GRAHAM SCHOOL GOVERNING BOARD
FULL GOVERNORS MEETING
THURSDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2016
Governors present: Honor Byford (Chair), John Arnold, Alan Banks, John Clarke, Kelly Jessup, Philippa Moore, Andy Sharp, Marcus Towse,
Others present: David Stewart (Clerk), Kerry Millar (Deputy Head, Outcomes), Becky Brown (Deputy Head, Teaching & Learning), Catherine Connell (Assistant Head, Behaviour & Welfare), Graeme Peattie (Assistant Head, Learning Access & Support)
MINUTES
MinuteNumber / ITEM
10/16 / Welcome.
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, particularly Kelly Jessup who was attending her first meeting as Staff Governor.
11/16 / Governor Appointments.
a) Election of Vice Chair.
The Chair reminded the meeting that the former Vice Chair, Harry Barnes, had resigned from the Governing Board at the beginning of term. The Chair asked for nominations for the position of Vice Chair.
Honor Byford proposed Andy Sharp. This was seconded byMarcus Towse.There were no other nominations.
Resolved unanimously: That Andy Sharp be elected Vice Chair for the remainder of the academic year.
b) Parent Governor.
HB advised that the headteacher had sent out nomination papers to all parents for the two vacanciesfor parent governors on the Board.No one had expressed an interest. In these circumstances the Board was permitted to appoint a parent governor. AB’s term of office as a parent governor had come to an end in September and he was appointed an Associate. Governors were asked to reappoint AB as a parent governor.
Resolved unanimously that Alan Banks be appointed as a parent governor
12/16 / Apologies for absence. Consented / Not Consented.
DS reported that he had received an apology from Kerry Davies who had been in hospital. KD was now on the mend and hoped to attend future meetings in the New Year. Helen McEvoy would not be attending due to a family bereavement.
13/16 / Approval of the minutes of 22 September 2016.
These were approved as a true record and signed by the Chair.
14/16 / Matters arising from the minutes of 22 September 2016 not otherwise on the agenda.
Minute4/16. Cambodia trip.
Details of the trip were with the LA to examine health & safety aspects.
Minute4/16. Link Governors.
DS confirmed that the link governor and staff contact details had been updated and sent out to governors.
Minute 5/16 b). Kirkland Rowell.
HM had details from Kirkland Rowell but no questionnaires had been sent out.
15/16 / Headteacher’s Report. Helen McEvoy
HM’s report had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting.The report was briefer than usual because members of the SLT were presenting reports to the meeting. In HM’s absence HB highlighted the following:
In the new yearGraham School would be designated by the DfE as a “coasting” school. The staff had been made aware of this development. This was not a surprise since the Progress 8 score was below the floor standard and theschool had less than the national median percentage of students whoachieved expected progress in English and Maths.
The key to improving outcomes was to improve the quality of teaching. There had been a lot of work done on Teaching & Learning (T&L) with particular emphasis on the role of middle leaders.
HB reminded governors that the school had arranged for an independent review to be carried out in January. We would then have a good idea of where the school stood and what action needed to be taken. The results of the review would inform any discussion with the Regional Schools Commission. What was clear was that the school had to make rapid progress this year.
The HT’s report stated that a careers fair was to take place on 13 December.
Governor challenge: Was there a full range of exhibitors?
Yes there was a wide range. It was the biggest event yet and the students engaged well. There were one or two gaps, Law and Engineering for example.
Governor challenge:Is it fair to say that students now are generally more aspirational?
Yes. We were pleasantly surprised by the reaction of some students who we thought would be negative about the experience.
Governor challenge: What is the school’s approach to the UTC?
The UTC has given talks in assemblies to years 10 and 11. We are promoting the UTC for post 16 provision.
16/16 / Safeguarding Update. Kerry Millar
KM’s report had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting. KM made the following points:
- KM reported that her title had been changed to Designated Senior Lead. HB was the Nominated Safeguarding Governor.
- All the relevant documents on the school website had been updated and all key people named.
- All staff including admin, caretakers etc, had undergone safeguarding training appropriate to their level.
- Safeguarding induction had taken place for all new starters which included school safeguarding policies and procedures.
- A lot of policies were up for review next year and these would be brought to governors to consider.
- In terms of casework there had been 39 referrals to the Children’s Safeguarding and Specialist Services so far this term. Meetings take up a lot of time. There had been 66 child protection related conference meetings this term. Supply costs were high because the school had to send the right people to the meetings. Every student who needed support got support.
Through assemblies and tutor time.
Governor challenge:How are they made aware of British Values?
In life skills but it also runs as a strand throughout the curriculum. We are ensuring that we follow the statutory guidance.
HB thought it important that governors, particularly those on the SWC, should complete the basic online safeguarding course.
Action: KM to send details to DS about accessing the online course.
HB thanked KM for her report.
17/16 / Behaviour & Welfare (including attendance). Catherine Connell
CC’s report had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting.
Whole school attendance was currently 91.86% which was disappointing. CC reminded governors of the various stages in the process. 179 reminder letters had gone out to parents. 35% of these had moved to a monitoring stage. Meetings had taken place with parents both in school and at home. As a result the attendance of some students had improved.
43 children were being educated at home for a variety of reasons eg stress.
Exclusions and holidays were also having a significant impact on overall attendance which was about 1% down from last year.
Governor challenge: why have the number of fixed and permanent exclusions gone up?
A fair proportion involve year 7 students who have just come to school. We have had five students coming up whose needs were not addressed at primary school. These students should have been on an EHCP before arriving. Two students have already been excluded from year7.
Governor challenge: Does the Behaviour Collaborative address this?
We do not have a good PRS in place. Most schools are struggling with their own students. We have a small number of managed moves but generally there is nowhere for students to go.
Governor challenge: Do the primary schools give you all the necessary information?
Weget some information but not always sufficient.
Governor challenge: Should we not be getting in touch to find out if there are children with behavioural problems?
We do but we don’t always get the full picture. GP is to be involved with the transition process and he will be digging deeper. The problem is we are getting children who need more than what teachers are trained to do. This is why the school have engaged the services of the Educational Psychology Service.
CC advised that a particular emphasis is placed on the attendance of PP students. Attendance Officers phone home to find out why the child is off school.
Governors expressed concern that the school had strategies in place but the attendance figures were going down.
Governor challenge: Is there a gender issue?
Year 10 boys are a particular problem. A lot of them are on a reduced timetable and of course there are several year 7 boys.
Governor challenge: Is it possible to get the figures for students who are good attendees? It would be good to get a picture of how the reward system is running.
56% of students have nothing on record of any behaviour issues. The majority of students get it right every day.
Action: CC to update on progress of the reward scheme to the next SWC.
Governor challenge:What is punctuality like?
It is improvinglesson to lesson. We are currently looking closely at the statistics.
Governors were thanked for their support in running governor panels. Of the 7 students seen by governors the behaviour of five had improved.
HB thanked CC for her report.
18/16 / MAS Update. Graeme Peattie.
GP had carried out a student voice survey amongst MAS in the upper school. The survey asked 20 questions on a variety of issues covering such things as progress in lessons, marking and feedback, teaching and happiness. The results were largely positive. Over 90% thought that teaching was good and all were aware of their target grades, however some thought that they were not pushed enough and didn’t always receive praise and oral feedback about their work.
GP had carried out drop-ins to get a whole school perspective and had fed back his findings to staff.. The survey was to be used as a benchmark to judge any improvements in future surveys.
The outcomes for MAS for this year were similar to last year. Attainment and progress had improved in English and Maths . However the number of MAS predicted to achieve A*-A had dropped from 65% to 39%.. The Directors of Learning are being asked to look into the reasons.
Governor challenge: Are you happy with the assessment of MAS?
Yes. There is a strict process. They are moderated twice.
GP advised the meeting that there had been developments in the way Teaching Assistants (TA) were used. A document with recommendations on the use of TAs was circulated to governors.This looked at the seven strands that research had shown to be the most effective use of TAs. Surveys had been carried out with both teachers and TAs to get their perspective. The major problem was that TAs did not have sufficient time to talk to teachers. There was to be a big push to improve the effectiveness of TAs.
Governor challenge: Are TAs attached to departments?
In some cases yes, but we have so many children on an EHCP
Action: GP to send link for teaching assistant information to DS.
(
HB thanked GP for his report.
19/16 / Teaching & Learning Update. Becky Brown.
BB advised that the school had moved away from formal one hour graded assessments to shorter, sharper visits with regular feedback to staff. There was a particular emphasis on PP students. Regular meetings had been held with curriculum leaders to look at the link between teaching and learning and assessment. They were drilling down into the quality of teaching. It had had a positive impact. BB’s report can be summarised as follows:
- The appraisal round had now finished. Eight staff had been declined pay progression because they had not met all three objectives. 15 members of staff had received pay progression. 5 appeals had been lodged by staff.
- All 6 NQTs at the school had met the standards this term. The quality of their teaching was very good.
- All staff had completed an individual CPD plan. A CPD session looking at four areas was to take place in January. Staff discussed issues in groups of four and would share best practice.
- Middle leaders had a vital role to play in improving outcomes.They had been given further training in the assessment of Teaching & Learning and marking & feedback. They were ensuring that staff were following departmental marking policy. Students were now being given time to reflect on feedback
- There had been intervention for 20 students in years10 / 11 to try and improve the quality of handwriting.
- A lower school reading group had been established. 35 students had been invited to attend the first event, however 50 turned up. Year7’s were being coached by year 8’s. There had been some exceptional gains.
There is much more sharing of good practice within each faculty with links to individual CPD plans. All plans now have a common focus.
Governor challenge: Is it documented how your strategies
have improved outcomes?
Every drop-in and scrutiny is recorded in a central system to which the SLT and faculty leadership have access.
HB thanked BB for her report.
20/16 / Feedback from Committees.
The draft minutes from all three committees had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting.
a) Achievement & Standards. Honor Byford
The ASC had had two meetings this term. The last one had seen a presentation from the new Head of Science. Science was an area of concern. Both results and leadership had been poor in the past. Governors were very impressed with her clear overview and plans to take the faculty forward.
JC stated that Hull University were keen to widen their participation with schools and promote better engagement with science.
Action: JC to send details to GP
HB advised that the Committee had standard agenda items that covered Teaching & Learning, Outcomes, and Leadership & Management.
b) Finance, Resources & Personnel. Andy Sharp.
- Dwindling student numbers meant less income for the school. It was clear that the school had to improve the recruitment of students.
- The estimated expenditure on all salaries for this year would be down on original estimates. This was largely due to continuing staff vacancies.
- The budget forecast predicted a substantial deficit by 2018/19 unless action was taken.
- A benchmarking exercise had been carried out with Scalby and Selby. It was not that useful. The sample size was too small and there were always reasons for the differences.
- Costs involving the running of two sites were still a significant factor.
Governors had listened to an interesting report from Kelly Jessup on the character initiative. Regular agenda items included MAS, SEN, Safeguarding and Attendance & Behaviour.
21/16 / Link Governor Visit Report. Honor Byford.
HB’s report had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting.
HB had met with Fiona Norton, Head of English, following her return to work. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss improvement strategies and developments within the faculty.
An LA visit on 1 November had provided useful action points.
Two members of staff (soon to be three) were examiners for AQA. This expertise had been utilised during moderation.
HB had undertaken a learning walk to four year 11 classes.She found students to be on task and there was a positive learning atmosphere in all lessons.
Governor challenge: What role does creative writing play in GCSE?
25% of the language paper. It could be argued that the paper which deals with writing to persuade or argue also involves creative writing.
JC was aware of an organisation called First Story. Its aim was to bring talented professional writers into schools to work with teachers and students to foster creativity and communication skills.
Action: JC to send KJ details.
22/16 / Adoption of Governors Code of Practice.
The NGA Governors Code of Practice had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting.
DS advised that Governors had not considered their Code of Practice for some time. The National Governors Association had issued an updated code in 2016 which was before governors for consideration. Governors agreed that their responsibilities were set out clearly.
Resolved: That the NGA Code of Practice be adopted.
23/16 / Completion of Governors Register of Interests.
DS advised that every year Governors had to declare any interests that were either directly or indirectly relevant to their role as Governors. The details were kept on a register and had to be stated on the school’s website.
DS circulated the pro-formas for governors to make their entries.
24/16 / Any other business.
a) Participation in the Rock Challenge had not been decided.
b) Plans were being made to regenerate parent participation in the new year.
25/16 / Date of next meeting.
Thursday 23 March 2017, 5.00pm