Governors annual report 2002

Jo Wright
Danny Moody
Nick Stone
Kathy Quiney
Richard Pamment
Staff
Community
LEA
Community
Parent
Tel: [phone number removed]
Tel:
Tel:
Aug 03
Sept 06
Nov 04
July 06
Oct 06
Clerk to the Governors: Mrs Debbie Reeve
Special Thanks
Once again this year I would like to say a very big thank you to all those who have helped in the production of this report. In all its various aspects, including the planning, writing of comments and articles, production of photographs, printing and final collation and distribution of the report, it is very much a team effort by governors, staff, parents and pupils. I hope you will find it interesting and useful. I would also, once again, like to thank all members of the
Governing Body for their hard work and support for school over the past year.
Two governors left us at the end of last term and we all extend a very warm thank you to them both for all their hard work and support for the school. Kate Smith made a very great and much appreciated contribution to the life of the school, not only as a governor but also as Acting Head. She led the school from strength to strength, maintaining and promoting high standards in all aspects of the life of the school. We much valued her work and support and the experience and expertise that she shared with us when she became
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and the school and pupils benefited greatly from her hard work and dedication. We extend our thanks to her for her work and support in both these roles and wish her too success and happiness in her new job.
Welcome
We warmly welcome Kathy Quiney and Danny Moody who have recently joined our governing body as community governors and
Richard Pamment as the newly elected parent governor. All live in the village and we hope they will enjoy their work with us and find it interesting and rewarding.
Mrs Debbie Reeve, a parent of one of our pupils at the school, has kindly offered to act as our new Clerk to the Governors. We welcome
Debbie and thank her in anticipation of her support.
(Niki Phillips, Chairman)
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Meeting of Parents and Governors on Tuesday 12 November. This opportunity to discuss together various issues relevant to your children’s education is important to us, and we hope as many of you as possible will join us to share your thoughts and views on ‘The Way Ahead’, which will be our main theme for this year.
To those who attended the meeting last year a very big thank you for helping to make the evening so interesting and enjoyable. We very much valued the discussion generated by the topics you raised. As you probable realise, we have subsequently acted upon some of the ideas that we debated.
We hope to continue with the informal format for the meeting which has been used for the last two years and which those attending seemed to enjoy and appreciate. If you have a question you would like answered or a topic you would like discussed, including any matter arising from the questionnaire circulated with this report, please let us know beforehand.
This will allow us to consider these matters in advance of the meeting and respond as a group, since no governor has a right to act or speak as an individual.
The governors extend a warm invitation to you to join us on Tuesday, 12
November 2002.
Yours sincerely,
Eunice (Niki) Phillips Chair of Governors
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We were delighted to be granted an achievement award for our
Standardised test results from 2000 to 2001. The award recognises the hard work and dedication of the staff at Helmdon.
The highlight of our school year had to be the whole school art exhibition and rainforest. It was wonderful to see the interest and enthusiasm of everyone who supported this venture. We were delighted with the response of those who came along to view the exhibits and it was rewarding to see the children eagerly showing parents and friends around the school.
We welcome Mrs Last as a part time teacher who is sharing the class responsibility of the years 1 / 2 class with Mrs Ramm, who will continue to provide specialist teaching for some of our children with
Special Educational Needs.
The creation and development of our new outside play area for the
Reception class, and the construction of a new school library in the hall, have been the most recent changes to the school premises. One of the other major achievements is the refurbishment of the girl’s toilets outside Mrs Toman’s and Mrs Riley’s classes.
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in our school is exceptional and is certainly a contributory factor in making our school so successful.
Yours sincerely
Sue Blackburn
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Spring
Half-Term:
Close Friday
TEACHER TRAINING DAY Monday
Re-open to pupils Tuesday
14 February
24 February
25 February
Easter:
2003
Close
Re-open to pupils
Friday
Monday
11 April
28 April
May Day: Close
Re-open to pupils
Friday
Tuesday
2 May
6 May
Summer
Half-Term:
2003
Close Friday
TEACHER TRAINING DAY Monday
Re-open to pupils Tuesday
23 May
2 June
3 June
Summer Close
2003:
Pupil Absences
Total Possible attendance:
Authorised Absences:
Unauthorised Absences:
Friday 18 July
35198 (Yrs 1-6 on roll x days x 2)
1528 4.3%
84 0.2%
The number of authorised absences is mainly due to the number of family holidays taken in term time. Although families are permitted up to 10 days annual leave during any academic year at the discretion of the
Headteacher, more than 10 days is not permitted and has to be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Holidays during SATS testing will be classed as unauthorised absence. We would ask parents to phone the office on the first day of your child’s illness and to send a sick note into school for any subsequent days so that an authorised absence is recorded in the register and we would like to thank parents who already follow this procedure .
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We continue to raise awareness of multi-cultural issues and the Rainforest
Exhibition provided a focus on different cultures. We have also established e-pal links with a school in Australia that has a high percentage of pupils from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
Targets are set for a specific cohort of children to reflect the range of ability in that particular year group. The table below gives our targets for the next two years.
Key stage 1
% achieving level 2
Or above
Key Stage 2
% achieving level 4 or above
Key Stage 2 %
Achieving level 5 or more
Subject 2002 2003 2004
Reading 88 66 77
Writing 88 93 72
Mathematics 88 100 77
English 85 86 93
Mathematics 90 86 93
Science 90 86 93
English 45 24 42
Mathematics 35 38 42
Science 45 38 42
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First Aid at Work training and are now named first aiders at lunchtime.
We would like to commend all staff for their commitment to continuing professional development, which in turn benefits our children.
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that the school got an Achievement Award from the Dfee.
Last Christmas, the production of The Nutcracker Suite was marred only by the feverish illness that was sweeping the school. Those troupers who were fit enough to take part provided their audience with an enchanting entertainment. It is always impressive to see tiny children, who have only been at school for three months, take part in a big production such as this and not be overwhelmed by it.
Mrs Riley’s year three children enjoyed their first trip to Grendon.
This two night residential visit is always a great success and the children always seem to return to school looking taller than when they left.
In June the school celebrated the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. After days of relentless rain our Jubilee celebration took place in warm sunshine.
The Friends of the School gave the children a lunchtime street party and in the afternoon we were all graced with the presence of Her
Majesty. Her normally stern demeanour softened when Cecil
Harrold approached her with the big red ‘This is your Life’ book and she enjoyed re-living the highlights of her reign accompanied by a dance from every decade performed by each class. In addition, the staff undertook a demanding routine requiring a high degree of athleticism and split second timing. Not only that, some of them could dance.
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positive effect on our school. In fact all members of staff have areas of expertise to offer the life of the school but really their greatest strength is the enthusiasm with which they undertake all these extra projects.
During the preparation of the spectacular Rainforest Art Exhibition last summer, there may well have been moments of weariness among the staff. It was never shown though and the ideas were still pouring in at the end. As the final touches were being made to the displays you could still hear staff saying ‘I have an idea, we could do this!’.
The Rainforest Art Exhibition exemplified what we do best at
Helmdon School in that everyone was involved. The request for materials and paper and paint was met by parents, the children were enthused and produced a very high standard of artwork and the staff worked tirelessly, putting in hours of extra time to make the display the memorable experience that it was. If we had to pay for them we couldn’t afford it.
This makes no mention of the other ‘extras’ our children benefit from, choir, after school sports clubs and outings to mention a few. In these days when you hear of the emphasis placed on the core curriculum we are very lucky that our children get so much more than that.
Christine Bridger – Communications
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The staff undertook training in mini-basketball and we are grateful to the Parish
Council for organising the new basketball posts on the upper playground.
We were very fortunate last year to secure sponsorship from Macintyers Estate
Agents for a new football kit in the Helmdon school colours of blue and yellow.
The children feel very proud to wear the kit and we are very grateful to Macintyers for their kind generosity.
We recognise that sport is an important aspect of a child’s education and sport, therefore, continues to flourish at Helmdon School.
Special Educational Needs
Our aim at Helmdon is to include all our children in every aspect of school life, making sure that this is an enjoyable experience, enabling them to reach their full potential.
During their first term, a base line assessment is made and the children are carefully monitored to ensure any problems are quickly identified and diagnosed. If there is an area of concern, the class teacher will at first break down their work into more manageable steps. This may remedy the child’s problem after one or two terms. If, however, it continues, she will consult the Special Education Needs Co-ordinator, (SENCO) and together they will devise an Individual Education Programme (IEP). This will target the specific needs of that child, whether it is extra support in the class, specialist help or special materials and equipment. Often with early
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We have enjoyed a great deal of success within the area of Special Needs, highlighted in our recent OFSTED report. We are fortunate enough to have an excellent specialist teacher, Mrs Angela Ramm, and team of
Special Needs Assistants who all work to ensure our children are confident learners in the classroom. Funding received for children with SEN is used to provide this support and extra learning resources.
As a school we welcome all children into our school whatever their disability, making every effort to provide for their needs. However, the layout of the school prohibits wheelchair access.
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Many parents, past parents and other members of the community with particular expertise in areas such as music, ceramics, dance, design and technology, costume making, sewing and cross stitch lend their skills at various times of the year.
The help and support is appreciated enormously by the staff and children and is often felt a rewarding experience by the helper.
If any parents would like to help in any way, or know of people who have experience of any of the topics the children are covering, please let the teaching staff know.
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funds.
The day to day management of the school’s finance is handled by the Headteacher and the School Office
Manager. The Finance Committee meets on a regular basis and reviews actual expenditure against the budget.
The Finance Committee updates the full Governors meeting of any relevant changes to the initial budget.
At the beginning of this financial year the initial proposed
LEA Budget provided for the school was £301,430. During the year additional funding was allocated by the LEA of
£25,150 linked to a number of initiatives. Therefore the final LEA allocation for Year 2001/2 was £326,580. The surplus carried forward into 2002/2003 financial year was
£9,330.
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£4,396 Lettings, bank interest and sundries
£14,197 Income from external sources
£15,690 Surplus from previous year
£310,768 TOTAL INCOME
£5118
£17,397
£360,630
EXPENDITURE
£221,490 Employees £250,497
£3,689 Energy £3,435
£32,704 Premises £60,952
£37,128 Books, Classroom consumables,
Buy Back Contracts (Capitation and training)
Office Costs £3,238
£319
£31,555
£4,692
Travel & Recruitment Expenses 170
£298,568 TOTAL EXPENDITURE £351,301
£12,200 Surplus carried forward £9,329
£310,768 TOTAL £360,630
The increase in expenditure in premises is due to the Year 6 classroom extension, whereby the Local Education Authority, through the Seed
Challenge Grant, matched 50% of the total cost of £30,000.
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facilities of this area. Our main playground is to be resurfaced during October half term and this will include the removal of the dwarf wall and the lipping around the edge of the playground.
The new oil tank was sited at the side of the Year 6
extension area, which has had an additional benefit of widening the path along the entrance to the playground.
The blue railings are to be extended around the top of the playground, which will make the top playground more secure, as well as providing a barrier to children entering the area around the oil tank.
Mrs Darwin is delighted with her new cloakroom which has effectively stored all coats bags and lunchboxes tidily at the back of the classroom. The girl’s toilets have also been refurbished outside Mrs Riley’s classroom.
The new library with access to the Internet and new computers has been an asset to the school. The library
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of the building is to be painted and some of the Victorian windows are to be repaired.
The longstanding problems concerned with the damp in the
Reception classroom and the cracking in the hall are at long last being addressed. The LEA has dug test holes to examine the foundations and the building is to be underpinned to prevent further cracking. Once this work has been carried out we are looking forward to the hall flooring being repaired and the hall can then be decorated.
New curtains are to be put up in the hall and we are ordering a new large climbing apparatus for use in gymnastics lessons.
Once the underpinning has been completed we are going to extend the path around the school so that it is easier to walk to the playground without crossing the car park.
The next exciting project is the possibility of creating an office extension and reception area at the front of the school. We are looking into the possibility of creating a corridor to bypass Mrs Darwin’s classroom as a part of this project which will minimise disruption to this classroom.
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year. Facilities in the ICT suite have been enhanced throughout the year with the arrival of four new computers
(one through Tesco vouchers) and a heavy-duty colour printer.
Focus is now on making ICT a part of every classroom in the school. The new computers in the ICT suite have allowed us to put three modern computers in Class 4, and more three more machines are on order to further enhance the newly refurbished library area. Our goal is to have modern computers available in every classroom, all
Internet connected with access to our Espresso children’s news service. Also new for this year is a special RM Maths package which we have purchased, this is part a suite of
“success-maker” software. Other schools have found that this package can greatly improve pupil performance in key curriculum areas.
The current drive is towards making ICT part of the teachers life!, we have been fortunate to receive two free laptops for teachers through a government initiative. In the near future we will be trialling the use of an inter-active whiteboard in Class 1 to see how this can further enhance teaching.
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delegated throughout the management structure and to all levels of staff.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places legal duties upon all of us, the School Governors, the LEA and its employees, to protect Health and
Safety – “so far as is reasonably practicable”. The Governors support management and staff with a comprehensive range of measures designed to assist with these duties. These measures include, the objective assessment of the various risks presented by school activities and the environment, the development of effective safety measures to control those risks, and the provision of appropriate training and information to all employees.
Additionally, a considerable number of improvements have been made to the premises to reduce identified risks. This has included the refurbishment of the Early Years play area, new toilets, maintenance to the grounds, including the removal of some trees; additional external lighting; the fitment of safety glass to windows and doors, and new carpeting.
The Health and Safety policy is regularly monitored by governors but should parents have any concerns or suggestions regarding health and safety issues in school, please speak to Sue Blackburn or the Chair of the
Health & Safety Committee, Nigel Strickland, who may be contacted on
[phone number removed].
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Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
Our aim this school year is to support our usual annual events such as the Christmas party, providing each child with a small gift, sports day refreshments and Year 6 leavers’ presents.
We can only continue to achieve this with ongoing dedicated support from all parents throughout the year’s fund raising events.
We would welcome any parents wishing to join the committee and help us to achieve our goals
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