Minutes / 12th november 2015 / 6.00pm / Tidcombe Primary School
Meeting called by / Governing Body of Tidcombe Primary School
Type of meeting / Full Governors
clerk / Yvonne Land
present / Steph Kinsley (chair) – Parent Governor, Tim Bridger – Vice Chair, Foundation Governor and Resources Lead, Simon Green - Headteacher, Hannah Clarke – Staff Rep, Bob George – LEA Governor and Curriculum Lead andSusan Bressington – Parent Governor
IN ATTENDANCE
appologies received and approved / Ian Parsons – Co-opted, Cliff Bailey – Foundation Governor, Kate Southcott – Co-opted and Katey Marshman – Co-opted
declaration of interests / None declared
approve minutes from last meeting (22nd october 2015) / SK
Discussion / Governors were asked if there were any issues with the previous minutes from the meeting held on 22nd October 2015
Conclusion / There being no amendments, minutes were approved.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Minutes to be filed / Clerk / asap
AGENDA ITEMS
Steph advised that as she is now flat out with her new business and has a young family, she has decided to resign and that this will be her last meeting as she is unable to make December’s meeting. She would like to step down both as Chair and as a governor but is more than happy to be an Associate Governor. Everyone thanked Steph for all her hard work over the years and said she would be sorely missed.
Action – Clerk to email the other governors to see if anyone is interested in taking over the role of Chair.
Item 4: Matters Arising – KS to chase SG World re lanyards and badges. TB & IP to send Kate write ups for website. KS to chase MOTO re table tennis table. TB to return competency matrix. HG to arrange E-Safety inset evening. E-Safety policy to be updated. YL to issue salary statements. KS to add SDP Summary and PPG report to website. Visit to St. Christopher’s arranged for 17th November and CB, HC, KS & KM going. All governors have read the School Evaluation and no questions were asked. Governors to do PREVENT training before January’s meeting and hand certificate to clerk. SB has arranged her visit to Year 1 on 18th November and TB has arranged his next month to Year 5 for 10th December. IP to contact HG re his visit.
Item 5: Update from the Working Party on future options for the School–SG advised that he attended the small groups meeting of local schools who are interested in moving towards MAT along with TB, KM and CB. TB added that 12 schools are involved and time is of the essence to make a move. TB pressed on leadership of the MAT at the meeting and he was concerned that no-one wanted to step forward but overall found it a very positive meeting and has asked for all the schools involved to bring evidence to the next meeting to show how they can drive improvement. SG advised that governors should ask both his and HC’s opinion to give a balanced view. YL read out KM’s view sent via email. YL advised that she had discussed this with our finance officer who thought we were strong enough to stand alone as were many schools in Devon. A long discussion took place with all governors giving their view and this was very varied.
Item 6: Feedback on Babcock Adviser–SG advised that Brad Murray is in school on 20th November for his Performance Management. He added that Roy Souter, Ofsted Inspector and Head at Stoke Hill, will be working alongside him in future to evaluate the strengths and needs of the school. We will either reimburse Roy’s school for his time or SG will reciprocate the same support for him.
Item 7: Matters Arising from TCLP/TLC Meetings–Governors have already received the minutes from the TCLP meeting and no questions were asked. SG advised that the levy for 2016/17 will be about £5,000 and he advised the TCLP that he would not be prepared to commit this amount without full governor approval.
Item 8: Headteacher’s Report including pupil numbers, safeguarding & attendance–SG asked if there were any questions or challenges on the report. Several questions were asked re staffing. TB proposed that Ben Keenan continues in his role until 31/08/16 for continuity. BG seconded and all were in favour. SB proposed Matthew Browning’s contract is for 24.75 hours per week instead of 23 to cover lunchtime duties. SK seconded and all were in favour. SB offered to come in to school as a volunteer for 2 hours per week, HC thanked her for her offer. It was also agreed to seek planning permission for the fire doors.
Action – Administrator to extend BK’s contract and up MB’s to 24.75 hrs per week. HC to arrange to meet with SB re voluntary work.
Addendum – MB’s contract should be for 25.75 hours per week – add to December’s agenda
Item 9: Building Maintenance & Premises Working Party–SG suggested we look at future options for the school before structural changes. HC added that the school is now looking very tired and tatty and suggested an internal decoration of the school is needed to smarten it up. SK proposed we shelve the premises working party until the future option of the school is resolved but we do seek quotes for the internal decoration of the school from Easter. TB seconded and all were in favour.
Item 10: Monitor Progress of SDP–SG advised that there is nothing much to report as it is still early days for this but he is holding meetings with staff and will report back in January.
Action – SG to report on progress of the SDP at January’s meeting. Clerk to add to January’s agenda.
Item 11: Child Sexual Exploitation–SG circulated this to governors via email and no questions were asked.
Item 12: Adopt Temporary Assessment Policy–HC advised the policy is still in progress and as levels aren’t published at the moment, this isn’t easy and will take several staff meetings to finalise. She produced a flow chart and advice for governors. SG advised that we are not following the local schools but instead we are focusing on formative assessment in line with The Commissioner’s Report whose advice is not to jump on to a tracing system and this is an evolving process. BG proposed we adopt the temporary Assessment Policy, SK seconded and all were in favour.
Item 13: Downsizing of Governing Body–SK advised that she is in favour of downsizing from 12 to 10 as we are now down to nine in numbers and we have had 2 vacancies outstanding for a while now. SG advised that if we go down the MAT route then the governing body would not need to concentrate on the strategic elements. SG proposed for a final decision to be made in January. SK seconded, 1 was against this and 5 were in favour. Clerk to add to January’s agenda.
Action – Clerk to add downsizing of the Governing Body to January’s agenda.
Item 14: School Evaluation –SG advised that this is constantly changing and will be tweaked every few weeks. No significant questions were asked.
Item 15: - Lino in the Nursery–HC advised that we have 2 quotes to replace the lino in the Nursery and YL is to seek a third quote from Paul Main who has done most of the flooring in the school. SB proposed SS the Nursery teacher makes the final decision, SK seconded and all were in favour.
Action – YL to seek third quote for lino in the Nursery.
Budget Monitor was omitted from the agenda but all governors received a copy of this with their paperwork and no questions were asked. It shows a carry forward of £42,458 and a capital balance of £17,931.82
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Clerk to email the other governors to see if anyone is interested in taking over the role of Chair. / Clerk / Asap
Administrator to extend BK’s contract and up MB’s to 24.75 hrs per week. HC to arrange to meet with SB re voluntary work.
Addendum – MB’s contract should be for 25.75 hours per week – add to December’s agenda / YL & HC / Asap
SG to report on progress of the SDP at January’s meeting. Clerk to add to January’s agenda. / YL / Asap
Clerk to add downsizing of the Governing Body to January’s agenda. / YL / Asap
YL to seek third quote for lino in the Nursery. / YL / Asap
Special notes / Dates of next meetings:10th December – Raise Online, 14th January - Finance, 11th February – Curriculum, 10th March – Finance, 12th May – Curriculum, 16th June – Finance, July’s date to be confirmed (dependent on data)
All Meetings are 6-8pm
Meeting finished at 7.55pm