Braidside Integrated Primary and Nursery School
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Braidside Integrated Primary and Nursery School Board of Governors Annual Report February 2020 Annual Parents Meeting Tuesday 11th February@ 7pm Dear Parents, At a point of each school year, we publish our Annual Report. This year we have waited until February, so we can provide a good update on the new build at the AGM. The report aims to outline some of the work in school during the past year, the work of the Governors and Parents’ Council, the Extended Schools programme, information on the school community and beyond, SEN provision in school, future developments and a financial report. We invite you to attend our Annual Parents’ Meeting which will take place on Tuesday 11th February, 2020 at 7pm and which aims to allow for discussion of this report. School Vision Statement “We aim to work together to support each child in reaching their personal and academic potential within a culture of mutual respect”. Braidside IPS is a place where the ethos and principles of integrated education; of equality, faith and values, parental involvement and social responsibility; have been firmly embedded in all we do and seek to achieve. Our ethos of integration and our vision statement emphasise that we want all children to feel important, to feel valued, to be part of this learning community, to feel that they belong, to reach their personal potential and be proud of their achievements. We seek to do this within a culture of equality; where all children are aware of their inherent worth and where kindness, responsibility and respect for all is evident across the school. We do this, in partnership with you, the parents. We encourage you to be involved in the life of the school, to support your children and to help us to continue to build an active integrated community. J McAuley --------//--------- Board of Governors Report The current membership of the Board of Governors is as follows: Current Governors Parents and former parents make up the majority of our Board of Governors, with some valuable help from volunteer representatives appointed by the Department of Education. A list of Governors follows Foundation Governors Maurice Johnston, Chairperson, Stephanie Elder, Vice Chair/ Secretary Martin McConville, Ian McKay, Dermot Black, Matthew O’Neill Parent Governors Aisling O’Boyle, Pauline McNeill, Linda Loughran. 1 Parent Governor vacancy. Department of Education nominees David Wall, Kelly Watson. There are currently 2 DENI Governor vacancies. Teacher Governors Shaunene Hart and Patricia Conly. Other members Graham Cochrane co-opted, Treasurer, and Julie McAuley, Principal. Chairperson’s Foreword The long wait is almost over. Our new school buildings are nearing completion and, like the pupils, the staff and governors are eagerly looking forward to moving in and making use of our superb new facilities. The whole process has taken a very long time, with some significant delays along the way, and I want to thank parents for your patience over recent years, as the fabric of our current buildings has deteriorated. Your children will soon be able to enjoy the comfortable and modern learning environment they deserve. Page | 2 On behalf of the Board of Governors I also want to pay tribute to our School Principal Mrs. McAuley and her staff who have continued to deliver very high quality education as they have waited patiently for facilities to match the teaching provided in the school. Apart from our new buildings, the main issues exercising the Board of Governors over the last year have been the continuing shortfall in the funding received from Government compared to what is needed to run the school and the on-going pay dispute affecting our staff. These are issues that are adversely impacting on every school in N.Ireland. With the return of devolved government a few weeks ago there is now some cause for optimism that these problems will be addressed soon. Both are included as priorities agreed by all five main parties in the “New Decade New Approach” deal, and we must all now hold our politicians to their commitment to put our education system on a sound footing. Finally, there is a vacancy on the BOG for a new parent governor. An election to fill the vacancy will take place at the Annual Parents Meeting. BOG meetings are held monthly, usually at 7pm on the second Tuesday of the month and last around two hours. If you have a little time to spare I would encourage you to consider putting your name forward for this interesting and rewarding role. I look forward to seeing you on 11th February. Maurice Johnston - Chair Board of Governors. Extended Schools Programme During 2018/19 the school received Extended Schools funding of £22,500 and this allowed us to provide additional activities before, during and after school, and to provide these without cost to parents. Activities which took place included the Morning Reading Club, reading partners, Playsport (football and dance), Jo Jingles, Gathering drum, Lego club and sessions with the Nerve Centre. During 2018/19 we introduced a school counselling service and in the first year 13 children were able to access counselling sessions on a one-to-one basis using the school referral system. Page | 3 Feedback from parents and children who have participated in the counselling have been wholly positive. In this current time, when the focus on children’s mental health and wellbeing is coming into sharper focus, it is hugely positive that we can offer this service. Through Extended Schools we also have the opportunity to cluster with local schools and over the last few years this has been through a successful, shared Water sports activity with Castle Tower pupils. As always we have had high numbers of children involved in the Extended Schools sessions, who developed their skills and showed great enjoyment and engagement. I am grateful to Mr Calderwood and the other staff members who contribute their time to keeping the programme running successfully. In June 2019, we received confirmation of continued funding (£22,000) for this important programme in 2019/20 and while we have looked to continue with those popular sports, literacy and music activities we will also prioritise provision of the counselling service, developing drop-in sessions for parents to avail of professional advice and support. Our school counsellor Linda Jayne Elliot has already begun work with a small number of children in weekly sessions. Through the course of 19/20 we hope a number of children, parents and families will benefit from this service. The prevalence of mental health issues in NI and our community, together with the importance of ensuring pupil and adult well-being, require that we as teachers and Governors continue to look at ways in which we can address these issues and develop positive strategies across the school. Parents will also be aware that we intend to launch the “Braidside Breakfast Club” in September 2020 when we can utilise the facilities in our new school. Following an online survey in December 2019, which produced positive and encouraging feedback, Governors agreed that this would be a welcome addition to the provision in school. We would hope to provide further information to parents in the third term and offer parents the opportunity to register for September 2020. Parental Involvement As an Integrated School, it is a central principle for parents to be actively involved in their child’s education and in the activities occurring in school. In the last school year, we held Parents’ Council meetings, Sustrans Activities for children and families, Introductory meetings for Nursery and P1 parents, Nursery workshops Page | 4 related to the Getting Ready to Learn Programme, Nursery Graduation, Celebration Events for Shared Education (May 2019), Sports’ Days and we had our incredible KS1 Christmas Shows in December 2019 which were well attended by parents and families. We will have Parent Interviews in February 2020 and provide annual pupil reports, including standardised tests results, issued in June 2020. We also enjoyed the Book Fair Coffee Afternoon and Parents’ Council Christmas Disco for the children and continue to engage/ communicate with parents through our Facebook page and school website, as well as through traditional newsletters and the text message service. Having good communication between the school and parents/children remains a key objective for Braidside. We are grateful to those parents who participated in our recent online survey; which helps in planning for future developments. We have also been holding 30th Anniversary Committee Meetings since June 2019 to plan and prepare for pupil and whole school events to celebrate 30 years of integration at Braidside. To date we have launched our celebration hoodies, had a Movie Morning, 30 things in 30 years’ activities (ongoing), Coffee Afternoon, as well as articles in NI4Kids magazine and Learning Together (IEF). In the coming months we look forward to the Easter raffle, colouring competitions and a fireside quiz, as well as a 30th anniversary disco. We hope to end the year with a whole school celebration in our new building- a fitting end to a remarkable year! We are very grateful to the teaching and ancillary staff for their commitment, professionalism and enthusiasm and all the work and time that goes into class teaching, preparation and supporting the children, as well as planning and organising various school events. We hope to continue to provide opportunities for parents to engage throughout the year. For those who can volunteer some time, Parents’ Council is an opportunity to share ideas and participate in planning events for the children. We would welcome any new members to the meetings that take place in school. Even if meetings are not suitable, you may be able to help during events.