St Benedict’s C of E VA Junior School, Glastonbury Minutes of the Sub Committees Meeting st
Held on Tuesday 21 May 2019 in Leopard Classroom Present: Jo Boughen-Hunt (Chair), Bill Burrow (Vice Chair-VC), Piers Ranger (Headteacher- HT), Helen Roper (PCC Governor), Paul Winter (Foundation Governor), Sue Wootton (Foundation Governor). Also Present: Jane Daniels (School Business Manager- SBM) [left at 6:23 pm], Sarah Hamlet (Clerk). The meeting started at 5:38 pm. Finance & Premises and Curriculum
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Agenda Item Apologies for absence
Action
Declaration of Interest in any agenda item Agree Sub Committees Minutes of th 26 March 2019. Action Points & Matters Arising
Mike Derbidge, Louise Fairbrother, David MacGeoch, Ann Parsons and Roger Parsons (absence); Rachel Rood (maternity leave)- all apologies accepted. No apologies received from Natasha Wardle. None.
Agreed by governors and signed by Chair.
Finance & Premises Item 4:
Whistleblowing Policy (new model)- this was approved by governors and signed by Chair of Governors at the SPA meeting earlier today. SIAMS Bespoke training- Clerk is now in touch with Jan Chandler (Diocese Education) re: training. Clerk to add item to next Sub Committee agenda.
Clerk to add SIAMS training to next agenda.
Item 5:
PPA/Management Cost Centre entry- SBM is working on this.
Item 17:
5.
Finance Agenda Items School Business Manager’s (SBM) Report
MFL addendum to Curriculum Policy- this has been completed in readiness for the next policy review.
SBM circulated Revised Budget Plan 2019/20. She informed re: the areas which had required amending. Governors DBS Checks- SBM confirmed that these are free. Buildings Maintenance- 2 quotes for CCTV so far. Coomber (£6421 for new office unit and 13 cameras); Logiscan (£6827 total). SBM gave a breakdown of the latter costs; she is awaiting a detailed proposal from Coomber. £6827 has been entered in the budget to allow expenditure leeway. SBM will investigate other possibilities. Governors discussed school’s vulnerability without CCTV facilities.
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SBM to contact other CCTV suppliers
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SFVS
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School Audit Information
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Grant Funding
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School ‘Grab Bag’
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Grounds Maintenance & Energy Costsbudget is complete, but SBM is looking into cheaper options. Strode Pool- has sent booking forms; doesn’t anticipate problems with proposed changes to St Ben’s use of pool. The Assistant Administrative Officer is liaising with Strode and coach companies re: timings. Bought-in Professional Services- budget has been amended and is complete. Photocopier- SBM referred to a governor’s previous challenge re: costings. She clarified situation of refund/repayment of lease when moving suppliers. Hookway- the entry in the Subs Cost Centre has been removed. Budget Plan 2019/20 Front Page- improved situation with increased carry forward figures since amends made. Pupil Premium (PP)- £3,456 still to be allocated. SENDCo- increased hours (1/2 day) now built into budget. £2.5k cost for September 2019– March 2020. HT informed that this may not start until January 2020 due to current staffing levels. Chair reminded that feasibility of this will still need to be considered for future budgets. This will be discussed at regular intervals. Governors approved this budget, which was signed off by Chair of Governors. Governors thanked SBM for all their hard work. Well-Being Room- HT informed re: exterior landscaping and room furniture. £6700 is available for the outside area (including a canopy) and £3800 for the latter. SBM highlighted that last year’s Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) Report was not formally approved by governors. She informed re: format and process. This year’s report has been overseen and checked by a County representative. Governors approved this year’s CFR Report. A governor challenged that some schools’ governors did not see audit outcomes, and therefore were not acting upon these. There is no updated information available at present. Ex Officio will be looking into possibility of St Ben’s accessing PCC Grant monies at a meeting this evening. The Assistant Administrative Officer is researching the Kellogg’s Cornflake Fund, which offers support for schools with over 35% PP pupils. As a result of successful grant funding, the school poly-tunnel is going up tomorrow. SBM showed governors the ‘Grab Bag’ contents; some additions to be made. She spoke re: school evacuation procedure and Business Continuity Plan. Governors discussed necessity for evacuation practices; they agreed that having a ‘lockdown’ plan would be advisable. Chair explained how this process is carried
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out at her school. Governors discussed issues of weapons in schools, and getting a correct balance of ‘lock down’ versus keeping pupils calm. They agreed it was important to keep parents informed. st 1 Aid Policy & Procedures The Health & Safety Governor has overseen this policy. It was approved by governors and signed by Chair. Records Management model Governors agreed to adapt this model for St Ben’s. Clerk and SBM to work on this.
Policies
Premises Agenda Items Premises Update
Health & Safety (H&S) Report & Update
Jane Daniels left at 6:23 pm.
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Curriculum Agenda Items School Development Monitoring Focus Plan
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) Development
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Clerk & SBM to adapt RM model. Clerk to add to next Sub Comms.
Neighbouring Extension Work Governors visited a Year 6 classroom to observe the area involved in a neighbour’s ground and first floor extension work. HT has spoken with the neighbour, who has agreed to install frosted glass in the window overlooking school premises. It is hoped that the work will be carried out over the summer holidays to minimise disruption and ensure pupil safety. Areas highlighted for improvement included some doors, radiator covers, sockets/plugs/ wiring. The Rainbow Room has been earmarked for updating. St Ben’s has signed up for a Science/DT Risk Assessment- to start tomorrow. Next H&S Walk will check that issues have been dealt with. The H&S Governor will liaise with the Caretaker as necessary.
HT recapped on monitoring visits carried out so far. Maths still needs to be covered. HT explained tasks involved in this. Helen Roper st and Paul Winter will visit on 21 June 2019. Writing also needs monitoring- Sue Wootton th will visit on 12 June 2019. Child Protection & Safeguarding- Helen th Roper and Bill Burrow will visit on 5 June 2019. SENDCo Report- still being worked on. Governors requested its submission by end nd of June, for the 2 July Sub Committees meeting. Clerk to add to agenda. Commotion in the Ocean Yesterday’s and today’s ‘plastic pollution’ production was well received by pupils Theatre Visits Pupils have enjoyed visits to school by travelling theatre groups. Dream On Production The Music Lead is working with pupils on a version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Year 6 Production This year’s production will be based on The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Talent Show rd The final takes place on Thursday (23 May); the winner will have a slot at ‘Benfest’. Clubs Year 5 girls took part in a cricket festival, this has proved very successful.
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Clerk to add SENDCo Report to next Sub Comms.
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Pupil Counsellor
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Achievement Update
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Governor Training
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Website
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Any other urgent business
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Meeting Review
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Date and time of next meetings
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Poly-tunnel The World Garden is taking shape, with the poly-tunnel being put up today. SATs Year 6 pupils coped well; there have been positive comments. HT thanked all staff and governors who helped to make it a good team effort. Governors commented on how focussed the pupils had been. Looking to employ one; HT met with a candidate today. He would like to engage a counsellor for 2 days a week (grant depending); however, this will probably be for I day. A student will be starting after half term- at approx. £400 cost to school for this term- (taking into account her supervisor costs). Hopefully a counsellor can be recruited for September; several possibilities being considered. No further news to report since update given at the last meeting. Safeguarding for Safeguarding Governors The Child Protection & Safeguarding Governor reported that this had not been very informative; he had completed evaluation form to reflect this. Governors remarked that there had been other similar reports. HT Performance Management Several governors have expressed interest in attending this course. Clerk to book places. Hot Topics for Governors webinar A governor informed re: this training he had accessed yesterday. It covered several aspects around the new Ofsted Framework, teachers’ funding and pensions, recruitment and SRE Guidance. He will circulate a precis of the training information. Governors discussed issues surrounding SRE and parental consultation process. HT will contact St John’s to investigate collaboration possibilities. SEND The SEND Governor enquired re: attending this training. Clerk will send venue details. Hosting agreement ends in November 2019, giving a possibility to change provider. The Assistant Administrative Officer has started to take on some website work. She has been receiving training from the Website Governor, who will be stepping down in the near future. HT invited governors’ involvement at the Year 4 teacher interviews this Friday; one governor will be attending. This has been a focussed meeting with useful discussions; it was very encouraging to hear about future events. The meeting had provided a valuable opportunity to set monitoring dates. It was pleasing to hear about the improved budget news. nd Sub Committees- Tuesday 2 July 2019 at 5:30 pm.
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Clerk to book HT P M training
Governor to circulate webinar training info.
HT to contact St J’s re: SRE.
Clerk to email SEND course info.
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th
FGB- Thursday 18 July 2019 at 5:30 pm.
The meeting closed at 7:11 pm.
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