Minutes of the Full Governing Body of Ingleton Primary School

held on Wednesday, May 11th 2022, at 7.00pm

GQ = Governor’s Question
R = Response.

Governors present: David Alexander, Vikki Bromley, Jo Colledge (Head), Katie Harrison (Vice Chair), Michelle Hartnell, Jen Thistlethwaite (Chair), Jane Walker, Jenny Ward, Rachel Wall.

Clerk: David Wild, Rob Thacker.

Minutes
No. Item Minute Action
Part ‘A’ – PROCEDURAL
1 Welcome and consideration of absence. There were no absences.

The Chair thanked Katie Harrison for chairing the previous meeting, and welcomed Rob Thacker to the meeting.

2 To remind governors of the need to declare interests None declared.
3 To determine whether any part of the proceedings should be treated as confidential. None

4 To determine whether other urgent business should be considered. None
5 Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting held on 09 February 2022. No amendments were required. Approval of the minutes was proposed by Katie Harrison, seconded by Jane Walker, and approved by all. The minutes were signed by the Chair as a correct record.
6 Actions and matters arising not covered by the agenda. It was noted that the proposed social event was on hold at present.
7 Governance. Jen Thistlethwaite’s term of office as a Co-opted Governor was due to end on 07 August 2022. Mrs Thistlethwaite confirmed that she was willing to stand for a further term of office. Reappointment as a Co-opted Governor was proposed by Michelle Hartnell, seconded by Rachel Wall, and approved by all. Jen Thistlethwaite was appointed as a Co-opted Governor for a term of 4 years from 08 August 2022 to 07 August 2026.

Katie Harrison informed governors that she would finish as a governor at the end of the Summer term. Mrs Harrison was thanked for her work on the Governing Body and for acting as Vice Chair.

PART ‘B’ – SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
8 Budget report – Outturn statement. The financial reports were provided to governors and introduced by the Bursar.

The Outturn statement is for information and provides the financial position at the end of the financial year. The remaining surplus was greater than expected by approximately £13,000. The Bursar pointed out that £7,300 was carried over from the Sports Premium and needs to be used in the 2022-2023 budget. There were also useful savings on energy and water costs. Some training was postponed and so added to the surplus.

The main variances in the budget were highlighted to governors.

It was noted that the surplus will be needed going forward.

GQ – Is the £7,000 Sports Premium carried into next year.

R – Yes, it carries forward but will need to be spent.

GQ – Will the Sports Premium continue.

R – At present there is no decision on that, but Bursars have been told to keep the same figure in the budget for now.

Governors discussed the wider benefits that have come from the Sports Premium, and agreed that it was needed more than ever after lockdown. HT confirmed that the required amount will be spent by July.

Governors discussed the Government White Paper on increasing base salaries for teachers to £30,000. The Bursar confirmed that the budget is based only on known figures. If the increase takes place additional funds will be needed.

9 Start Budget 2022-2023. The Bursar explained that staffing and pupil numbers accounted for the majority of the budget. When planning the budget, the tendency is to err on the side of caution. The best estimates for costs and pupil numbers are used.

Potential pay rises for staff have been built in. Additional funding is provided for Early Years staff pension contributions. There is a supplementary grant for National Insurance contributions and energy costs. At some point the additional grants should be incorporated into the funding formula.

Budgeted amounts for SEN and Pupil Premium, are all based on what is currently known. It was noted that nursery funding has increased a little.

Energy costs are rising. An additional 50% has been added to fuel and oil, and an extra 55% for electricity. Governors should be aware that energy costs still pose a risk. The increases amounts have been kept in the budgets for the next two years.

It was noted that the school is forecast to have in-year deficits in operations in each of the three years. The balances carried forward will avoid an overall deficit. The Bursar explained that the LA view on surplus budgets had changed and that they no longer considered clawing back surplus funds.

GQ – The supplementary grant is a flat figure, why is that.

R – There is no information available for future years so the same figure is put in the budgets.

GQ – If each pupil brings in approximately £4,000, what are the costs for each pupil.

R – That is not something that we tend to work out, there will be a wide variation in costs. It partly depends on the staff structure in the school.

Governors approved the 2022-2023 Start Budget.

The Bursar was thanked for her input and left the meeting.

10 Headteacher’s report. Governors considered the Spring Term assessment data provided. It was noted that there was some concern about Year 3. This year group had been hit hard by Covid school closures. HT explained that teaching was adapted to the children, but that the curriculum for the year still needs to be followed. Year 3 is split between two classes. Next year they should all be in one class which should help.

GQ – Which group do the attendance figures relate to.

R – That is the whole school. Being below 90% is affected by Covid absences.

GQ – Having low attendance was brought up at the last inspection.

R – Yes. The problem then was that we included Reception and Under 5s in the figures. There is still a Covid effect but there are also some underlying concerns.

Governors discussed other details of the attainment data. Year 2 and Year 6 data was reviewed including the predicted SATs results.

It was noted that Jen Thistlethwaite had visited the school to check SATs exam conditions, which were found to be very good.

HT explained that progress towards pupils’ individual targets were viewed as the most important.

GQ – For Year 6, do you know what last year’s data was for comparison.

R – The previous SATs were 2019 and figures are not to hand. These results are likely to be better.

It was noted that standards in Writing tend not to be as good as Reading. This is the case nationally. Writing was hard to teach during lockdown.

It was agreed that the children’s work ethic in school was very good. However, there is still work to do catching up after lockdowns. Social skills are not as well developed as they were. It was also agreed that children were very happy in the school.

11 Pupil performance data. There were no incidents to discuss.
HT confirmed that the Single Central Record was up to date.

ACTION: Headteacher: Compare Year 3 attainment and attendance figures and report findings to governors. Completion date – next GB meeting.

12 School improvement / development plan. Covered by the HT report.
 13 Safeguarding update. The School Adviser visited to review Safeguarding, with Katie Harrison also attending. The adviser’s report is still awaited. HT will circulate to governors when available. The conclusion was that Safeguarding was highly effective
 14 SEND update. It was noted that the school has a large number of pupils registered but relatively few with Educational Health Care Plans. HT explained that the performance of the LA in this area was poor. Recent EHCPs had been produced to deadline but had taken the LA up to 6 months to process. HT has expressed her displeasure at the time taken. Governors agreed that this was a cause for concern, especially for pupils who may be transitioning to secondary school. Parents can have little faith in the system.
 15 Reports from committees. School Improvement Committee – The committee had considered the Pay Policy and parental leave. The Safeguarding visit was completed. It was agreed that Jane Walker will be the link governor for the Nursery.

Governors were reminded that they should complete the online Safeguarding course.

The Chair offered to check which training governors need to be up to date with.

Resources Committee – The committee had reviewed the Outturn Statement and Start Budget in detail, covered by the Bursar at this meeting. The SFVS had been approved and sent to the LA. Rising energy costs were discussed, and included in the Start Budget. A new Hygiene contract has started. In future the committee will be looking at options for phone systems.

16 Governor Skills Audit. David Alexander was thanked for collating the responses. Mr Alexander provided a summary of the information as a table and graph. It was noted that overall, the average score for the GB was good, showing a good knowledge and skill level. A number of responses indicated that training in certain areas would be welcome.

Lower scores were given to Developing Strategy and Budget Monitoring. This will be considered in more detail at a later date.

It was agreed that governors will look for relevant training opportunities.

17 Property and health and safety update. The H&S visit due in Spring Term had to be cancelled, but Dale Barton was due to visit on 13 June. It was also agreed that Jane Walker would visit the school to carry out a Governors Health and safety inspection.

18 Governor monitoring. Katie Harrison had visited the school to monitor Safeguarding, and Jen Thistlethwaite had visited to monitor SATS exam conditions.

Governors confirmed that following the relaxation of Covid restrictions they were making arrangements to visit their linked classes.

19 Policies. None for this meeting. Policies will continue to be reviewed by the relevant committees

20 Governor training. Discussed earlier.

PART ‘C’ – OTHER BUSINESS
21 To deal with matters agreed for consideration under item 4. The Chair reminded governors that their role was to provide strategic direction and to support the school.
22 Correspondence. None
23 How has this meeting impacted on the welfare and progress of our pupils. Completed a skills audit with good results.

Approved the Start Budget.

Have reviewed and discussed pupil progress.

Agreed to look for suitable training opportunities.

24 Date of next meeting. The next meeting of the Governing Body will be on Wednesday 21st September 2022 at 6:30 pm.
Closure There being no other business the Chair closed the meeting at 8:30 pm.