St Mary’s Junior School Governing Body Meeting

Minutes of the Full Board Meeting – 23rd September 2015, 7pm

Present: Rosemary Charsley – Chair of Governors, Patricia Jenkins – Head Teacher, Virginia Di Noia, Hazel Middleton, Andrew Clark, Sue Luckett, Michael Weeks, Emma Wilkinson, Susan Lyon, Helena Law, Steven Hawkins In Attendance: Kate Bond (KB) - Clerk Apologies sent: Inderjit Dhaliwal, Rev Andrew Holford No Apologies:

Item Discussion Question /Challenge/Response Action

Opening Prayer An opening prayer was said by Rosemary.

1 To receive apologies and consider approval of absence Apologies were received from Inderjit and Andrew (H). Inderjit was away with work and Andrew (H) was attending a Duke of Edinburgh Presentation.

Both apologies were considered and accepted. The meeting was agreed quorate.

2 To Elect the Chair and Vice Chair of Governors The clerk led this item. One self-nomination was received from Rosemary Charsley for the position of Chair. Other self-nominations were invited from the FGB. None were received. The FGB unanimously voted in favour of Rosemary Charsley to stand as Chair for the forthcoming academic year. Vice Chair of Governors One self-nomination was received from Susan Luckett for the position of Vice Chair. Other self-nominations were invited from the FGB. None were received. The FGB unanimously voted in favour of Susan Luckett to stand as Vice Chair for the forthcoming academic year. Governors thanked Rosemary and Sue for their continued hard work in supporting the governing body.

Clerk to update governor records.

Kate

3 For governors to notify of any perceived conflicts of interest (personal or

pecuniary) regarding items on the agenda

None were declared.

4 To Sign the annual declaration of pecuniary interests

All governors present signed the annual declaration of pecuniary interests

register.

The forms were filed with the governor papers c/o Rosemary.

Rosemary reminded governors that they all need to complete a new governor

declaration form every four years, should their term of office begin again.

Inderjit and Andrew (H) need to complete their forms at the

next meeting.

Inderjit / Andrew H

5 To receive notification of urgent AOB for consideration in item 19

Data Protection Registration - Rosemary

Key Dates for Governors - Rosemary

Anti-bullying Week - Pat

Website Survey - Rosemary

Governor Photographs - Rosemary

Governor Emails - Pat

Governors Day organisation – Rosemary

6

Approval of the Minutes of the previous Full Governing Body meeting dated 9th July 2015

The approved draft minutes of the previous meeting were circulated to governors in advance. Governors agreed that they were a true and accurate account of the meeting and they were duly signed by the Chair for file.

Signed copy to be filed at the school and clerk to copy to governance and the diocese. Available on school website.

Kate

7 To consider any matters arising from the previous FGB meeting Item 1 - The clerk to update the governance database with governor resignations, governing body records and contact lists.

Item 5

- P & C committee to review Governor Visit policy.

- Andrew to persevere with inviting former pupils to speak.

- Part 1 FGB minutes to be accessible on the website when possible. When Adam White has set up a governor’s page Pat / Rosemary will send him the approved FGB minutes to add. Governors agreed for all part 1 FGB minutes to be uploaded from this point onwards.

- Pupil Premium progress update to go to the P&C committee when possible. Progress reports for Years 3-5 will be taken to the P&C committee during the first week of September. Pat / Susan Lyon

- E-safety Model Policy update and review at the next P&C committee.

- Safeguarding checklist. Pat and Andrew H to liaise and agree a mutually convenient date to complete the annual Safeguarding Checklist in the Autumn term.

Item 6 - A simplified version of Andrew H’s discussion document on radicalisation will go out to parents. Item 8 - Links with Parents and Pupils; yearly letter to parents from the Chair of the governing body and half termly report from the governing body in the newsletter. Use website for communication with parents – website and governor board need to be completed. Rosemary.

Complete

Complete – See committee minutes. Another former pupil, James Doogle, visited and spoke to the pupils about aspiration and played the piano late in the summer term.

Complete.

Complete – see committee minutes.

Complete. The policy has been reviewed by the committee. Pat has attended e-safety training today and there are updates to add regarding i-watches, which Pat will include.

Complete. Pat and Andrew H have agreed a mutually convenient date.

This will be on the agenda for the Christian Distinctiveness

committee meeting on Monday 28th September.

See AOB.

Rosemary / Andrew H

Item 9 - A sign will be displayed outside the school to inform parents / carers that Wi-Fi is used on site. Pat.

Item 10 – Governor’s Day - Pat, Sue Luckett, Susan Lyon and Rosemary will work together to develop a focus for the day.

Item 14 - SATs Results Pat and Susan Lyon will report on these in September to the Pupil and Curriculum committee, an overview of which will come to the FGB.

- Governor Details The clerk to update any changes on the governance database and send a copy to Rosemary for reference.

Complete.

See AOB

Complete

Complete

8

Confirmation of Committee Membership, Link Roles and discussion re any

changes required to Committee Terms of Reference.

Governor Recruitment

Self-nominations were invited from the parents of the school.

One seconded self-nomination including a personal statement was received from

Mrs Karen Gordon.

Karen Gordon was elected unopposed to the full governing body as a parent

governor for a term of 4 years.

Committees

The formation of the FGB committees were discussed in detail.

Governors confirmed that they were happy to remain on their current

committees. See appendix 1 for confirmation of existing committee membership.

The Resources committee requires another member following Kerry

Gonis’ resignation. Rosemary will ask new parent governor Karen to join

the committee due to her project management background.

Rosemary to contact Karen and send induction information. Clerk to add Karen to distribution list and to the governance database where a governor identification number will be generated.

Rosemary

/ Kate Rosemary

The Pay and Personnel Committee currently has 7 members.

Emma Wilkinson agreed to also join the Pupil and Curriculum Committee

as well as the Pay and Personnel committee.

Rosemary asked governors to consider if they would be happy to sit on further

committees and to let her know.

Pools of governors were agreed for the following ad-hoc committees;

Appeals

Steven, Andrew Holford, Hazel and Michael.

Performance Review

Rosemary, Andrew Holford, Susan Lyon and Hazel.

Exclusions

Rosemary and Hazel have up to date exclusions training.

Andrew Holford’s is valid until the 15th of October 2015.

Link Governor allocation

Year 3 – Michael

Year 4 – Susan Luckett

Year 5 – Rosemary

Year 6 – Rosemary to ask Andrew Holford

School Council Link – Michael

Safeguarding and CLA – Andrew Holford

Health & Safety – Helena

Maths – Rosemary to ask Inderjit

English – Rosemary

ICT / Website – Andrew Clark

Committee Terms of Reference

The current terms of reference for each committee were circulated to governors

in advance of the meeting;

Pupil and Curriculum, appendix 2

Resources, appendix 3

Rosemary Rosemary

Pay and Personnel, appendix 4

Christian Distinctiveness, appendix 5

The governing body agreed that a working party should meet to consolidate the

individual terms of reference into one document so that delegation of

responsibilities and quorums can be clearly verified and ratified.

Susan Lyon, Pat, Rosemary and Virginia agreed to meet on Friday 16th of October

at 9.30am to form this working party.

Governors requested a model terms of reference.

The governing body cannot delegate to a committee any functions relating to;

The constitution of the governing body

The appointment or removal of the chair and vice-chair

The appointment of the clerk

The suspension of governors

The delegation of functions

The establishment of committees

Clerk to provide. (See appendix 6)

9 To Receive the Head Teacher’s Report

Pat’s report was circulated to governors in advance of the meeting. Appendix 7.

Governors confirmed that they had read the comprehensive report. Pat explained that this report is the last one of the 2014/15 school year and is therefore based on the school improvement plan of that academic year and that the format of the next report will reflect the new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework. Questions were invited.

There were no reported racist or bullying incidents to report last term.

There were no fixed term exclusions to report but during the summer term two pupils were on a part time timetable to allow them access to the curriculum.

Attendance for 2014-15 was 95.5%.

Q – Point 4 under behaviour and safety. How are our transition procedures still developing if they were both smooth and effective? R – Transition for particular individual children will always be developing but overall transition did go well. Procedures were still developing last year as there was a new year 3 team. This year we will be more monitoring rather than developing. Q – Page 7, Achievement. What does sig EB issues mean? R – Significant emotional behavioural issues. Q – What does SpLD mean? R – Speech and Language Difficulties.

Achievement Achievement and attainment information were provided as appendices to the HT report. Pat summarised that attainment has continued to rise and was higher than last year in all areas apart from level 4 readers (which was 4% below the national level).

Results were analysed in detail at the Pupil and Curriculum committee meeting.

The 2015/16 School Improvement Plan has been drafted and will firstly go to SLT for review and then to governors.

Q – Was it the same child who underachieved in all tests? R – Yes. The teacher assessment levels were much higher for that child. Q – Thank you to the staff who have set up the reading club. How successful is it so far? R – It is providing a lovely, calm start to the day. Q – Are the attendees all pupil premium children? R – We sent targeted invitations based on attainment levels and we focussed on pupil premium children. Attendance levels are good and we are full on a Wednesday and Friday which is very encouraging. The combination of a phone call home, a letter and personal invitation have worked to secure attendance.

Governors thanked Pat for her detailed report.

10 To Receive Verbal Reports from Committee Chairs to include any Matters Arising

Resources The resources committee met last night so minutes will be circulated as soon as possible. Committee Chair, Sue Luckett, summarised the main discussion points of the meeting. The Health and Safety audit is due and H&S link governor Helena is obtaining the relevant paperwork in order to complete it. Sue Luckett and Helena plan to attend a Health & Safety training course in November.

The school finances were reviewed and discussed in detail and are progressing as forecast at the moment.

The statutory financial information required for the website is in the process of being transferred across and uploaded to the school site.

The school fund was reviewed and there are no changes from last year.

It was noted that the school has no bad debts. Sue reminded governors that there is a Financial Management training course on the 15th of October. The school’s Charging Policy was reviewed at the meeting with no changes made.

Pupil and Curriculum The minutes to this meeting were circulated in advance, appendix 8. Governors confirmed that they had read them.

Analysis and overview of the SATs results came to the committee.

Questions were invited. None were received.

Pay and Personnel Committee Minutes of the meeting dated 8th September were circulated in advance of the meeting, appendix 9.

Staff Appraisal Discussion and Pay Outcomes

All members of staff were asked to leave the meeting. Susan, Virginia, Andrew Clark and Helena left the room.

See part 2 minutes on separate sheet for discussion that followed.

Christian Distinctiveness

This committee has not yet met this term.

Governors agreed the recommendations from the pay and personnel committee.

11 Policy Updates

The Pupil and Curriculum committee reviewed and approved the

E-Safety model policy

Governor Visits Policy, which includes the new visits form.

The Child Protection Policy was circulated to governors in advance of the meeting. Changes to the model policy were highlighted. The document is in line with the 2014 Safeguarding Children guidance. (Appendix 10).

The Whistleblowing and Code of Conduct for Staff policies have been reviewed and circulated to staff.

See appendix 11 for a statutory policy list for schools.

Governors approved the updated Child Protection Policy. The Charging, E-Safety, Governor Visits, Whistleblowing and Code of Conduct for Staff committee approved policies need to be circulated to the FGB for ratification at the next meeting.

Kate

12 Safeguarding

Pat noted that all documentation re safeguarding is up to date and the Single Central Register has been checked by the local authority.

The updated HFL Child Protection policy now incorporates anti-radicalisation awareness and has been adopted by the FGB (see item 11).

See part 2 minutes on a separate sheet for the discussion and report.

13 Promoting British Values / Preventing Radicalisation

The Prevent Duty was circulated to the FGB in advance of the meeting. Appendix 12.

Rosemary, Andrew C, Pat and Susan Lyon recently attended the Home Office WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent) training in line with statutory requirements.

Susan Lyon summarised the training for the FGB.

The course was an introduction for schools in how to support vulnerable children and families who may be at risk of radicalisation. There were clear similarities to the safeguarding signposts staff are trained to look out for such as having an awareness of children’s vulnerabilities and identifying specific language used. If something of concern is noted then staff / governors were advised to investigate a little further.

If concerns remained then a clear reporting procedure was outlined where a panel would review the case and refer on to relevant agencies.

The schools designated senior person (DSP) is responsible for the implementation of the Prevent Duty. This is Pat as head teacher.

This training will be cascaded to all staff.

Q – Did they provide a definition of radicalisation? R – Yes. Their definition was that it is ‘a process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. During that process it is possible to intervene to prevent vulnerable people being drawn into terrorist-related activity’.

14 Governor Training Update Safeguarding training is recommended to be undertaken every four years. All governors have had safeguarding training within this time apart from Michael Weeks who is booked to attend.

Rosemary is booked to attend ‘Preparing for Ofsted’ on November 5th.

All governors were encouraged to attend due to the significant changes under the new Ofsted framework.

Emma is booked to attend ‘The New Ofsted Inspection Framework – primary schools’

on the 14th of October.

Governors were also encouraged to book onto the Governor’s Annual Conference on November 14th where East of England Ofsted Regional Director Andrew Cook will be speaking.

Sue Luckett and Helena to book onto the HFL Health & Safety course.

In-house Training for the Spring Term Governors discussed training requirements and agreed that Steven would look into the Preparing for Ofsted and Introduction to Pupil Well-Being and Welfare courses for the governing body’s in-house training session. It was agreed that either a Monday or Wednesday evening would be the most convenient evenings for training.

Steven to report back.

Sue / Helena Steven

15 Links with Parents / newsletter Governors suggested that the following information should be shared with parents in terms of governing body activity;

Welcome to new Parent Governor Karen Gordon.

WRAP Training attendance and brief summary.

Acknowledgement of results and a thank you to staff for their hard work.

Transition update

Cycle Sheds update

Rosemary will put this together for the newsletter.

Rosemary

16 School Website

Rosemary has collated information from the majority of governors to be

published on the school website, which is now a statutory requirement.

The remaining governors were reminded to submit their details and profile to

Rosemary ASAP.

Governors were also reminded to keep the clerk updated with any changes in

contact details so that the governance database can be amended if required.

Rosemary informed governors that Andrew Clark has become the Parochial

Church Council Foundation governor representative as he is now employed by

the school. Rosemary is now the Diocesan Foundation Governor.

17 Any confidential items

Discussion from items 10 and 12 on the agenda.

No further items.

18 To receive any correspondence

The Hertfordshire Governors’ Handbook 2015-16 was circulated to

governors by Rosemary.

The clerk has received a confirmation letter from the Diocese regarding

the appointment of Foundation Governor Rosemary Charsley from the 1st

of September 2015 as discussed in item 16.

19 To discuss Any Other Business

Data Protection Registration

Rosemary confirmed to governors that the statutory annual data protection

registration has been completed by the school.

Key Dates for Governors

Pat sent out a list of key dates and Rosemary has summarised those that are

relevant to governors. Appendix 13.

Rosemary requested governor volunteers for representation at the forthcoming

parent consultations. Rosemary will contact governors nearer the time.

Anti-bullying Week

Pat reminded governors that anti-bullying is a focus throughout the entire school

year and that there is a high protective behaviours profile within the school so a

specific anti-bullying week is not planned. There will be a ‘Healthy School’ week

during the week commencing 19th October.

Website Survey

Rosemary circulated to governors a draft website survey aimed at gathering

parental feedback, appendix 14.

Governors suggested adding the school’s website address at the top of the page

and adding the following questions;

Have you used the class DoJo? / If yes, did you find it useful? / How did you use

it?

Rosemary to update the survey draft.

Governor Photographs

Rosemary needs photographs of Andrew Clark and the clerk Kate Bond for the

governor’s board in school.

Governor Emails

Pat informed governors that school email addresses have been provided for each

of them as they would like all school information to be shared using these rather

than personal email addresses. The email accounts can be accessed by going to

the Hertfordshire Grid for Learning home page and clicking on the Office 365

Mail log in tab on the left hand side of the page. Governors will then be able to

log in with their new email address and change their password.

Post meeting note – the clerk has confirmed with governance that although there

has been much discussion regarding the use of school based emails, this is not a

statutory requirement so clerks are advised that they can continue to use

personal email addresses.

Governors Day organisation

The governor’s day is planned for February and a focus / plan for the day was

agreed at the last meeting. Rosemary, Pat and Susan Lyon will liaise re a suitable

date to discuss the finer details.

Thank you to staff

Governors wanted to minute a thank you to all teaching and non-teaching staff at

the school as they do appreciate how much work and effort goes into the school

for the children.

Andrew C and Kate to send a jpeg image to Rosemary ASAP.

Andrew C / Kate Rosemary, Pat, Susan Lyon.

20 Next Meeting Time and Date

Thursday 19th November, 7pm.

21 Meeting Close

9 pm