Eversholt Academy Trust ( Academy Trust )

Company Number: 7697481

EVERSHOLT ACADEMY TRUST (“ACADEMY TRUST”)

Minutes of a meeting of the board of directors of the Academy Trust held atEversholt Lower Schoolon19thSeptember2013 at 7.30 pm (“Meeting”).

Present: / Rob Fraser / (Chair)
David Hunt
Nathalie Muller
Chris Warren
John Logan
Gaynor Miller
Fritha Fletcher
Su Parker
Vicky Burton
Simon Kitson
Steven Smith
Claire Kotecki
Parag Gandesha
In attendance: / Tracey Shapley
Apologies: / Fiona Falle
Dave Bottle

1Preliminary

The Chairperson reported that notice of the Meeting had been given to the directors of the Academy Trust who were entitled to receive it.

The Chairperson noted that a quorum was present and he declared the Meeting open.

3.Governing Body Elections

The Chair and Vice Chair were re-elected. RF proposed by CW and seconded by SK, CK proposed by RF and seconded by FF

4.Changes to Declarations of Interests

There were no changes to declarations.

5.Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes from the 19thJuly 2013 were reviewed and it was agreed that they were a true and accurate record. The minutes were signed off by RF.

6.Matters Arising from the Minutes

Gift Aid – DH explained again how it should work and governors agreed system should be in place in time for auction.Action SP

School Lunches – Government have announced free school meals but haven’t looked at how the fixed costs etc would be covered. The governors will keep an eye on what happens but it is unlikely to be rolled out soon.

Chair of Governors report is still outstanding. Action RF

Admissions – discussion deferred to later in the agenda but RF commented that the marketing element (website/flier) is very good.

Boiler – the boiler company say it is damp from bricks and not a problem with the boiler itself. This is now being investigated. Action CW

John Carter has completed his annual report. CW is to check the data prior to publication.

All weather pitch – The Duke of Bedford has suggested that one of his contractors may be able to provide a competitive quote. Governors agreed a decision must be made by Christmas as to the viable options open to the school.

Policies – CK reported that she had made a list to hand over to CW/ JO to complete the gaps. Review in December. Action CW

All other matters arising were covered in the rest of the meeting

7.Safeguarding

There was an extensive discussion on safeguarding. CW handed out Safeguarding report re: CRB clearance. JL queried how long it remains valid for and how people will know when it runs out. CW agreed we need to put in place a reminder system for renewing checks.

VB handed out a Code of Conduct pamphlet for volunteers. Everyone working in school will receive one. RF requested that a PDF is put on the website. Action:VB to email to NM. The governors agreed that the pamphlet was very useful and thanked VB.

Joint training has been arranged for all staff in the Spring term on safeguarding. RF queried the impact of recent press stories about the failure of schools, social workers etc to communicate and questioned how the staff can make sure they are not exposed to similar criticism. JL explained how the training works in the medical profession and the lowest threshold is applied to any suspicion. The governors had a detailed conversation about how teachers should address specific issues, what procedure is used to evaluate problems etc. FF suggested a monthly review of the concerns folder at monthly meetings as a standing agenda item. Action CW.

8.Head Teachers Report

CW officially welcomed FF as a permanent member of staff.

CW explained how the new sports arrangement is working run by Premier Sport. She reported that this is working very well. Different coaches are teaching different sports, e.g. gymnastics which is being taught by a commonwealth gymnast. Sports will change half-termly. Teachers are freed up for PPA time in the morning. Funding is all provided by the government for 13/14 and 14/15with some left over for new sports equipment. The funding is ring-fenced for sports provision.

KS2 are already being taught French but Christine Woodley has been on a training course to teach at other classes in school. She also speaks fluent Spanish so the school are hoping to use these skills too in the future.

All governors with current children fed back that the new Learning platform was extremely good and the huge enthusiasm many children had using it.

9.Admissions Status

Current roll is 76. This would usually be 75. The numbers are one short in year 4 but 2 up in year 2. This occurred because at end of May the school was short on numbers due to 3 children leaving the school for different family reasons. Numbers are 2 over in Moon class but the decision to increase over 15 was taken at the point that the roll looked as though it would be down and the school would lose funding for unfilled places, and it was felt additionally that some buffer was needed given the trend of small numbers of children moving to Bedford schools at the end of years 2 and 3. A TA has been employed to help in the afternoons to assist with the additional numbers.

Admissions have recently phoned again to ask for a Year 1 child who is in catchment. Governors were asked to decide whether the numbers in Moon class should be extended to 33 to accommodate this child. The staff had already discussed plans for the best way to deal with the extended numbers. One option would be to divide the class into 3 and have a teaching assistant taking the third group separately to free up space. Governors had differing views as to whether or not to extend the class size. Some felt that it was important for the village community to try to fit in a child in catchment. Others felt that it would increase the teachers’ workload too much. RF pointed out that we need to be flexible as a school going forward to deal with flex in numbers particularly when children leave at KS2 and the roll numbers drop.

RF suggested we tell admissions that we need two more days to work through staff and costs and as long as not exorbitant that we should proceed. CW to circulate a suggested budget around GB Action CW

10.Staffing Subcommittee report

TS reported that the only main change was FF’s appointment but everything else remains the same since the last meeting.

CW announced that she will be retiring at the end of July. She explained that it had been a hard decision but that she would like to spend more time with her family. She will be involved in the recruitment process for a new head teacher. SS thanked CW for giving the governors plenty of notice allowing good succession planning. A letter will be sent outin the school bags informing parents tomorrow.

RF also said he was extremely grateful for the very long notice period she has given. RF asked governors to keep the news confidential until end of the next school day when the news is published in the Friday letter.

11.School Improvement Plan/Curriculum Development

CW reported that in a meeting today she learned that once again the focus of OFSTED has changed to look at the progress children are making.

Curriculum - the new investigative method of teaching has started where the children are given objectives/ tasks for the week. FF explained that her children are given a job sheet for the week with tasks that don’t necessarily need her support, e.g. practising handwriting. The children take control over their own time management. She then has more focussed time with small groups, which she believes is more valuable than teaching a whole class. The majority of children are more than capable of working independently. It means that they collaborate as groups and discuss problems between themselves and helps with progression and also broaden their experience.

NM pointed out that if we are no longer focussing on achieving 8 points progress in each of KS1 and KS2, and that if this remains the focus of OFSTED, then we risk having our status reduced from outstanding. She suggested that the school needs to have a clear message that it has taken a conscious decision to broaden the children’s education which may put 8 points progress at risk. RF pointed out it will be difficult to evidence success of the experiential/investigative teaching extensions, so asked what our minimum progress aspirations for the year should be. CW responded that we should aim for 7 points, however there will shortly be a new curriculum for all years except Year 2 who will still be assessed on the old curriculum. FF pointed out that to achieve 8 points progress the teaching would have to be focussed on rigorous numeracy and literacy skills only, tightly focussed on assessment outcomes, with little space for broader development of thinking, analysis, time management and problem solving skills. Governors agreed that is not something they would wish to do and that the broader learning skills development of our pupils is, and has always been, the key ethos of the school. RF commented that it was that ethos, evidenced by our adoption of the creativity agenda, that had impressed OFSTED at our last inspection. CW suggested that the staff should meet to agree what a sensible measurement framework for experiential/investigative teaching should be, including links to external research groups. That way if the school has an Ofsted inspection on short notice there will bedocumented rationale for the teaching approach.

Technology – Lizzy Hunt has put in an ICT request for various technology items. RF said he would like to see how this fits with the overall teaching plan before spend is approved. RF proposed that he would meet with staff to review ICT spending requests in context of curriculum development. Action: RF

12.School Self Evaluation

Annual Survey – CW suggested that the end of the year is the best time to survey parents as the new Star class parents haven’t had children long enough at school to form opinions. However, the governors agreed that it is essential that parents are encouraged to put their views on Parent View as OFSTED believe no feedback are worse than negative feedback. CW to add to Friday letter.Action CW

Academy Trust AGM will be next meeting in December.

Fund Raising – RF reiterated that there is no expectation that a large amount of money will be raised at the auction. Economic environment and the school have changed considerably since the last auction. The aim for the evening is to have a well-attended event where everyone has a great time. Any monies raised will be used immediately to fund the technology update project.

13.Finance Subcommittee Report

As DB not present detailed discussion on budget for next year deferred until December.

The accounts audit process is underway, and it was agreed that draft accounts would be reviewed by the F&GPC, with summary report and formal approval of accounts being made to the full GB meeting in December.

DB would lead the review of the accounts. Action: DB

14.Governing Body Composition, Roles and Training

The staff are to decide by the next meeting in December who the two staff governors will be (excluding Head teacher).

RF proposed that rather than having formal subcommittees, that there is one nominated governor for each role, who can draw on other governors or other interested or skilled people as required. While formal subcommittees are a useful structure, having subcommittees mainly composed of governors is not working well – it is creating too much workload and lack of focus. In addition, there is no need for some specific roles to be filled by formerly appointed governors. In most school, the PTA for example, is a separate organisation from the GB. Core governance roles should be: Staffing, ELS (education, learning and standards), Finance, Safeguarding, H&S. In terms of legal responsibilities only Finance, Safeguarding and H&S are required to be formal GB roles.

With this in mind:

• Staffing – RF thanked TS for all her help over the last few years. Although she has agreed to help with recruitment of a new head teacher we need a new governor to take over responsibility. Aletter will go to parents asking for nominations for someone with some knowledge in HR.(Action CW) PG suggested an external consultancy to support a governor, e.g. VB who is already on the committee. Staffing should be a governor role.
• ELS – NM will take over from FF, with ELS should be a governor role.
• F&GPC – DB to continue as Chair of Finance, which is required to be a governor role. The F&GPC structure will be retained, including RF, CK, SK and PG as Responsible Officer (instead of formal audit committee which is not appropriate for our size of school and GB).
• Safeguarding – VB will continue, and is requiredto be a governor role.
• Health and Safety - CK but this still needs to be supported by aformalsub-committee for legal reasons. H&S chair required to be a governor role.
• Fund Raising – SP will continue for rest of this year. It was agreed that the head of fund raising does not need to be a governor.
• IT – RF, noting that IT lead does not need to be a governor.
• Premises – SS – suggested he now needs a successor, noting that it does not need to be a governor. He can help but needs a volunteer parent on the ground. GM suggested her husband said he would be happy to set up a working party. Governors agreed he should be that point of contact.
• Marketing: SK will continue as marketing and communication lead, noting that this role does not need to be a governor.
• Performance Management isrequired to be Chair of Governors (RF) and the new staffing lead.

15.Governor visits and Monitoring

RF, SK, DH and NM all to do a governor visit before next governors meeting when they report back. Action NM

16School Strategy Planning Update

CONFIDENTIAL - REDACTED SECION

17Sub-Committee Reports

Health and Safety

No escalations. RF signed off updated H&S policy after review.

Premises

Application for re-roofing was rejected but worth trying again in the next round of the ACMF

Fundraising/Social

SP reported that the Auction ticket sales are going well. 70 tickets sold so far. 45 lots to bid for. Raffle with some good prizes.

SP asked for more help with the Christmas Fayre as last year it was not well staffed. Ex-pupils suggested which would work provided it doesn’t clash with a BGS event.

Disco in February.

Marketing and Communications

No update

18Correspondence

None

19Any Other Business

None.

20Next meeting

Thursday 5th December, 7.30 pm at the school.

21Close of the Meeting

There being no further business, the Chairperson declared the Meeting closed.

………………………..

Chairperson

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