Hindhayes School Minutes of the Full Governors Meeting held at the School on Tuesday 23 rd May 2017 at 5.30pm Present: Apologies: Guests: Michael Berry, Helen Clark, Sue Court, Janet Day, Stephanie Martin, Kate Nester, Lucy Shakesby, Emma Western, Mary Whitaker Maria Payne, Esme Rendells Sarah Simmonds (Hindhayes Subject Leader Maths) Mike Lawrence (Headteacher Elmhurst School) Tracy Edwards (Headteacher Elmhurst School) No 01/13 Apologies Esme Rendells and Maria Payne gave their apologies for this meeting and these were accepted. 02/13 Minutes of last meeting to be approved The minutes of the last full governors meeting held on 22 nd March 2017 were approved. All actions from the last meeting will be completed by the end of this meeting. Kate Nester, Mike Lawrence and Tracy Edwards provided an update on a possible federation between Hindhayes and Elmhurst schools. They explained that discussion had been following government plans for cross-school federations, academies and multi-academy trusts. They stated that they intended the federation to be soft rather than hard (a memorandum rather than a binding legal contract) and reassured governors that it would keep pupils as the priority and that it would not result in changes to employment contracts for staff. They stated that potential benefits could come from the economy of sharing policies and resources, CPD initiatives and language/terminology. They added that this would help pupils in terms of consistent teaching, behaviour expectations and transition. 1 P a g e
02/13 03/13 04/13 They stated that they had consulted parents, staff (admin, site and teaching) and Elmhurst governors during recent meetings and had established a working party. Elmhurst and Hindhayes Staff had voted overwhelmingly (44 out of 50) and Elmhurst governors had voted unanimously in favour of moving forward with a soft federation between the two schools. Governors asked whether a soft federation would move towards a hard federation in the future. Kate, Mike and Tracy stated that a hard federation could involve shared Headteachers, Deputy Headteachers, governing bodies, teaching staff and employment contracts but that this was unlikely to happen in the short term. They added they might consider shared staff (particularly where this would allow consistency and continuity for pupils with special needs) and/or working groups across the governing bodies to consider a specific task. Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and then asked to vote. Members voted unanimously in favour of moving forward with a soft federation between the two schools (8 out of 8). Mike Lawrence and Tracy Edwards left the meeting at this point. Opportunity to declare interest Stephanie Martin asked whether she should declare that she has a child at a nearby school. No further interests, other than those declared on Pecuniary Interest forms were declared. : Stephanie to speak with Maria and updated her Pecuniary Interest form as necessary Maths presentation from Sarah Simmonds (Hindhayes Subject Leader for Maths) Sarah presented a paper detailing recent changes to the national curriculum, teaching plans and teaching aids for Maths in the last couple of years. She explained that amendments in 2014 had resulted in significant changes to the way Maths was being taught. - Raised expectations at the end of year 1 and 2. - Explicit expectation that pupils should be able to solve problems, explain the process/calculation and handle numbers in a fluid way. - Including all pupils in all activities (previous acceptance that some activities/tasks were for more able pupils only). Stephanie 2 P a g e
04/13 - White Rose Maths Hub has moved teaching from spiral (each topic being taught within 2 weeks and then returning to the - topic at a later stage) to block (teaching over a longer 4-6 week period and in more depth) facilitating raised expectations. - Teaching aids to encourage pupils to be able to explain the process/calculation (how did they get to the answer?) and to handle numbers in a fluid way. - Teaching material to support teachers (what does meeting expectations look like when compared with not quite achieving?). Sarah explained that current year 1 pupils had been taught in this way since Sept 2016 (8 months), year 2 pupils since January 2016 (so 16 months since the January of their first year) and reception pupils from the beginning of their time at Hindhayes. Helen asked how White Rose Maths Hub compared with the Singapore Bar Method. Sarah confirmed that there was slight commonality between the two schemes. Sarah showed members an example teaching aid called APE ( Answer It, Prove It and Explain It ) used in classrooms and displays. She stated that this was the culture that pupils were aiming for even if the Explain it section was handwritten by the teacher based on the pupil s explanation (the explain should not be a barrier for the child). Sarah provided members with a summary of age related expectations for Hindhayes where meeting age related expectations was broadly in line with the national figure but that greater depth was lower. Sarah stated that, on reflection, more pupils should have been assessed in the greater depth category (which would have improved the figure) but members accepted that moderation was very early and that it was considered best to be cautious given the significant changes to teaching and assessment at the time. Members discussed gender within Maths performance and noted that the high performance of boys was, in part, related to the particular cohort (dominant characters). Kate explained that the school had taken steps to address this issue by using forest school to increase confidence and leadership skills for female pupils and would continue to review work to spot trends along gender lines. Emma asked whether parents were aware of these wider national curriculum changes. Sarah stated that she had given talks to parents. Members thanked and applauded Sarah for a very informative and interesting talk. Sarah left the meeting at this point. 3 P a g e
05/13 Headteacher s report Section 7 BMIS (Building Maintenance Indemnity Scheme) Mary asked whether it was clear what the impact of the closure of the BMIS scheme would be. Kate stated that David (caretaker) would carry out maintenance work where possible and that the administrative team would then contact tradespeople for other tasks (no existing portfolio of tradespeople) Section 19 Emma asked whether the improvements in the Beanstalk project had been as a result of a settling in period or a change in volunteers. Kate stated that Hindhayes were using different volunteers and that the project had been working well (see pupil premium document). Section 14 Mary asked whether the provision of hot school meals for Elmhurst was proving successful. Kate stated that it was working well with all pupils using the same menu and the food being transported quickly and efficiently by a van. She added that the catering staff had been happy to increase their hours to accommodate the additional pupils/meals. Janet stated that the new format of the pupil premium document (additional columns) was very clear : Kate to email the document to members Kate stated that the Scholastic Book Scheme was working well (partly self funding). : Kate to update section 8 of the Headteacher s Report following a change in the data Kate stated that an Educational Welfare Officer would stand at the school gates on three mornings (without prior notice to parents) to note attendance and explain the importance of arriving on time - particularly in light of a slightly earlier start time. Kate Kate 06/13 Finance a) Approval of CFR report Members discussed the CFR report provided by Hayley. It was agreed that not all members understood the document entirely but were happy for Esme (higher level of financial knowledge) to check and approve the report. : Hayley/Esme 4 P a g e
06/13 : Hayley/Esme Mary asked whether it was acceptable to have uncommitted budget and whether this could result in the money being taken back by the local authority. Kate and Janet confirmed that the local authority would contact Hayley to remind Hindhayes before the deadline. b) Approval of End of Year Finance report : Hayley/Esme c) Approval of additional spending on perimeter fence Members noted that this additional spending had been agreed by email prior to the meeting and were happy to formally approve. : Hayley/Esme 07/13 08/13 Update on safeguarding audit Kate presented a paper summarising the action points arising from a visit from Jane Weatherill (SCC) alongside the who/when/what evidence of what was being done by Hindhayes to rectify any areas requiring improvement. Kate confirmed that Jane had returned to Hindhayes to follow up on the action points. Members asked for clarification over some of the language used in the document (including bagging, huffing and cuckooing). Kate provided definitions. : Kate to email members an information leaflet School Development Plan monitoring Kate summarised the updated SDP. She stated that the draft SDP for 17/18 would be available at the next governors meeting. Kate Kate 09/13 Feedback on Governors working party Stephanie, Mary and Emma summarised the discussion from a recent governor working party which looked at terminology, pupil premium and evidence that closing the gap was possibly at the expense of progression for the high achieving pupils. : Esme to finalise the notes taken during the meeting. Esme 5 P a g e
10/13 11/13 12/13 Feedback on Governor induction Stephanie reported that her induction had been good but would have benefitted from a glossary of terms and an induction package from Hindhayes. She added that the recent working part had been extremely helpful and that she was looking forward to the SCC induction for new governors. Emma stated that she found this particularly helpful as a new governor. : Maria to email governors a glossary of terms *2 Acronym lists were sent out to all governors via email on 16 th March, this is attached again with the minutes. Also attached is the Governor welcome letter with the list of information that is sent out. Please can you feedback any additional items that you think may be required. Discussion on social media guidance from SCC Members noted social media guidance for SCC. Some members were unaware of a recent social media incident involving Hindhayes and asked for a summary. Kate and Janet reported that a confidential incident at Hindhayes (not discussed during the meeting) had resulted in parent comments on social media that were negative about Hindhayes in general and derogatory about specific staff. Kate explained that Hindhayes had issued a statement in response (via the local authority) and that local press had reported on the issue. Members were pleased to hear that the issue had since settled but expressed concern over the negative impact of social media on organisations and society in general but also on the mental health of children. Policy review i) Health & Safety policy Mike stated that the document was wordy and needed to be applied more specific to Hindhayes. : Mike to email Maria Maria Mike ii) iii) Safer recruitment Induction policy Lucy : Lucy to review induction for governors following Stephanie s comments All three policies would be reviewed during the next governor meeting. 6 P a g e
Any other business / items for next agenda None Clarification of future meeting dates Tuesday 4 th July 2017 at 5.30pm FULL GOVERNORS S Agenda By Whom Due Date 03/13 Stephanie s declared interest SM/MP 4/7/17 05/13 Kate to email pupil premium KN 4/7/17 document to members 05/13 Kate to update section 8 of the KN 4/7/17 Headteacher s Report following a change in the data 06/13 Esme to check and approve the ER 5/6/17 CFR report. 06/13 Hayley and Esme to check and H/ER 5/6/17 approve the End of Year Finance report. 07/13 Kate to email members an KN 4/7/17 information leaflet 08/13 Kate to bring the draft SDP for KN 4/7/17 17/18 to the next governor meeting. 09/13 Esme to finalise the notes taken ER 4/7/17 during the governor working party 10/13 Maria to email governors a MP 4/7/17 glossary of terms 12/13 Mike to email Maria with amendments for the Health and Safety Policy. MB 19/6/17 12/13 Lucy to review induction for governors following Stephanie s comments LS 19/6/17 7 P a g e
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