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MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE FEDERATION OF SEAGRY AND SOMERFORDS WALTER POWELL PRIMARY SCHOOLS
HELD ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2011 AT SOMERFORDS’ WALTER POWELL PRIMARY SCHOOL
Present : Kevin Pearce (KP), new Chair; Rachel Nuttall (RN), new Vice Chair; Elaine Naughton (EN); Jill Rowe (JR),
Headteacher; Doreen Jevons (DJ); Lisa Shibley (LS); Emily Edmondson (EE); Alastair Kemp (AK); Heather Lee (HL); Kerry
Leslie (KL); Brian Moxom (BM); Mark McQueen (MM); Sally McEwen (SM); and Jonathan Barstow (JB)
In attendance: Peter Fox (PF)
Minutes taken by Samantha Forrest (Clerk to Governors)
ITEM AGENDA ITEM PURPOSE NOTES/ACTIONS WHO WHEN BY
NO BY
1. Opening prayer JR opened and chaired the meeting until item 8, when a new Chair
was elected. Introductions were made in lieu of an opening prayer.
2. Apologies To sanction Apologies were received from Paul Davies and sanctioned. Govs
3. Welcome new JR welcomed new governor Kerry Leslie, new Clerk Samantha
members Forrest and Peter Fox who was attending as an observer.
4. Declaration of To inform/ Governors were asked to renew their declaration of interests in All govs/
interests update writing and return the form to the Clerk who would update the Clerk
Register of Interests.
5. Code of conduct To renew Governors signed the Code of Conduct covering the period from All govs
signatures September 2011 to September 2013.
6. Minutes of To approve The minutes of 18th July 2011 were agreed as a true and accurate Govs
previous meeting record and signed.
7. Matters arising Actions:
7.0 JB reported that the planning application for solar panels was JB
nearly ready for submission.
7.1 The contractual policy would be completed as soon as JB
possible.
9.0 JR reported that work was in hand to respond to the
requirements of the Equality and Diversity Act but this was
not yet complete
11.0 Work was progressing on the new School Prospectus
13.0 The schools’ profiles had not yet been updated due to
difficulties accessing the school profile website. (Note: it was
subsequently confirmed that the website had been disbanded by
the government. Instead, there will be more detail in league tables
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ITEM AGENDA ITEM PURPOSE NOTES/ACTIONS WHO WHEN BY
NO BY
to be issued from the end of this academic year.) PD had agreed
to review the school websites. PD
8. Election of Chair To elect and a) Chair: Kevin Pearce was proposed by EN and seconded by
and Vice Chair appoint JR. The vote was unanimous and KP was duly appointed as
Chair.
b) Vice Chair: Rachel Nuttall was proposed by EN and seconded
by DJ. The vote was unanimous and RN was duly appointed
as Vice Chair.
KP was invited to take the chair from this point in the proceedings.
9. Schedule of To agree The Clerk was asked to schedule dates for the next year, with Clerk
meetings reference to last year’s dates and to include a December and June
meeting.
It was agreed that the Communications Committee would continue
to meet monthly and the Finance, Staffing and Premises
Committee would continue to meet every other month. Due to
some pressing issues, the next meeting of the latter was scheduled
for 26th September. The Clerk would agree dates for all Clerk
committees with the respective chairs and circulate for information.
There followed a discussion on the structure and function of the
committees. EN was keen to ensure that issues and challenges
arising from the Comms Committee were being picked up and
scrutinised by the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee JB
was asked to review the recent budget changes and report back.
It was agreed that a third committee should be established: the KP, JB &
Standards and Curriculum Committee. DJ, KL, LS and SM agreed Chair of
to join. AK would join the Finance Committee to ensure a quorum. new
Terms of reference should be drafted for all committees. Cttee
10. Review of To review The Chair invited comments on the success of the previous year’s
objectives and agree four objectives:
a) Celebrating the schools’ identities – it was generally agreed
that this had been successful. In particular, it had been
possible to run a number of joint activities whilst still preserving
the schools’ separate identities. Initiatives involving the village
communities had also helped in achieving this objective.
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ITEM AGENDA ITEM PURPOSE NOTES/ACTIONS WHO WHEN BY
NO BY
b) Attracting more pupils – despite significant effort, pupil
numbers at SPS were at a minimal level and considerably
lower than the 59 predicted. There was thought to be a lack of
ownership of the school on the part of the village and the
forthcoming open day was designed to give parents more
confidence. It was agreed that the focus should be on
retention as well as recruitment and EN confirmed that this
was reflected in the marketing strategy. Action was needed
both to address the immediate issues and to consider longer
term strategies and possible alternative models for the future.
If numbers dropped further, a five-year plan to recover the
deficit would be required. JR and KP would discuss this JR/KP
further outside the meeting.
c) Good communications – KP said that, while communications
had improved, there was more to do. KL suggested that more
information on the governors and what they do was needed.
The ‘governor of the month’ initiative had been well received
but it was agreed that governors should look for more
opportunities to present themselves to both parents and
children. More regular communication with parents, for
example by letter, was also needed. In terms of school
communications, KL said that the newsletter was an important
communications tool.
d) Seeking to maintain standards – JR reported that,
notwithstanding the difficulties of measuring standards for very
small cohorts, work was in hand. An analysis of SAT results
had been carried out and would form the basis for a
development plan. This would be referred to the new S&C Ctte
Standards and Curriculum Committee and be brought back to Chair
the FFGB after Christmas.
Governors agreed to continue with the four objectives for the next
year and to actively publicise the goals and progress towards
achieving them.
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11. Reports from To note Comms Committee: KP reported that the committee had met on
committees 15th September and had focused on the open days planned for 5th
November. These would be aligned with community activities
wherever possible. Surrounding villages, in particular Corston,
would be targeted with invitations and leaflets to get the message
across that Seagry was their local school. EN asked for governors’
help in making leaflet drops and asked the Finance Committee to
identify a budget for leaflets. An advert was due to appear in
Signpost. EN had also briefed staff on the importance of talking
positively about their school within the local communities. DJ
suggested lobbying the local Parish Church Councils for support.
MM stressed the need to use the open days to promote retention of
current pupils as well as to attract new ones.
Finance Committee: the Committee had not met since the
previous FFGB.
12. Agree timetable for To agree JR explained that it was a statutory requirement to set a timetable Chair of
reviewing schools’ for review and to set new goals for development. This had S&C
development plan implications for all committees but it was agreed that the Standards Cttee
and Curriculum Committee would take the lead and bring in the
other committees as necessary. The Committee would report back
to governors at the next meeting.
13. Headteacher’s To inform JR had circulated a brief report covering the first two weeks of
report term. This outlined the current NORs and pupil movements in and
out of the schools, the appointment of a new TA, joint staff
meetings (including work to analyse SAT results) , curriculum
issues (including fortnightly teaching of French) and TD days for
2011/12.
14. Appointment of To appoint The requirement was for two governors to carry out the EN/RN
governor to review performance review(s). EN and RN were appointed for this
Headteacher’s purpose.
performance
15. CYPP plan To agree on The Clerk explained that a new Children and Young People’s Plan All to
action to for 2012-15 had been drafted and was out for consultation. consider
respond Governors agreed that a member should respond on behalf of the
Governing Body; volunteers were asked to contact the Clerk.
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16. Correspondence The following items of correspondence were outlined:
To note a) Two flyers giving training opportunities for governors –
circulated for information
To note b) Multi-agency thresholds – a document was available, which Clerk
the Clerk would obtain and circulate
To note c) Anti-bullying – a 24 page guide was available. The Clerk Clerk
would obtain the document and make it available when the
anti-bullying policy was due for review. This would be done
initially with the pupils in October before being brought to the
governors at the next meeting.
To adopt d) Joint statement by the Council and the unions on changes to
Ts and Cs for support staff – the collective agreement was
duly adopted by the Governing Body (proposed by MM,
seconded by AK).
To consider e) A written request from WP pre-school to waive the rent ‘for the
foreseeable future’, since only seven places had been filled for
the current year, with 12 needed to break even. The bill for
last year’s rent was due to be issued shortly and governors
agreed this should go ahead. The issue of the current year’s
rent was referred to the Finance Committee but a holding reply JB
would be sent in the meantime.
f) Wiltshire Governors’ Association: the Clerk drew governors’
attention to the establishment of this group and highlighted the
inaugural AGM scheduled for 27th September. KP agreed to
attend. The Clerk would forward details. KP/Clerk
To agree g) EN, as ‘governor of the month’, had received an email from an
response SPS parent expressing concern about the future of the school
in the light of the reduction in numbers and asking what action
was being taken. It was agreed that EN would circulate the EN
email for information and would speak to the parent in
question. This prompted the governors to suggest an open
letter to all parents reminding them of the positive changes
over the last four years. This would be positioned as action to
help grow the school, rather than to ensure its survival. KP KP/JR
and JR would discuss further.
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17. Any other business PF gave his reflections on the meeting and emphasised the need
to consider different models and strategies to ensure the long-term
future of the schools.
18. Closing prayer HL led the governors in saying Grace.
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