Ferguson proposed that Robert Dale be elected Chair, this was seconded by Louise Jackson and all the Governors voted in favour of this proposal.
Vice Chair: At the last meeting Jillian Carr had agreed to stand again as Vice Chair and this was confirmed in an email prior to the meeting. There were no other candidates
DECISION: Louise Jackson proposed that Jillian Carr be elected as Vic Chair, this was seconded by Robert Dale and all the Governors voted in favour of this proposal.
In reply to a question from Louise Jackson, the Chair said the question of succession would be discussed at the next meeting along with the possibility of having a prospective new chair to shadow him. Governors agreed with this and would approach candidate/s who would be interested in taking on the role.
The Head and Governors said how pleased they were that Robert was staying on as Chair.
ACTION: Clerk to add succession planning to the agenda for the next full Governing Body meeting. / Add succession planning to FGB agenda / Clerk
4. Committees
Review of Committee Structure and membership: After discussion, Governors agreed to keep the some committees, Resources and Curriculum and all wanted to remain on the same committees as last year.
DECISION:Governors voted unanimously to keep the two committees: Resources and Curriculum and for the membership to remain the same.
Confirm Terms of Reference
DECISION: Governors unanimously agreed to review Terms of Reference at the first meeting of the each committee for adoption at the next full Governing Body meeting.
ACTION: Terms of reference to be reviewed at first meeting of each committee
Clerk to add Terms of Reference to the agenda for the next full Governing Body meeting. / Action
Add terms of reference to commitee and fgb agendas / By whom
Head and Clerk
5. Review of Governors' monitoring strategy and appoint Governors for delegated responsibilities
Governors went through the list of delegated responsibilities linked to the school development planand agreed on the allocation of responsibilities(list attached to these minutes)
6. Agree a meetings calendar for the year including committees
Governors decided having two full Governing Body meetings a term and one meeting of each committee. The following dates were decided:
Full Governing Body meetings: 9th December and 20th January 2016
Committee Meetings
Resources 12th November at 6pm
Curriculum: 21st October
7. Register of business interest
All the Governors present completed their register of business interest forms and returned them to the clerk for filing in school.
8. Matters arising
RSPB: Will continue their work with the school
The other matters arising were items on the agenda.
9. Head Teacher's report
The report had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting. The Chair invited questions from Governors.
Website: Governors congratulated the Head on the excellent work she had done during the holidays on the website. She outlined the information that would be included on it.
Pupils: There was a smaller intake in the Nursery but the rest of the school is full with some of the new children needing extra help.
In reply to a question from a Governor, the Head explained some of the problems for the school with some of the children..
Staffing: The member of staff on a fixed term contract in the Nursery was a strong practitioner. The school will be advertising for a teacher with evidence of outstanding practice to replace her.
Mandy Graves, having gained Qualified Teacher status,has started work as an NQT this term
A member of staff in reception had started teaching practice with Shona Waters.
The Head said the staff were very professional and were working well together, sorting out structures to build on and working at a fast pace.
Standards - Governors had all received a copy of the Flying Start.The Chair said how impressed he had been with the enthusiasm of staff at the inset day and how much they contributed to the day. The Head explained that staff are being encouraged to find solutions for any problems that arise and reflect and debate about good practice.
Premises: A tree had to be cut down as it was dangerous. In reply to a question from a Governor, the Head said this would be replaced and one Governor had mentioned the possibility inviting a prominent person to plant it. The EYFS water channel will be built over half term and the Head mentioned the possibility of a grant from the sustainability fund for this as the school is an area of outstanding beauty. Blue Class looks very good now that it has been repainted.
Finance: The budget for this year is healthy and will remain so in 2016/17 with the number on roll at 160. The Head voiced her concern for 2017/18 if there is the predicted drop in pupil numbers and the steps that will need to be taken in the summer term 2017. This will be examined at Budget Revision 2.
IPads: The Head was pleased to announce that the school had received a contribution from the Jubilee Trust for this
Safeguarding: Two Governors with the staff had had Prevent and Child Protection training.
The Head had attended safeguarding briefing for Heads in the Cluster by Kelly Waters.
Professional Training: The following was discussed: the Head had been asked to support a school in Norfolk for which the school will receive a payment of £5,000.
Trish Young is leading the outstanding teacher programme.
The Head is part of the Educational Challenge Partner team and at present is shadowing a ECP but from next term will be doing the job on her own. The school will received £1,200 for her work. One of the Governors said this will be good to be identify good practice and build on it and congratulated the Head on having been chosen to become an ECP.
LAC - No LAC children. The report contained the information about number of pupils on roll, pupil premium, Child Protection etc.
Attendance: Governors were pleased with the improvement in attendance at 95.7%.
The Chair thanked the Head for her comprehensive report. / Action / By whom
9a. Governance/Governor Self-Assessment and Action Plan
Governors unanimously agreed to discuss this item at this point in the meeting.
This was projected on the board and Governors went through each section in detail and some of the points made by Governors were:
Key Strengths: The Head is challenged at the meetings and Governors examine and monitor performance data and raise issues about this.
Reflect on the Head Teacher's report.
Governors review their performance annually and this is an agenda item
The school is financially viable and this is important in view of the issues faced with the number of high needs children
Governors meet to discuss succession planning and the recruitment of governors with the appropriate skills.
Governors attend the budget download and revision and are involved in financial decisions.
Question the effectiveness of any intervention.
Key areas of improvement: Aware of their responsibilities, have carried out learning walks and support senior staff.
Weaknesses: Need for subject specific link with Governors which is being addressed.
The necessary changes will be made to the plan and circulated to Governors with a checklist for the plan: ie what to do, when achieved, by whom etc.
Governors thanked Andrew for the work he had done on this plan
ACTION: Andrew England to update plan and forward to the Head for circulation to Governors. / Action
Update plan and circulate / By whom
A England
10. School Improvement Case Studies
School Improvement Plan has been sent to Governors and the Head went through it Governors and the following was highlighted:
The school has continued to improve since the last Good Ofsted inspection.
Attainment is trend is upward and when the high needs pupils are extracted it is significantly above average.
Data: Robert Dale said one of the focuses at the Inset day was that staff talked about data, what it was showing about the school and how staff interpret and use this information to improve outcomes. Challenge: To improve to continue to develop maths across the school as the Flying Start shows a downward trend
High Attainers: Although they achieved very well, they did not make the same level of progress as others and this will be a focus of the Plan. The gifted and talented children had special visit for maths and science and workshops. The school will also look at booster provision of the more able.
The Head mentioned URock and other activities to develop the creative aspect of the children
PE: The school has excelled in PE and sport and have won most of the events they have taken part in across the Cluster including the swimming gala.
In reply to a question from the Chair, the Head said that the impact of all this is the marked increase in confidence of the children.
Priorities:
High achievers to make as much progress as the others
SEN Maths
EYFS - increase attainment of boys
Case studies
The Chair said that case studies had been looked at the Inset Day which he had attended. In reply to his question the Head said there was evidence of what had been discussed and the ideas put forward on the day as these were recorded on the flip chart.
The Chair urged Governors to keep the plan as this will be useful when there is an inspection.
11. Analysis of pupil outcomes and next steps (including Flying Start)
Had been circulated to Governors and they were pleased there were only two critical issues to be addressed. The Head explained the colour coding. The following was highlighted
FSM: High needs and vulnerable children will be tracked to make sure they make the right level of progress
Maths: there is a downward trend shown but there is evidence of increased outcomes when the high needs SEN are extracted. A Governor asked why there was a downward trend. The Head said that time had been spent prioritising literacy and language and also focus for a group of children on basic life skills to enable them to access learning. The school is continuing to develop Maths attainment across the school
EYFS: showing an upward trend. Good level of development was 74% against NA of 60%. Children are communicating better and staff have been putting in speech and language intervention where needed. More children have improved physical development.
KS1 shows an upward trend.
In reply to a question about whether there was a gender gap, the Head said the boys were being tracked at the start of last term and they will receive intervention when needed. There was a focus on raising attainment, particularly boys in EYFS.
Phonics: In reply to a question from a Governor, the Head said there was significant improvement since 2014 with 81% achieving expected level which is above national average of 75%.
Judgement: In reply to a question from a Governor, the Head said that the way to maintain the excellent judgement was by more frequent moderation and by staff looking at national averages and across the Cluster.
/ Action / By whom
12. Review of policies
Assessment for Learning: The Head went through this policy with Governors explaining how this had been looked by the Cluster and how useful it was for staff. She explained the levels and how these are measured with pupil asset.
Policies: The following policies had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting: Access and Equality, Assessment, Behaviour, Sex and Relationship, Code of Conduct, Cluster Attendance, Cluster Social networking policy, Safeguarding, Internet and Health and Safety.
DECISION: Trish Young proposed that the Governing Body adopt the above policies, this was seconded by Charlotte Ferguson and all the Governors voted in favour of this proposal.
13. Safeguarding Report
The Head explained the training she had been on for Safeguarding and Prevent and how she will be given a training session for those staff who have not already been trained in October.
There are induction folders for all new staff with all the Safeguarding and other policies and they have to do training.
The Chair said that the Safeguarding Policy was the most up to date.
The Head said she had invited Kelly Waters to go through all the policies and procedures to ensure the school is fully compliant.
At the request of the Head, Governors agreed to discuss at the next Curriculum meeting for more Governors to do Safer Recruitment course.
ACTION: Safer Recruitment training to be discussed at the Curriculum committee meeting. / Add Safer recruitment training to next Curriculum Cttee
14. Governor visits
Inset Day: Robert Dale had attended the Inset Training day, he said how impressed he had been with the enthusiasm of staff at the inset day and how much they contributed to the day. .
15. Governor Training and Monitoring
Monitoring: The Head said that Jacquie Sindle had been into school several days since the beginning of term to carry out monitoring.
A timetable of monitoring Teaching and Learning was included in the School Development Plan.
Training: Robert Dale had booked some training sessions for the New Year
Charlotte Ferguson was going to do training on Protecting Public Money, SFVS and make sure Safer Recruitment is up to date if not will do a course. / Action / By whom
16. Urgent items not covered elsewhere
Governors discussed concerns expressed by a parent about the retention of childrens’ work. This relates to the need to provide evidence to Ofsted about judgements made by teachers about childrens’ performance. The Curriculum Committee would review the current policy at its next meeting.
ACTION: Curriculum Committee to review the policy on retention of work collections. / Review policy at Curriculum Cttee.
17. Date and time of next meeting
Committee meetings: Curriculum 21stOctober
Resources: 12thNovember
Full Governing Body meeting:Wednesday 9thDecember
The Chair thanked everyone for coming.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.40 pm.