All Saints’ Church of England Primary School

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS HELD AT THE SCHOOL ON 1 JULY 2015

PART 1 GOVERNORS PRESENT: Andy Barnes, Pat Dickens, Chris Eyden, Daisy Gardener, Gill Goodwin, Julia Gracey (Chair), Caroline Lloyd, Andy Olding, Charles Roberts, Helen Savage, Greg Sendell (Vice Chair), Claire Wood (Headteacher), Sophie Wybrew-Bond IN ATTENDANCE: Marinus Viljoen (Deputy Headteacher), Angela Rundle (Link Inspector, Wandsworth) for Item 3, Catherine Williams for Item 11, Helen McCahon (Clerk)

1.

WELCOME AND OPENING PRAYER Prayers were led by Chris Eyden.

2.

APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were presented by Valerie Brewis, Alex Corner, Clare Lovell, Alan Pepper and Sian Ross Russell. The governors accepted their apologies as a valid reason for non-attendance and consented to their absence. There were no unauthorised absences to report.

3.

LINK INSPECTOR’S REPORT Julia Gracey welcomed Angela Rundle, the Local Authority’s Link Inspector for All Saints’. Angela’s reports for the year had been circulated in advance of the meeting and governors took the opportunity to discuss with her a number of the issues she had raised. Following a question from Greg Sendell, the school’s attendance data was debated at length and governors expressed their frustration at the negative impact on the figures of those who took their children out of school during term-time, for example to go on holiday. Angela reassured governors that the figures remained excellent but a number of possible measures were discussed and it was agreed that Claire Wood should write to parents at the start of the next school year to remind them of the regulations on granting leave of absence and the process for requesting leave. Julia asked Angela to clarify the implications of the new Ofsted regime for schools like All Saints’ which had been judged as outstanding at the last inspection. Angela explained that from September 2015, such schools could typically expect a short visit from an Ofsted inspector every 3 years. If the visit gave any cause for concern, the school could then expect a full 2 day inspection. Caroline Lloyd asked what actions other schools in the borough were taking to promote British values and Angela shared her experiences on this. Typically they would hold assemblies on the topic and make reference to it on their school website.

Julia reminded governors of the challenge Angela had presented to the Chair and Vice Chair at her April meeting. She had based her discussion on the key questions which every governing board should ask itself, as compiled by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Education Governance and Leadership. While she had been very supportive of the school’s governance, she had felt that further work could be done to more clearly articulate the longer term strategy and vision for the school. Julia reported that consequently she had met with Greg and Claire and they had drafted up the vision and strategic direction for the next 3 to 5 years, which was circulated at the meeting. This remained a work in progress but Angela felt that it was a useful document, which was worth pursuing. She suggested some improvements, which Julia said would be helpful as they worked to finalise it. Julia thanked Angela for her time and for the invaluable support she had given to the school throughout the year. Action: Claire Wood will write to parents to remind them of the regulations on granting leave of absence and the required process for requesting leave. Julia Gracey, Greg Sendell and Claire Wood will update the vision and strategic direction for the next 3 to 5 years, before bringing it back to governors in the autumn term.

4.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEMBERSHIP Julia Gracey advised that Helen Savage planned to move out of the area and this would be her last meeting. Julia thanked Helen for her efforts; she had brought a unique set of skills to the Board of Governors and would be a hard act to follow. The terms of office for Sian Ross Russell and Greg Sendell would expire in January 2016 and parent governor elections would therefore be required in the autumn term. Greg had offered to remain as a governor in some capacity. Julia reminded governors that she planned to step down as Chair in September 2015 and she hoped that another governor would come forward to stand in her place. She reminded governors of the need for succession planning and asked them to think carefully about this. She suggested the possibility of taking on the role of Co Chair. Greg was happy to continue as Vice Chair.

5.

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Governors were asked to declare any interests relating to any item of the agenda. None were disclosed.

6.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (PART 1) The minutes of the meeting held on 7 May 2015 were agreed and signed by Julia Gracey as an accurate record.

7.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES Item 6: Claire Wood reported that the installation of an outside alarm bell in the Junior playground was in hand and the work was planned for the summer holidays. Item 6: Chris Eyden had read the “Keeping Children Safe in Education” document. Helen McCahon asked him to sign the sheet to confirm this next time he was in school. Action: Chris Eyden will sign the sheet to confirm he has read the “Keeping Children Safe in Education” document.

Item 7: Julia Gracey had invited Angela Rundle to the meeting of the Board of Governors (see Item 3 above). Item 9: Caroline Lloyd confirmed that all the recommendations in the “Keeping Children Safe in Education” document had been completed. Item 10: Alan Pepper had circulated a summary of the 2015/16 budget to governors.

8.

HEADTEACHER’S REPORT The Headteacher’s report had been circulated in advance of the meeting and Claire Wood highlighted a number of staffing changes, arising since her previous report. She took the opportunity to invite governors to drinks with the staff on 17 July 2015 and said that she would send out further details. Following a question from Sophie Wybrew-Bond, Claire clarified that the annual meeting regarding secondary transfer was now held with parents of Year 5 children, instead of Year 6 children. The intention was to give parents more time to prepare for the process. Julia Gracey commented on the small number of church places (only 2) within next year's Reception intake and Claire confirmed that this was partly explained by those children who would have been awarded a church place, if they had not already been offered a sibling place. Chris Eyden went on to talk about All Saints' unique selling point as a Church of England school and felt that this would be enhanced further by extending access to the church places to those who worshipped at St Margaret's. Further consideration would be given to this during the next academic year. Julia was also pleased to note that the school and nursery were at almost full capacity. Claire said that the expected numbers for next year were likely to change a little before September 2015, as they always do at this time of the year. They would continue to advertise the nursery, with the intention of filling all remaining spaces. Caroline Lloyd was interested to see that one parent had withdrawn her child from the Sex and Relationships Education session earlier in the term. While this had been for a good reason, she had understood that parents were no longer able to do this. Claire agreed to follow this up to ensure that the school continued to observe the correct procedures. Daisy Gardener asked when the Pupil Premium data would be available. Claire advised that the full details would come out in October 2015 via Raise Online but further work would be done internally before then and a progress report would be compiled. Julia thanked Claire for her efforts in putting together a useful and comprehensive summary of the school’s activities over the last term. Action: Claire Wood will send out details of the drinks party for staff and governors on 17 July 2015. Claire Wood will confirm whether parents have the right to withdraw their children from Sex and Relationships Education sessions.

9.

CHAIR’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE ON BEHALF OF GOVERNING BODY Julia Gracey reported on her key activities in her role as Chair since the last meeting. On 16 June 2015, she and Daisy Gardener had visited a school in Kingston, which was show-casing outstanding governance. The event had been organised by SDBE and governors from 10 schools had attended. They were pleased to note that governance at All Saints’ measured up well but it was nevertheless valuable to share experiences with other governors and they had picked up a number of interesting ideas, which they had fed back to Claire Wood.

On the same day, she and Daisy had also been attended the local Deanery Synod at St Margaret’s Church, where they had heard Colin Powell, the Director of SDBE, speak on “an overview of the work and functions of the SDBE in an ever-changing education landscape.” Julia had spoken at the recent meeting of new Reception parents. As suggested by Charles Roberts, parents had been invited to set up standing orders for the payment of the annual maintenance contribution and this process would be rolled out shortly to parents across the rest of the school. In addition, Year 6 parents would be invited before their children left the school to contribute to a legacy fund. Julia thanked Charles for his efforts in this area. On 20 June 2015, she had attended the Summer Fayre which had been a lovely event and she had written to FOASS on behalf of the governors to thank them. She had also participated in the successful joint Eucharist with St Mary’s School on 23 June 2015. The music had been spectacular and the children’s behaviour excellent. It was planned to repeat the event on an annual or biannual basis. Finally, she had accompanied Year 6 at the Leavers’ Service at Southwark Cathedral earlier that day.

10.

REPORTS BY COMMITTEES AND WORKGROUPS Finance and Premises Committee Alan Pepper had prepared a comprehensive financial update, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting. In his absence, Andy Olding drew governors’ attention to 2 items. The full year out-turn for the school budget in 2014/15 confirms that the school did in fact make a surplus in the year of £62,602, resulting in a carried forward surplus of £110,000. Alan had provided detailed explanations for this. The focus now is on ensuring that any in-year deficits are controlled. There are 2 capex projects underway, namely the redecoration of the nursery and the upgrade of the IT suite. Following the meeting, the requisite number of quotes was received for the redecoration of the nursery and discussed by the Finance and Premises committee. The committee proposed to proceed with the work at a cost of £14,629 as a matter of urgency. They sought approval from the Board of Governors by email and approval was duly given, also by email. Personnel Committee Caroline Lloyd said that all personnel issues had been covered under Item 8 above. Marinus Viljoen would be participating in safer recruitment training next term. Health and Safety Committee Andy Barnes reported that they had carried out a walk round shortly after half-term to review the work which had been carried out. They planned to meet Malcolm Adam shortly to discuss the summer maintenance list. Claire Wood added that a fire drill had been carried out the day before. The evacuation of the building had been completed very quickly in 1 minute 13 seconds. Registration had been a little slow, owing to supply teachers who were not familiar with the process but this in itself had provided some useful learning points. Admissions Committee Julia Gracey advised that the admissions cycle for the year was complete and there would be nothing further to report until next term.

Curriculum and Standards Committee The Curriculum and Standards committee had not met since the last meeting. Faith Group The Faith group had not met since the last meeting. Communications Working Party Sophie Wybrew-Bond expressed her frustration at the lack of progress on the communications, marketing and ethos project she was leading, owing largely to outdated website technology and lack of support from the website supplier. She is pursuing this with their Creative Director and hopes to report more positive news shortly.

11.

SCHOOL POLICIES Equality and Diversity Policy The proposed equality and diversity policy had been circulated in advance of the meeting. Apart from updating the figures included within the policy, the only significant change was the replacing of the accessibility paragraph by a more comprehensive accessibility policy, attached as an appendix. Claire Wood explained that this arose from a need to be more explicit about accessibility, although in practice, the school had been following this approach for some time. Governors agreed to adopt and approve the policy, subject to minor amendments. SEN and Inclusion Policy The proposed SEN and inclusion policy had been circulated in advance of the meeting. Catherine Williams said that she and Daisy Gardener had worked on it together and had already tested it on a group of parents, who gave very positive feedback. Governors agreed to adopt and approve the policy, subject to minor amendments. Julia Gracey thanked Daisy and Catherine for their efforts in pulling the policy together, following significant changes brought about by the new Code of Practice, which had been introduced in September 2014. Medical Conditions Policy The proposed medical conditions policy was carried forward to a future meeting. Greg Sendell requested to go on epipen training at the next suitable opportunity. Claire Wood suggested that he join one of the school sessions planned for next year and asked Greg to liaise with her on dates. Action: Greg Sendell will check epipen training dates with Claire Wood.

12.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN REVIEW The SIP had been circulated in advance of the meeting. This followed an update to the plan by the Curriculum and Standards committee, highlighting the status of objectives and success criteria. Claire Wood summarised progress against the 2014/15 targets. This included the imaginative topics covered under the new primary curriculum and the significant work carried out on developing an effective and robust assessment system, although she recognised that there remained much to do in this area.

She personally had derived much pleasure from the focus on the outdoor environment and she particularly thanked Pat Dickens for her efforts here. The work on raising standards in spelling and rich vocabulary had begun and would continue. Julia Gracey asked how success was measured and Marinus Viljoen explained that this was primarily through spelling tests at the beginning and end of each year. Claire mentioned that the achievement of 5 pupils achieving Level 6 in writing highlighted the fact that the more able pupils were benefitting from the increased focus on spelling and rich vocabulary. She felt that while good progress had been made on the monitoring of collective worship, more work remained to be done on assessment in RE and this would be given an increased focus next year. A full, detailed summary of the SIP will be presented to governors in September 2015, once the school data is available and the plan has been reviewed by staff. Governors commented on the many achievements of the school over the last year. They felt that the new traffic light format of the SIP was a significant improvement.

13.

FINAL ACCOUNTS This is covered under Item 10 above.

14.

YEAR 5 AND 6 SCHOOL JOURNEY ACCOUNT Claire Wood reported that both the Year 5 and 6 trips to Hooke Court and Mill Rythe respectively had once again been very successful. The Pupil Premium grant had been used, for those children who were eligible, and could not have otherwise afforded to attend the school journey. Governors agreed that this was an excellent use of PPG funding. June Heard was organising the final reconciliation and would ask Julia Gracey to sign the accounts once this was complete. Charles Roberts asked whether the School Journey account needed to be reported at a meeting of the Board of Governors, or whether the Finance and Premises committee was a more appropriate forum, and Claire offered to look into this. Action: Claire Wood will find out whether the Year 5 and 6 School Journey account should be reported at a meeting of the Board of Governors, or whether the Finance and Premises committee is a more appropriate forum.

15.

AFTER SCHOOL PROVISION PROPOSAL A proposal for after school provision had been circulated in advance of the meeting. The proposal had already been shared with the Curriculum and Standards committee, who were concerned about the offer of emergency places on the day and had pointed out that the club might need to be held in a different part of the school every day. They felt that a trial period of a term would be sensible, if approval for the club was given. The proposal generated much discussion amongst governors. Helen Savage pointed out the importance of adequate insurance, Claire Wood stressed that the club should not add to workload of the office staff or of Malcolm Adam, and Greg Sendell said that the other school clubs should not be compromised. Governors agreed that the concept was a good one but felt that they needed more detail before being able to make a judgement and that other providers should be approached in order to give a point of comparison. Julia Gracey asked governors to email her and Claire Wood, clarifying their concerns and suggesting ways to progress the proposal. Action: Governors will email Julia Gracey and Claire Wood to clarify their concerns on the after school provision proposal and to suggest ways to progress it.

16.

TRAINING FOR GOVERNORS Charles Roberts had recently attended an induction session for newly appointed governors, run by Wandsworth. He had found it interesting and well delivered.

17.

GOVERNORS’ VISITS Marinus Viljoen summarised the recent enterprise project, which ran over the 3 weeks following half-term. The school had worked with Stepping into Business to deliver a series of activities, including a launch day, a pitch day and a market day, designed to teach Year 6 children more about business and enterprise. The project had surpassed all expectations and received very positive feedback from all concerned. Chris Eyden, Charles Roberts and Greg Sendell had been on the judging panel and both had been impressed by the teamwork and enthusiasm shown by the children and the thoroughness of their presentations. It was hoped to repeat the project next year and Marinus commented that it would be helpful to allow a little more time to complete the process. As we were a pilot project this year, we did not incur the approximately £1,000 it would normally cost to buy into the programme. Claire suggested that we would want to investigate some fundraising to enable us to repeat the project next year. Julia said that governors would be keen to support it as well. Daisy Gardener’s report of her visit to the school on 5 May 2015 had been circulated in advance of the meeting. She had met with Catherine Williams for an update on SEN provision and she had visited Reception to see examples of provision. Julia Gracey thanked her for her helpful comments. Julia took the opportunity to seek governor opinions on the current school visit format. The general view was that it is helpful to link individual governors with a particular year group, since it allows them to build up a strong relationship with the cohort. However, it might also be possible to link them to curriculum areas, so that they can focus on a particular area and observe a broader range of pupils across the school. This can be revisited next term.

18.

NEXT MEETINGS

Julia Gracey flagged a number of upcoming events: 9 July 2015 10 September 2015 17 September 2015 24 September 2015

Year 6 Play and Barbecue – 18:30 SDBE Eucharist at Southwark Cathedral – 19:00 Meet the Teachers and Governors Board of Governors meeting – 19:00 (further meetings to be confirmed)

Julia also raised the possibility of holding one of the Board of Governors meetings during the school day, as a means of involving pupils.

19.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS Greg Sendell asked whether confirmation regarding violin lessons next term had been sent to Alison Hunka. Claire Wood confirmed that it had. On behalf of the Board of Governors, Julia Gracey asked Claire to thank the staff for their efforts over the course of an excellent year for the school.

______________________________ Chair

______________________________ Date

Summary of Meeting Actions Minutes Reference

Action Details

Action By

Item 3. Link Inspector’s report

Claire Wood will write to parents to remind them of the regulations on granting leave of absence and the required process for requesting leave.

Claire Wood

Item 3. Link Inspector’s report

Julia Gracey, Greg Sendell and Claire Wood will update the vision and strategic direction for the next 3 to 5 years, before bringing it back to governors in the autumn term.

Julia Gracey, Greg Sendell, Claire Wood

Item 7. Matters arising

Chris Eyden will sign the sheet to confirm he has read the “Keeping Children Safe in Education” document.

Chris Eyden

Item 8. Headteacher’s report

Claire Wood will send out details of the drinks party for staff and governors on 17 July 2015.

Claire Wood

Item 8. Headteacher’s report

Claire Wood will confirm whether parents have the right to withdraw their children from Sex and Relationships Education sessions.

Claire Wood

Item 11. School policies

Greg Sendell will check epipen training dates with Claire Wood.

Greg Sendell

Item 14. School Journey account

Claire Wood Claire Wood will find out whether the Year 5 and 6 School Journey account should be reported at a meeting of the Board of Governors, or whether the Finance and Premises committee is a more appropriate forum.

Item 15. After school provision

Governors will email Julia Gracey and Claire Wood to clarify their Governors concerns on the after school provision proposal and to suggest ways to progress it.