Confidence, Resilience, Empathy, Aspiration, Enquiry
Confidence, Resilience, Empathy, Aspiration, Enquiry
Full Governors MeetingMinutes / 30th June 2016 / 6.00pm / Tidcombe Primary School
Meeting called by / Governing Board of Tidcombe Primary School
Type of meeting / Full Governors
clerk / Yvonne Land
present / Bob George – Chair & LEA Governor, Cliff Bailey – Vice Chair, Foundation Governor and Resources Chair, Simon Green - Headteacher, Kate Southcott – Co-opted, Hannah Clarke – Staff Rep, Katey Marshman – Co-opted, Ian Parsons – Co-opted, Meg Hepworth – Parent Governor and Teaching and Learning Chair and Ruth Roberts – Parent Governor and Safeguarding
IN ATTENDANCE
appologies received and approved / None. KM advised she would be leaving the meeting around 6.30pm
declaration of interests / None declared
approve minutes from last meeting / BG
Discussion / Governors were asked if there were any issues with the previous minutes from the meeting held on 12th May 2016
Conclusion / There being no amendments, minutes were approved.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Minutes to be filed / Clerk / asap
AGENDA ITEMS
Item 4: Matters Arising – Halberton have agreed that one of their governors could be on our Second Committee as and when required. MH emailed Marychurch School to request talking re the MAT but unfortunately no one has made contact. She will chase again and also try Babcock. RR has logged on to Inspiring for the Future and has been given a list of 25 people who are interested in becoming governors. She has narrowed this down to people who live locally and will contact these to see if they are interested in joining our Board of Governors. BG advised that we ideally need governors who are strong on finance and premises.
Action – RR to contact prospective governors.
Item 5: Proposal to join St. Christopher’s MAT – RR questioned why there were no negative comments in the report from the visit to the Old Priory School. CB responded that it was a very positive experience with no negatives. MH asked if they spoke to governors, IP asked if they spoke to children while they were there. SG advised they spoke to both and it was a very positive snapshot. CB added that there was no evidence that a C of E ethos had been imposed on a non C of E school. MH added that we needed to be totally sure that this is the right decision for us. BG advised that we had received the Academy Order from the DfE and proposed that we formally approach St. Christopher’s MAT with a request to join that Trust. CB seconded. This was formally passed by a majority vote. SG requested that the formalities be delegated to CB and himself. All agreed. MH objected to both parties using the same firm of solicitors and SG advised they will try to find another firm to represent Tidcombe but as time is of the essence, this may not be possible.
KM left the meeting at 6.40pm
Item 6: Report from Teaching and Learning Committee – HC asked what was happening with the oversubscription for Reception in September. SG advised that this is now down to 1 and parents have decided to defer her start date to January 2017 which they are entitled to do. HC asked SG to look into the funding for this if the child remained in our Nursery class. SG asked YL to contact Fran Butler. HC advised that 6 children are going to Bath Spa College tomorrow to present a PowerPoint on their research on music, Arts Week and Home Groups. KS advised that some of Year 4 and 5 children are going to Petroc next week for a careers morning. SG underlined that Maths is currently our focus and will be a key item on next year’s SDP. BG reported on the interview process for the Yr6 teacher and emphasized how structured and focused it was. MH asked who was involved in the appointment which SG explained.
Action – YL to contact Fran Butler re funding for a child deferring their start date.
Item 7: Report from Resource Committee including Pupil Premium and PE Grant Expenditure – CB praised BS on the quality of his PE expenditure report. SG advised there was a strong field for the TA position and they have appointed 2 temporary TA’s for September to support a child in Reception and Year 6. One will be working in the morning plus lunchtime cover and the other lunchtime cover plus an afternoon. He explained that the lunch duty was part of their contract. CB advised he met with YL for a preliminary annual review chat and that they will meet in September for the formal review. MH thought the decision on the Edison contract should have been made at FGB level not resources. SG and CB apologized for any oversight. MH added that the impact of Edison should be measured in a year’s time. All agreed this would be done. SG presented governors a draft PPG plan and asked for this to be approved at the next FGB meeting.
Action – SG to measure the impact of Edison in a year’s time and report to FGB in June/July 2017
Item 8: Matters Arising from TCLP/TLC Meetings – SG went to a meeting this morning. Year 4 will be involved in a Science and Technology project with other local schools. Big events like the Lion King and Little Mermaid will take place every other year. Some schools have bought in to Pupil Asset which is a tracking programme and we are watching this with a view to evaluating its effectiveness. MH would like Tidcombe to be a part of this to see the parallel with the other Tiverton schools. SG advised this may happen next year if it can be shown to help pupil’s progress.
Item 9: Headteacher’s Report including pupil numbers, safeguarding and attendance – SG invited governors to evaluate the format of his Headteacher’s Report and suggested BG, MH and CB meet to discuss this and feedback before the next FGB meeting. No questions were asked on the report.
Action - BG, MH and CB meet to discuss the format of the Headteacher’s Report and feedback to SG before the next FGB meeting.
Item 10: Reports from governors who have attended training or a school visit – BG advised that he and CB did an external visit to The Old Priory which governors have already received the report. RR and MH have completed their induction. RR has attending Safeguarding training and YL has attended the Clerks Update.
Item 11: Set meeting dates for next year’s meetings including Sub Committees – BG and YL have arranged to meet on Monday morning to discuss these and governors will be emailed the dates.
Action – YL to email governors the dates for next year’s meetings.
Item 12: Review the progress the school has made during the year – SG advised that it has been a tumultuous year. The reading programme has been a success as has the quality of the Arts. It has been a difficult year governance wise but the Board is now in a stronger and better place. We have also had the difficulty on deciding the direction the school needs to take regarding academisation but now a decision had been made we can look forward to the future and he feels sure the school will go from strength to strength. The Maths new curriculum has caught us out and we have also had the uncertainty of the new assessments. It will be a big loss not working with HC next year and the gap will be massive. He wished her every success in her new job.
Item 13: Review how the Board of Governors has functioned during the year, including attendance, with a view to any changes which may need to be made in September – BG advised that the Board has been through much change during the year and we have lost both our Chair and Vice Chair. In the light of the Review of Governance we have restructured and, although early days, this seems to be working well. HC would like to thank both sub committee chairs for stepping up and doing an excellent job. CB felt we needed more people on committees. BG hoped that we could recruit more governors very soon and they would hopefully join a committee. It was decided that the governor visits would now relate to the SDP rather than year groups. Clerk to add this to Teaching and Learning agenda. SG asked if governors could Skype in to meetings if necessary and all agreed this was a good idea.
Action – Clerk to add governor visits to Teaching and Learning agenda.
Item 14: Governor Review – This is being checked at each meeting to ensure we are following advice. CB advised the governors need to produce an annual report. It was agreed that he would meet with SG and they would put the report together to be approved at the next FGB meeting. MH suggested all items go on 365 for governors to access instead of being emailed out. All agreed this was a good idea, clerk to look into this next term.
Action – CB and SG meet to produce annual governors’ report. Clerk to look at 365 for documents next term.
Item 15: Chair to report on meeting with staff – BG advised he went to Monday’s staff meeting to acknowledge on behalf of the governors how hard they have all been working and to say that all governors were accessible at any time. He assured them that their concerns would not be ignored in the process of becoming an academy. He acknowledged Hannah Clarke’s valuable contribution to Tidcombe.
Item 16: Acknowledgement of the contribution from HC to Tidcombe Primary School -BG thanked HC for her invaluable contribution to not only the school but to the FGB and wished her every success and happiness in her future career.
Meeting finished at 7.55pm
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Action – RR to contact prospective governors / RR / 10/10/16
Action – YL to contact Fran Butler re funding for a child deferring their start date. / YL / 08/07/16
Action – SG to measure the impact of Edison in a year’s time and report to FGB in June/July 2017 / SG / Ongoing & report June 2017
Action - BG, MH and CB meet to discuss the format of the Headteacher’s Report and feedback to SG before the next FGB meeting. / BG, MH & CB / 30/09/16
Action – YL to email governors the dates for next year’s meetings. / YL / 08/07/16
Action – Clerk to add governor visits to Teaching and Learning agenda. / YL / Sept 2016
Action – CB and SG meet to produce annual governors report. Clerk to look at 365 for documents next term. / CB & SG
YL / 30/09/16
21/10/16
Special notes / Dates of next meetings:To be arranged