This is a short note to update you of the work of the Governing body focusing on the work of the Finance & Personnel Committee.
The committee meets half termly to monitor all areas concerned with the school budget and staffing. Working with the school management team, we offer support and guidance so that the school gets value for money from its budget, has the right staffing structure and acts as a good employer.
The school receives a budget of just under £900,000, equivalent to about £3000 for each child in the school. This budget pays for all the staff salaries, lighting, heating, cleaning and maintenance of the school buildings, and provision of books, learning resources, computers and IT equipment.
We have just completed the budget for the next financial year to allocate how we'll spend in each of these areas. We have also been able to allocate money to support the development of particular initiatives in school such as: installing lockers in some of our cloakrooms (as requested by the School Council); developing the provision of Modern Foreign Languages through the school; supporting the International development work led by Miss Startup; and supporting the work of the Healthy Schools Working Party.
Over the course of the last year we have looked at a number of areas regarding our role as an employer:
Performance Management - ensuring that we have policies in place for setting objectives and performance appraisal;
Planning, Preparation & Assessment (PPA) time - monitoring the impact of 'PPA' time which allows teachers time out of the classroom and looking at the costs and benefits of external 'specialists' such as Onside Coaching and our pottery teacher in the infants;
Management Structure - establishing a management structure for the school in line with new Government guidelines;
When we are looking to recruit new teachers, two committee members sit on the interview panel providing a Governor and parent perspective to new appointments.
Finally, I would like to extend a big thank you to Annette Hart, our School Bursar and her assistant Maureen Clarke. Keeping track of the money flowing through the school accounts is no small feat but it is managed with quiet efficiency.
Have a Happy Easter!
Matt Hall, Chair of Governors Finance & Personnel Committee
The other Finance & Personnel committee members are: Sarah Woods, Sarah Wadsworth, Mark Miller, Marianne Talbot, Ben Wilde, Tracey Brand and Annette Hart
Six governors meet at least four times each year to oversee and monitor all areas concerned with the health, safety and welfare of everyone using the school premises.
Working with Mr Wilde and Mr Langridge, we offer support and guidance (and sometimes professional help too), so that the school not only fulfils its statutory responsibilities, but also sustains a good environment for learning.
The policies and plans we follow allow us to review whether we are making responsible choices within the school, and hopefully we can then anticipate issues and plan for the best outcomes.
Take, for example, the recent issue of dogs in the playground: hopefully, you will have noticed that dogs are no longer allowed on the majority of the school site. The Premises Committee weighed up the pros and cons of this issue and brought a policy to the board of Governors. I hope you will agree that the new policy provides a good balance of interests.
One of the major areas we look at is the maintenance and development of the school buildings. The larger projects this year have been:
Finally, I would like to extend a big thank you to Kim Langridge, our Site Manager, for the tremendous job he does: without his dedication and professionalism the school environment would not be what it is today.
Have a very Happy Christmas!
Mark Fairbairn, Chair of Premises Committee
This is a short note to tell you a little about the Governors' Premises Committee.
the transformation of West Hall that took place over the summer holidays;
the redecoration of the dining room (kitchen area to added in the Christmas holiday);
the external decoration of West and East Halls.
Given that our children face a future where the 'green agenda' will be increasingly important, the school is looking at the travel arrangements of its pupils in order to see what scope there is to reduce car usage. The Premises Committee will be developing a school Travel Plan and I would welcome any practical suggestions you may have.
Sitting on the Premises Committee may not sound like the glamour end of school governorship, but we take our responsibilities seriously! Earlier this year the school had a health and safety inspection by the Local Authority, the report concluded that, 'many areas of good practice were noted and the School Management Team have made obvious efforts to comply with legislation and to raise the standard of health and safety within the school'.
Alec Cassells; Councillor Chris Davies; Kim Langridge; Mark Miller; Ben Wilde
