GLEDHOW PRIMARY SCHOOL

GOVERNING BODY

Minutes of the meeting held on 30thNovember 2015

PRESENT / John Willott (Chair) / Stephen Archer(Head Teacher)
Joy Burrows
Sarah Clayton
Alex Firth
Malcolm Christie
Kate Garth / Steve Jones-Blackett
Sue McCann
Amy Russell
IN ATTENDANCE / Suzanne Caine, Clerk
Awa Lynch, Behaviour Team
Lynda Brown, Behaviour Team
David Bickley
ACTION
1.00
1.01 / APOLOGIES
Apologies were received and accepted from Tony O’Connell.
2.00
2.01
2.02
2.03 / MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
Terms of office were noted.
There is a vacancy for a Parent Governor. The Head Teacher will send a letter to parents inviting expressions of interest.
The Chair is to draft a skills profile for a co-opted governor to hold the remit for Behaviour and Inclusion. / Head Teacher
Chair
3.00
3.01 / DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None were declared.
4.00
4.01 / MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the Meeting held on 14th September were agreed correct and the Chair was authorised to sign as a true record.
5.00
5.01
5.02
5.03
5.04
5.05
5.06
5.07
5.08
5.09
5.10
5.11 / MATTERS ARISING
Item 3.02 Parent Vacancy. The election is to be organised by the Head Teacher.
Item 3.03 Co-opted Governor Vacancy. The Chair will compile a skills audit.
Item 7.02 Bomb Evacuation Policy. No update was available.
Item 7.04 Letter to School from Leeds Trinity to be uploaded to the web site.
Item 7.06 Nursery Top Ups was to be discussed at the Resources meeting which was cancelled.
Item 7.07 The Away Day took place on 9th November 2015.
7.08 Interim Budget Review. The Resources meeting was cancelled.
Item 18.01.6 The next meeting date for the Resources committee is 14th December and has been circulated by the Head Teacher.
Item 21.04 The Staff Disciplinary and Grievance Policy is not yet ready for ratification.
Item 21.05 The Supporting Children with Medical Needs Policy is not yet ready to ratify.
Item 25.07 Letter to Parents re Sanctions for Aggressive Behaviour. It was agreed that this would be best done in January to reinforce the new Behaviour Policy. / Head Teacher
Chair
Tony O’Connell
Head Teacher
Resources Agenda
Resources Agenda
Resources Committee
Curriculum Committee
Chair
6.00
6.01
6.02
6.02.1
6.02.2
6.02..3
6.02.4
6.02.5
6.03
6.03.1
6.04
6.04.1 / HEAD TEACHER’S REPORT
A verbal report was given.
Attainment
The provisional RAISE Online data is available. Headlines were summarised for governors.
Data suggests the gap is closing at KS2.
There are some concerns regarding the Phonics data where results are below local and national level. Additional training has been arranged for staff.
Baseline results are approximately equivalent to those in previous years.
The data will be considered in detail at the next Curriculum Committee.
Pupils
Governors requested that reporting on racial incidents and exclusions be included in all future reports.
Three Form Entry/Bulge Cohort
This was discussed at Item 10.00 below. / Head Teacher
7.00
7.01
7.02
7.03
7.04
7.05
7.06
7.07 / COMMITTEE REPORTS
Curriculum Committee
The Committee met on 5th October. A verbal report was given.
A presentation was given on self-esteem in primary pupils.
Policies for Child Protection and Pupils with Medical Conditions were reviewed and approved and were ratified by the full GB.
The Committee considered issues around behaviour in order to inform discussion on the Behaviour Policy at this current meeting.
The unvalidated data on pupil progress was discussed. Governors agreed that results were strong in all areas except phonics.
The next meeting of the Curriculum Committee is scheduled for 1st February. / Curriculum Committee
8.00
8.01
8.02
8.03
8.03.1
8.03.2
8.03.3
8.03.4
8.03.5
8.03.6
8.03.7
8.03.8
8.03.9
8.03.10
8.03.11
8.03.12
8.03.13
8.04
8.05 / BEHAVIOUR POLICY
Colleagues from Behaviour Team gave a presentation on proposals for the new Behaviour Policy for the school. A copy of the presentation together with the Minutes of the Behaviour Review Meeting held on 22nd October was circulated to all governors and should be read as appendices to these Minutes.
Governors agreed that it was not within their remit to impose a Behaviour Policy but that they had a duty to ensure any issues raised in the review are addressed.
During an extensive discussion of the proposals, the following points emerged:
What measures would be available to the school if parental support was not forthcoming?
Six ‘red’ warnings in one half term period would lead to an internal exclusion
Three ‘red’ warnings in one half term would lead to a meeting with a member of SLT and the Behaviour Team. Parents would be advised that their child was at risk of missing out on an end of term reward.
Charts will be used to monitor behaviour
The process will be brought into effect on the first day of the Spring term.
The system allows for some adjustments for those children who have behavioural issues
Governors were assured that staffing levels were adequate to implement the system during lunch periods
A nurture room will be used to work with targeted children and to reintegrate those children who have been subject to internal exclusion.
Implementation of the policy and the level and frequency of rewards must be consistent between teachers. The Head Teacher will visit classes to ensure consistency of implementation. Data will be collected and analysed and reported to governors through the Head Teacher’s report.
Governors questioned whether the system might prove too complicated
Governors suggested that a ‘reflections’ sheet could be attached to the Home-School communications booklet.
Governors questioned the likely effects on other class members where pupils went beyond three ‘red’ warnings and whether a risk assessment would be necessary. If so, this would need to be built into the policy.
Will the implementation of the policy allow the Behaviour Team sufficient time to work with groups of children or would it be desirable to allocate a remit for behaviour issues to another member of SLT
The proposals have been shared with staff with a positive initial response.
Governors’ comments are to be incorporated into a draft policy to be presented to Resources Committee on 14th December. / Sue McCann/
Resources Committee
9.00
9.01 / BULGE COHORT
This was combined with Item 10.00 below.
10.00
10.01
10.02
10.03
10.04 / THREE FORM ENTRY
The latest versions of the plans, charts and designs for the 3FE work were circulated in advance of the meeting.
A decision on the planning application is due during the first week in December.
If the application is successful the school would have access to the land but the fence would be removed to enable public use and access.
The Village Green application is currently in progress. Governors discussed strategies in the event that the application is upheld. It was agreed that governors had always taken the stance that the land was needed or the building would not go ahead. The issue of Village Green status is not likely to be resolved during the next 18 months. It was agreed that the Chair would write to LCC to re-iterate the governors’ position that building will not be allowed to start until the issue of the Village Green has been decided. The position of the Governing Body has always been that the full use of the land is necessary to ensure appropriate educational provision for the children and 3FE will not be accepted without the land to support it. It was agreed that the Chair will draft a letter to the Planning Committee, Tom Riorden, the Executive Member for Children’s Services and ward members. / Chair
11.00
11.01 / CHAIR’S BUSINESS
The Chair highlighted concerns about the growing pressure on primary placements in Leeds and urged governors to consider creative solutions in relation to Gledhow. / Next agenda
12.00
12.01 / CLERK’S BUSINESS
Dates of Network Meetings were noted.
13.00
13.01
13.02
13.02.1
13.02.2 / ANY OTHER BUSINESS
It was agreed that, for future meetings, items under this heading will be submitted to the Chair in advance.
Policies.
Governors raised concerns that some policies may not have been implemented and embedded correctly and consistently. The SLT have been asked to present governors with proposals for ownership of all policies with a view to reporting back to the GB via the appropriate Committee.
It was agreed that governors would assess the working of policies through mechanisms such as learning walks and governor visits and that a review is carried out through a standing agenda item for both the Resources and Curriculum Committees. / All
Head Teacher
Committees
14.00
14.01 / DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the full Governing Body will take place at 6.30 pm on 18th January 2016. / all

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