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KINTBURY ST MARY’S CE PRIMARY SCHOOL

MINUTES OF THE FULL GOVERING BODY MEETING Held on Thursday 5th February 2015 at 7.00pm

PRESENT: Annette Warren (Co-Chair AW), Alison Mitchell (Co-Chair AM), Mel Higgs (Headteacher MH), Susan Wigmore (SW), Rachel Lewis (RL) Anna Wickham Smith (AWS), Bryan Carroll (BC), Mo Osborne (MO) IN ATTENDANCE: Rebecca Tolley (Deputy Head) Emmanuelle Matthews (SBM), Carol Bradley

(Clerk) APOLOGIES: Jeanne Lapsley (JL), Kim Cohen (KC), Darren Ward (DW), Roy Hutchings ABSENT: Kevan Marriner (KM)

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(These minutes should be read in conjunction with the reports listed in the Related Documents section below.) APOLOGIES Apologies for the meeting were recorded from JL who is still recovering from surgery, KC & RH who are both working and DW who has parents evening at John O’Gaunt . All apologies received were duly authorised. Governors were reminded that apologies and reason for absence should be given to the Clerk prior to meeting. DECLARATION/CONFLICTS OF INTEREST/ANY OTHER BUSINESS There were no other declarations/conflicts of Interest noted from Governors. There was one additional item of AOB raised – Approval and signing off of the SFVS Report. AM asked for thanks to be noted for MH and all staff who had arranged the very successful Maths Family Learning held at school earlier today. Governors appreciated the additional time and effort that staff had given to organize the morning and were delighted to see so many parents and carers in attendance. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (11.12.14) MATTERS ARISING & ACTIONS Minutes and Part 2 Confidential Minutes from the meeting held on the 11th December 2014 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair. There were no matters arising not covered by the agenda.

Action

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Actions from previous meeting:- CB

Submit the agreed Instrument of Governance to West Berkshire Governor Services - completed

EM

EM investigate log in details required to allow governors to access the FFT reports for the school and distribute – LA to be contacted to try and track down the necessary log on and password for the school

to contact the Parish Council and local police to investigate how a’ Lollypop Person’ could be organised and funded – EM to discuss with KM and follow-up

Set up individual WB email accounts for all Governors this will be used in future for all Part 2 Confidential items - completed

KC

Liaise with MH to book a suitable date to carry out a Safeguarding Audit – the audit has been completed and sent to the Local Authority KC is still to meet with MH for a safeguarding review

MH

Advise Governors of future dates for Safeguarding training – Wed 4th March 9.30am and Tue 17th March 9.30am – All governors are welcome to attend.

COMMITTEE MINUTES Finance & Resources Minutes from the meeting held on the 22.01.2015 were duly noted. AW gave a short overview of the content of meeting highlighting the key points raised. Period 9 Agresso Reports for the main school account, PPG, Sports and Capital funds were discussed. Teaching staff is currently showing an underspend of £4,000 due to the school being one contracted teacher down since September 2014. Fixed term part time teaching contracts have been allocated to cover LTS in Year 4/5 and cover in Year 1. Supply is significantly overspent due to LTS absence. An insurance claim has been submitted to recoup some of this expenditure. Support staff is showing an overspend due to funds needing to be transferred to PPG. Overall employee costs are expected to end the year with a £5,000 overspend. Buildings & Maintenance is running over budget due to remedial work required on fire doors and the installation of door catches. Utilities are within budget with Water showing a significant underspend due to a large credit note.

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Learning Resources are also underspent as the school is currently well resourced. There is an expected surplus figure on the main school account for 2014/15 of approximately £14,500. PPG funding forecast a surplus of about £12,000 (30% of the original budget). There has been a significant saving on the use of the Family Support Worker for brought in professional services. This grant is not subject to any claw back and can be carried forward to the new financial year. Sports Grant is used to cover the Go Active Sports contract which continues to offer an excellent service. Capital Fund – Fencing project is ongoing and £40,000 has been allocated for replacement fencing and gates. The committee looked briefly at the Funding Allocation for 2015/16 which had just been released and will look at in more detail at the March meeting. The initial picture indicates intake numbers are up on those predicted by LA with 23 families making Kintbury their first choice and 12 second choice. Numbers however in classes are small and with a continued prediction for a falling roll over time, AM, AW, EM and MH are meeting 6th Feb to discuss figures in more detail. Minimum funding guarantee and SEN funding has been included however the SEN top up funding is likely to be reduced year on year going forward. AM asked whether there would be any merit in speaking with the LA regarding ways in which the LA can support schools with a falling number on roll and the capacity/space to admit many more children. MH explained that discussions had already taken place with our school improvement partner and also directly with Ian Pearson. She agreed that over time there may be a need to communicate again and governors may wish to be involved. The latest SFVS report has been completed and has highlighted a financial skills gap following Reconstitution which needs to be addressed. It has been agreed to carry out a termly review of the action plan. The annual audit of the Private Fund Accounts has been carried out. The latest Benchmarking report covering 2013/14 had been prepared and was discussed in detail. It was agreed that AW would look at benchmarking data for 2014/15 and it should be revisited again when setting the 2015/16 budget and this will be discuss further at the next F&R meeting. Wider Area Network (WAN) –the school is continuing to look at alternative

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suppliers. Staffing Restructure - sufficient voluntary redundancies were received so the formal process could be halted. Curriculum & Standards Minutes from the meeting held on the 15.01.2015 were duly noted. SW gave a short overview of the content of the meeting. The committee looked in detail at group analysis data for Years 1 -6 covering Reading, Writing and Maths for terms 1 and 2. EYFS data in a similar format was also provided. Overall EYFS showed good progress. Year 1 were slightly behind the previous year’s levels and there had been movement on SEN register due to the recent SEND reforms. Reading had been identified as an area of concern. AW asked how this was being addressed – MH confirmed the school was adopting a whole class approach and was looking for accelerated progress of all children but that there was also a watch list of individual pupils who may need additional support. Professional support has also been provided from the LA. AM asked if identification and diagnosis of SEN is happening earlier. MH confirmed that earlier intervention and quality first teaching was essential to provide the body of evidence now needed to make a referral and include a child on the SEN Register. Year 2 data highlighted the success of the challenge to push more able children and avoid a gender gap. The year group has benefitted from positive consistent teaching. Year 3 data shows the cohort is doing very well and the embedding of learning behaviours is working well. The class has a large number of SEN/PPG children who are also doing well. Year 4 remains a very small cohort with one more able PPG child who will need to access an enriched curriculum. Year 5 data shows outcomes for writing are lower than other year groups and highlights the gap between genders. This class now has a permanent teacher who is the Lead for Literacy and interventions are in place to continue to accelerate learning including a Digismart club covering Literacy and ICT skills. Year 6 have been set very challenging targets and whilst good progress has been made overall last term, results show that some children may currently not make expected levels of progress. Monitoring and interventions are in

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place to address this. AW asked if there is some accelerated progress – RT confirmed that levels at the end of Spring term should show improvement and monitoring confirms that good progress is being made by most children. Background information was given on Action Research projects being undertaken by all teaching staff based on the understanding and improvement of practice and feedback is expected in the Summer term. SDP & RAP REVIEW RAP Governor Priorities AM had distributed a draft RAP Governor Review & Priorities Spring 2015 Plan for information and comment. This had been looked at briefly during the C&S Committee meeting. The document listed Governor Priorities which had been RAG rated and gave a number of new priorities and actions for the Summer terms. Governor monitoring and evaluation is ongoing and it was suggested that governors report back on visits using the impact templates to replace the governor visit template. AM confirmed that she would update the impact templates currently on the Learning Platform and an exemplar would be added for use as a guide. The current Governor Visits policy will need to be update to reflect this change in procedure. Action: Update current impact templates and upload exemplar to the Learning Platform. Action: Review Governor Visits Policy to reflect use of impact templates. Key Governor roles and responsibilities need to be identified and allocated following reconstitution in May and AM will contact all Governors to discuss roles and personal development before final decisions are made at the next FGB meeting. Action: Contact Governors individually to discuss allocation of roles and responsibilities. SIAMS – C&S are to undertake a self-evaluation of Governors understanding of the effectiveness and distinctiveness of the school and developments since the last inspection. SEND – report by the SENCo on latest reforms and continuing monitoring and evaluations by the SEN Governor.

AM AM AM

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AM also suggested an exercise to evaluate the Ofsted judgments and look at how governors can support the school to move from good to outstanding. Action: AM/RT confirmed that would undertake this task and draft a report for discussion at a future meeting. Other areas included raising the profile of the Governing Body and Governor content on the school website. Monitoring & Evaluation Review MH gave a verbal report on the summary Monitoring and CPD Overview report for the Autumn Term (please see Appendix (1) at the end of these minutes for full report). This covered the following RAP Area/School priorities , monitoring/issues identified, actions and findings and Impact and next steps.

Whole school - LA monitoring visits Progress and attainment – Governor Committee reviewing

RAISEonline Data, ensuring accuracy of assessment and pupil progress meetings

New Curriculum – ensuring the effective implementation of new curriculum for all staff

Sports Funding – Go Active provision SEND reforms – changes in identification, provision and reporting Learning Behaviours – consistency of response to undesirable

behaviours , encouraging positive attitudes, modelling expectations, safety concerns relating to specific children and developing leadership of children

Safeguarding and Health & Safety - staff training on allergies, road safety, raise profile of PHSE, Level 1 Safeguarding training for all staff and governors, remedial work on fire door, fire drill.

Marking & Feedback – lesson observations, work scrutiny and learning walks

Reading – embedding training for guided reading and monitoring impact, evidence of progress and attainment, KS1 library area

SIAMS self- assessment – staff and governors training using SIAMS toolkit, self-evaluation of Christian distinctiveness, policies, RE monitoring day

AW asked if the RAISEonline validated data was available yet. MH confirmed that this was due by the end of February. No major changes were expected but the school would take a look at attendance data which was not included in the unvalidated version.

AM/ RT

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AM asked if subject management for the new curriculum is proving difficult with temporary staff in post. MH confirmed there was some difficultly but the school needed to move forward with the implementation. AW asked if the school was getting feedback from staff on the new curriculum. MH advised that staff meetings are being used to discuss issues and that this was a learning curve for all staff. The school now needs to tie in the new curriculum with the new assessment system and link planning to assessment. SW asked if High Schools are continuing to use levels in KS3. RT advised that she has arranged a meeting with JoG to discuss the way they will assess children and how this can be linked and supported by the KS2 transfer. AM queried whether the school felt parents knew about the leadership opportunities offered for children and suggested the development of a Leadership Board. MH agreed this would be useful and also suggested considering developing a Newsletter produced by Year 6 children which could include contributions from all year groups. POLICIES The following polices have been reviewed and approved at the relevant committees and were formally adopted and ratified by the Full Governing Body:-

Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy for using images of pupils and staff E-safety Staff Disciplinary Confidential Reporting (Whistleblowing) Managing Allegations of Abuse against Staff Governors Allowances

SAFEGUARDING UPDATE MH confirmed that the annual Safeguarding Audit had been completed and was submitted to the LA by the required deadline (31.112.14). A meeting is still to be arranged for the Safeguarding Governor (KC) to go through the audit and report back to the FGB. Training dates have been advised for Level 1 Safeguarding Training for Governors (Wed 4th March 9.30am and Tue 17th March 9.30am) and all staff have safeguarding included in their induction training . GOVERNOR DEVELOPMENT

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Link Governors – roles & responsibilities Key Governor roles and responsibilities need to be identified and allocated following reconstitution in May and AM will contact all Governors to discuss roles and personal development before final decisions are made at the next FGB meeting. West Berkshire model roles and responsibilities guidance and suggested framework for named governor roles had been distributed for information. It was agreed that in addition roles were needed to cover EYFS, RE , Maths Literacy and possibly Overview of the New Curriculum. The SFVS has identified an urgent need for a Governor skills set with finance experience. It was agreed that a targeted advertisement should be drawn up and links sort with the local finance community to source any future appointment to address this gap. In the meantime a handover meeting giving an overview of the process used to go through and question finance reports is required for all members of the F&R committee and appointment of a new Chair is required. Action: Prepare governor advertisement highlighting need for Financial skill set. Action: F&R handover meeting to be arranged for committee members. Hot Topics Spring 2015 The Clerk reminded Governors that the latest edition of Hot Topics had been distributed covering training courses provided by West Berkshire for the Spring Term. All courses should be booked via the Clerk. Governors were also encouraged to log on for online GEL training www.elc-gel.org which is available free as part of the Governor Services SLA. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Governor Handbook Update January 2015 The Clerk had distributed the link to the latest updated version of the Governor Handbook to all governors. A copy of the document can also be found on the Learning Platform. SFVS EM asked for formal approval of the latest SFVS Report which had been discussed and agreed at the F&R Meeting on the 22.1.2015. BC/EM agreed to take on the termly review of the action plan and report back to F&R as necessary. Governors unanimously approved the latest SFVS report and it was duly signed by the Chair.

AM

AW

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(Governors are reminded of the Code of Conduct and that contents of draft minutes are confidential until agreed and signed at the next meeting of the FGB. Contents of all Part 2 minutes remain confidential). The meeting ended at 9.15pm. Chairman ………………………………….. Dated ……………………. Related Documents

Minutes of FGB & Committees Draft Governor RAP review & priorities for Spring 2015 document

Monitoring & CPD Overview Autumn 2014 Document (Appendix 1) Draft Policies x 7 WB Roles & Responsibilities guidance and framework for named

Governor Roles SFVS Final report

Actions: - AM

Contact Governors individually to discuss allocation of roles and responsibilities.

Prepare governor advertisement highlighting need for Financial skill set.

Update current impact templates and upload exemplar to the Learning Platform.

Review Governor Visits Policy to reflect use of impact templates. AM/RT

Undertake an exercise to evaluate Ofsted judgments and how governors can support the school to move from good to outstanding and prepare a report for discussion by the FGB at a future meeting.

AW

handover meeting to be arranged for F&R committee EM

contact LA to source log on and password for Governor access to FFT reports

contact the Parish Council and local police to investigate how a’ Lollypop Person’ could be organised and funded – discuss with KM and follow-up

KC

Liaise with MH to book a date for Safeguarding Review meeting and prepare a report for a future FGB meeting

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Appendix (1)

Monitoring and CPD Overview – Autumn 2014

RAP Area/School

Priority

Monitoring/Issue identified

Actions and findings Impact and next steps

Whole school

Local authority monitoring visits

Visit by Standards and effectiveness panel (17.09.14) – shown around school and met with HT and AM as Chair of Govs. Visit by Local Authority (SIA) – Karen Claxton (06.11.14). Focus on data from 2013/14 academic year – RAISEonline and school priorities aligned to trends in data –i.e. boys writing in Y3. Discussed low roll and response by school.

N/A C&S committee to review data on a cohort by cohort basis to ensure class specific priorities well known – ensure teachers also aware Review SLT roles in light of new deputy head appointment SIA to take back action on low roll to LA KC to use book scrutiny to evaluate progress in marking and feedback during next visit

Progress and attainment

Governor committee reviewing RAISEonline 2014 (unvalidated) Ensuring accuracy of assessment.

Please see specific governor report (19.11.14) Maths moderation with WOW link group schools (25.11.14) One to one moderation between individual teachers and ENCo (03.12.14)

Fed into priorities at classroom provision level as well as strategic planning. Opportunity to challenge specific judgments, share expertise and discuss different school approaches to moderating under the new curriculum. Majority of judgments secure. Next -> Develop new curriculum framework for moderation Majority judgments validated. Individual feedback and next steps set for target pupils. Additional scrutiny of target groups – i.e. Y3 boy

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Pupil progress meetings (December 2015)

Analysis of data

Individual discussions with staff about whole cohorts, groups and individuals

writers, identified further areas to track. Next-> Monitor implementation of next steps, continue to track progress of target groups (i.e. boy writers Y3)

Inset CPD on application of data analysis in the classroom

New interventions planned and delivered, additional changes to i.e. class timetables, etc

New curriculum

Ensuring effective implementation of new curriculum for all staff

CPD:-

ENCo meeting (01.10.14)

MACo meeting (01.10.14)

Learning walk by all staff subject leaders to monitor and the opportunity for work sharing (02.12.14)

Work scrutiny (various dates)

Initial phase completed.

Next-> Tie in new curriculum to assessment, further CPD for assessment co-ordinator/SLT, review planning and records linked to new curriculum; consider transition arrangements for current Year 2 children.

Sports Funding

Use of Go Active for PE provision, CPD and clubs

Monitored by B Carroll as sports governor (07.11.14) Report available.

Next-> Annual review meeting with Go Active, arrange sports event for wider community, possible lads and dads model?

SEND reforms

Changes in identification, provision and reporting for SEND.

Staff update and planning for provision under the reforms (14.10.14)

Next-> Review implementation of SAPs and understanding by parents, AWS invited to take part in local authority focus group on implementation of reforms

Learning behaviours

Consistency of response to undesirable

Behaviour drop in surgery with P Tripp (23.09.14) –

Staff able to address individual areas of personal development or behaviour

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behaviours

Encouraging positive attitudes and behaviours by all – modelling expectations for children

Safety concerns relating to behaviour of specific children

Developing leadership of children

whole staff

INSET – Art of Brilliance (positive psychology)

Use of risk assessment measures and sharing of positive management plans with all staff through dedicated area on staffroom noticeboard (10.11.14)

House Captains run whole school football tournament (28.11.14) Superb event with good engagement by all pupils and improved organisation

patterns particular to individual children. Next-> Training for lunchtime supervisors Explore use of this approach directly with children – school council project? Regular reviews and updates of documentation. Reminders of where to access information. Consider extending to other children if required. Allowing second group of House Captains to organise Spring Term event. Cross country? Extend understanding of risk assessment.

Safeguarding and Health and Safety

New intake contained severe nut allergy

Road safety ( raised by parents and by observation)

Raise profile of PSHE – life skills (e.g. personal hygiene, drug awareness and safety)

Whole staff training on allergies and use of auto injectors by school nurse (15.09.14)

Be bright initiative(20.10.14) – assemblies, workshops and newsletter links to home support resources

Life Bus visit (22.10.14)

Regular review of training requirements – especially new staff. Monitor pupil risk assessment plan and implementation.

Strong parent feedback on positive impact on children

Clear enrichment and access to a wider range of resources for

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Staff require renewal of Level 1 Universal Safeguarding training

Fire doors broken

Fire drill (09.12.14)

Level 1 Universal Safeguarding training (03.11.14) Completed by all teaching staff

Fire doors repaired to necessary standard. Dorgard units fitted to ensure safe closure in case of fire

Fire drill completed (09.12.14) Successful and safe evacuation.

topics covered

Next-> Support staff and governors to be trained

Monitor need to fit further dorgard units.

Engaged additional fire wardens to replace staff member who had left. Now need to arrange for fire safety consultation with fire brigade

Marking and feedback

Lesson observations

Work scrutiny (e.g. multiple - SLT for PPG 01.12.14, C&S committee for SEND)

Learning walks on working walls (22.09.14)

Feedback and linked to PM process

Induction processes and follow up monitoring

Individual feedback

Staff training on use of working walls

Personal reading – directed (23.09.14) + follow up discussions (30.09.14) on application and feedback on areas identified in monitoring, reviewing

Action research projects – use of research, gathering evidence

Monitoring success of induction work

Review of working walls and use of learning environment for feedback

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expectations

Reading Embedding training for guided reading and monitoring impact

Ensuring appropriate evidence collected for progress and attainment

KS1 library area

Family learning afternoon (20.11.14) Anthony Browne theme

Staff CPD on reading including feedback from monitoring, best practice document, assessment evidence requirements,

Parents able to support more effectively at home through techniques experienced in school

Best practice document ensures consistency of practice and expectations

Assessments better supported by evidence from lessons

Starting to develop a buddy reading code of practice

Plans for better use of reading documents to engage parents

SIAMs self-evaluation activities

Staff and Governor training – SIAMS toolkit Staff meeting – self-evaluation of Christian distinctiveness (07.10.14) Monitoring day – HT + RE governor: Observations of collective worship, RE work scrutiny, learning walk (18.11.14)

HT update training with Oxford Diocese (R Sharples) Staff meeting (11.11.14) Advent and use and understanding of scripture supported by Rev Lewis. Implementation of policies – collective worship and RE

Improved staff confidence in delivery of scripture based work

Learning activities and displays reflecting scripture based approach to liturgical season

NEXT:

Staff training for Easter supported by Rev Lewis

Monitor progression and attainment in new RE books

Whole school Grace at start of lunch

Further joint benefice learning projects

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