Minutes of the Full Governing Body of Ingleton Primary School

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Approved the Start Budget.

Have reviewed and discussed pupil progress.

Agreed to look for suitable training opportunities.