Governors – Impact Report

To develop happy, secure children in a nurturing, stimulating and creative environment. We will nurture every individual to fulfil their potential so that they can make a positive contribution to both the school and wider society.

 Governors’ Role

The Governing Body is an important part of the leadership of the school and we share with the leadership team the commitment to raising aspirations and ensuring lifelong learning for all our children. Like them, we believe all children have skills, interests, gifts and talents and it is our responsibility to identify, develop and nurture these so that they can achieve to the best of their capabilities. This impact statement is one way in which the Governing Body can explain its role in school leadership, provide transparency about what we do and the impact it has on school improvement.

The Governing Body is made up of volunteers willing to use their skills and experience to support and act as a critical friend to the Head Teacher in her challenging role and ensure that the school is well managed and is providing the best for the children. As Governors we are accountable for the performance of the school; we are measured by three core strategic functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos, and strategic direction.
• Holding the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure the money is spent well.

Training

All members of the Governing Body continue to take part in appropriate training. The impact of this is that the Governing Body keep updated about their responsibilities regarding the latest requirements and expectations. Learning and actions from training is shared at Full Governing Body meetings and can be put into practice during our monitoring visits to school.

Impact of Full Governing Body and PPC meetings

Each term Governors are invited to attend the main Full Governing Body meeting and at least one of two committees: Finance and/or Pupils Personnel and Curriculum (PPC). In both the Full Governing Body meetings and in the PPC committee meetings, we use different sources of information from the school, Nottingham City and Nottingham School’s Trust as well as national data to enable us to get an accurate picture about how the school is doing compared to similar schools. The impact of this is that governors understand and gain knowledge about areas of strength and weakness in teaching and learning within the school but also understand how well we are doing in comparison with schools in a similar setting and what we might learn from this. All this information helps us to provide challenge about what the school might do even better. This school year these meetings have been a mixture of in-person and virtual and have been very well attended, governors making a strong commitment to attend.

Impact of Finance meetings

Relevant comparative data is also provided about school finance so we can judge how well we are doing against similar schools. The Finance Committee monitors and plans carefully with the headteacher for any large expenditures and reviews the budget in detail each term. This means that we are fully conversant with the school’s financial needs and can track income and expenditure. As school budgets become increasingly tight, we help to ensure that school can afford to continue its provision of excellent education.

Head Teacher’s Appraisal

The Governing Body carries out the Head Teacher Appraisal annually. Selected Governors have undertaken Head Teacher’s Appraisal Training, and the appraisal is carried out with expert assistance from an independent educational advisor. The appraisal process allows us to look closely at the performance of the Head Teacher, have discussions about areas of strengths and where necessary, areas for development. New targets are then set against criteria which the Head Teacher’s performance will be evaluated.

Nottingham Schools Trust

The school continues to get value for money by its membership of the trust. It has supported other schools as well as staff being able to access training and networking events. We receive termly reports of the Trust’s performance and support at the full governing body meetings.

Link Governors

Link Governors have responsibility for specific areas of interest within the school. Each Link Governor has conducted a review, including various curriculum areas; Early Years; Special Educational Needs and Disability; Children’s voice; Looked After Children; Pupil Premium and Health and Safety. Each governor has an identified member of staff with whom to liaise about his/her area of interest and this year monitoring visits have been back to pre-Lockdown arrangements in person. The Chair meets with the Headteacher on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including staffing, standards, Safeguarding and Health and Safety. As Governors we celebrate the excellent work around the school but aim to provide challenge and support in areas that can improve.  We monitor progress in all areas.

Progress and Attainment

Data for all children across the school, including vulnerable groups, has been analysed and focuses on reading, writing and maths. Analysis is completed at varying levels, including year groups, classes, pupil premium, high ability, SEND, gender and ethnicity. The impact of this is that governors are aware of how children are performing and where the progress is slower or less advanced than we would expect. This means that we can ask challenging questions to ensure that any identified problems are addressed in a timely manner. It also means that we are reassured that all children have appropriate support for their needs. It also ensures that the Governing Body knows throughout the year how the school is progressing towards the school priorities and targets. School’s performance is validated each term by a visit from an external School Improvement Advisor.

The results of this year’s SATs bear witness to the hard work of the children and staff and have exceeded last year’s results despite there being six strike days, extra bank holidays and extra EID celebrations disrupting the children’s timetables. These results are highly likely to be in the top 10% in the country and in top 5% in the LA.

Safeguarding

• The Safeguarding Link Governor meets termly with the Head as Designated Safeguarding Lead, to review and evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding procedures and reports back on these to the full Governing Body.
• The Designated Safeguarding Lead completes an annual audit of these procedures.
• This year a new online recording system has been introduced and staff trained in its use.
• We also have a member of staff who is trained as an Advanced Designated Safeguarding Lead.
• The Head reports on Safeguarding at each Full Governing Body Meeting and Pupils’ Personnel and Curriculum meetings.

Priorities for 2023-2024

The governing body will provide support and challenge in the implementation of school’s priorities for the coming year:

• Mentor and embed new staff to ensure standards remain consistently high.
• Consolidate and further embed our Welbeck Curriculum which continues to be creative, ambitious, meets the needs of our community, ensuring cultural capital and prepares pupils for their next stage of education.
• Promote high expectations of children’s attendance, behaviour and conduct.
• Review playtime provision, ensuring a range of creative play activities are provided for all pupils.
• Gain sponsorship/grants from businesses and charities to develop enrichment opportunities and staff well-being.

Governing Body and Committee Meeting Attendance 2022-2023

Full Governors – 83%

Finance – 83%

PPC – 86%

Overall – 84%

Members of the Governing Body

• Chair of Governors: Daphne Carter
• Vice Chair: Nazir Chaudry
• Parent Governors: Michaela Biddle and Nazir Chaudry
• Co-opted Governors: John Downey, Aller Dawlet, Fiona Radford, Charlotte Diamond, Gill Dodsley
• Staff Governor: Rebekah Tuck
• Head Teacher: Rebecca Gittins