Annual Governor Report 2018/19

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Annual Governance Statement for the Governing Body of

Southroyd Primary and Early Years 2019

 "Our children leave Southroyd Primary School as Active Citizens - they have the skills, knowledge, confidence and enthusiasm they need to succeed and are ready for LIFE not just high school"

This statement was devised by the leadership team at Southroyd to sum up their intention for the pupils of the school. Their vision is to put Southroyd at the centre of its community, offering its pupils high quality teaching and learning alongside a stimulating curriculum within a safe environment and creating opportunities for life experiences and role modelling what an Active Citizen is.

This statement is the consensus of the Governing Body and at the foundation of the decisions we have to make.

Who we are

Southroyd Primary School Became a Co-operative Trust School in 2013 and a founding member of The Inspire Co-operative Learning Trust along with Leeds Rhinos Foundation and St Anne’s Community Services. The Governing Body of the school consists of four parent governors elected by parents, 7 co-opted governors nominated and appointed by the governing body, two Trust governors appointed by the Trust, one staff governor elected by the staff of the school, one Local Authority (LA) governor appointed by the LA and the Headteacher. We also have two associate governors, the Assistant Head Teacher and the School Business Manager, who also have full voting rights.

What we do

The Governor’s role is to be a critical friend to the school providing support and challenge to ensure that every decision made is to the benefit of the children’s education and wellbeing. The Government requires all school governing bodies to have three core strategic functions which are:

1. Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
2. Hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;
3. Oversee the financial performance of the school and ensure funds are well spent

 The Full Governing Body (FGB) meets four times a year. There are also three sub-committees who meet three or four times a year where the FGB delegates most of its functions. Each committee has its own Terms of Reference and reports back to the FGB. The sub-committees at Southroyd are: -

• Teaching and Learning/Curriculum. The committee is responsible for teaching and learning matters including target setting, standards and achievement, Special Education Needs (SEN) (including reporting annually on the success of the SEN policy), monitoring teaching and learning and curriculum provision and ensuring that the governing body is represented at school improvement discussions.
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• Finance and Resources. The committee is responsible for responsible for staffing including the appointment and role of the SENCO, equality and diversity, finance, property management, health and safety and nutritional standards.
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• Pupil Support. The committee is responsible for behaviour, safeguarding, attendance, children’s spiritual moral social and cultural development, children, parent and staff voice, extra-curricular activities, cluster and other partnerships.

Specific panels of the governing body are convened as required for: -

• School Complaints
• Staff Grievance and Discipline
• Head Teacher’s (HT) Performance Management
• Pay Review Committee

Southroyd Governors have also set up a Joint Review Group (JRG) to monitor the School Improvement Plan who also meet at least three times a year. Individual governors will also take on additional roles linking with particular responsibilities in school, some of these are statutory such as special educational needs, safeguarding, health and safety, data, behavior, pupil premium, sports premium, looked after children and complaints. Others may link to a particular subject. See list below for current links and the number of visits into school for 2018/19: -

This work involves visiting the school and spending time with staff and pupils to further understand how these areas are being managed and, where required, to check progress. All governors are volunteers and willingly give as much of their time as possible to support the school. Attendance at all meetings is good and therefore all governors are informed and gain a greater understanding of the school. Attendance for 2018/19 is set out below:-

Review of the Year 2018/19

• School Improvement Plan. Every year the school will set a new School Improvement Plan (SIP) setting strategic aims and objective. The SIP is central to the work of the school and governors. The key areas for 2018/19 were Curriculum Review, Pupil Premium Learning Behaviours, Spoken Language and Maths Mastery in Early Years, with all areas having clear objectives and targets. The SIP sits on the agenda of every FGB meeting and every sub-committee but is closely monitored by the JRG and progress reported back at meetings. Assertive Mentoring has been especially successful this year in effectively challenging and engaging children to improve by taking ownership of their learning and progress. This progress was evident in the KS2 SATs results where the school was just above national average for Reading and well above national average for Maths and Spelling and Grammar. Early Years have shown a Good Level of Development increasing the percentage of pupils at GLD from 55.9% in 2018 to 80.7% in 2019.
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• Pupil Voice. Governors also worked with pupils from across all year groups to discuss “The Southroyd Promise”. The pupil voice is a huge part of life at Southroyd and this was their opportunity to say what they wanted from their time at school. The information was collected by the senior leadership team for mapping into the curriculum for 2019/20 with a few “special requests” in place before the end of this school year including a Talent Show and a Polish Day (organized with the assistance of an EAL pupil and parents). The pupil voice was also recognized again this year with the reaccreditation of Investors in Pupils. Governors met with the assessment panel to discuss how important the pupil voice is within school and our participation with the children, with their final report highlighting what “A special learning community” Southroyd is. The full report is on the school website:
• http://www.pudseysouthroyd.leeds.sch.uk/day-by-day/investors-in-pupils-1
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• Sporting Achievements. This has been a very successful year with more pupils than ever before participating in a wide number of sports. The school has appointed a new PE and Sports Premium lead who links with a governor to ensure the Sports Premium funds are effectively spent. Progress is evident in all areas including the number of sports the pupils have access to, the increased number of pupil participation and the increase in trophies. Of the 56 children who attended swimming this year there were 26 who could not swim at the start but now all children can swim. There were so many sporting achievements this year including the cricket team who made it through to the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Finals.
• The finances this year are within budget, due mainly to the income received for the 30 hours childcare, with a small surplus to meet contingencies. The Finance and Resources committee approved the new school mini-bus as this was more economical to the school due to substantial increases in transport costs. The initial costs were also subsidised by FOSS. The mini-bus is sign written with the school logo and the text “Active Citizens in Motion”. It has had a positive impact on many areas in school but especially sport as more children are now able to participate. The budget projection shows that the school will be in deficit within the next three years and the FGB and school leadership will need to look at ways to address this shortfall.
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• Special Education Needs. Southroyd is an inclusive school and works in partnership with pupils, parents and outside agencies to provide the best possible education for children with SEN. There are currently 85 children on roll with SEN, this is 16.7% compared to 14.2% nationally. Governors agreed to pay for the SENCO to be out of class as the demands of this role increased. The SENCO at Southroyd is exceptional at ensuring funding is in place but the LA made a reduction of almost £8000 in our funding this year which had a significant impact on the budget. SEN and the SENCO role is a strength of the school and recognized within the community and Local Authority. Of Year 1 and 2 SEN pupils talking the phonic screen test 54% met the required standard. The Year 2 SEN pupils scored above LA and national averages for reading, writing and maths.
• The Head Teacher and staff have continued to promote the school within the community. The school entered and won the Pudsey Carnival Parade in May which involves staff, pupils, parents and governors working together to promote the school. FOSS have again organized two excellent community fairs raising much needed funds for school as well as demonstrating Active Citizenship for pupils. These events were also supported by Governors.

• Governor's Attendance List 2018-19
• Y = in attendance; N = not in attendance; A = apologies given and accepted
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The Future

Southroyd is a popular school and has a full intake for September 2019. The budget will need to be monitored very carefully with the necessity that Governors and Senior Leadership explore new sources of funding. Governors will continue to ensure that Southroyd and its unique qualities remains at the center of the community and that it continues to provide the best possible education for its pupils. The FGB will look to develop and grow the Trust members and will devise a new Action Plan when it reconvenes in September. Further information on Southroyd’s Governing Body can be found on the school website:

http://www.pudseysouthroyd.leeds.sch.uk/day-by-day/governors

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