Minutes of the Full Governing Board Meeting of Swanmore CE (Aided) Primary School held on 17 th November 2016 at 7pm in 4MD classroom Present: Judy Hillier (Chair) JH Tanya Clay (Staff Governor) TC John Pateron (Headteacher) JSP Bobbie Branson (Foundation Governor) BB Jill Phipps (Ex-Offico Governor) JP Andy Vincent (Parent Governor) AV Ian Wollam (Foundation Governor) IW Cheryl Young (Foundation Governor) CY Nicola Sanchez (Foundation Governor) NSa Sarah Chase (Foundation Governor) SC Chris Tatum (Foundation Governor) CT - left at 7.30pm In Attendance: Jon Flynn (Deputy Headteacher) JF, Renata Bush (Business Manager) RB, Kate Dalton (Clerk) KD, Andrew Wilkinson (Observer) Apologies: Nick Smith (Foundation Governor), Chris Newhouse (Parent Governor) 1 Welcome and apologies JH welcomed everyone to the meeting including JW who was attending the first part of the meeting as an observer and possible future governor. JH, on behalf of the whole Body, thanked CT for all her hard work whilst serving as Foundation Governor and wished her best wishes for her move. Apologies have been received and accepted from Nick Smith and Chris Newhouse. CT started the meeting with a prayer. 2 Declarations of Interest No declarations of interest were received for this meeting. KD circulated a list of previously declared pecuniary interests for any updates. 3 Minutes from last meeting on 29 th September 2016. Some minor amendments were received and for the minutes from the last meeting. Minutes were agreed and approved. 4 Actions from last meeting Appendix 1 on agenda 2. JH has looked at the associated costs to bring in a consultant to facilitate a strategy meeting regarding possible academy status. The school needs clear strategic direction. It was proposed that a half day training to the Full Governing Body (FGB) would be useful. 4. Emergency Response Plan has been updated by H&S Committee and will be recommending it to FGB for ratification. IW will bring to FGB meeting in January. 9. Behaviour and Anti-bullying policies still need to be reviewed. Will be bought to FGB meeting in January. 14. A strategy for Pupil Premium spend is on the website. Will be bought to FGB meeting in January for further consideration. 15. CY and NSa will log when governors complete the on-line safeguarding training. 17. There have been 2 applications for position of Foundation Governor. JH IW IW JSP CY/NSa 5 New Chair of Curriculum and Standards Committee IW was voted to be the new chair of this committee. This decision was given the full support of the FGB. 1
CT left the meeting. 6 Committee Terms of Reference Committee Some of the terms of reference are not yet complete. All committees/panels to bring terms ofchairs reference to next FGB meeting. 7 School Update As part of his update JSP gave a presentation to the FGB on homework. To summarise: JSP has spoken to Parent Partnership group to state the school's aims regarding homework The Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) have been shared with parents Termly curriculum updates are sent out to parents with links to resources should parents want to do more with their children. There are fortnightly blogs written on what the children have been learning. JSP takes a sample of homework folders to check that it is being marked When asked 84% of parents felt their children received appropriate level of homework. Q. Does homework make a difference to the attainment of children? A. Research shows that traditional homework does not make a difference, but there is an expectation and a requirement that children will be given homework. Q. Do you prepare Yr6 children for the transition to Yr7 A. Yes, homework does change as the children progress through the school. There followed a discussion about the value and timing of homework. It was felt that it was useful for governors to have an understanding of how homework is used in school in order to better respond to comments from parents. If governors would like to receive Parent Mail, contact RB. JSP informed the meeting that the next data capture is due on 25 th November and is therefore not yet available to be shared with the FGB. The School Update Summary report was shared with the FGB prior to the meeting. Q. What is your concern for the school at the moment? A. An Ofsted visit could be imminent. Attendance is a focus at the moment and JSP has met with the LA to looks at how absences are tracked and what the school can do about persistent absence. There followed a discussion on how the school is targeting persistent absence and how these figures could be improved. 8 Statement of Financial Expectations In Nick Smith's (Treasurer) absence, JH outlined the school's financial expectations and the recommendations from F&B Committee regarding the changes in the planned deficit from 20,000 to 26,464. JH outlined how governors can support the school to achieve this. JH asked the FGB to agree the changes to the financial expectations. FGB voted unanimously to support the change. 2
9 9a. 9b. 9c. 9d. Committee Updates Finance and Building Committee The focus has been to discuss the statement of financial expectations. They are still waiting for the final account for the new classroom build but it looks like there will be an underspend. There was a discussion on who could be approached to officially 'open' the new classrooms. Curriculum and Standards Committee Members of the School Council were invited to the meeting to discuss Friendship Week. They came up with some suggestions on how the school could promote the 'STOP' campaign. JF gave a presentation on Learning Communities which teachers will use to focus on aspects of the School Development Plan (SDP). Members of the C&S Committee commented that the School Council representatives were confident, mature, well-informed and articulate. Personnel and SEND Committee The Personnel Committee had not met since the last FGB meeting. SEND CY and JF have met to find out how it is going now that JF has taken over responsibility for SEND in the school and to share information about what the governors expectations are. CY will visit the school next week to introduce herself to staff as the SEND lead on the governing body. BB and CY attended training and will share the key points with the rest of the FGB. CY/BB Health and Safety Committee The H&S Committee had not met since the last FGB meeting. They have been focussing on getting agreement on changes to key policies. They will be looking at how best to get an independent review on H&S within the school and reviewing SLA's. The revised H&S Policy will be discussed at the next FGB meeting. IW JH requested that all committee chairs provide KD with the key headlines from their meetings prior to the FGB meeting so that reports don't have to be given verbally. Committee Chairs 10 10a 10b Policies Admission Policy JP shared the proposed changes for the Admission policy with governors prior to the meeting. There was one point of clarification required around the wording on one of the criteria when applications over the PAN are received: A child who at the time of admission has a sibling on the roll of the school. JSP and JP will look to make this clearer. JP will send this round to all Governors for approval prior to the changed policy going out to consultation for 6 weeks from the end of November Safeguarding Policy There were some minor formatted issues required. The school had adopted the HCC policy. In the Chairs report JH shared a list of all the statutory policies and when they should be reviewed. JH has arranged for training on policies to be given to all governors on 26 th January 2017 at 6pm before the FGB meeting. 3
11 Chair's Report JH shared her report with governors prior to the meeting. There followed a discussion about concerns regarding academy status. The school needs to look at the way forward and be positive about possible changes. Q. Is the Diocese providing any advice? A. We have attended meeting with the Diocese to review the options. 12 Training Update CY is going to be attending a course on how to take the lead on training the governors. Need to identify any skills gaps. The courses provided by HCC are generally very good and if there is a course that a governor would like to attend that is full, contact HCC to be put on the waiting list. There is an Academy Conference in Birmingham that is open to any governors to attend. CY attended a Special Schools Conference at Botley Park that was very inspirational. She will feedback on this. 13 Correspondence A letter had been received from a parent visiting the school for the first time. They were shown around by pupils. It was very positive and complimentary. CT produced a report from her time spent at the school gate. There were positive comments from parents. 14 AOB Governors were asked to complete the Disqualification Declaration form. 8,500 was made from the fireworks evening (before costs). This is an increase from last year. The bar ran smoothly and the governors were thanked for their help. Before the meeting closed each governor was asked to reflect on the impact that the meeting has on the school and pupils. Meeting closed at 21.15pm Next FGB meeting 26 th January 2017 @6pm FGB training 26 th January 2017 @7pm FGB meeting. 4
Action Required By Whom Date of Completion 1. Formation of Marketing Group to include setting Judy Hillier November 16 up a risk register. Marketing Group to include AV, NSm, SC 2. Numicon maths curriculum briefing for parents John Paterson Spring Term 3. Governors newsletter to be created Jill Phipps/Tanya Clay Complete 4. Terms of Reference from each committee to be updated and presented to FGB Nick Smith, Chair of F&B Ian Wollam, Chair of H&S Chris Tatum, Chair of C&S Jill Phipps, Chair Admissions Ian Wollam Chair of Pay Bobbie Branson, Chair of Personnel Nikki Sanchez Chair of Staff Dismissal Chris Newhouse Chair of Staff Dismissal Appeal Nikki Sanchez Chair of Exclusion January 17 5. RB to send out old versions and template of F&B and C&S as good examples RB 6. Skills Audit completion and JH to obtain feedback JH November 16 from NGA 7. Behaviour and Bullying Polices to be reviewed by Ian Wollam Chair Curriculum and January 17 the Curriculum and Standards Committee Standards Committee 8. Develop a plan to refresh School Values Jill Phipps January 17 9. Develop a plan for a pastoral care system for staff and governors 10. Meeting regarding homework John, Chris Newhouse, Judy and Andy. 11. Proposals to spend Pupil Premium monies to be taken to F&B Committee 12. All Governors to undertake e-learning course on Safeguarding https//www3.hants.gov.uk/governor-login Jill Phipps January 17 John Paterson, Chris Newhouse, Judy Hillier and Andy Vincent. John Paterson November 16 FGB December 16 13. Training to be provided to GFB on academy status JH January 17 14. Emergency Response Plan to be bought to FGB IW January 17 15. Revised Health and Safety Policy to be bought to FGB IW January 17 5
Key Dates Date Time Event Monday 12 th December 2.15pm Y1&Y2 Christmas production to parents Tuesday 13 th December 2.15pm Y1&Y2 Christmas production to parents Friday 16 th December 9.15am and 2.15pm Carols around the tree Wednesday 16 th January, 13 th and 27 th February, 6 th, 13 th, 20 th and 27 th March and 3 rd April 2017 9.15am Church Assembly Wednesday 8 th February 2.15pm Yr 4 production Thursday 9 th February 7pm Yr 4 production Friday 7 th April Charity day 6