Abingdon Primary School Governing Body

BANKS LANE JUNIOR SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY MINUTES

SUMMER TERM 2012

Date: 11th July 2012 Time: 5.00 pm Venue:The School GOVERNORS PRESENT

Mrs J Graham (Chairperson), Mrs J Humphreys, Mr N Corcoran, Mrs J Knott, Mrs J Moorhouse, Mrs N Taylor, Mrs D Fitzgerald, Mr J Vali, Mrs K Wyld, Mrs K Wood, Mr J Cash, Mrs G Officer, Mr E Milner (Headteacher).

IN ATTENDANCE

Mr A Lane Governor Support Officer

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr S Derbyshire and Mr M Wellings,

Mrs Officer was welcomed to her first governing body meeting.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Governors were invited to declare an interest; there were no declarations.

3. (i) PREVIOUS GOVERNING BODY MINUTES

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the meetings held on 23rd February and 23rd April 2012 *, copies circulated previously, (a) be approved and (b) be authorised for publication, * subject to the rewording at agenda item 2: "previous chair" to read "chair".

(ii) MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS GOVERNING BODY MINUTES

There were no matters arising.

4. (i) PREVIOUS COMMITTEE MINUTES

RESOLVED - That the minutes of the following meetings (a) be approved and (b) be authorised for publication

* Community and Safeguarding: 8th March 2012, 10th May 2012 * Resources: 14th March 2012

(ii) MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS COMMITTEE MINUTES

Community and Safeguarding

* The policies on "Managing Medical Needs" and "Safeguarding" had been approved. * Governors agreed on the following designated governors: - Mr Corcoran – Safeguarding (This would be in an interim capacity until Mrs Wood had attended the relevant training) - Mrs Graham - Managing Medical Needs 1 * Cllr Derbyshire had been into School to canvas pupils' views on the future vision for the School.

Resources

* Mr Vali reported that much of what had been discussed would be covered elsewhere in the agenda or under the Headteacher's termly report.

Achievement (minutes to be circulated)

* There had been considerable discussion on the School's tracking and monitoring systems. * Governors had been active in visiting School as part of their monitoring role. The Headteacher recorded his appreciation of this. * In relation to visits, governors were provided with feedback forms, the action points for which, In turn, would form an integral part of the Governing Body Development Plan

There were no other matters arising.

5. (i) HEADTEACHER’S TERMLY REPORT

The report of the Headteacher was presented and discussed.

(ii) MATTERS ARISING FROM THE HEADTEACHER’S TERMLY REPORT

The Headteacher advised that the report had been divided into the four Ofsted criteria and, in turn, married up with the School Self-evaluation form. The report also detailed significant developments since the last report.

The Headteacher then advised on the following:

* The School had been assessed for the Inclusion Quality Mark and had achieved re-accreditation; the input of Mrs Knott in this regard was cited. * The School had received the received the Bronze Award for the Primary Geography Mark; Mrs Moorhouse was commended for leading this. * Over the Whit holidays all classrooms had been fitted with a new interactive whiteboard projector and visualizer; these educational tools had already had a beneficial impact on teaching and learning. The school was due to go "wireless on 13th July. * Mrs Norris had met with Lynn Perry (LA Safeguarding Advisor) to discuss the School's anti-bullying and e-safety procedures. The School had been commended for its procedures and new systems for recording of bullying were due to be in place by September. As indicated earlier, the Safeguarding and Managing Medical Needs policies had been reviewed and updated. * There was a marked increase in pupil attendance with a current attendance figure of 95.6%; this compared favourably to 94.7% in 2009/10 and 94.9% in 2010/11. This would be affected, however, by the increase in holiday requests which remained a cause for concern to school. Governors gave careful consideration to what the School's stance on this should be. While governors recognised that economic factors contributed to this, they supported the Headteacher in his conviction that this trend impacted negatively on the School's drive to improve standards, especially as the timing of the requests coincided with the SATs * The Governing Body had had a complete reshuffle since the resignation of Mr Andrews. The Headteacher took this opportunity to thank Jackie Graham for her support and commitment in her role as temporary Chair of Governors; his strong 2 relationship with Mrs Graham was integral to the future direction of the Governing Body and the development of the School.

* The Headteacher tabled for governors' consideration (a) a progress summary for the Year groups and (b) an analysis of the Key Stage 2 results. The following were highlighted in response to governors' questions and challenges:

- Pupil Progress Meetings had continued in Years 3, 4 and 5, with a greater focus on the spread of attainment within each class and the amount of progress made in Reading, Writing and Maths. This supported all children in making at least 1 Average Points score (APS) progress each term. - In addition to the current system of tracking focusing on the number of sub-levels progress made each term, the School had adapted the system to look at the average progress made per class. - The data highlighted the APS for vulnerable groups of children, namely, special educational needs, free school meals; this enabled targeted support which could be tracked and reviewed to measure impact. - The attainments in the SATS had shown an increase in the number of children reaching Level 4+ and Level 5 compared to the previous year. - The Headteacher was pleased with the Maths and Writing, but frustrated with the Reading standards. Overall, however, the attainment levels had been the highest for some time. - There were an increasing number of pupils making three levels of progress. - The progress summary denoted the following: a clear evidence base of good achievement, the effective tracking and intervention for vulnerable children, the strategies in place to boost attainment levels for Year 3 Maths and Year 6 Reading.

There were no other matters arising.

6. UPDATE ON STATUTORY ITEMS

(a) Performance Management – Update (Head & Staff)

Governors were referred to the relevant section of the Headteacher's report and advised that the process was ongoing. The Chair advised, however, that the accent of the process with effect from September would be on staff appraisal. It was agreed that this would be considered in more detail and how it should be implemented in School Colleagues were invited to declare an interest in replacing Mrs Nelson as a member of the PM panel.

(b) Report on Incidents of Physical Intervention (Spring Term 2012)

The Headteacher reported that there had been no recorded incidents during the spring term where the use of physical intervention procedures had been necessary.

(c) School’s placement on the Local Authority protocol

The Annual Note of Visit was very positive about the School; this would be circulated to governors.

7. REPORT ON RACIST INCIDENTS (Spring Term 2012)

The Headteacher reported that there had been no racist incidents during the spring term 3 8. MONITORING OF THE SCHOOL BUDGET

(i) Budget Update (ii) Approval of 2012/2013 Budget

This had been covered at Resources committee.

(iii) Approval of School Fund Audit Arrangements 2012/2013

Governors noted that an audit of the School Fund Account would be carried out in the autumn term.

(iv) To Consider and Approve any changes to the Buyback of LA Services

Governors noted that all Local Authority buybacks had been agreed.

(v) Scheme of Delegation Form 2012/2013)

The current limits of spending authority in the Scheme of Delegation Form had been maintained.

9. GOVERNOR DEVELOPMENT

Governors were encouraged to attend training courses made available by the Schools Governance Service. The training booklet for the next school year would be e- mailed to governors early in September.

At this point, the Chair referred to the work of the Steering Group in finalising the Governing Body Development Plan.

The following had been covered:

* To increase the profile of the governing body within the whole school community. * To redefine the strategic vision of BLJS * To improve the strategic relationships between Banks Lane Infant and Junior School. * To develop links with local secondary schools. * To improve recording of visits and governing body monitoring. * To improve the updating and monitoring procedures used by the Governing Body in relation to whole school policies * To identify training needs of members of the Governing Body. * To encourage and support governors in their development.

A cornerstone of the GBDP was the vision for the School. Governors gave careful consideration as to how to progress this. The Chair has already looked at similar mission statements from other schools and governors agreed that it was essential that the statement should encapsulate the School's values and priorities, Discussion concluded with the agreement that this should be referred to the Steering committee for more detailed consideration.

10. REPORTS OF THE CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE'S DIRECTORATE

(i) Health and Safety Update

The Children and Young People Directorate’s Health & Safety Committee met on 2 March 2012 and governors were asked to note the various issues raised. 4 (ii) Safeguarding Update

The Headteacher had regularly reviewed the School's Safeguarding self-assessment tool Dec 2011 to evaluate current safeguarding practice in line with the revised Ofsted Framework. The School had also received training from Lynn Perry on "cyber-bullying"

(iii) Managing Personal Information

Governors are made aware of the need to comply with the LA guidance on Managing Personal and Sensitive Information. The Headteacher stressed that the staff were due to be made aware by Penny Feltham from the LA of the relevant requirements.

(iv) School Attendance: the role of Services for Young People (v) Fraud Awareness (vi) Low Carbon Schools Service

Governors agreed that consideration should be given as to whether the School wished to participate in the low carbon programme.

Governors noted the reports

11. CORRESPONDENCE

The following items of correspondence had been received:

* Flyer regarding the Safety Mark standard. * Letter of appreciation from a parent for the support provided by an individual teacher for her child. .

12. DATES

Governing Body

Autumn Term: Monday 26th November 2012 Spring Term: Thursday 7th February 2013 Summer Term: Tuesday 16th July 2013

Revised start time of 4.30pm

The committee meeting dates would be confirmed in the autumn term.

13. TERMS OF OFFICE TO END 31.08.12

Governors were advised that Mr Vali’s term of office would end on 31 August 2012. Mr Vali had expressed a wish to remain on the Governing Body. Confirmation of his re- appointment was awaited.

14. CHAIRPERSON / VICE-CHAIRPERSON / CHAIRS OF COMMITTEES 2012/2013

(i) Terms of Office for Chairperson/Vice-Chairperson and Chairs of Committees

Governors agreed a change to the current arrangements in that the terms of office would now be two years to ensure continuity.

5 (ii) Expressions of Interest for Chairperson / Vice-Chairperson (iii) Expressions of Interest for Chairs of Committees

Governors noted that these would be agreed at the autumn term meeting, but that, in the first instance, Mrs Graham would be re-elected as Chair for the two year period.

15. A.O.C.B.

Staffing

Governors joined with Mr Cash in recording their deep appreciation of quality of leadership provided by Mr Milner and thanking Mrs Graham for taking on the role of Chair with such skill and commitment. Arising from this, governors agreed to pursue a joint governor-staff social gathering, ideally in September.

Use of School grounds

Further to a request from Mrs Wood, governors approved the use of the School site for a one-night family camping activity; this was subject to the confirmation by the organisers of the standard protocols regarding insurance and risk assessments.

There being no other items of business, the Chairperson thanked everyone for their attendance and the meeting closed at 7.40pm.