THE GOVERNING BODY OF BRENTKNOLLSPECIALSCHOOL

CURRICULUM AND PUPIL WELFARE COMMITTEE

Minutes of a meeting of the Curriculum and Pupil Welfare Committee held at the school onTuesday 29 September 2015 at 5pm

Present

Mr Jon Sharpe (Headteacher), Mr Cassim Bakharia,Ms Catie Painter, and Ms Gill Stephenson

Also present

Sue Bishop (Clerk)

  1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

None received

  1. ELECTION OF CHAIR

RESOLVED that Cassim Bakharia be elected Chair of the Committee until the autumn term meeting 2016.

  1. MINUTES

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19.05.15be approved and signed.

  1. LEARNING AND TEACHING

4.1Review of progress and achievement including SATs

A detailed report had been circulated showing the percentage of students achieving P level and NC levels in key stages 1 and 2 in the years 2013, 2014 and 2015; primary and secondary quartile data for 2013, 2014 and 2015; and key points on primary and secondary attainment. The Committee asked what differences there were between different groups but the headteacher advised that there were no major differences. Members were pleased to note that the Ofsted report in July 2015 had judged both the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils as good.

4.2Review of Foundation Stage profile

A copy of the December 2014 report on the EYFS quality improvement visit carried out by the LA’s Early Years Improvement Team had been circulated. It was noted that there had been five EYFS pupils at that time, and that now there was only one EYFS pupil, so a current detailed profile report would have contained a lot of nil entries. The Early Years provision had been judged by Ofsted as outstanding in July 2015.

4.3Replacement of national curriculum levels

The headteacher advised that a report would be presented to the next meeting on how the school would adapt to the removal of national curriculum levels. It was noted that P levels would remain and that the challenge was to find other ways of measuring progress for those pupils who were working above the P levels.

Governors asked if the school was working with other special schools to identify a way forward. The headteacher explained that Drumbeat was the only other school with pupils with comparable needs but no discussions had taken place between the schools.

4.4To set measurable performance targets for 2015-16 (using P scales or other performance criteria)

RESOLVED that this item be considered once a replacement of the national curriculum levels had been agreed (see minute 4.3 above).

  1. LAC REPORT

Cassim Bakharia, the link governor for LAC reported that he had met the headteacher earlier that day to discuss the performance and progress of Looked After Children. There were still five LAC in the school and no matters of concern had been raised.

  1. CHILD PROTECTION

The Chair, in his capacity as safeguarding link governor, reported that he and the headteacher had undertaken a review of safeguarding procedures using the self-audit toolkit produced by the Lewisham Safeguarding Children’s Board to assist schools in examining their arrangements under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004. No areas had been identified which required to be strengthened. He agreed to circulate a copy of the completed audit form to all members of the Committee.

  1. SEND POLICY

It was noted that the government had made changes in September 2014 to the SEND code of practice (as reported in the summer term GIP), but it was not a requirement for special schools to have a SEND policy. However, the school’s “SEN report”, setting out admissions criteria, organisation, and differentiation procedures etc was published on the school’s website.

  1. DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

Proposed dates for future meetings were noted as follows:

5pmTuesdays 17 November 2015, 26 January, 8 March, 24 May, and 28 June 2016

(all subject to agreement by full governing body).

The meeting ended at 5.40pm.

Chair______

Date: 26 January 2016

Sue Bishop, Clerk to the Governing Body, Governors’ Services, Directorate for Children and Young People

3rd Floor, Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, SE6 4RU

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