Western Church of England Primary School
Browning Drive, WINCHESTER, SO22 5AR
Minutes of the Meeting of the Governing Body
Monday 22nd January 2007 at 19.30
Present; Mark Brown (Chair), Philippa Cook, Sarah Duck, Liz Hanvey, Vicki Henderson, Isabel Hughes, Vivien McElroy, Mark Phillips, Peter Seal, Chris Sermon, Lorraine Smith (Head), Libby Wallis, Tim Woodland, Carla Zanetti.
In attendance; Neil Mackenzie (Deputy Head), Andrew Maundrell (Clerk)
1. Apologies; Geoff Bennetts, Sarah Pease, Andrew Strevens.
The meeting opened in prayer led by Rev Peter Seal.
The Chair extended welcome to Libby Wallis, newly appointed LEA Governor and to Peter Seal on his return from sabbatical leave.
2. Minutes of the last Meeting held on 27th November 2006 were approved and signed, with the following corrections noted;
Date of meeting was Mon 27th Nov (mis-typed as 22nd).
5.1 Isabel Hughes not Liz Hanvey attended interviews for Yr R teacher
16 Personnel Committee in summer term will meet on MAY 17 th.
3. Matters Arising;
3.5.4 Delegated Powers Agenda item 8.
3.8.1 Information Evening. The Chair and Head proposed that no such meeting be arranged for this academic year and this was approved by governors. Following discussion a proposal was agreed to hold an after-school forum, early in the Summer Term. The Head and staff would outline current matters and answer questions from parents. It may be appropriate to hold separate sessions for KS1 and KS2. Governors advised that parents should be notified beforehand which members of staff will be present. Parents may be invited to submit questions beforehand. A banner headline ‘Western Matters' was offered for consideration.
Action; Head.
6.2 Financial management of schools Agenda item 5.
7.2 Premises Agenda item 7.
9.2 It was confirmed that Hampshire still has no policy to authorise off-site learning; thus discussions concerning our Western policy document, which has approval of governors, continue.
10. Pay Policy has still to be considered by Personnel Committee.
12.4 E-mail link to parents. Admin staff have been consulted and are happy to implement this.
15.1 Carla Zanetti attended the last PTA meeting and will attend the next meeting on March 12th. Governors expressed disappointment that in the past St Paul’s church events and PTA events had clashed on the same dates and encouraged liaison to avoid this.
(Subsequent to the meeting all governors were advised forthcoming PTA meeting dates by e-mail).
4. Correspondence;
The Head had circulated 3 documents for governors’ attention.
There was brief discussion but each item will form part of the Head’s Report to governors at the next WGB meeting.
Action; Head / Clerk
4.1 Report from School Improvement Partner, Carole Burwell; The report summarises the moderation of the school self-evaluation.
Governors noted that the overall evaluation for the school is good. Governors will need to especially focus on the Action Plans of this report. The Head drew attention to the need to track the academic outcomes for the group of vulnerable children as well as pupils from an ethnic minority background.
4.2 Data from KS1 SATs Results 2006;
This document completed the analysis for 2006 results, with comparisons by Gender, SEN and according to Fischer Family Trust data; and will be discussed fully in Curriculum committee. Governors enquired as to the time scale for the action plans; normally drawn up in the autumn term with consideration of the current pupil cohort.
4.3 A Summary Table of Criteria used by OFSTED for School Inspection;
The Head commented on the objective to raise teaching rated at the SATISFACTORY level to the GOOD level; likewise, to raise teaching rated at the GOOD level to the OUTSTANDING level. Governors noted criteria for governance included in the ‘Leadership and Management ‘ section. Governors queried the wording within the Satisfactory Criteria; the Head will check the source document and clarify.
Action; Head.
4.4 The Clerk had received notification for Parent Governors from Terry Rath of Hants Children’s Services. They would soon receive ballot papers for electing Parent Governor representative/s to the Children and Young People’s Policy Review Committee.
5. Budget.
5.1 Governors discussed the Consultation Document on Proposed Changes to Financial Management in Schools. It is proposed to limit any carryover finances; sums over the limit at the end of the financial year will be clawed back by the LEA.
5.2 Governors observed that the normal carryover at Western has thus far been inside proposed limits. However there was a view that the proposed limit of 5% was too low. Further, it was noted that the limit refers to uncommitted funds; thus carryover funds committed within the budget would not be subject to claw-back.
5.3 Governors agreed to write in response approving the principle but expressing the view that the 5% figure was too low.
Action; Chair / Head.
6. Number on Roll.
6.1 The current figure is 416. This is just below capacity of 420 and leaves spaces in Years 1, 3 and 5. Full take up of 60 places is expected in Sept for Year R.
6.2 It was explained to governors that this figure of 416 will trigger funding for the forthcoming financial year. The corresponding figure for last year was 404. There are no longer retrospective financial adjustments to the stated NOR.
7. Premises.
7.1 Governors had received a Summary of proposals discussed in a Building Development Meeting with Martin Shefford, David Dowse, Alan Kingswell and the Head on 08/12/2006.
7.2 Quotes were being obtained for carpeting of Y4 classrooms and refurbishment of the toilet and medical room near the office. Possibly work will be done at Easter.
7.3 A new feasibility plan should be available in the spring term for enlarging the Y4 classrooms and providing a new staff-room. Work may possibly start in summer 2008.
Action; Resources Committee.
7.4 Governors received, with disappointment, reports from staff of recent problems. During recent storms rainwater had seeped into Y1 classrooms and the Library. The kitchen had been without running hot water for three weeks. The heating in YR classrooms and the PPA Room is inadequate. These problems have been notified to Property Services but their response was unhelpful. Governors agreed to write to Property Services, copied to the Customer Services Manager, to express their concern and disappointment at the response.
Action; Chair / Head
7.5 Governors approved the Service Level Agreement with Property services for the forthcoming year. The view of governors was that, despite misgivings, there really was no feasible alternative to obtaining these services.
8. Delegated Powers.
8.1 A revised document, based on DfES web-site but specific to Western, had been circulated. All functions are specified with an appropriate decision level, as per last Minutes (27/11/06). Certain powers show a dual level of decision-making. Normally in these cases the Head will take action and subsequently either will report to the GB or seek confirmation of the decision by the GB. In the Western document each function showing dual action has an explanatory qualifier.
8.2 Governors completed the list by approving qualifiers to three functions as follows;
Function 3. Miscellaneous financial decisions. The upper limit for action by Head set at £2,000.
Function 5. Investigate irregularities. The Head will initially investigate and GB promptly informed of any serious irregularity.
Function 35. To implement performance management policy. The GB will confirm the decision by Head.
8.3 Governors approved the revised list of Delegated Powers.
To be reviewed and confirmed annually.
9. Terms of Reference for Disciplinary / Appeals Committees.
9.1 The comprehensive documents, drawn up by Sarah Pease, were approved by governors. To be reviewed and confirmed annually.
9.2 Governors noted the rationale for rotational representation on the committees. Names will be taken in order from the top of the list; once a governor has sat on a committee, their name drops to the bottom of the list.
10. Extended Schools.
10.1 Governors were invited to comment on the results of the parents’ questionnaire. 97 responses had been submitted, representing about one third of all parents / guardians.
10.2 Governors welcomed the survey as a good way to involve parents. It demonstrates that Western is both forward-looking and consultative.
10.3 There was comment that the school classroom environment was not ideally suited to providing pupils with ’down-time’ activities after a day of studies. There was a view that ‘signposting’ pupils to activities at other sites may be an appropriate response for Western.
Actions in response to the initiative and the questionnaire will continue to be fully debated in Personnel Committee
Action; Personnel committee
10.4 As the parent body changes over time, the need for future questionnaires was noted.
11. Communication.
11.1 School Web-site; This has received approving comments from parents. It is often accessed by parents moving into the area. A redesign is planned.
Governors enquired whether pupils contribute to the web-site; it is hoped to include work from pupils in future. There was a query whether a Bulletin Board for dialogue might be incorporated. This was regarded as difficult to manage. Parents will soon be able to ask questions for governors by the E-mail system.
11.2 E-mail. The new system is due to commence in April. Those parents not opting in will continue to receive newsletters via pupils, though by this means some never reach home.
Governors were informed that e-mail to parents will be a non –reply set-up.
(Subsequent to the meeting governors were advised that reply to e-mail will be possible).
11.3 Newsletters , from both the Head and from Governors, will continue, as per point 11.2.
11.4 The web-site of Hants Governor Services is being revamped, but is still available; as is that of DfES at www.governornet.co.uk.
11.5 Yahoo Link; This works well, ensuring information reaches all governors.
11.6 Pigeon-holes; Governors were asked to ensure items are collected at least twice per term.
11.7 Minutes; To ensure some degree of public access to WGB Minutes, governors approved a proposal to publish approved minutes on the web-site.
Action; Clerk
Further, it was agreed to circulate draft minutes from committees to governors via the Yahoo link. Mark Phillips will send around guidelines.
12. Reports from Committees;
12.1 Minutes from Curriculum (22/1/06) and Personnel (23/11/06) had been circulated. Salient topics had been discussed at the last WGB meeting.
Curriculum;
12.2 Next meeting will be held on 28th February 2007.
Personnel and Community;
12.3 Vicki Henderson has been preparing an update on the School Travel Plan for the next meeting. The survey was a worthwhile exercise, with 140 parent respondents, 35 replies from local residents, plus responses from staff. Next meeting will be held on 5th February 2007.
Resources;
12.4 Next meeting will be held on 1st February 2007.
13. Training;
13.1 Training event for all governors on 7th February 2007 at 19.00 on ‘Self Evaluation’.
13.2 Mark Brown will attend a briefing session on Performance Management on 13th February 2007.
14. Governor Visits to School.
14.1 A schedule of planned visits is organised and taking place.
15. Any Other Business;
15.1 Governors agreed to opt in to the LEA approved Clerking Service for the forthcoming year.
16. Date of Next meeting.
Wednesday 14th March 2007 at 19.30.
Meeting closed at 21.25.
AJM29012007