Present:Mr G Bennett

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE GOVERNING BODY OFUPTON WESTLEA PRIMARYSCHOOL HELD AT THE SCHOOL ON THE 26TH MARCH2014.

Present:Mr G Bennett

Mr P IvisonChair

Mr J Monaghan

Mrs H Sayers

Mr M Williams

Mrs S Cocks

Mrs L McCluskey

Mrs C JacksonHeadteacher

In attendance:Mrs A BroomeClerk to the Governors

PART ONE

1. APOLOGIES

RESOLVED: that

a) the apologies for absence received fromMr I McCluskey, Mr D Spruce, Mr R Pates, Mr A Thorp and Cllr J Houlbrook beaccepted.

b) the following absences, Mrs P Welch and Mr B Doran with no apologies received be noted.

1. CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Governors were asked to declare any potential conflict of interest with the business to be discussed during the meeting.

RESOLVED: that there were no conflicts of interest declared

1. MEMBERSHIP

In their absence, Governors welcomed Mr Spruce and Mr Doran to the Governing Body.

Governors also welcomed Mr Monaghan as the new Community Governor.

Mr Bennett announced his decision to retire from the Governing Body from the 3rd April 2014.

Mrs Stevenson has decided not to stand for the Parent Governor vacancy due to personal commitments.

Governors discussed the Community Governor vacancy and Chair believes it would be very useful if the School could secure someone from Chester Zoo as they are a local employer and could bring great assets to the School

RESOLVED; that

Mr Ivison’s and Mr Williams’ terms will be considered at the next FGB Meeting.

There will be a Parent Governor election after Easter and there remains a Community Governor vacancy.

Chair will approach Chester Zoo to enquire if anyone would be interested in joining the Governing Body.

Governors gave thanks to Mr Bennett for all his hard work and commitment to the School for 20+years.

Governors also thanked Mrs Stevenson for her services as a Parent Governor.

1. MINUTES

RESOLVED: that the part one minutes of the meeting held on 6th November 2013 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair

1. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Minute 6 – Matters Arising

HT confirmed that the School now has associations with Upton Horticultural Society.

Mr Williams advised that the Kids Fund bid was still ongoing, although it was proving to be more detailed with specific children than originally anticipated. He will send all details to HT for her overview.

Mr Williams is involved with another venture to support children with outdoor learning and will give Governors more details if it is successful.

HT confirmed that the ‘Life Chanel’ had now been erected in the playground although it does still require some tweaking; Mr McCluskey will be looking into this.

HT advised that she had met with Helen Nuttall, CWAC SEN Provision today regarding the ongoing issue with the Speech and Language therapist in School. She has promised to investigate this more fully.

1. CHAIR’S ACTIONS

There were not any Chairs Actions to report.

1. PART ONEREPORTS FROM COMMITTEES

The following Committee minutes were received by the Governing Body:

Buildings- 3/3/14, Finance- 12/3/14 & Curriculum – 19/3/14

RESOLVED that:

the above Committee minutes be received with thanks

Chair reminded Governors that all are welcome to attend any committee meetings even if they are not on that particular committee.

1. 2014/15 SCHOOL BUDGET

Governors were presented with a copy of the 2014/15 proposed budget for approval.

HT acknowledged that the budget was going to be very tight, despite the carry forward of £21k. She is aware that 6 statmented children in Year 6 are leaving in July and as a consequence of this they will be overstaffed with TAs. The members of staff with temporary contacts are aware of this and realise that their contracts will be terminated at the end of the summer term.

A Governor asked why the figures for 2015/16 look low as it shows the School being £117k in deficit. HT advised that the 3 year plan always looks like this as they include the same children with the same staff and do not include any money for Statements. It should also be noted that the NOR is increasing and this will have an impact on future funding. Chair reiterated that this School always does its best for all children.

A Governor asked about DFC.HT advised that this must be spent on building or ICT work and this is needed this year for the Reception toilets.

RESOLVED that:

Governors approved the 2014/15 budget

1. HEADTEACHER’S REPORT

Part one of the Headteacher’s Report contained the following matters:

• Classes as of March 2014
• Maintenance/Building work/ Health & Safety
• Curriculum to include Performance, Appraisals & Community
• Training
• Budget

HT advised Governors that the new curriculum will be starting officially from September 2014, Years 3 & 4 have been trialling this already. However, due to SAT s testing Year 2 & 6 will remain on the old curriculum with all classes moving to the new curriculum in 2015/16.

HT believes that the School may need more ICT support than the one day per fortnight that the School pays for. She realises this is difficult with a tight budget but is waiting to see what is achieved on the days he is in School over the Easter holidays.

HT is very proud of the art work that the children have produced. She believes it is good to see work other than data and is very excited about the 8 paintings that have been created to be displayed in the School Hall.

HT highlighted Music as this was discussed at a previous FGB Meeting. There are now 12 children in guitar classes which is fantastic. A Governor advised that she does have a slight concern about how much can be achieved in such a large group and it is quite expensive a £5 per session per child.HT advised that this had been noted by the tutor and he is hoping to get another tutor involved so that the group can be split.

HT reminded Governors about the great benefits of completing a learning walk in School. There were three Governors present that have not participated yet and she will be arranging more sessions after the Easter holidays and will invite Governors to become involved. HT advised Governors that she also needs a Governor to help with the Pupil Premium file being updated, there were not any volunteers.

HT spoke briefly about the Data Analysis summary sheets as this was covered in great depth at the curriculum meeting. She offered to do the presentation again to any Governors who would like to know more.

With regard to the new curriculum and as part of the HT objectives, she advised Governors that lessons will have ‘drivers’ so that the multiplicity that is in School is addressed correctly. There are 17% of the pupils from ethnic minorities and seven languages are spoken in School which although is not as high as in some areas of the country this must be acknowledged.

The Key Drivers are:

• Diversity
• Possibilities
• Emotional awareness

HT advised that the Owen Jones Trust which is the reading recovery work is going very well year with over 65/70% of the children in EYFS much improved. Chair highlighted that this is the last year for this work and this is a great disappointment as it has been a huge success. He asked whether an extension could be asked for as it has proven to have a considerable impact on writing as well. HT is not sure about this but hopes this may be possible.

HT gave thanks to the PTA for the amazing fundraising work as the balance stands at £3843. A Governor asked how this is spent, HT advised that £400 has been spent on the artist that came into School, the School needs a new PA system and the children are asked what they would like to spend the money on. A Governor who is also on the PTA advised that she had recently sent out questionnaires to parents asking for ideas on how to spend the money but had received a very disappointing low response back.

RESOLVED: that

The Headteachers Report be received with thanks.

1. SCHOOLS BULLETIN

This contained the following updates and information:

RESOLVED: that

The Clerk discussed with Governors the draft consultation and the proposed changes to Governance regulations which will probably result in all Governing Bodies having to reconstitute by September 2015. Governors acknowledged this, the Clerk will forward the information to the Chair and this will be an item on the summer FGB Meeting agenda.

The School Bulletin Report dated February 2014 be received with thanks

1. SAFEGUARDING

RESOLVED that:

All details are covered in Part Two

1. SCHOOL ADMISSIONS ARRANGEMENTS 2014/15

RESOLVED that:

There is nothing to report under this item.

1. SIP/LEADERSHIP PARTNER REPORT

RESOLVED that:

There has not been a SIP visit this term due to unforeseen circumstances, however there will be a visit next term and a report will be available for the summer FGB Meeting.

HT advised Governors that a School Improvement Partner is not compulsory for a School and asked for their views whether this should continue. Chair and many other Governors believe it is a worthwhile process and enables an external partner to see the School with an unbiased view which could be useful in the run up to the next Ofsted visit. HT agreed and believes it should continue.

1. PLANNED RESIDENTIAL VISITS

HT advised Governors that following a visit recently to the YHA in the Lakes that was the proposed venue for the Year 5 residential, it has now been decided that due to lack of planning for the activities whilst they were there, this group will now go to the Conway Centre. The dates remain the same – 9th to 11th July. Mrs Cocks indicated that she would be available to help with this trip if required.

1. SCHOOL POLICIES

The following policies were sent to the Governing Body and/or committees as necessary and subsequently approved:

Child Protection, Homework, Manual of Internal Procedures, Health & Safety, Staff conduct, MFL, Missing Child, EAL, Critical Incident, Photographic Images and Identifying and tackling poor performance

1. GOVERNOR DEVELOPMENT

A new Governor asked about which courses he should attend. He was advised the Induction training and the basic Safeguarding course, he was also encouraged to attend other training courses as necessary.

HT advised that she can complete the basic half day Safeguarding course for Governors; she will arrange a suitable date and advise Governors accordingly. Chair asked that she advised the EIP as well so that there is maximum take up.

Some Governors had not received the up to date summer training courses from CWAC so the Clerk will forward the details to all Governors by email.

Chair advised that if School Governance are looking for a venue in Chester that the football club is central and offers very good rates. The Clerk will feed this information back to Nicky Bebbington for future reference.

1. DATE, TIME AND PLACE OF THE NEXT MEETING

To confirm that the next full Governing Body meeting will be held on Wednesday 2nd July at 6pm at the School.

------Chair

------Dated