Annual Report

Governors’ Annual Report to Parents 2018-2019

 

The Governing Body of Redhill Primary Academy for the year 2018-2019 comprised:

  • Beth Tutchener-Ellis – Chair
  • Debra Garside– Vice Chair
  • Anthony Smith
  • Claire Freestone
  • Sandra Sutton
  • Sharon Dore
  • Phillip Nicholls
  • Stephen Tidmarsh

We have continued to ensure that Governors have, between them, the relevant skills needed to successfully drive standards upwards. All Governors actively participate in tasks in school that are designed to allow Governors to see first-hand how the academy operates and how to further support the academy community. All Governors have carried out a series of monitoring and evaluation tasks during the past year looking at specific areas taken from the Raising Attainment Plan.

It is the responsibility of the Governing Body to fulfil a set of Core Functions:


Setting the vision and strategic direction of the academy:

 

This year, the Governors have:

  • This has been a year of change following our conversion to Academy status. We joined the Thomas Telford Multi Academy Trust from 1st September 2018. Governors have worked with the Head Teacher and members of the Trust to ensure a successful and smooth transition for staff and pupils. The collaboration with schools within the Trust has already proven to be extremely beneficial for our children and Academy.
  • Reviewed the Academy’s vision, aims and values, which are clearly set out on the Academy  website
  • Reviewed a wide range of data and feedback from monitoring sessions within the academy to identify areas of both strength and weakness, and ensured that these are fed into the school improvement plan.
  • Carried out monitoring and evaluation tasks relating to specific areas from the Raising Attainment Plan and ensured that actions and plans stay focussed on areas that require improvement.
  • Set, reviewed and monitored performance targets for the Head Teacher, and ensured that these link to academy improvement.
  • Considered, reviewed and updated key policies including Behaviour, Extremism, Safeguarding and SEND. Governors have ensured that they have fulfilled their statutory duty by ensuring that all relevant policies are in place and have been updated appropriately.
  • Sought out, and acted upon the views of pupils and parents through direct discussion and through questionnaires. Results of the parental questionnaires have again been collated and analysed by the safeguarding Governor.
  • Governors have attended relevant training courses to improve their skills in order to support the whole academy community and ensure that we continue to be effective in our role.

 

Holding the Head Teacher to account for the performance of the school:

This year, the Governors have:

  • Performed regular and detailed analysis of all academy data to identify the academy’s strengths and weaknesses, and actively challenge the Head Teacher to ensure robust systems are in place to address areas of weakness.
  • Actively questioned the Head Teacher on details of the academy improvement plan and ensured that resources continue to be directed effectively to areas of need.
  • Monitored teaching and learning within the academy. The Governors are pleased to be able to report that the quality of teaching remains good with many outstanding features.
  • Visited the academy on many occasions to take part in learning walks and book scrutinies alongside senior and middle teachers, in order to gain an understanding of pupil data and tracking methods, pupil progress and attainment.
  • Carried out comprehensive audits of the safeguarding provision.
  • Continued to specifically consider the progress and attainment of our pupils with SEND.
  • Received information regarding Curriculum, Quality of Teaching, Behaviour and Safety, Progress and Attainment. This has ensured that the Governors have a clear and broad understanding of the context of their work and helped shape strategic questions and decisions.


Ensuring financial resources are well spent:

This year, the Governors have:

  • Set a budget which demonstrates spending choices are made in line with school priorities.
  • Ensured that resources for increased intervention support have continued to have a positive impact.
  • Ensured that all spending is in line with ‘best value’ principles.
  • Ensured the strategic planning for the spending of other grants such as Sports Funding is robust, with a strong focus on the impact for pupil outcomes.

 

 

Ensuring statutory duties are met and priorities approved:

This year, Governors have:

  • Carried out a full audit of the school website to ensure that it is up to date and complies with regulations. These include details of provision of PE and sport and how sports funding is to be spent. Governors have ensured that key policies are available on the website.
  • Introduced a new RSE programme into the curriculum to ensure that key information is given to the children at appropriate stages in their development.
  • Updated the governance section of the website to ensure compliance with the regulations to publish key information.
  • Continued to have a specific Safeguarding Governor to ensure that all safeguarding responsibilities continue to be met. This Governor has completed a comprehensive audit of the school’s safeguarding provision, resulting in some additional areas of good practice.
  • Updated the school Safeguarding policy to include guidance from the government specifically including aspects such as Female Genital Mutilation and Radicalisation/Extremism.
  • Maintained a robust schedule for monitoring compliance of our statutory duties in respect of policies.
  • Ensured that ‘Prevent Duty’ guidance has been fully considered and that we have maintained a full and comprehensive Radicalisation/Extremism Policy.
  • Carried out a comprehensive Radicalisation/Extremism Risk Assessment to ensure compliance in these areas throughout school.
  • Ensured that we continue to have a specific Governor with responsibility for Health & Safety who has been involved in Health and Safety Audits.

 

Governor attendance at meetings has continued to be at a very good level, with any absences having been fully explained and accepted.

The Governing Body of Redhill Primary Academy is committed to improving all aspects of our provision, working with the Head Teacher, staff and pupils, together with the wider community. We value the views of all stakeholders and constantly strive to develop ourselves and others around us.

The academy continues to be successful with ongoing improvement in pupil progress and attainment which reflects a robust drive to consistently raise standards.

Future Plans for 2019-2020

 

  • To continue to maximise the benefit for the academy in terms of collaboration within the Trust and sharing of resources for the benefit of the pupils.
  • To monitor the new curriculum as it is rolled out and assess the impact accordingly
  • To monitor the continued development of the Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar provision within the academy
  • To continue to monitor the numeracy provision within the academy
  • To continue to ensure that we comply with all statutory duties
  • To continue to seek out and listen to the views of all stakeholders.
  • To publish a termly governor newsletter to parents in which we will set out some of the work the governing body has done that term
  • Continue to support the staff to ensure that British Values are fully embedded within the curriculum

 

If anyone wishes to discuss any aspect of this report then the Chair of Governors can be contacted via the Academy Office.


Beth Tutchener-Ellis

Chair of Governors

 

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