North Newton Community Primary School

NEWTON COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY, 19 TH OCTOBER, 2015 AT 7.30 P.M. IN NORTH NEWTON SCHOOL

PRESENT: Mr. N. Arnold (Headteacher), Mr. M. Barham, Mrs. S. Cook (Chair), Mrs. A. Crow, Mrs. L. Irish, Mr. A. O’Connor, Mrs. S. Phippen, Mrs. E. Tipper and Mrs. R. Hodge (Clerk).

Actioned By

The Clerk took the Chair and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

59/15 ELECTION OF CHAIR

One self-nomination had been received from Mrs. Cook for the appointment of Chair of Governors. Mrs. Cook left the room and governors unanimously agreed on her appointment. Mrs. Cook returned and took the chair.

60/15 ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRPERSON

The Chair advised that one self-nomination had been received from Mr. O’Connor. Mr. O’Connor left the room and governors unanimously agreed on his appointment – he then returned to the meeting.

61/15 BUSINESS INTERESTS AND DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS

Governors recorded business interests/declaration of conflicts as follows: Mrs. Phippen – Director of Newt Fest; Mrs. Tipper – Governing Body of Clinical Commissioning Group; Mrs. Cook - Somerset Literacy Network; Mrs. Irish - Champion Sports and Events.

62/15 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

All Governors were present.

63/15 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The Minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 29th June, 2015, having been previously circulated, were agreed and signed by the Chair.

MATTERS ARISING

(i) Pupil interviews: Mr. Arnold advised that no further interviews had been conducted since the last governor interviews in the summer term. He advised that 68% of children in Years 1-6 are involved in extra-curricular activities. Governors agreed to identify times to conduct interviews at the next meeting. Agenda

(ii) School Policies for New Staff: All staff have copies of the Staff Handbook which identifies school policies. Staff are requested to sign a sheet confirming they have read the Handbook and will abide by the school’s policies. The document “Keeping Children Safe in Education” has been circulated to all staff this term. Safeguarding files are available in each classroom.

(iii) The Computing Policy has been sent to external ICT teachers.

(iv) Guttering on Canopy: a recent leak in the canopy resulted in water entering the Dining Room. The electricity had been turned off in the area affected. Using the BMIS scheme, Skanska would be repairing the affected area as soon as possible. (v) Fire Door: The replacement fire door in Foxes Classroom was scheduled to be fitted during the half-term holidays.

(vi) Fire Extinguisher/Trophy Cabinet: the extinguisher has been affixed to the wall; the trophy cabinet moved into storage.

(vii) Foxes Teacher: a letter had been sent to parents advising of the teaching arrangements for Foxes class.

(viii) Open Day – after discussion with staff it was agreed that the summer term was the best time to hold the Open Day.

64/15 DATES FOR MEETINGS FOR COMING YEAR

Governors agreed the following cycle of meetings:

Monday, 7th December, 2015, Monday, 22nd February, 2015; Monday, 11th April, 2016 (budget setting) and Monday, 13th June, 2016. All meetings to start at 7.30 p.m.

65/15 GOVERNOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Statutory:

Headteacher’s Performance Management – Mrs. Cook and Irish. Safeguarding (to include radicalization and British Values) – Mrs. Tipper.

Non-Statutory:

Governors agreed the following areas of non-statutory responsibility:

English/Maths – Mrs. Cook Special Educational Needs/Inclusion/Equal Opportunities – Mrs. Phippen Breakfast Club/Extended Schools – Mr. O’Connor Governor Training – Mr. Barham ICT and E-Safety – Mr. O’Connor Health and Safety – Mr. Barham and Mrs. Phippen Personnel Governor – Mrs. Tipper Foundation Stage – Mrs. Irish Link with PTFA –Staff governor

Finance and Pay Committee: Mrs. Cook, Mr. Barham, Mr. O’Connor, Mr. Arnold and Mrs. Hodge (Clerk/Finance Officer).

Staff dismissal/Staff Pay/Pupil Discipline/Parental Complaints – any 3 governors as required.

66/15 GOVERNING BODY STANDING ORDERS

The revised Standing Orders were agreed by governors. Governors confirmed that items not included on the agenda would not be discussed at any meeting and were reminded that Agenda items should be sent to the Clerk in advance. Governors confirmed that the Finance and Pay Committee may make decisions as well as the full board.

67/15 GOVERNING BODY CODE OF CONDUCT/BUSINESS INTERESTS

Governors’ re-signed the Code of Conduct and completed Business Interests forms. The Clerk advised that photographs of governors along with any Business Interests, Terms of Office and their role were now on the school’s website. 68/15 GOVERNOR EMAILS

The Clerk advised that correspondence from Governor Services would be via email from January 2016. Governors requested their ‘educ’ email addresses be redistributed. The Clerk Clerk would investigate if governors could use their personal emails.

69/15 HEADTEACHER’S REPORT

Staff: Penny Smith had left the school at the end of August; the Chair would send a card SC on behalf of Governors to Penny.

Support Staff Appraisals: Mr. Arnold thanked Mrs. Crow for conducting teaching assistant appraisals.

Swimming: Mr. Arnold advised governors that he drove for swimming regularly and without assistance for Squirrels and Badgers classes. The two minibuses drive in convoy with two adults in the second minibus. Parent Governors commented that a miscommunication suggested the school needed drivers and not escorts on the buses; the Clerk next newsletter would repeat the message requesting assistance.

Security: A quote was awaited from Coombers for a new gate and CCTV monitor to improve security on the site. Repairs to the security system would be met by BMIS however improvements would be school funded.

End of Year Results: Results from May 2015 KS1 and KS2 SATs were very good. New assessment grades did not include sub-levelling; Governors requested that results of Agenda children’s progress at February 2016 be presented at the spring term meeting.

PE Initiative – All classes are taking part in a project to attend additional sporting opportunities with other local schools. Governors observed that children can excel in sport in a wider group.

Celebration Assembly/House Points: The new time (2.45-3.15 p.m. on Fridays) was well supported by parents. The end of first half-term house point awards would be presented to the winning house on Friday with children in the house receiving a certificate and additional play time.

Bullying: There have been no incidents of cyber bullying or repeated, persistent bullying.

Attendance: The first penalty notice had been issued to parents for taking a child on holiday in term time; the child’s sibling in another school had also received a penalty notice.

School Meals: meals continue to improve and the introduction of a salad bar has been very popular.

PTFA AGM: Monday, 16th November at 7.30 p.m. A successful sleepover had taken place on Friday, 16th October and staff were thanked for their support.

Newt Festival: The School had received £6000 from the successful Newt and the Committee had been thanked.

Staff Training: Several staff had undertaken appropriate training; Mr. Day has received intensive training to undertake his new role as English Subject Leader.

Annie Hudson had been invited to speak at a conference of headteachers and senior management on Improved Emotion Coaching/Growth Mind-set. The Governors thanked her for attending. 70/15 ATTENDANCE

Hedgehogs: 95.88% (Authorised absence 4.12%/Unauthorised absence 0.00%) Foxes: 97.49% (Authorised absence 2.23%/Unauthorised absence 0.28%) Squirrels: 98.03% (Authorised absence 0.81%/Unauthorised absence 1.16%) Badgers: 98.08% (Authorised absence 1.21%/Unauthorised absence 0.71%)

71//15 FINANCE COMMITTEE

(a) Terms of Reference: The Governing Board approved the Terms of Reference of the Finance Committee.

(b) Minutes of Finance Committee, 6th October, 2015: Mr. Barham advised that DFCG was now fully spent. Following a water leak at the school the water bill was considerably more than anticipated. The Committee had welcomed the reimbursement of the Universal Free School Meals money. Following pupil progress meetings which recognised that children in Years R-4 would have improved progress if additional support could be made available, an advertisement had been placed for a teaching assistant to work across all classes on a fixed term contract to August 2016.

SENCO – one internal application had been received from Miss Annie Hudson. Following an interview she will become SENCO from January 2016 with a handover period during December. A 0.2 teacher is being investigated to cover Squirrels Class when Miss Hudson was undertaking the SENCO role.

Health and Safety: the school would incur additional costs to upgrade the security system.

72/15 SAFEGUARDING REPORT

The Safeguarding Report would be brought to the next Governors meeting. Governors were advised that Health Care Plans had been completed for specific children. Agenda

73/15 SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN/VISION PLANNING

Following the meeting held on 14th September, Governors ideas and suggestions would be integrated into the School Development Plan and this would be presented at the December Agenda meeting.

74/15 PUPIL PREMIUM FUNDING/MONITORING

Mr. Arnold advised that children in receipt of PPG had been highlighted at recent Pupil Progress meetings. PPG money was being spent to ensure that PPG children do not suffer from financial constraints. The identified SEN child was also receiving additional high needs funding.

75/15 POLICIES

The following policies, having been circulated to governors in advance of the meeting, were approved:

Pay Policy Appraisal and Capability Governors Allowances Offsite Visits and Activities 76/15 HEALTH AND SAFETY

Early Years Garden Gates – these had been adjusted and blocks had been fitted to prevent fingers being trapped.

Items identified at the recent Finance Committee had also been actioned: Figure of 8 removed, PTFA postbox removed; earth wire removed.

77/15 TRAINING

Mr. Barham drew governors’ attention to the Training and Development Programme organized by Governor Services. Governors would be attending the following:

Area Chairs, 3rd November – Mrs. Cook Data Workshop, 10th November – Mrs. Cook Minibus Driver Training, 9th November – Mrs. Phippen

Mrs. Cook would investigate the Summer Workshops being held in June 2016 when SC governors could share good practice to see if these would be useful.

Safeguarding training – The clerk would check when governors required further safeguard Clerk training.

78/15 DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING

Monday, 7th December, 2015 at 7.30 p.m.

Governors were invited to attend the Christmas Plays: Wednesday, 16th December, 10.00 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. – KS1 and KS2; Thursday, 17th December – KS2.

The meeting closed at 9.00 p.m.

ACTION POINTS

Mrs. Cook Card to Penny Summer workshops Agenda Pupil Interviews Pupil results – Feb 16 Safeguarding Report School Development Plan Safeguard training for governors Clerk Governor emails Swimming escorts on next newsletter