WOODSIDE ACADEMY

Meeting of the Raising Achievement and Standards Committee

Minutes of meeting

Date of meeting:6.30pm, Tuesday 18 October 2016

Venue:The Hive, Woodside Academy

Present:Claire Howarth (Executive Head), Paul Dowie, Carly Walker, Kay Hancox, Ventaki Kilambi, Sue Hacche, Glenn Lillo, Rachel Byrne (by invitation), Keith Robinson (by invitation)

In attendance:Adrienne Routledge, clerk

  1. ELECTION AND APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEE CHAIR

Apologies were received and accepted from John Knight. The Headteacher opened the meeting and nominations were sought for a Committee Chair. CW offered, and was thanked, for offering to chair this evening’s meeting but asked all governors to consider putting themselves forward for this position and for this therefore to be discussed and agreed at the next meeting.

GL was welcomed to this, his first meeting since being appointed parent governor. Brief introductions were made.

Governors were asked to declare any interests; none were declared.

  1. REVIEWS OF THE CURRENT SIP AND SEF

2.1 SIP

This has been circulated in advance and taken as read; the following points were highlighted:

-The format reflects that used by the Synaptic Trust, and includes core priorities and Foundation priorities

-Core priorities reflect the outcome from the Summer Term’s Ofsted inspection, and these are circulated throughout the school as constant reminders for all staff

-Attendance target is 97%; a governor asked if this is achievable and was advised it is ambitious but something to aim for

-the Headteacher is particularly interested in the work done by the Trust in terms of independent learning strategies and referenced this along with behaviour in learning as this is a core target and is about all staff being aware of behaviour expectations when children are learning

-children in EYFS had a lower starting point this year so it is a priority to build this back up to at least national levels in GLD (Good Level of Development); target is for all Reception children to learn to read, write and achieve basic competency in maths and there are high expectations in Phonics; a governor noted that the LA Audit for EYFS was very good and the Headteacher explained this to the rest of the Committee

-a governor asked about how often the school engages with parents regarding phonics and was advised that sessions for parents have already taken place in Reception and Year 1 this term with a reasonable take up of parents at each; there are also resources on the school website that parents can access

-the school has introduced a new guided reading scheme and is in the process of embedding this across the whole school; this includes a major push towards encouraging more reading at home

-the school hopes to use a range of strategies to help bridge the gap and engage with parents to support and improve the life chances of disadvantaged pupils; a governor asked about the boy/girl ratio in the school – there are slightly more boys than girls overall but some year groups are more boy heavy than others; there is an issue with supporting the more able disadvantaged and the school only has a few of these and this remains a challenge across all schools

-the Headteacher values the processes involved in the Governor Mark scheme and would be keen for the FGB to look at this particularly as this is a new FGB; it was noted that governor time may be better spent getting to know the school but that the Governor Mark template could be a good basis for FGB self review

-the school has achieved a handful of awards recently including Silver Sports Mark, Primary Science Mark, Inclusion Mark, and will be looking to achieve Primary Quality Mark, and Rights Respecting Kite Mark over the next year

A governor asked what percentage of children move from Nursery to Reception – this is about a third, but of those in Reception, about half come up from Nursery. From September, and in line with new Government legislation, the school will be offering 30 hours free Nursery to working parents and advised this could have budget implications. Numbers in Reception are lower than usual and this is a Croydon wide issue for schools; there are also some gaps in other year groups; the suggestion is that there are now too many places caused by too many new schools. A governor sought clarity on numbers and was advised the school is down about 6-8 across each year group. No further questions.

The Committee was happy to approve the SIP and the Chair will bring this to the next FGB to recommend its formal adoption by all.

2.2 SEF

This had been circulated to all in advance and the Headteacher explained this remains a work in progress. EYFS is covered by a separate document which the Headteacher will circulate to all after this meeting. The SEF will be updated following meetings this term to evaluate actions taken to date, together with their impact, and a revised document will be available by the end of this term.

Meantime, discussion over the recent Results followed with all noting that these were good and ‘speak for themselves’, with the Headteacher reporting that progress was made within the different bands. The Ofsted inspection took place before the results were out an all agreed that the outcome could have been very different if the inspection had taken place after, with results evidence in place.

The FGB has requested evidence forms from Ofsted and will chase these up.

Governors were asked to approve the SEF as it currently stands, noting it will be updated before the end of Term; all unanimously approved the document.

  1. STAFF STRUCTURE

This was circulated to all. RB was asked to leave the meeting at 7.20pm so that discussion could take place about the Headteacher’s proposal for a Deputy Head post for the whole school to be created and advertised for; she explained her rationale behind this, including her belief that this would give the school the best structure to help move it towards being Outstanding.

A governor asked why it may be better to have one Deputy Head rather than two Heads of Schools, and the benefits were explained, including the ease of managing the primary school as a whole (ie, rather than Infants and Juniors), the ease of cover in the absence of the Headteacher and reminder that there are still two Assistant Headteachers in place to support.

The Committee accepted and agreed with the structure and will make a recommendation to the FGB.

It is also unclear whether it is a requirement for the Academy to advertise such a post externally and internally and the Headteacher will investigate this.

The Headteacher thanked governors for their support.

RB re-joined the meeting at 7.35pm.

  1. YEAR GROUP LEADERS ACTION PLANS

These were circulated to all, and copies will be sent to the whole FGB by email for information purposes. These plans will be reviewed by SLT before being finalised to ensure, eg, that they are SMART too.

A governor asked that the action plans include names and email details for each year group leader so that year group assigned governors can contact them.

Action: RB to add details and circulate to all

  1. TARGETTED PUPIL SUPPORT

This is new for the school and is an approach favoured by the Trust. The Headteacher summed this up for governors as earlier targeted support for those who need it, carried out over a three week period, daily, and will also include pupils who are ‘just’ where they are and those who are ‘slipping’. A governor asked how teachers have reacted to this and was advised they think it is ‘fantastic’ and welcome it. At the end of each three week period, a member of SLT will sit and evaluate it with the teachers – this will include that same SLT member also spending time with the children involved to help ascertain its impact.

Governors asked about numbers in each intervention group, to what extent parents have been aware or are involved and what the interventions comprise of; the Headteacher advised there’s about four or five in each group, that there are a wide variety of techniques deployed, one of which may be to discuss things further with parents. Staff will always talk to parents if there is anything to report.

  1. SAFEGUARDING

There is not much to report and the safeguarding governor advised all that he is in the school regularly during which time he will check safeguarding. Currently, he and the Headteacher are in the process of completing the LA safeguarding audit.

A link to the online safeguarding training had been circulated to all following September’s FGB meeting and it was agreed for governors to have completed this by the next FGB.

The Headteacher offered the school’s services to the Trust as host for safeguarding training for governors that can be arranged through Octavo as the bespoke training package that the school is entitled to this school year. This was welcomed and the safeguarding governor will investigate.

Action: PD to arrange safeguarding training with Octavo

All acknowledged that safeguarding features on every FGB agenda and, unless required, does not need to be reported additionally at Committee meetings.

The Headteacher reminded governors that they are welcome to attend any INSET training day at the school if they wish.

Action: Headteacher to circulate INSET training day schedule to all governors

The meeting closed at 8.10pm.

The date of the next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 6.30pm, 21 February 2017 (the original date of 15 February is during half term!).

Action: Headteacher to confirm if suitable

Signed: ……………………………………… Date:…………………………..

Carly Walker, Vice Chair of Governing Body, Woodside Academy

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