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WELCOME to the spring term issue of Governors’ Update. As governors are no longer obliged to hold an annual meeting with parents, we have decided to keep you informed by writing to you on a regular basis.
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
The school is committed to helping children with Special Needs. Whilst schools
receive extra funding for statemented children, they do not get any extra
money for the other children on their Special Needs Register. Through careful
management of our school budget, we have been able to fund significant additional
help for our SEN children. There have been staffing changes recently which
have resulted in our Special Needs Co-Ordinator, Miss Cato, returning to
the classroom for a limited number of hours but this has not affected her
SENCO role or hours. We are pleased that the solution to the staffing change
has enabled us to continue providing additional support to SEN children.
Attainment and Achievement
When Mr Tagg joined the school, he spent much of his first year putting
in place effective planning, assessment and tracking. As a result, the school
has an assessment week each term which enables the teachers to assess their
pupils’ progress (and report back to you at parents’ evenings).
Children have also been tracked far more effectively in recent years, enabling
the school to pinpoint successful teaching and likewise highlight areas
which need improving. A new assessment programme has been in place this
year with summative assessment tests in the core subjects being carried
out at the end of each half term. This has enabled the school to improve
certain girls’ performances in maths, with 76% on track or better.
In reading, 77% are ahead of normal expected progress. Writing has been
an area which the school has been focussing on, resulting in 43% of children
across the school ahead of expected progress. Work continues.
Science Week
Science Week was held after half-term and gave the teachers and pupils an
opportunity to forget their usual timetables and have some science related
fun! Two governors, Collette Gilbert and Kate La Motte, took the opportunity
to visit the school to see each year group in action and Collette made the
following observations: “The classrooms looked wonderful with beautiful
brightly coloured displays. The children were well behaved and captivated
by what they were doing. The school has such a great atmosphere and I left
feeling uplifted. A very enjoyable experience.”
Collette paid credit to Mr Tagg and his staff for their hard work and dedication, particularly Miss Blackburn who organised the week.
Music and Arts
Collette also attended two evenings recently devoted to Music. The first
was the Music and Arts evening run by the school, “a brilliant mix
of solo and group performances from some extremely talented children.”
The second was the Liaison Group Music Festival held at the Chalfont’s
Community College. “The school choir and orchestra performed with
seven other schools and sounded fantastic.” Thank you to Miss Breakell
and Mrs Whiteley for their hard work in organising these events.
The School Website
Kate La Motte is spending much of her time investigating ways of improving
and updating the school’s website. She has been liaising with web
companies to obtain quotes for the work required and the school is hoping
to launch a brand new site in July.
How the Governing Body Works
There have been a number of changes to the Governing Body recently, with
new governors elected. Governors are as follows:
Nigel Hobbs: Chairman
Collette Gilbert: Deputy Chairman
Helen Johnson: Staff Governor
Kate La Motte: Parent Governor
Eleanor O’Connor: Parent Governor
Cheryll Older: Staff Governor
Gordon Patrick: Local Authority Governor
Alison Robinson: Parent Governor
Andy Tagg: Headteacher
Judy Thompson: Community Governor
Jenny Worts: Parent Governor
Neville White: Parent Governor
The full Governing Body meets twice a term; one is a formal meeting, minuted by a Council clerk, and deals with statutory matters raised by the Government or the Council, eg, new government guidelines or law, new policies, standing orders for the committees, self-evaluation and other such exciting issues. The other meeting tends to be informal, giving us an opportunity to look at more general issues relating to the school that we do not have time to cover in our formal meeting, eg, the school plan which specifies the key objectives to be achieved by the school over the current academic year.
Governors join either the Management Committee or the School Committee. The Management Committee, chaired by Collette Gilbert, oversees the finances of the school, the maintenance of the fabric of the school, and health and safety issues. The School Committee, chaired by Eleanor O’Connor, oversees curriculum issues including policies, assessment and tracking of pupils, targets, and educational visits.
We also have a Marketing Working Group, chaired by Kate La Motte, which was recently set up to oversee the marketing of the school. It is responsible for this Update and is currently looking into revamping the school website (as explained earlier).
In addition to all the above, Governors take on responsibility for certain curriculum or school areas and, depending on the office held, may need to make a visit to the school to discuss that particular area with the member of staff responsible for it. For example, governors responsible for Special Needs, Literacy and Numeracy will visit termly to get an update on how these areas are progressing and report back to the Governing Body.
Current Key Responsibilities are: PSHE and Numeracy: Kate La Motte; SEN: Eleanor O’Connor; Literacy/Child Protection: Judy Thompson.
This is obviously not a full list as all the curriculum areas are not covered but with the new governor appointments, we will be reviewing responsibilities.
Happy Holidays!
With Easter so early this year, we cannot wish you a Happy Easter, but we
hope the children and staff have a well deserved and enjoyable break for
two weeks before the summer term begins. It’s hard to believe we’re
two thirds through the school year!
If you have any comments on this Update or would like to contact any member
of the Governing Body, please send an email or letter care of the school
office.