Heacham Infant and Nursery School

Draft Minutes of the meeting of the Governing Body held on

Wednesday9th December, 2015 at 7.00pm

Queries/questions - in Blue Replies to queries/questions - in Green

Present:

Mrs. Jillian Carr / Mr. Robert Dale (Chair) / Mr. Andrew England
Ms. Louise Jackson / Mrs. Charlotte Ferguson / Mrs. Joanne Kellythorn

Mrs. Rachel Richardson

/ Miss Jacquie Sindle / Ms. Patricia Young

In attendance:

/ Mrs. Jane Hill (Clerk)
Action / By whom
Welcome and Introduction
The Chair welcomed all the Governors to the meeting.
Register of business interests: Forms were completed by Governors not present at the last meeting.
Andrew England declared an interest under item 5;5 - saying he wasemployed by the College of West Anglia in a senior position but hads nothing to do with the College of West Anglia Academy Trust and didoes not serve on its board. He would have no pecuniary interest in any decision the school might make over its future status.It will make no financial difference to him which academy the school chose to join, if they decided to go down that route. As no decision was to be taken, there was no need for him to leave the meeting.
  1. Apologies for absence
Apologies were received and accepted from Nikki Corby.
  1. Confirm Terms of Reference
The terms of reference for both the Curriculum and Resources Committees had been discussed and agreed at the respective meetings and were recommended to the Governing Body.
DECISION: Rachel Richardson proposed that the Governing Body agree the terms of reference for the Curriculum and Resources committees, this was seconded by Robert Dale.
  1. Minutes of the last meeting on 17th September
Had been circulated to Governors prior to the meeting. One typographical error was corrected. Governors were all happy with the minutes
DECISION: Rachel Richardson proposed that the full Governing Body agree the minutes of the last meeting with the correction made, this was seconded by Andrew England and all the Governors voted in favour of this proposal.
  1. Matters arising
Item 9a: Governance/Governor Self Assessment and Action Plan: As the whiteboard was not working it was agreed that Andrew England would circulate this to Governors by email. He stressed the importance of Governors being familiar with the contents of this document.
Item 13: Safer Recruitment: had been discussed at the Curriculum meeting. Jacquie Sindle has completed the training and it is still in date. Rachel Richardson and Robert Dale to complete Safer Recruitment training in 2016.
Item 16: Retention of Work Collections: Robert Dale asked what was happening about the retention of work collections. The Head explained that she had sent out a letter to parents about this explaining the need to keep the work and had not received one a single ccomplaint. Governors asked hHow long collections needed to be keptdo you need to keep the work for? The Head said they wouldill be kept until the next Inspection but no more than ffor no more than one academic year. / Action / By whom
  1. Committees
  • Curriculum Committee meeting: The minutes of the meeting on 15th October had been circulated to Governors.
PE Presentation: Governors agreed with the Head about the excellent presentation made by Naomi Carter about PE and how the grant has been spent and the NPTETCS course she had undertaken.
School to School support: The Head said that there had been fantastic feedback from the 15 Heads who had visited the school about school, staff and pupils.
  • Resources Committee meeting: The minutes of the meeting on 12th November had been circulated. Governors were all happy with the minutes.

  • School's Headline Meeting on 19th November
This hHad taken place. T and thhe Head circulated copies of her report on that day for Governors at the meeting.
  • Meeting with WestNorfolkAcademy Trust on 7th December
In view of the importance of this issue, Governors decided to devote a large part of the meeting to discuss this. The meeting and associated visit to a primary school within the Academy had arisen because another local school had been approached to join the West Norfolk Academy Trust (WNAT), there was continuing pressure from the Local Authority (LA) to leave LA control and the Governing Body needed to consider the future status and sustainability of a small infants school in the present environment.
The Head said that Jan Munn who helps connect schools with the relevant academy trusts, was supportivein favour of both the College of West Anglia Academy Trust and the West Norfolk Academy Trust, which were the two local bodies. There was no enthusiasm for speaking to national chains.
As part of their investigations into local academies, Governors had met with Andy Johnson and Roger Livesey of West Norfolk Academy TTrust. A few governors had also been able to visitedClenchwarton School and had spoken to the Executive Head (Jo Borley) who is in charge of three primaryinfant schools under the umbrella of the academy.
Andrew England was invited to give an outline of the College of West Anglia Trust. He had declared in his interest as mentioned under item 1. He explained when it was set up, which schools came under the academy and number of schools the academy could have, the aims of the Trust and the financial side.
There was a wide-ranging discussion which focussed on whether there was an immediate or medium term need to change the status of the school, what the benefits to the children of becoming part of a local Academy Trust might be and how skills and best practice could effectively be shared in future.
Governors fully discussed their views on both meetings and the future of the school but not decision was necessary at this pointmade.
Some of the points made were as follows:
What are the benefits for the school to join an academy?
Should the school consider joining now or in the next 12 months?
Any decision must be in the best interests of the children and for their transition to the next school to go as smoothly as possible and this will be helped by common policies and assessments.
Desire to maintain control of the school and
The feedback from the visit by Roger Fry who said the school is currently outstanding clearly shows the school's main asset is the Head and the staff. Governors need to consider the risks to the school if the Head was no longer in control.
Is there any need to rush a decision?
What will the model for the school and education in the village be in 5, 10 and 5 years time?
Financial implications as trusts will need to drive down costs
Sharing outstanding skills will benefit the children
Some of the points made were as follows:
What are the benefits for the school to join an academy?
Why should be school consider joining now or in the next 12 months?
Any decision must be in the best interests of the children and for their transition to the next school to go as smoothly as possible will be helped by common policies and assessments.
Desire to maintain control of the school and
The feedback from the visit by Roger Fry who said the school is currently outstanding clearly shows the school's main asset is the Head and the staff. Governors need to consider the risks to the school if the Head was no longer in control.
Is there any need to rush a decision?
What will the model for the school and education in the village be in 5, 10 and 5 years time?
Financial implications as trusts will need to drive down costs
Sharing outstanding skills will benefit the children
DECISION: Governors decided to invite Jan Munn and Lee Stevens to the next full Governing Body meeting with separate slots each. They also wanted to talk to the Governors of the Heacham Junior School and make contact with the College of West Anglia Academy Trust to invite them to make a presentation if they weare interested.
ACTION: Head to invited Jan Munn and Lee Stevens to the next full Governing Body meeting on 20th January at different timess and to contact College of West Anglia Academy Trust. Chair to make contact with Chair of Governors of the JuniorSchool. / Action
Contact
Contact J. Munn, L. Stevens and CWAT and Heacham Junior Govs. / By whom
HT and Chair
  1. Head Teacher Report
The Head said that she was using the report she had produced for the extraordinary meeting last week. Hard copies were given to Governors for them to go through the information they needed.
Website: is all up to date and the Head encouraged Governors to look at this as there was a lot of the information they needed was on there.
Meeting with Roger Fry: The meeting had taken place on 8th December;, his report will be available for Governors at the January meeting. The Chair praised the Head and staff for the excellent feed-back from Roger Fry who rated the school outstanding. Governors joined the Chair in their praise of the Head and her team.
Robert Dale hadasked the Head about the Raiseonline data which had suggested that there might in-school gaps between boys and girls in maths and literacy and spring born. The Head had reviewed the data and noted that girls’ progress and attainment in Maths was a focus for school development this year. In terms of a possible ‘spring-born’ progress/attainment gap, this seemed more likely to arise from particular features of the cohort rather than to be a continuing issue.provided the evidence to him.
Data Dashboard : Governors went through the document and were delighted with the 20 strengths listed including Phonics in Year 1 and the attendance figures and just one weakness.
The Chair asked why was attendance of the SEN with EHC/Statement pupils in the lowest 10% of schools nationally for the SEN with EHC/Statement pupils. The Head explained that said some of these children hadve high medical needs (including one being away for an operation), some wereare being attending other schools at the same time as being at Heacham Infants and some awere attending SRBs.,
It was One Governor suggested it mightwould be a good idea to do a press release to publicise these good figures.
Data Dashboard: Governors went through the document and were delighted with the 20 strengths listed including Phonics in Year 1 and the attendance figures and just one weakness.
The Chair asked why attendance of the SEN with EHC/Statement pupils in the lowest 10% of schools nationally. The Head explained that some of these children had high medical needs (including one being away for an operation) some were attending other schools at the same time as being at Heacham Infants and some were attending SRBs.
It was suggested it might be a good idea to do a press release to publicise these good figures. / Action / By whom
  1. Finance
School Fund Account: Had been reviewed at the resources committee meeting.
BCR: was circulated to Governors and hard copies available at the meeting.
Budget Revision 2: had been agreed by Governors at the last resources committee in accordance with the powers delegated to them. (Was it signed by Robert then????, ) [I think so….]
Joanne Kellythorn and Trish Young left the meeting for the next item
The next item was confidential to the Governing Body.
Trish Young and Joanne Kellythorn rejoined the meeting.
  1. Update on School Development Plan
A hard copy was available for Governors at the meeting.
Maths: This had been discussed at the Curriculum committee. Trish Young and the Head explained the school wasere focusing on Maths with an emphasis on girls’ progress and attainment. . The strategies in place include drop ins, survey of the children to find out what they think and enjoy about maths, and increased parental engagement. Trish Young explained the importance of the children having clear and concrete knowledge, followed by a pictorial knowledge, followed by an abstract concept of maths. The work being done is having a positive impact.
Governors discussed the School Development Plan
The Chair went through the key objectives:
  • consistent use of language of learning
  • use of outdoor area
  • Maths
  • reading development for boys
The Head had gone through these with Roger Fry who had been happy with them. He had also done a walk round the school and had observed the children's confidence and attitude to independent attitude to learning. / Action / By whom
  1. Staffing
Was covered under item 7.
  1. Performance Appraisal
Had been completed.
DECISION: Governors unanimously agreed to the NorfolkCounty Council policy of awarding the 1% pay increase for teaching staff. (or was it for all staff)
  1. Head Teacher Performance Management
Charlotte Ferguson advised that the Head Teacher Performance Management had taken place.
  1. Succession Planning
Governors agreed to postpone discussion about this until the next full Governing Body meeting.
ACTION: Clerk to add succession planning to the agenda for the next full Governing Body meeting. / Action
Add agenda item for next fgb / By whom
Clerk
  1. Policy Review
The E Safety and Prevent policies had been circulated to Governors by email and Governors were happy with the policies
DECISION: Jillian Carr proposed that the Governing Body adopt the E Safety and Prevent policies, this was seconded by Jacquie Sindle and all the Governors voted in favour of this proposal.
  1. Governor visits
EqualitySchool: The Head said that school had been chosen as part of a group of 10 schools in Norfolk to be Equality School Champions. Governors to complete the audit next week prior to attending the course in Norwich next term. Rachel Richardson and Jacquie Sindle to do audit.
Cluster: Robert Dale had attended the last Cluster meeting
Early Years: Rachel Richardson had attended the audit of Early Years.
Maths: The Head said that the school had been successful in securing a grant for £2,5000 for changing attitudes toward maths and Trish Young will report on this at the next meeting.
School Improvement Partner: Robert Dale had attended this meeting with Roger Fry and participated in the Learning Walk.
ACTION: Clerk to add report by Trish Young on Maths grant to the agenda for the next full Governing Body meeting. / Action
Add agenda item / By whom
Clerk
  1. Governor Training and Monitoring
Prevent Training: Jillian Carr and Jacquie Sindle had completed Prevent training.
Protecting Public Money: Charlotte Ferguson had completed the training on 8th December.
Safer Recruitment: Robert Dale and Rachel Richardson to do training.
British Values: Robert Dale to attend training on 21 January 2016.
Difficult Conversations: Robert Dale to attend training on 22 February 2016.
  1. Urgent items not covered elsewhere
None.
  1. Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday 20th January 2016 at 7pm.

The Chair thanked all the Governors for coming. He said that work at the school was about challenge and teamwork and Louise and the staff need to take a lot of the credit for this, but the Governors also played their part.
He wished the Governors a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.15pam.