Castlewood School Governing Body Castlewood Road
Chair: Maria Roberts Southwater
Vice Chair: Andy Guy West Sussex
RH13 9US
Telephone: 01403 734822
Fax 01403 734978
http://www.castlewood.w-sussex.sch.uk
Our School’s key strengths:
Care, guidance and support at all levels: Team Work
Creative Curriculum and enrichment opportunities
Positive behaviour – inside and outside of school
Q&S Committee Meeting Minutes
Thursday 1st October 2015
Present: Chair - Maria Roberts (MR), Julie Wallace (JW), Sarah Speed (SS), Julia Slocombe (JS), Wendy Mason (WM), Lauren Brown (LB), Clare Quinlisk (CQ), Nicki Brown (NB), Mary Page (MP) and Gillian Knight (GK).
Clerk: Becky Atkinson (BA)
Meeting Commenced: 7pm
1. Apologies for absence and Declarations of Pecuniary Interests
Apologies were received from Andy Guy - the governors approved these. No pecuniary interests were noted.
2. Approval of Minutes from previous meeting 18th June 2015
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.
3. Matters arising from previous meeting on 18th June 2015
|
No. |
Action detail |
Responsibility |
|
1 |
The governors discussed a number of areas that need to be managed and actioned in line with changes to Ofsted inspections. a) All documentation to be accessible and up to date (this will be managed via the new online portal that all governors will shortly have access to) – ACTION on BA/SS b) It is important that the school’s middle leaders’ are up to speed – ACTION on JS It was agreed that in the Autumn Term, we would have some time in meetings to look at the SEF, RAISE online and other key documents so that all governors are comfortable with the content – ACTION on BA to ensure this is on the relevant agendas. ACTIONED |
BA/SS
JS
BA |
|
2 |
Governors to send copies of their Summer Term visits to GK for her summary. ACTIONED |
All |
|
3 |
Send CQ a copy of the Summer Term visit template - ACTIONED |
BA |
|
4 |
Send the proposed format and timings for FGB on 2nd July - ACTIONED |
BA |
|
5 |
Consider more interaction with the children when developing the visits template for the new academic year 2015/16 - ACTIONED |
GK |
4. Castlewood Achievements v Rest of West Sussex; against Ofsted good/outstanding outcomes
MR led the session in which the governors discussed the achievements of Castlewood against all other schools in West Sussex using KS2 attainment data at Level 4 combined. A chart was provided which was colour coded, with school names hidden, but MR pointed out to the governors where Castlewood was.
The Committee members were very pleased with Castlewood’s success.
MR provided handouts of the Ofsted criteria and outcomes for outstanding schools – and she asked the governors to consider this against Castlewood’s results. A discussion followed regarding Castlewood’s achievement against Ofsted’s Outstanding criteria.
The governors discussed the Raise Online document that details strengths and weaknesses – ACTION (1) JS would provide copies of this in PDF format.
A long discussion followed regarding the potential for an Ofsted visit; this led to discussions about Data Dashboards and, Years 2 and 6 curriculums.
JS talked through the Summary of New Curriculum document, one governor challenged the wording within Year 4 Progress, and JS will amend the error (Year 5 to Year 4) - ACTION (2)
A governor asked a question regarding how should governors ensure that the school focuses on each year group equally – a discussion followed regarding this.
5. Data Windscreens
JS explained the new style windscreen data sheets to the governors (copies of these had been provided ahead of the meeting). A discussion followed, which included the following points:-
- JS outlined the new tracking/assessment codes that have been devised with the Locality schools; these will be used within the Locality for moderation purposes. A healthy discussion followed with a governor challenging some of the codes that will be used. JS responded accordingly.
- Another governor asked about Reception children and how they are baselined.
- The Committee discussed floor standards and ‘coasting’ schools, as well as interim standards for Years 2 and 6 for this year.
6. Prevent
A quick update was provided regarding Prevent (the strategy to prevent children and young people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism):-
- The school is required to undertake a self-assessment, which JS is working on.
- The strategy links with the Child Protection Policy, which the Committee recognised was robust and Prevent is included within it.
- A governor asked about staff training and JS confirmed that all members of staff have been required to read the Child Protection Policy and 2 accompanying documents, and they have signed to acknowledge they have done this.
- Whilst British Values and the promotion of this is a good thing, it is important to ensure the school looks globally too.
The Committee concluded the discussion with the following points:-
- Prevent is all about knowing your children very well.
- There is a process in place to raise any concerns, with all relevant and appropriate agencies involved.
- JS has completed the Prevent training and it was agreed that all governors should complete the online Channel Awareness training as well as confirming that they have read the Prevent Toolkit. ACTION (3) – BA to send the link to all governors asking them to complete the online training, and to ensure that all governors have read the Toolkit.
ACTION (4) – The Child Protection Policy to be reviewed and approved in the next Q&S meeting. (JW and MP)
7. Training and Development
Due to time constraints, an update will be provided in the Resources Meeting which immediately follows Q&S.
8. Confirm Complaints Panel procedure
This agenda item was postponed to the following meeting. ACTION (5)
9. AOB
The Committee wanted to acknowledge and recognise the school’s excellent achievement and results for 2014/15 – the governors sent their thanks to the staff.
Meeting ended at 8pm.
Date of next meeting (Autumn Term):
Thursday 12th Nov
7pm - Resources Committee
Thursday 19th Nov
7pm - Q&S Committee
Thursday 3rd Dec
7pm - FGB Meeting
Summary of Actions
|
No. |
Action detail |
Responsibility |
|
1 |
Provide copies of the Raise Online document with strengths and weaknesses. |
JS |
|
2 |
Amend references to Year 5 to Year 4 on the Summary of New Curriculum document, under Year 4 progress. |
JS |
|
3 |
Prevent/Channel Awareness training - send the link to all governors asking them to complete the training, and to read the Prevent Toolkit |
BA |
|
4 |
The Child Protection Policy to be reviewed and approved in the next Q&S meeting – 19th Nov 2016 |
JW and MP |
|
5 |
Ensure that confirmation of the Complaints Panel procedure is covered in the next Q&S meeting. |
MR/BA |