Minutes of the Full Governing Body of Ingleton Primary School

Apologies were received from Jen Thistlethwaite and Michelle Hartnell – consented.

Action point – David Alexander confirmed that he had a discussion with Jen Middleton to review access to the school Facebook site. The school pages are an open group. It was agreed that as long as there is consent for the children on the site, usage just needs to be monitored.

Rachel Wall had circulated a brief note of introduction before the meeting.  She explained that she moved to the village over a year ago, and was looking for an opportunity to use her skills. She is a trained teacher, was Head of Year in her last school, has experience as a SENCo and has an interest in pastoral care.

Rachel Wall was welcomed by governors who said that her skills would benefit the GB.

Rachel Wall was elected as a Co-opted Governors for a term of 4 years from 09 February 2022.

Rachel Wall agreed to be link governor for Swaledale class.

It was agreed that the Governor Disqualification forms would be resigned at the next meeting.

GQ – What is happening with attendance at present.

R – HT stated that she is not worried about the current level of attendance as some leeway needs to be given for Covid.

GQ – Do you assign a reason for absence.

R – Yes. There are different codes used, but Covid isolation is still recorded as an absence.

HT explained how attendance had been recorded during lockdowns.

The current 94% attendance is still higher than the national average of 88% and was considered a good result in the circumstances.

GQ – As HT are you still needing to teach to cover absences.

R – No. The situation has eased as more staff are back in school.

HT explained the reasons for the suite of assessments required in Primary Schools this year. This is having an impact in some classes, especially Y6. The resulting data will not be published but the LA will still have the details. It is not clear what the final outcome will be.

GQ – How long do you think it will be before you get fully back on track.

R – All children have lost time in school, especially the younger children. It is still a challenge. It would have been good to have a different focus this year with less time spent on assessments. How children are doing could be found out by questioning teachers and parents.

School standards – HT thanked Jen Middleton for completing the overview.

GQ – Which Phonics scheme is being used.

R – We are using Little Wandle. It is very prescriptive, as was the training. We are already seeing the results though. A lot of staff time is spent on Early Years Reading.

GQ – Have you any Educational Health Care Plan applications being processed at present.

R – No. There may be one to start after Easter.

It was noted that Mrs Burnett has settled into her new role as SENCo and that non-teaching time was allowed for the role.

GQ – It is good that you managed to get a Speech and Language Therapist to visit the school. How did that go.

R – It was a valuable visit. Exercises were worked through, some of which were quite lengthy. The results were very good.

Jen Ward explained that there had been useful contact with the Mental Health in Schools Team.

The Facebook pages were discussed, covered earlier by David Alexander.

The parent survey has been carried out. The final results need to be collated.

GQ – What sort of response would we normally expect to a parent survey.

R – For the Ofsted survey we got 100 responses. With over 70 that is positive. The deadline for the survey is 11 February 2022.

Early results are that 100% agree that their child feels happy and safe in school. 97% believe that the children are well behaved. The response is 75% positive concerning clubs and activities in school.

GQ – Do you think the school club answer is down to availability over the past two years.

R – Yes, that may account for it.

Resources Committee

David Alexander outlined the outcome of the meeting.

There was an action to look at an app that can be used to log on to the school CCTV system. Correspondence is taking place to access the app and conduct a trial.

The new boiler has been installed and is up and running. Two staff have been trained to use the boiler control system. The boiler is currently controlled remotely by NYCC Energy Team. Additional staff will be trained to operate the system. Energy charges will be kept under review.

GQ – Are you prepared for the energy price rises in April.

R – We will be signing a new 3-year contract. The new boilers should be much more energy efficient and they have better control systems.

It was noted that the nursery fence still needs to be repaired, and will be arranged this term.

It was agreed that the focus of the next round of governor visits would be Wellbeing. Next term the area to concentrate on will be Outdoor Learning.

The policy was circulated to governors before the meeting. HT confirmed that the policy had been updated following completion of Evolve training. There were no amendments suggested.

Approval of the policy was proposed by Katie Harrison, seconded by David Alexander, and agreed by all.

ACTION: All; Complete the NGA Skills Audit and email to David Alexander. Completion date – 28 February 2022.

ACTION: David Alexander; Collate the responses to the NGA Skills Audit and share with governors. Completion date – next GB meeting.

It was agreed that a date would be arranged and governors and staff notified. HT agreed to discuss with the school staff.

A social event has been agreed for wellbeing.

The governor monitoring plan is agreed for the rest of the year.

Approved an important school policy.