St Richard's Catholic College Team reports Specialist Science status Community links and charity work Learning beyond the classroom FINANCE During this year the finance team has been augmented by Sallie Relf for 10 hours per week. She has taken responsibility for inputting data on to the accounting package for the School Fund Account and inputting purchase orders onto FMS. This has enabled the college to comply with financial regulations and will be a positive comment on the School‟s Financial Value Standard (SFVS) self-assessment for Governors by having segregation of duties within the processes. The college, in the main, now follow processes compliant with financial regulations; the number of educational visits has increased and money is collected for events and all pupil sales through a central point rather than via teachers – removing risk from them. Denise Williams has almost completed the first year of Stage 1 of the Accredited Accounting Technician (AAT), a qualification which will add to the professional qualifications of the department, again a requirement for the SFVS assessment. The 2011-12 budget has been reconciled to the LA figures with a reported surplus of £229,261 (5.49%). The LA has allowed the additional carry forward following an appeal from the college. HEALTH & SAFETY A number of projects have been undertaken this year to not only ensure a safe and healthy working environment for the college community, but to enhance the facilities. Following the completion of the A block extension, some remedial work is still ongoing whilst the following projects have been completed: Replacement windows to the South and West elevations of B Block, the drama studio and BICT. This will continue during the summer break with replacement windows to the South, East and West of the Science and Technology Block Installation of step free access to more of the college. A lift is to be installed allowing access to the top floor of the Science Block during 2012-2013. Awnings were installed on the West elevation of A Block to provide a shaded seating area. Additional seating has been installed, some of which is made from recycled materials. An upgraded electrical supply was installed and switched over in February which now provides the college with the electrical capacity it currently needs, there is little room for expansion. The planned extensions would have to be fed from a new supply, at significant additional cost After the completion of the extension, the North half of the playground was re-surfaced; the remainder of the playground will be re-surfaced during the summer break as it is now showing signs of wear. Utilising our own Site team and a contractor, a significant part of the college has been re-furbished or re-decorated, including the Drama studio, the upper floor of A block and the corridors in B block. The LA have sponsored an outdoor catering kiosk, which has relieved pressure in the dining room and provided an alternative sales point. During the summer this will be a useful addition for sales near the field. The Eco group have also been provided with growing beds, again made from recycled materials and a composter to grow vegetables. During the year, two groups of Governors have carried out Health and Safety walks around the college site and any issues found have been addressed. I am pleased to report that there have been no notifiable or dangerous incidents or occurrences this year. EDUCATION VISITS The number and variety of educational visits continues to increase. When the visit is residential, hazardous or abroad approval is needed from the LA, with time constraints imposed. As a monitoring exercise in my role as Educational Visits Co-ordinator I was one of the staff who took 40 KS3 pupils to the European space camp in Belgium. There have been no notifiable or dangerous incidents or occurrences this year during education visits. Mr G Marsh, Business Manager - 1 - PASTORAL CARE TEAM The Pastoral Care team consists of our five Pastoral Leaders (Year 7 - Mr Bligh, Year 8 - Miss Easton, Year 9 - Mr Doherty, Year 10 - Mrs Bligh, Year 11 - Mr Calladine-Evans), the Principal (Miss Cronin), the Learning Support Manager (Mrs Clifford), Teaching Assistant Co-ordinator (Mrs Kelly), the School Nurse (Jane Elwood), the Parent Support Adviser (Becky Ross) and Targeted Youth Support (Jackie Taberer). The team meets termly to discuss a range of pastoral care issues such as attendance, behaviour, anti-bullying, emotional health and the Three Year Improvement Plan. A large proportion of each meeting involves discussion of the pupils in our care. All Pastoral Leaders are line-managed by a member of the LMT team and are in daily contact. Essentially, the aim of the team is to meet the needs of all the pupils in line with the College Mission Statement and we are supported in our work by the Chaplaincy team, Attendance Officer, School Counsellor, School Nurse, Young Carers, the Substance Misuse Service and a range of other services which we buy into when required. Over the past academic year, workshops have been organised on bereavement and loss, homophobia, anti-bullying strategies, Young Carers, domestic violence and drug awareness. Each Pastoral Leader is responsible for: providing support to his/her tutors; helping to build up a year identity; organising fundraising activities; overseeing the spiritual, academic and social welfare of the pupils in his/her year group; organising liturgies and assemblies, and leading the PSHEe/Citizenship programme. Objectives for 2011-2012 in line with College Improvement Plan and Progress Pupil voice strengthened - Pastoral Leaders have met more regularly with their year groups as have TA Co-ordinators. The School Council has organised themselves into committees and have received quicker feedback in relation to their queries. Online surveys have been introduced to explore options for year 9 and a year 10/11 revision survey to influence revision sessions with parents. In-house Support Services - we have continued to employ a Counsellor part-time and this year we have employed a Behaviour Consultant for one day a week. Targeted Youth Support have allocated hours to the school as has the Nursing Service. The Pastoral Care team were trained in the use of the Anti-bullying toolkit. Lack of a Lay Chaplain has had an impact. Development of pupil leadership opportunities - there is still a great deal of work to do in this area though the Student Listeners have been more effective this year. We monitor membership of pupil leadership groups to ensure there is representation from vulnerable groups. PSHEe and the Pastoral Care team were joined together successfully and were led by Mrs Bligh until April 2012. The Principal will cover the team in Mrs Bligh‟s absence with each Pastoral Leader looking after PSHEe. Use of SIMs - again, there is still work to be done but the team are making greater use of SIMs to track details on pupils. Increase the percentage of pupils accessing mentoring - this has been achieved by the allocation of members of staff with additional non-contact periods and teaching assistants. The pupils were identified from „working at‟ grades provided by Subject Leaders creating a pool of pupils to mentor, with a focus on under-achievement and emotional health. There have been some workshops for vulnerable groups notably: the TP project, anger management, social use of language, anti-bullying strategies and mediation. Parental involvement/voice has continued to strengthen. There are termly morning and evening meetings which, on the whole, are well-attended. As well as looking at policies (Drugs, Anti-bullying and Friendship, Equality Scheme and Action Plan) and school/life issues they have contributed to the re-design of the interim reports. An increase in pupil awareness of how to react in unsafe situations is covered in PSHEe and presentations such as Crimestoppers, The Challenge Team and greater links with the Schools Police Liaison Officer, Sarah Ellis. DATE audit recommendations implemented. Drugs Evening organised - Drugs policy revised and a pupil version written. Improvements to PSHEe programme of study introduced and ongoing. Pupil Focus groups used to design pupil policy for drugs awareness; they also contributed to the updating of the anti-bullying and friendship policy. - 2 - SC-E revised the study skills/revision materials for use in KS4 - this appears to have been well- received. A parental workshop was organised too. All materials were introduced as a blog to appeal to the pupils. Objectives for 2012-2013 Use the skills of individual staff to increase pastoral support on offer to pupils. To continue to strengthen parental involvement/voice through use of surveys and e-surveys. To increase the profile of Year Councils, Prefects and Student Listeners. To lead staff in use of SIMs to monitor behaviour, rewards and sanctions. To increase the percentage of pupils able to access mentoring in all year groups and to set up a monitoring system to ensure its effectiveness. To improve transition across all years. To revisit behaviour systems and introduce change where needed. To review rewards systems across the school and introduce change. To increase pupil awareness of how to react in unsafe situations with a focus on e-safety. PSHEe Objectives 2012-2013 More attention to be given to topics such as eating disorders/self-harm. To strengthen transition arrangements between KS4 and KS5 through a partnership project. To carry out an audit of PSHEe topics in line with RE and science. To explore alternatives to the „Learn to Learn‟ programme. To set up an annual circle time programme for new year 7 tutors. To continue to develop programmes and resources related to DATE. Differentiation of materials/resources to be developed throughout both Key Stages.