St Mary’s CE Primary School

ST MARY’S CE PRIMARY SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY MINUTES

SPRING TERM 2015

Date: Wednesday 1st April 2015

Time: 6.30pm

Venue: The School

GOVERNORS PRESENT

Miss E Small (Chairperson), Mrs E Irvin (Headteacher), Mrs T Brennan, Rev Clive Larsen, Mrs L Appleton and Mr G Dixon.

IN ATTENDANCE

Ms S HadfieldAssociate Member

Ms R GrantAssociate Member

Mrs R HodgsonGovernor Support Officer

  1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Mr G Phillips, Mrs A Graham, Ms J Grundy and Mrs B Hargreaves. The Rev Clive Larsen, Rector of St Mary’s, was welcomed to the Governing Body as the Ex-officio Foundation Governor. Rev Larsen was thanked by the Headteacher for joining the Governing Body. Rev Larsen commented on the excellent school assembly he had attended that morning.

  1. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Governors were asked to declare a personal interest in any agenda items; there were no declarations of interest. Governors were reminded that they should declare any interest should it arise during the meeting.

  1. BUSINESS

(i)Previous Governing Body Minutes

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 20th November 2014, copies circulated previously, be approved and signed by the Chairperson and authorised for publication.

(ii)Matters Arising from Previous Governing Body Meeting

Were there plans to expand the One Page Profiles to all pupils? Plans to create One Page Profiles for all pupils were long term and would be kept for SEN registered pupils for the time being.

(iii)Previous Committee Meeting Minutes

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the following meetings, copies circulated previously, be approved and signed by the Chairperson and authorised for publication:

Teaching & Learning Committee – 29th January 2015

Resources Committee – 24th February 2015

(iv)Matters Arising From Previous Committee Minutes

There were no matters arising.

(v)Consideration of vacancies

The Chair of Governors had shown a prospective Governor, Nick Palin, around the school. He had briefly met with the Headteacher. He had been matched with the school by SGOSS. A reference provided by his Line Manager was read out. Governors discussed his merits and it was decided that he should be invited to the summer term committee meetings to meet the rest of the Governing Body.

ACTION

Governors discussed safeguarding issues and checks for Governors. The GSO confirmed that advice remained that in maintained schools, if a governor was not carrying out regular and regulated activities, a DBS check was not necessary. After further discussion, a vote was taken and governors RESOLVED that all current and future governors should be subject to a DBS check. Governors who had completed a DBS check were requested to bring the certificate into school so it could be added to the Single Central Record Database. The Headteacher would send the necessary paperwork to the remaining governors. The GSO undertook to contact absent governors to inform them of the change.

ACTION

(vi)Policies Review

Copies of the Worship Policy were distributed. Amendments had been made and highlighted in red. Subject to Rev Larsen being correctly named as Rector of St Mary’s, Governors duly AGREED to ADOPT the policy.

How do you maintain a totally Christian ethos? The Headteacher believed that this was maintained by teaching perseverance, trust and respect. Other religions were compared to Christianity so that a balanced view was seen whilst maintaining aChristian ethos.

The Lone Working Policy had been adapted from the LA model policy. No changes had been made. Governors duly AGREED to ADOPT the policy.

The Governor Allowances Policy was due for review. No changes had been made and Governors duly AGREED to ADOPT the policy.

(vii)Pay Appeals Arrangements

Governors discussed the pros and cons of a possible arrangement. A vote was taken and it was RESOLVED that an arrangement was not currently needed.

  1. TEACHING & LEARNING

The Literacy Subject Leader Presentation would be carried over to the Resources Committeemeeting on the 23rd June.

ACTION

  1. RESOURCES

(i)Budget Update

Governors were informed that the predicted carry forward of 10% was higher than anticipated but still below the 12% clawback. This was due to the refurbishment of the ICT Suite being postponed until the next financial year as the contractor had been delayed. It would be completed in the current academic year.

The SFVS annual return had been returned to School Finance in due time.

(ii)Approval of Provisional Budget 2015/16

Governors referred to the provisional budget, previously circulated, and were reminded it was not yet finalised. The Headteacher outlined some plans for spending:

  • Refurbishment of toilets/cloakrooms. Governors were reminded that there was asbestos in the toilets.
  • Additional spending on outdoor Early Years area.
  • Change the seating in the hall. Chairs currently have to be manually lifted in to the hall from outside. A set of folding chairs on a trolley would make it safer for the caretaker and would free up spacein the hall and storage in shed. This had been put on the School Development Plan with budget implications.
  • Entrance barrier.
  • Replenishment of reading scheme books – to cover gaps in areas and replenishing tired stock.
  • ICT Suite.

Governors discussed the asbestos. An asbestos and fire check was completed annually and it had been classed as low risk. Could you cost this up for completion in one of the school holidays when no-one was around? The Headteacher would look into this and investigate applying for a grant. Could we use the capital carry over for the refurbishment? The Headteacher confirmed it could be used.

Governors duly

APPROVED the proposed budget for 2015/16.

(iii)Service Level Agreements

Governors were informed that the SLA was unchanged except for the Health, Safety and Wellbeing service, which was a new service designed to help school meet its statutory obligations around Health & Safety.

  1. HEADTEACHER’S TERMLY REPORT

The report of the Headteacher had been circulated prior to the meeting and governors’ questions were invited:

Would there be a trial for online ordering of school meals with Solutions SK? It was intended to keep the system as it was, as it was working well. The cooks were good and children were eating balanced meals. Other Headteachers had reported problems with online ordering.

The Headteacher reported the following updates:

  • From 20th April there would be 201 pupils on roll.
  • Comparisons could not be made between the new age related expectations and the APP assessments.
  • There were no E-safety incidents to report. Is the monthly drop-in still going? Yes, but no-one has attended so far. School would continue to offer it.

The Headteacher was thanked for her report and there being no further questions it was

RESOLVED that the Headteacher’s report be received.

  1. UPDATE ON STANDING ITEMS

(i)School Improvement Plan (SIP) Update

Staff were working through the actions and the SIP was on track for completion.

Sarah Gower Jones would be helping Gill Warburton with the LPPA award. An initial audit would take place in June. It would take 18months – 2 years to complete.

(ii)Appraisal

Lesson observations and mid year reviews were in progress. These would coincide with pupil progress meetings.

The Headteacher’s review had been completed.

(iii)Report on Racist Incidents

The Headteacher reported that there had not been any racist incidents in school during the spring term.

The Chair and Headteacher completed and signed a Nil Return form; the Clerk then undertook to return the form to the appropriate section within Services to People.

(iv)Report on Physical Incidents

The Headteacher reported that there had been four incidents during the autumn term where the use of physical intervention procedures had been necessary; these had been reported to Services to People using the approved recording methods.

  1. GOVERNOR DEVELOPMENT

(i)Governing Body Development Plan

The programme of focussed visitsagreed at the autumn term meeting, had begun. The Chair of Governors and Mrs T Brennan had been on a lunchtime visit to see how school meals were delivered. They had spoken to the cooks and children.

The next visits would observe PP interventions in progress and Lunchtime Learning. Mrs L Appleton and Ms J Grundy had expressed interest in these observations and suitable appointments would be made during the summer term.

ACTION

(ii)Training

Governors were encouraged to attend training courses made available by Governor Services. The following courses had been attended:

EYFS Statutory Profile Framework for School Governors had been attended by Mrs T Brennan and Miss E Small.

Dealing with Complaints had been attended by Ms E Small. Should we publish our Complaints Policy with our other policies as well as in the prospectus? Governors agreed and it would be added to the website under policies.

ACTION

The GOVAS conference had been attended by Ms E Small. She reported that in the Life without Levels presentation, only one other school, apart from St Mary’s, had adopted a 4 points system. Most schoolshad adopted 3 levels.

Mrs L Appleton had attended Headteacher Appraisal training and an Update on Safer Recruitment.

(iii)Presentation of Certificate for New Governor Training

Mrs T Brennan had completed the LA’s New Governor training and was presented with a certificate.

  1. L.A. BRIEFING PAPERS

(i)Safeguarding

  • Governors were requested to note the contents of the Self Harm Policy and consider its adoption.
  • Governors should be informed of the school’s management of the Childcare Disqualification checks.
  • Governors were reminded that the anti-bullying policy must be on the school website, and must make reference to homophobic and transphobic bullying.
  • Governors were made aware of the L.A. Code of Conduct for School Staff. This should be considered for adoption if one was not already in place at the school.

(ii)Health and Safety

  • Governors noted the information.

(iii)What Maintained Schools Must Publish Online

  • Governors were reminded of the need to ensure that the school’s website met the requirements.

(iv)SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities)

  • Governors should ensure that the School Offer was on the website and was included in the annual review.
  • The Accessibility Plan should be uploaded to the website and reviewed annually. The Headteacher informed the meeting that it was currently included in the Equality Policy. The GSO undertook to find out if it needed to be a separate policy.

ACTION

  • School procedures, as described in the revised SEND policy, ought to comply with the revised Code of Practice.

(v)Assessment Without Levels (Primary)

  • Governors should be updated on the school’s current arrangements for formative and summative assessment.

(vi)DFE Updates

  • Governors noted the updates.
  1. DATES

(i)Full Governing Body

Thursday 2nd July, 6.30pm

(ii)Committee Meetings

Teaching & Learning Committee – Thursday 21st May, 6.30pm

Resources Committee – Tuesday 23rd June, 6.30pm

  1. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Rev Larsen advised governors that there would be a pop-up Open Day for the newly refurbished Alms Houses.

There being no other business to discuss, the Chairperson thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed at19:56 pm.

1Signed

Dated

St Mary’s CE Primary School

ST MARY’S CE PRIMARY SCHOOL

SPRING TERM 2015 GOVERNING BODY MINUTES

MEETING ACTION POINTS

MINUTE
POINT / ACTION REQUIRED / ACTION FOR / ACTION
DATE TO BE COMPLETED
3 (v) / Invite prospective governor to committee meetings / Chair / Post meeting
3 (v) / Inform governors of DBS checks / GSO / Post meeting
4 / Literacy Subject Leader Presentation / Subject Leader / Resources Meeting – 23 June
8 (i) / Governors to view PP intervention and Lunchtime Learning programmes in action / Headteacher / Summer term
8 (ii) / Publish Complaints Policy on website / Headteacher / Post meeting
9 (iv) / Find out of Accessibility Plan needs to be a separate document / GSO / Post meeting

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