Governor Monitoring Visits and Training 2014-2015

Welcome to the 2014-15 Governor Monitoring Visits & Training Page.  Governors provide a crucial role in ensuring the school achieves the very best  outcomes for all of its pupils. This page will provide a brief on-going account of some of our monitoring and school improvement work.

3rd December 2014: Ofsted Inspection
Governors attended a meeting with the Lead Inspector in order to review the effectiveness of their work. The inspector commented that she had not visited a school where so many Governors had made themselves available for interview during the inspection. At the feedback meeting the Inspection Team confirmed that the Governing Body was effective, and graded their leadership, GOOD.

24th November 2014: Standards Committee – Performance Monitoring and Challenge
The Curriculum and Standards Committee met today to review pupil performance standards at the school. The Committee has decided to meet every half term, in addition to general Curriculum meeting, in order to focus solely on this area. Today the committee reviewed an updated school evaluation summary and set targets for improvement. These included targets for KS1 phonics, KS2 SATs outcomes, and accelerated progress targets for each cohort.

The committee asked the Head to submit an action plan for each target to outline what the school intends to do to ensure they are met. They will review progress on January 26th.

18th November 2014: Luke Eaton (IT Governor) IT Monitoring Visit
Today I visited Woodcroft to review the school’s progress towards key areas identified in the school development plan. We reviewed the strategic development of the school website and discussed future options to support governor input and effectiveness. I was also interested in the analysis mechanisms that the school are using to measure the impact of IT initiatives. I observed a maths lesson that incorporated Chromebooks to differentiate an activity on fractions. I also watched a Year 5 class launch their new Treehouse VLE. Mr Tallon then escorted me on a familiarisation tour of the school’s excellent facilities.

17th November 2014: Liz Court – Performance Standards Monitoring and Challenge Meeting
Following the Headteacher’s report of the 2014 data outcomes, today I discussed how the school is setting targets to accelerate the progress of pupils. I have asked the Headteacher to submit an action plan linked to challenging targets that have been set for every year group. Governors will the monitor the impact of this work as an ongoing priority. A special meeting with the Curriculum Committee was convened. It was noted that the Headteachers performance targets will link directly to the associated action plans.

10th November 2014: Full Governing Body Meeting
The Governing Body of the school met during the evening to review the performance of the school. A number of reports from the Headteacher and Committees were presented. These can be read in the reports section of this website. Governors recognised the hard work and dedication of the all staff and pupils at Woodcroft Primary School.

10th November 2014: Liz Court (Chair of Governors) – Effective Use of the immersive hall
I was interested to see how the school’s Immersive Hall, now called the ‘Tardis’, was being used effectively so I observed a Year 3 lesson linked to their Egyptian topic.  With hieroglyphics projected onto the walls we were transported into a burial chamber in which the pupils carried the mummification of an Egyptian Pharaoh (Mr Russell, Deputy Head). This was a fun ‘hands on’ experience for the pupils, supported by the immersive technology that will help the pupils develop historical understanding.

Egyptian Day 1

Egyptian mummification in the Woodcroft TARDISEgyptian Day 2

7th November 2014: Donna Dolphin – Enrichment Monitoring of Choir
I joined Senior Choir for rehearsals after school on Friday. The pupils obviously get a lot from the club and all looked forward to their Friday sessions. It was good to see the new Y4 pupils being integrated so well into the Senior Choir, and the progress that the whole choir has made so far this term with Miss Sherring. I am looking forward to the autumn concerts.

7th November 2014: Liz Court – Visit to the Unicorn Theatre
Year 5 are studying drama for their Arts Award curriculum project as part of the school’s AIM@Arts programme. Unicorn actors have visited Woodcroft to provide workshops and the pupils have studied the play, so now it was the opportunity to watch it at the theatre. The experience was special because we were the only school in the audience, and the actors involved out pupils in the songs they has learnt.

6th November 2014: Donna Dolphin – Premises and Safety Committee
The Premises and Safety Committee now covers all aspects of safeguarding and safety as well as premises and building matters. The Headteacher presented a number of detailed reports and audits to ensure Governors could exercise their duties to ensure pupils at Woodcroft are educated in a safe environment, A report has been posted.

4th November 2014: Headteachers Performance Management
Richard Burrows (Chair of Finance), Liz Court (Chair of Governors)
As two members of the Personnel Committee we met with Craig Tallon (Headteacher) and an educational consultant, Ken Warburton, to review progress made by the school towards annual targets that are set by the Governors.

3rd November 2014: Liz Court (Chair of Governors) SMSC Monitoring
As part of my weekly visit I focused on two examples of how the school promotes Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural Education. I observed the lunchtime string ensemble group learning a new piece. I was particularly impressed by the pupil’s concentration and subject knowledge of the teachers. Afterwards, enjoyed an assembly lead by Mr Tallon that explained how fireworks are used in many cultures as part of their celebrations. We then looked at the British bonfire night tradition and the history surrounding Guy Fawkes’ plot against King James I. Mr Tallon then reviewed the firework safety code ahead of November the 5th!

3rd November 2014: , Liz Court (Chair of Governors) Monitoring of Reading
Today I visited some classes to discuss with pupils the books that they are reading. I was impressed with the way pupils could confidently discuss stories, predict endings and give opinions supported by evidence from the book.

21st October 2014: Finance & Personnel Committee Meeting
Richard Burrows (Chair of Finance), Liz Court (Chair of Governors), Luke Eaton (Community Governor)
The Finance and Personnel Committee met with Craig Tallon (Headteacher) and Louise Jackson (School Business Manager) today to review, amongst other things, the school’s budget and school improvement plans. A report will be published in the Governance section of the website.

20th October 2014: Kazeem Aremu (Parent Governor) Induction Visit
Today I carried out a familiarisation visit to the school. I met with Mr Tallon to discuss governor responsibilities, took a walk around the school and visited a number of classes. I also reviewed science transition books to monitor standards.

17th October 2014: Liz Court (Chair of Governors) Harvest Festival
Thank you for inviting me to your lovely Harvest Festival today. The children had made such fantastic food hampers for Age Concern and their coin picture collection was amazing – an Oak Tree made out of coins! The children sang beautifully, supported by guitar club. Well done to all of the pupils and staff for all of their efforts – a real community event!

17th October 2014: Mervat Kahlil (Parent Governor) SEN Development Visit
Following my participation in the SEN London Conference on Friday 10th  October I scheduled a meeting with the Head and SENCo to discuss the direction of SEN development and resources in the school. We also reviewed the SEN Information Report that is being published on the school website.

16th October 2014: Philomina Moore (Parent Governor) Foundation Stage Monitoring Visit
On my visit today I was looking at the use of the outdoor area and how the school uses resources to enhance the learning. Provision has been made for developing key communication skills across the Foundation Stage. I was particularly impressed with a role play den in Nursery that encouraged writing activities. I will look at how learning is assessed and how judgements are used to support next steps on my next visit.

15th October 2014: Liz Court (Chair) Elaine Hurley (Staff Governor) ‘Aspire Fischer Family Trust’ Governor Training 
We attended a very useful and interesting governor development session at the North London Business Park. This data analysis resource helps schools evaluate pupil progress and set challenging targets.

14th October 2014: Liz Court (Chair of Governors) English and Maths Achievement Monitoring Visit
Following reports submitted to the Curriculum and Standards Committee about school action to improve standards, today I accompanied the KS1 Assistant Head (Sue Lloyd) and KS2 Assistant Head (Kay Vanner) on their scheduled monitoring activities. The school carries out regular ‘Learning Walks’ to ensure new initiatives are being applied consistently and standards are maintained.

13th October 2014: Donna Dolphin (Parent Governor) Music & The Arts
Along with Mrs Court (Chair of Governors) we supported Year 4 on their visit to the Royal Albert Hall. This was part of the school’s new AIM@Arts curriculum programme.

3rd October 2014: Curriculum and Standards Committee
Liz Court (Chair), Mervat Khalil (Parent Governor), Philomena Moore (Parent Governor), Elaine Hurley (Staff Governor), Kay Vanner (Staff Governor)

The Committee met today and monitored a number of items related to the school curriculum and pupil achievement standards. These included; compliance of the new website to DfE requirements, the Maths LSEF development project, the 2014 SEN Information Report,  Local Authority moderation and Inspector visit report outcomes and new National Curriculum planning. We also updated our Governor Audit & Self Evaluation through reviews of the school Pupil Premium Impact Reports, the latest school self-evaluation documents and achievement outcomes from the past academic year. A full report of meeting will be posted on the school website.

1st October 2014: Mervat Khalil (Parent Governor) SEN Monitoring Visit
Today I met with Sarah Cullen (Asst Head/SENCo) to review SEN provision across the school. We looked at the systems to monitor support and how interventions were appropriately targeted to individual pupil needs. On my next visit I hope to observe a range of interventions taking place.

29th September 2014: Liz Court (Chair of Governor) Intervention Monitoring Visit
Today I observed the teaching of a Maths ‘Springboard’ Intervention session for a Y3 group. I was impressed with the quality of the teaching. The the session was well paced and all children were on task throughout activity.

25th September: Philomina Moore – (Parent Governor) Foundation Stage 

Today I met with Mrs Powell and the Foundation Stage team. I observed the setting during the morning session. A report of visit has been prepared for Governors. On my next visit I will look at how the outdoor environment supports learning.

4th and Friday 5th September: Liz Court – Staff Training Days
Firstly, could I thank all of my fellow Governors that attended the staff training days at the start of term. In total, 7 Governors (not including staff governors) attended training.
Topics covered included: The School Development Plan, Child Protection & Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Staff Code of Practice and Appraisal.
We also received presentations from subject leaders on the new National Curriculum that included, English. Maths, Computing, Geography, PE and the Arts. It was also interesting to find out about changes to the SEN Code of Practice.
All in all it was a full schedule, but very informative.