Governors annual report 2005

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Helmdon Primary
School
Governors’
Annual Report
2004/2005

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Governors at Helmdon School ~October 2005
Name Governor type
Sue Blackburn Head teacher
Cec Harrold
Lillian Hosea
Danny Moody
Niki Phillips
Kate Prud’homme
John Plunkett
Richard Pamment
Sandra Wroe
Nick Stone
Andrew Threlfall
Gary Turner
Vacancy
Vacancy
LEA
Parent
Community
Community
Staff
Parent
Parent
Associate member
LEA
Parent
Parent
LEA
Community
Office Expires
Jan 2009
July 2009
August 2006
August 2006
April 2010
September 2008
August 2006
October 2008
November 2008
October 2006
August 2006
This role cannot be filled by a parent
David Brookhouse ex-officio Parish Council contact.
If any parent or member of the community is interested in becoming a school Governor, please speak to Mrs Blackburn or the school office.
Sandra Wroe is an associate member of the governing Body, which means that she has no voting rights at full governing body meetings and cannot vote on any resolutions concerning admissions, pupil discipline, election or appointment of governors or the budget. Their term of office can be from one to four years.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Meet your governors…….
Cecil Harrold
I have worked with the following industries Royal Navy, Advertising, and Sales &
Marketing. Chaired Pharmaceutical Industry Education group for four years.
School Governor in other counties, involved in Enterprise Agency activities.
Governor at Helmdon for eight & half years, currently Chair.
Eunice (Niki) Phillips
I have lived in Helmdon for seventeen years. I am a retired schoolteacher and currently work part time for Warwick University. I am vice-chair of Helmdon
School Governors.
Sandra Wroe
Hi, I am Sandra Wroe; I have been a parent governor for the last year. I have been living in Helmdon for the last seven years with my husband Mike and son
James. James is in year 4 at school. I also work in the school office where I
have settled having worked in the school a number of years. I am also a member of Friends of Helmdon School, where I have also taken the role of joint chair in previous years.
Danny Moody
I joined the governing body as a community governor in September 2002 with no knowledge of primary education whatsoever, so the last two years have been a steep learning curve for me. I am now chair of the school’s Premises and
Health & Safety committee and was recently re-elected as assistant vice chair of the governing body. I have lived in Helmdon for six years, so I am a relative newcomer, although my son has lived here all his life (he’s only 2½). In addition to my role as a governor I am also a parish councillor and the Webmaster for the village web site. I hope this means I have my “finger on the pulse” and can bring my knowledge of what’s happening in Helmdon to governing body discussions. My term as a community governor ends in 2006, but hopefully by then I will be able to stand again as a parent governor!

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Andrew Threlfall
"I have lived in Helmdon for just over two years, having moved from the New
Forest in August 2002. I am married to Alexia, and we have two 'energetic' boys, Thomas aged five years, who currently attends Helmdon Primary School, and Angus aged two years, who just causes chaos.
I work locally in Brackley, and outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family, trying to keep some resemblance of fitness and socialising with friends."
John Plunkett
I'm fifty years old and have lived in Helmdon for eight and a half years. I have three children at Helmdon Primary; James in Year 1 and twins William and Emily, who started this term in Reception. I've been a freelance IT consultant for over twenty years, but have taken two years out to care for my children on a full-time basis. I'm a Ckers Youth Group helper, a member of the Helmdon
Young Husbands Organisation, a Bridge Player and a member of the Parish Plan
Monitoring Group.
Lillian Hosea
I became a parent governor in July of this year, having lived in the village for almost ten years. As a working Mum it is difficult to participate in the normal way and so I wanted to become a Governor in the hope that I might make a positive contribution to the running of the school, for now and for the future.
Two of our three children (Alex and Lilly Trebilcock) are in year one at the school and are having the most marvelous learning experience. However, they are having trouble understanding why they attend during the day and Mummy has to go in the evenings!
I am delighted to be part of the school.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Letter from Sue Blackburn, Headteacher
Dear Parents
The Annual Report is a summary of the school’s progress over the past year and gives our Governing Body the opportunity to highlight our successes and changes.
We also look to the future and this year in particular we have already started to look beyond the next ten years to see how the school will be structured and organised. Your views and ideas are important in shaping the school and helping us to provide the highest standards of education for our children.
We were delighted with our test results this year having achieved 100% level 2
and above in reading and mathematics in Key stage 1 and 85% level 2 and above in writing. 96% of our pupils attained level 4 and above in science in Key Stage 2
and 70% of these pupils gained Level 5 and 87% of our Key Stage pupils gained level 4 in Maths. We recognise the hard work and dedication of the staff at
Helmdon who have all worked to achieve such high standards.
We continue to extend the curriculum at Helmdon to inspire and develop each child’s creative talents and understanding of the world around them. Our
Christmas celebrations last year were delightful, our Key stage 1 pupils performing a touching play and our Key stage 2 pupils contributing to an atmospheric medieval Christmas performance in the church.
Our whole school art exhibition once again did not fail to astound and delight all who visited and once again we have received a certificate of Excellence from our
LEA in recognition of the high standards achieved.
We opened the school to parents and members of the community on our open evening on Monday 17th October 3.15 – 4.00pm and Tuesday 18th October at 6.00
– 7.30pm. Governors were available to talk to and to ask questions. We would particularly ask for your ideas and contributions to the future of the school suggestions that have been raised already.
Thank you to you, our parents, who have continued to give so much time and enthusiasm in supporting the school not only in attending our sharing assemblies and harvest festivals, but also in the various fund raising events. We value your involvement in offering help with classroom activities and reading. The community participation in our school is exceptional and is certainly a contributory factor in making our school so successful.
Yours sincerely
Sue Blackburn

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Special Thanks
My thanks to all the team, governors, staff, parents and pupils, for their combined efforts in assisting in the production of this report. A further thank you to the Governing Body for their dedication and support for the school over the past year.
Thanks to all those who have assisted with reading and other tasks in the school, your help has been very much appreciated. More volunteers will be made very welcome!
Jenny Smith has resigned as a Parent Governor, her contribution has been appreciated
Lillian Hosea has joined the Governing Body as a Parent Governor and Kate
Prud’homme has joined as a Staff representative, we wish them a rewarding term of office.
Richard Pamment has again run his “Chariots of Fire”, participating in the North
Run and raising money both for the school and a charity – well done!
My thanks to all the staff for their continued dedication to the school and their unfailing good humour.
The future……….
Staff and Governors have had many discussions in this respect and many ideas are under consideration, not least a study to identify the practicalities of a
Nursery on the school site.
It is also pleasing to note that the school has the continued ability to build on past successes.
Cecil Harrold
Chair of Governors

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
HELMDON PRIMARY SCHOOL
SCHOOL TERM DATES
Academic Year 2005-2006
Summer 2005 TRAINING DAY – All Schools
TRAINING DAY – All Schools
Thursday 1 September
Friday 2 September
Term 1 Re-open to pupils
Close
Monday
Friday
5 September
21 October
TRAINING DAY – All schools
Re-open to pupils
Close
Monday
Tuesday
Tuesday
31 October
1 November
20 December
Re-open
Close
Tuesday
Friday
3 January
10 February
Term 4 TRAINING DAY – All schools
Re-open to pupils
Monday
Tuesday
20 February
21 February
Easter
Close Friday 31 March
Term 5 Re-open to pupils
TRAINING DAY – All schools
Close
Wednesday 19April
Friday 28April
Friday 26 May
Re-open
Close
Monday
Friday
Autumn break
Term 2
Christmas
Term 3
Spring break
Summer break
Term 6
Summer holidays
5 June
21 July
YEAR 2 and YEAR 6 SATS will taking place in MAY, please avoid taking your child out of school during this time.
Pupil Absence
Total Possible attendance: 35880
Authorised Absences: 4.1%
Unauthorised absences: 0.00%
(Yrs 1-6 on roll x days x 2)

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Finance
A breakdown of the major expenditure areas is provided in the table below.
2004/05
£347,960
£5,500
£4,430
£56,950
2005/06
INCOME
LEA Final Budget Allocation
Lettings, bank interest and sundries
Income from external sources
Carry forward from previous year
£381,647
£3,500
£22,000
£22,460
£414,840 TOTAL INCOME £429,607
£285,700
£23,970
£4,450
£13,980
EXPENDITURE
Employees
Buy Back Contracts
Energy
Premises
£318,597
£20,997
£5,300
£10,105
£10,749
£8,800
£77,271
£424,920
Books, Classroom consumables
(Capitation and training)
Office costs
Capital Construction
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
£32,368
£3,506
£20,000
£410,873

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Progress with the Post OFSTED Action Plan
The targets outlined for key stage SATs results in 2005 have been exceeded in
Key Stage 1 in reading and mathematics. The percentages achieved are shown on appendices 1 & 2 of the report. We achieved 96% level 4 and above in science for those children taking the tests in Key Stage 2 and were delighted with 70%
of children achieving level 5 in science. We achieved 100% level 2 and above in
Mathematics and reading and 85 % in writing for those children taking the tests this year in Key Stage 1. Targets are set for a specific cohort of children to reflect the range of ability in that particular year group.
Targets set for 2006
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 2005 2006
Reading 88 66 77 86 89
Writing 88 93 72 86 89
Mathematics 88 100 77 95 89
English 85 86 100 87 86
Mathematics 90 86 100 83 90
Science 90 86 100 83 95
English 45 24 69 22 19
Mathematics 35 38 46 35 38
Science 45 38 85 35
52

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Staff Training
All staff are keen to keep abreast of new initiatives and develop themselves professionally through training opportunities.
Literacy, numeracy and assessment courses are attended regularly by all members of staff and in-house training is always high on the agenda. We have been working closely with Magdalen College School, who gained
Mathematics and ICT specialist status last year. We will continue to benefit from additional technical support and also the input from an ICT
teacher who has been employed to support local primary schools. This will support teaching and non teaching staff in using our new interactive whiteboards and data projectors.
This year Mrs Blackburn has continued her work with the National
College for School Leadership as the East Midlands regional coordinator for the Leadership Network , and the LEA as a pilot School Improvement
Partner.
Tracey Munslow has attended courses on anti bullying; Foundation stage curriculum and using ICT. She has also attended courses on the teaching of spelling and literacy.
Susan Nilsson has continued to work with local schools in the PE
initiative for schools -Schools Sports Co-coordinator Partnership. This has been an exciting new programme and has increased links between secondary and primary schools.
Celia Edmondson has participated on a series of creative writing courses, which she found inspirational.
Julie Crouch has attended updated training in the administration of the
Key Stage 1 SAT tests and also training to support her in her role as
SENCo.
Sarah Stubbs has completed her first year of a foundation degree course at
University College Northampton and has the ultimate goal of becoming a class teacher. Sarah is now working as a Higher Level Teaching
Assistant teaching music across the school.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
All teaching assistants will undertake basic first aid training on the next training day. Sallie Connery has also attended the full First Aid at work training course.
Fiona Stringer, Kate Prud’homme, Michelle Childerley, Kristina Wade are all working as or training to become Higher Level Teaching
Assistants.
Sue Turner and Judith Wait have attended training courses to support them in their teaching of after school sports.
Judith Wait has attended numerous courses in the light of our change to a new administration system.
We would like to thank all staff for the time they dedicate to attending courses and doing assignments and follow up work. It is this, which allows Helmdon School to keep abreast of new iniatives and continue to thrive as a successful school.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Our aim at Helmdon is to include all our children in every aspect of school life, making sure that this is an enjoyable experience and enabling them to reach their full potential. Our policy and practice in making provision for those with
Special Educational Needs remains focused on meeting the needs of the individual child. We continue to welcome all children into our school regardless of any disability and although the layout of the school would make it difficult for those in wheelchairs to access all areas, we would, nevertheless, make every effort to accommodate any child in such circumstances.
As many of you will remember form last year’s report to parents, our procedure is to assess and monitor all children during their first term at the school, to ensure any problems are quickly identified and diagnosed. If there is an area of concern, the class teacher will make every effort to remedy the child’s problem.
If this is not successful within the first one or two terms, she will consult the
Special Education Needs Co-coordinator, (SENCO) and together they will devise an Individual Education Programme (IEP). This will target the specific needs of that child, such as extra support in the class, specialist help and special materials and equipment. Often, with early identification, children master their difficulty and confidently continue their learning without further problems.
However, if these measures do not fulfill the child’s needs there are various outside agencies that can give additional help and advice. Our first approach is to the link teacher from the Inclusion and Pupil Support (IPS), who has a wealth of experience and expertise from which we can draw. If provision from this source still does not resolve the child’s learning difficulty, the LEA can make additional resources through a statement.
An experienced team of dedicated Special Needs Assistants supports Mrs. Julie
Crouch, our special needs expert. The whole of the budget allocated to us for
Special Needs is spent on staffing for these pupils. Additional funding for staffing and other resources for this group are purchased from the general school budget as additional funding for SEN. The SEN staff all participate in special training provided for them by the Local Education Authority.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
SCHOOL RESULTS
These tables show the percentage of eligible children at the end of key stage 1 achieving each level in the school in
2005.
The number of eligible children is: 20
Figures may not total 100 per cent because of rounding.
TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Percentage at each level
W 1 2 2C 2B
Speaking and listening *
0 0 100
Reading 0 0 20 35
Writing 0 15 30
Mathematics 0 0 15
Science * 0 0
2A
3 or above
Disapplied Absent children children
0 0 0
20 25 0 0
30 25 0 0 0
35 40 10 0 0
0 0 0 100
W Represents children who are working towards level 1, but have not yet achieved the standards needed for level 1
* Results for speaking and listening and science are based on teacher assessment only.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
SCHOOL RESULTS
These tables show the percentage of pupils at the end of key stage 2 achieving each level in the school in 2005.
The number of pupils at the end of key stage 2: 23
Figures may not total 100 per cent because of rounding.
TEACHER ASSESSMENT
Percentage at each level
W 1 2 3 4 5 6
Pupils disapplied
Pupils absent
English 0 0 4 13 52 30 0 0 0
Speaking and
Listening
0 0 4 13 52 26 4 0 0
Reading 0 0 4 13 52 30 0 0 0
Writing 0 4 0 13 57 26 0 0 0
Mathematics 0 0 4 9 48 39 0 0 0
Science 0 0 0 4 48 48 0 0 0
TEST RESULTS
Percentage at each level
Below Level 3* 3 4 5
Pupils not entered #
Pupils absent
English 4 13 39 43 0 0
Reading 4 9 43 43 0 0
Writing 4 22 52 22 0 0
Mathematics 4 9 43 43 0 0
Science 0 4 26 70 0 0
W
level 1.
represents pupils who are working towards level 1, but have not yet achieved the standards needed for
* represents pupils who were not entered for the tests because they were working below level 3 in English, mathematics or science; pupils awarded a compensatory level from the tests; and pupils entered for but not achieving a level from the tests.
# pupils working at the levels of the tests, but unable to access them, formally referred to as disapplied.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Information Computer Technology
ICT appears as a topic in its own right; also ICT is increasingly used in support of other activities, such as surfing the Internet to research specific topics, or using the excellent Espresso children's news service.
The last year has been an exciting year culminating with the purchase of new
Interactive whiteboards for each class room and data projectors. Children and teachers are now using this new equipment and we are fortunate in having the continued support of Richard Shaw from Magdalen College School, who is a leading ICT teacher, to train everyone is gaining the maximum benefit from the hard ware and software.
Ann Lester and Lynn Cheeseman have been invaluable in providing technical support with
ICT, an increasingly demanding role. Nick Stone has also supported us in the installation of wireless networking to enable teaching staff to use their laptops in the staffroom during their non teaching time.
All teachers have a laptop for their exclusive use and Sarah Stubbs has been using the spare laptop which we made available for teaching assistants to use.
Another thank you, this time to everyone! We had 16800 Tesco vouchers this year which we have banked so that we will be able to purchase another computer for the school next year. Well done these contributions do make a difference to the equipment we have in school.
Sue Blackburn
Head Teacher

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Sports Round Up
We are very pleased with the range and amount of school sport that children have participated in over the past year. Susan Nilsson has put a huge amount of effort into organising tournaments and resources to support all aspects of PE. Our participation in the Schools Sport partnership has provided us with training and equipment as well as enabling us to participate in local organised events such as cricket and Tag rugby tournaments. Sue Turner, Caren Whitehouse and Jude Wait have all successfully organised after school clubs and attended tournaments.. A big thank you to all those involved. Without such support these clubs would not be able to run.
Football and netball continued to play a large part in the after school activities with many of the children in years 5 and 6 taking part. Enthusiasm is high in each of these sports and in competition with other schools Helmdon pupils have always fared well.
Other activities for Key stage 2 children included rounders, cricket, rugby, athletics and cross-country, all of which were well attended. Many of our pupils showed real promise and this was borne out at both the Woodford Halse annual cross country event, cross country race at MCS, and the District Sports competition (despite the field events being cancelled) where Helmdon children performed well.
All children in Key Stage 2 attend swimming sessions and our record to achievement in swimming is very good.
Both rugby and football at the school also benefited from the coaching received from the players of Northampton Town FC and Northampton Saints RFC, which many pupils enjoyed. We have continued to use Nick Bellamy sports coaches to provide lunch time and after school football coaching, which is still very popular. Basketball club will also be resuming on a Monday after school.
Sport plays an important role in the development of children in Helmdon School and continues to have a high profile among both parents and staff. Our recent initiative to employ P.E. teachers from Chenderit secondary school has been of great benefit to all our pupils .

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
Premises and Health & Safety
At last! After many delays and several false dawns the main playground has now been totally resurfaced! The improvement is phenomenal and the area is now level and safe for children to play on. Those that remember the loose and broken slabs, and the low brick wall in the corner by the staff room must be very pleased with the outcome of the resurfacing works.
The top playground has been significantly expanded adding considerably to the available playground area. The next step will be to paint fun and educational patterns on the tarmac for the children (and playground assistants) to have fun with. Anyone for hopscotch?!
During the summer holiday contractors replaced several doors and windows that had become unserviceable. The Year 4/5 classroom now boasts an external door that actually opens and closes, and windows that open wide to let in plenty of sunlight and fresh air – a great improvement. The Reception
Class entrance door and the main hall door have both been replaced. The new hall door in particular was very welcome as the old one posed several potential health & safety problems.
The front of the school is looking very good now, thanks to the efforts of school governor Gary Turner and his team who spent a warm Sunday morning clearing the overgrown vegetation. Hopefully, now we are top of the weeds, the shrubs will have a chance to grow through. Extra labour is always welcomed though, so if you are a budding gardener with a few spare hours on your hands please get in touch with the school office.
The Premises and Health & Safety Committee met 5 times in the 04/05
school year. Two members attended a training course in January and this is a constant need in order to keep up with all the new legislation that is brought in to protect our school and the children.
In April the school underwent a full scale Fire
Safety Audit and I am delighted to report that we received top marks. The risk of fire is an ongoing concern and it is important that all staff, children, and other users of the site are aware of, and understand, the fire prevention policy and what to do in the event of an incident. The school office holds all the information pertaining to health & safety so please get in touch if you have any questions.

Helmdon School Annual Report 2004/2005
I would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the use of the school car park and school field:
Dogs (except guide dogs) are NOT ALLOWED on any part of the school grounds at any time. Please do not exercise your dogs on the school field..
The school car park is for staff use only. If you don’t work at the school then parking, even dropping off, in this area is NOT ALLOWED. Parents ignoring this cause much disruption and ultimately make it more difficult for everyone to arrive safely and on time.
The school field is for the use of school children in school hours and for the village outside school hours. Members of the public are NOT ALLOWED
to use the school field, or the play equipment therein, whilst the school is in session. Anyone using the field and equipment should do so with care and respect. Please ensure that you dispose of your litter responsibly.
It is unfortunate to have to lay out these concerns in such strong terms but repeated warnings continue to be ignored. If anyone witnesses misuse of the school grounds, particularly by members of the public who are unrelated to the school, please contact the school office immediately.
The majority of users of the school grounds do so responsibly and I hope they will support and appreciate the strong stance being taken.
Danny Moody
Chair, Premises and Health & Safety Committee
[phone number removed]