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POWERSTOCK CE VA PRIMARY SCHOOL
Minutes of Full Governing Body Meeting
6.30 pm Monday 13 July 2015 at Powerstock CE VA Primary School
Present: John Davies JD (Chair), Jean-Paul Draper JPD (Headteacher), Julia Stantiford JS, Tim Connor Dr TC, Lauren Goringe LG, Anna Seal AS, Rev Jan Delaney Rev JD, TishaCrutchley TC, Michael Crabb MC, Dylan Cooper DC
Apologies: Felicity Fairburn FF
In Attendance: Natalie Green NG (Clerk)
Item 1. Welcome
The Chair welcomed all present, particularly new Parent Governor, Dylan Cooper. JD also offered the congratulations of the GB to JPD on his recent appointment as Headteacher of Beechcroft St Paul’s Primary School, adding that this was good news for JPD but that Powerstock would be very sorry to lose him.
The Clerk confirmed that the meeting was quorate.
Item 2. Apologies for absence
These were received and accepted from Felicity Fairburn.
Item 3. Register of Business Interests
There were none that would conflict with items on the Agenda.
Item 4. Minutes of the last meeting of 21 April 2015
The minutes were agreed as a true record.
Item 5. Matters Arising
There were none that would not be covered by the Agenda.
Item 6. Chair’s Update and Correspondence
JD reported receiving a letter from the Diocese asking to approve the transfer of DFC (Devolved Funding Capital) monies to another school on loan –the amount was £3,175k and there would be no affect on the Powerstock turnover in the long term. JPD said that there was currently £13k in the fund and with no major projects planned for this FY JPD said that this was acceptable but needed agreement from governors, which was forthcoming.
Item 7. Headteacher’s Report
The Headteacher’s report had been circulated earlier and JPD gave an overview.
There were 55 pupils on roll and 4 pupils would join Reception in September 2015, with one pupil joining Y2.
In terms of the Y6 SATS results, JPD said that this was a very small sample group from a statistical perspective, additionally it was a weaker cohort and some levels achieved had been lower than national. One pupil had had a poor test on the day and this had disproportionately affected the whole school result. One Y2 pupil retook the test and improved and a one to one support package had been agreed for the pupil in Y3. JPD report better results at KS1compared to national.
JPD then gave a summary of SIAMS work, describing MC’s recent activity in this regard. Alongside JPD and JS he had conducted a review of assemblies and other aspects of work, ensuring that it was adequately evidenced.
JPD invited further questions from Governors, who asked if pupils say‘grace’before lunch, JPD confirmed that they did.
There were no other comments or questions.
Item 8. Recruitment of Headteacher Post
JD said that JPD would be leaving the school at the end of the Autumn term 2015 and that the GB would have until January 2016 to find a replacement, should they decide to go ahead. He mentioned the fact that such a small school may be unlikely to attract a present head and that it was more probable that a teacher going into their first headship would apply. There was also a possibility that the school would fail to attract a suitable candidate and may need to consider a Federation or a MAT in the long term. Governors asked if there was anyone within the staff who wanted to act up, JPD said not. They also enquired if JPD knew of anyone who was looking for such a post, JPD said he was unsure at present but that Mark Sandercock may be able to assist. There was also a discussion on the financial constraints, and pupil numbers were a significant issue. JPD said that he had included a saving on a cheaper replacement for him. Other ideas such as appointing a Head of Teaching & Learning to lead the teaching staff but federate with another school with an Executive Head over both were discussed, however the cost saving projections were relatively small. Governors agreed that the preference would be to appoint a new Headteacher and this would be attempted first, looking at other strategies if it was unsuccessful.
JD confirmed that following receipt of JPD’s written resignation he had contacted the Diocese to inform them. He explained the Diocesan recruitment process. The most important consideration at this stage was to attract a candidate by being explicit about why the school needed a new head, to offer information about the school and its character and the attributes the GB were looking for in a head. It was agreed that AS, LG, JS and DC would gather ideas from staff and parents respectively, aiming to get this in place by the second week of Autumn term.
There were questions from governors on lead time and it was agreed that there was a need to advertise early in the new term, aiming to interview and appoint by half term ideally but certainly by end of term. The LA advisor also needed to create a recruitment packand would need adequate time to do this, so it was agreed to aim to advertise by the end of September 2015. It was noted that Samuel TerHaar, Educational Services Assistant was the Diocesan liaison.
JD said that the selection process would require 4 governors, an LA representative and a Diocesan representative.
Item 9. Policies
JPD presented the new Admissions Policy explaining that this was based on the Diocesan model policy and reflected new admissions changes. It followed the wording of previous policies and JPD had withdrawn text on the oversubscription criteria based on religion. JD agreed to examine the policy and refer back to JPD who needed to send this by 24 July 2015.
The Financial Procedures Policy had been distributed to governors for review at the last Finance committee, ready for FBG approval, and was outstanding. The Clerk would chase.
Item 10. Subject Update and Maths Learning Walk
There was some discussion on the recent Maths Learning Walk attended by LG and DrTC, who said that he would prefer to go into one class for a longer period. LG added that she felt that it was interesting to see how everything was working however she felt unable to make any judgment as did not know enough about what was being taught. AS gave the staff viewpoint, saying that staff preferred that someone saw the whole sequence, but from the children’s perspective it was quite intimidating to have 4 adults in the class so 20 minute periods were deemed enough for them. Staff agreed that a learning walk was useful to see children learning different things at different ages, and that the governor’s role was not to assess teaching but to see things from a pupil perspective. JPD gave an overview of the purpose of a Learning Walk, saying that it gave aflavour of the whole school approach to one subject and should complement seeing lessons and assemblies, and offered an opportunity to talk to children about their learning. JP recommended going to teachers direct if governors wanted to see a lesson.
There was a question from governors about subject updates; JPD said that this would be on the calendar shortly.
There were no further comments.
Item 11. Safeguarding
There was a discussion about Safeguarding training and the need for all new governors to attend Safeguarding in Schools Level 1. The Clerk would send a link to the DCC schoolsnet page so governors could check details of training events and other information. Governors also queried the currency of Safeguarding training and whether refresher training was needed. The Clerk would check this. She also noted the requirement to set up a general training record, which she planned to put in place over the summer break.
JPD said that a governor needed to undertake the online Safer Recruitment Training, and that the new Headteacher job description needed to include the DSL role.
Item 12. Budget Approval (Outturn Report)
JP tabled four budgetary documents and explained that the outturn report was now available, giving an overview of the financial papers. He said that £4,500k was still come into the forecast balances. This was to cover his work at Loders earlier in the year. He added that 2017-18 was a sticking point but that he expected a break even. There was a cumulative shrinking effect of 1.5% each year and 2 pupils had left which also had a significant impact.In addition, this was a school with ‘high mobility’, for example, 10/12 pupils joined the school in the year before last, but last year none had joined. The catchment was not stable and a third of pupils were from Bridport. He said that making predictions was problematic. Governors asked if there were any statistics on what happens to pupil numbers when headteachers change, JPD replying that it was not significant and other factors such as ease of getting children to school were key in parent’s choice of school. Governors mentioned the supervised bus to and from Bridport and Breakfast club type offerings as being increasingly important in attracting pupil numbers.
JPD mentioned the links with the other small rural schools in the pyramid,Symondsury and Thorner’s, which he considered important.
JD posed a question to governors –did the budget lead them to change their minds about the recruitment of a new head? Governors felt that this was not yet the case. Ideas for federation and cost savings were discussed, JPD adding that he and Jyotsna Chaffey from Thorner’s had recently visited Winterbourne and Cerne Abbas schools. These schools had federated as they had already been working together closely whenCerne found themselves unable to appoint a new head. An Executive Head was in place running both schools with Heads of Teaching & Learning at each site, with a shared SENDCO and Caretaker.
JPD said that Open Days for the 2016 intake would take place in the Autumn term 2015 on a common date across the Pyramid, though extra ones could be offered.
AS asked why the staff costs were going up, JPD replying that this was to take account of projected payscale rises.
JPD said that a national funding formula may be introduced in the long term.
Governors were then asked to approve theouuturn report, which was agreed unanimously and signed off.
Item 13. Date Planning
Further FGB meeting dates were discussed: 7.9.15 and 19.10.15
Finance, Environment & Pay: 5.10.15
Curriculum & Staffing: 12.10.15
Item 14. Any Other Business
The Clerk mentioned the election of Chair and Vice-Chair, which would be required in September 2015. She explained that the GB also had the option of extending the period of office from 1 year to 3 years, and would need to take a vote on this if they decided to put this in place. She said that she would send out an email to governors inviting them to stand and would agenda the election for the September 2015 FGB.
Item 15. Date of Next Meeting –Monday 7 Septemberat 6.30pm
There being no further business the meeting concluded at 8pm.
Item No / Action / By Whom / Date8 / Staff and parent governors to gather ideas from staff and parents on advertisement for new Headteacher / JS, LG, DC and AS / By second week Autumn term
8 / Write to Diocese to commence Headteacher recruitment process. / JD / ASAP
9 / Review Admissions Policy / JD / By 24.7.15
9 / Review Financial Procedures Policy and submit any amendments to Clerk / FF / By next FGB
11 / Clerk to send out DCC schoolsnet log in details to all governors / NG / ASAP
11 / Clerk to check on currency of Safeguarding training for governors / NG / ASAP
11 / Clerk to set up new training records / NG / By 1.9.15
11 / Undertake online Safer Recruitment training / JD / ASAP
11 / Include DSL role on new HT Job Description / JD / By second week Autumn term
14 / Clerk to send notice to governors about the Chair and Vice Chair election process. / NG / By 1.9.15
Date of Meeting: 13 July 2015 Signed: