Weyfield LGB Report 2014 - Weyfield Primary School

Local Governing Body Annual Report 2014
Introduction
This is a short report on the work of the governing body for the period March to August 2014. It aims to show how the
local governing body works with the school to ensure that the school’s vision is achieved. The report does not cover the
entire year due to turbulence resulting from changes to both senior staff and governors, resulting in the appointment of
a new headteacher, Neil McDonough, and deputy headteacher, Mei Lim, and the election of a new local governing body
(LGB) chair, Clare Collins.
A new vision for Weyfield
The first task for the LGB was to draft a new vision for Weyfield which has been shared with staff and parents for
comments and contributions and has now been finalized and adopted.
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Our vision for Weyfield
A school with high expectations for all its pupils where achievement is outstanding.
All pupils will have a curriculum which ensures that they are given every opportunity to achieve their
capabilities and where they will be encouraged to learn about and to develop their hidden talents.
All the children leave Weyfield prepared and ready for the next stage of their education.
Our staff will be fully equipped to meet the needs of all pupils through appropriate professional
development, becoming expert practitioners.
Weyfield will develop as a community school, involving parents wherever possible so that they and their
children are proud of their school and see it as a valuable asset within the community.
The local governing body and TKAT will provide appropriate challenge and support in all areas of school life.
Standards
1. Curriculum
The curriculum is being re-aligned to ensure that the creative curriculum supports the rigour required to ensure that
the children learn the basic skills of reading, writing and counting.
2. Attainment and progress
The attainment and progress of all pupils is now being measured and reported half termly to the local governing
body. In year tracking systems have been established so that the progress of individual pupils and specific groups
can be tracked against expectations, with appropriate interventions for where targets are not being met.
3. Children eligible for pupil premium
Systems are now being put in place to ensure that the pupil premium is being used effectively to ensure these
children make at least expected progress.
4. Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Children with special needs are identified by the school and the appropriate support provided. The SEN budget is
spent on providing additional support for children both in and out of class.
5. Further Information
The school is very happy to provide further information on how pupils are taught and how attainment and progress
is measured. The school’s website provides links to Department for Education and Ofsted information.
Quality of teaching
The quality of teaching is critical for successful learning and the LGB is committed to recruiting and developing quality
teachers. TKAT has a range of development programmes and in house training is also planned for all staff. Staff are
appraised against performance objectives set annually. Teacher pay is performance related. Staff morale is important
to the LGB and staff absence rates are monitored and staff surveys will be introduced.
Behaviour and safety
A new behaviour policy was approved in July and the anti-bullying policy is being reviewed and will be in place early in
the autumn term. Data on behaviour related incidents and exclusions is reported to the LGB termly so that trends can
be spotted and responded to.
1. Attendance
Attendance at school, and arriving on time, is a key issue for the school and is reported termly to the LGB.
2. Mobility
There is considerable pupil mobility in the locality, with more than the average number of children leaving and
joining the school at regular intervals. Many of those joining the school have English as a second language and so
the induction and settling in process is critical to ensure that expected behaviour is understood and that easy to
follow routines are made clear so that learning can start immediately.
3. Health and Safety, Child Protection and Safeguarding
The safety and wellbeing of all children is of paramount importance - unless children feel safe and are well cared for,
they are unable to learn. The school’s policies and procedures on health and safety, child protection and
safeguarding comply with local authority guidelines, and training for all staff is up to date and ongoing. This is
reported to the LGB each year.
Leadership and management
1. Budget and finance
Academy finance systems have taken a while to embed and support from the TKAT team has been welcome. The
budget for 2014-2015 has been set.
2. Complaints
The school now has a policy and procedure for dealing with complaints.
3. Views of Parents and carers, pupils and staff
The views of the parents and careers, pupils and staff help to shape the philosophy and the direction of the school
and it is hoped that this is an area of school life which will develop.
4. Strategy for achieving the new vision for Weyfield
The LGB has agreed the key priorities and the school’s self-evaluation is now up to date so the process of identifying
measures and targets is underway. Progress against strategy will be reported to the LGB each term. External
moderation and validation is commissioned as required.
5. New governors are being recruited to strengthen the LGB team and training and development will be sourced from
TKAT and other providers as required.
6. TKAT has been supportive, specifically with identifying school leaders for which the LGB is grateful.
Conclusion
2014 has been an extremely challenging year for Weyfield. The LGB is extremely grateful to interim staff who have
ensured that the school has remained a safe environment for the children and where the issues affecting learning have
been identified and strategies introduced to tackle them. The LGB is also extremely grateful to those parents and carers
who have been supportive throughout. We are under no illusion about the need for strategies for improvement to
become embedded rapidly and are committed to close monitoring to ensure that any slippage is responded to. Finally
our thanks are due to all the staff who remain committed to the children and families of Weyfield and who have
supported the new leadership’s plans for the future.
Clare Collins
Chair, Weyfield LGB
September 2014

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