Governor Visits, Monitoring and Challenge 2016 -17

This page outlines the work of members of the school’s governing body. It is a chronological diary of monitoring and challenge visits and governor development. Governors also log their involvement in the wider life of the school.

30th June 2017: Kate Bodsworth, Liz Court, Mandy Morisson: Curriculum Committee Meeting and Creative Arts Walkabout
Visited each class years 1-6 to see the results of their creative arts work over the past year, as audience members, performers, creators, and how they researched and shared their work. The children were extremely lively and engaged, and talked animatedly about the wide variety of arts experiences they had witnessed, studied, and participated in (dance, opera, weaving, painting, sculpture, singing, playing instruments, theatre and more).
There was  a remarkable level of engagement with and exposure to arts. The knowledge and enthusiasm shown by all classes, even the youngest, was really striking and a tribute to Woodcroft teachers’ work. We were hugely impressed.


21st June 2017: Kate Bodsworth: English Coordinator Meeting

Visited the English Coordinator, Sue Lloyd, to discuss the monitoring and assessment of reading and writing throughout the school. On my next visit I will look more closely at the methods of record keeping and assessment, and how the school is promoting the joy of reading.


16th June 2017: Juliyah Brown, Liz Court: Standards and Foundation Stage

School improvement targets visit the Headteacher and Educational Consultant, Paul . We also observed standards in Foundation Stage looking at Maths activities and how staff make progress judgments. The setting was well organised with engaged children. The adults were encouraging the children to help each other and have go.


20th April 2017: Kate Bodsworth: Induction Visit

Visit to the school to discuss governor roles and responsibilities, identify key challenges and create a plan of action. The headteacher took me around the school on this introductory visits following my appint as parent governor. I look forward to supporting the school in the future.


22nd March: Liz Court Meeting with Sue Lloyd – Reading and writing progress

Reviewed reading initiatives related to School Development Plan.


8th March : Governor Visit to KS1 – Liz Court, Donna Dolphin, Mandy Morrison, Kazeem Aremu
A group of Governors spent the morning visiting KS1. We observed the children working across the phase.  All pupils were happy to explain what they were doing. We noted that staff input was informative and encouraged the children to think carefully about their work.
We asked Staff about planning.  Year Groups plan work together.  Progress is carefully recorded and interventions put in place for those who need extra help.  Classroom Assistants follow a daily programme given by the teacher.
Governors visited Foundation classes and observed the children engaged in a wide range of activities
Many thanks for the Staff and children for making us so welcome.
28th February 2017: Liz Court: Lion, Witch & Wardrobe Theatre Visit

As part of ‘Big Read Week’, ‘M & M Theatre’ came to school to show their production of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. The four actors portrayed the story in a slick and convincing way.  They achieved all the main details of the story with clever costume changes and vocal changes to match!  The simple scene settings on screens were changed with amazing speed!  The audience could really believe the changes from ‘Room’ to ‘Wardrobe’ to ‘Narnia’.  The whole audience, children and adults were totally enthralled throughout the performance. Many congratulations to ‘M & M Theatre’.


7th February 2017: Liz Court: Digital Tech Day
I was in School on Tuesday, 7th February for ‘Digital Day’ and visited classes in each Year Group.  Algorithms (or digital instructions to program computers) were being used in ‘unplugged’ lessons. The children were all enjoying the various activities and were pleased with the results they achieved.
I enjoyed Yr. 1 class learning how to program the little ‘Beebots’.  These are small, simple robots which the children can instruct using ‘algorithms’ to move and change direction.

Other classes were following, or producing algorithms for various activities.  A Yr. 5 group were using debugging mistakes in a music score.  Yr. 4 were working on video films. A Yr. 6 group were working on algorithms for a game and were introducing ‘variables’. Congratulations to the staff for producing such an enjoyable and instructive event.


3rd January 2017: Liz Court: INSET

I attended INSET training at the start of term. The Headteacher provided safeguarding updates. The Maths Coordinator introduced a new scheme. There were also updates about Computing and Assessment.

The main part of the day was about Reading Comprehension. The English Coordinator looked at ways to deepen children’s understanding. Teachers then developed comprehension activities for their classes.


13th December 2016: Liz Court: Nursery and Reception Show – 

Today’s performance was absolutely beautiful. The children acted, sang and danced with great enthusiasm. Congratulations to the staff who have obviously worked hard to produce this fantastic production. I am sure the many parents, family and friends who came along to watch were thoroughly thrilled with the show.


13th December 2016: Liz Court, Richard Burrows, Juliyah Brown – School Performance Targets Review Visit with External Advisor

The Governors school appraisal committee met with the Headteacher to review the school’s performance targets. Governors were supported by external educational consultant, Paul Wiggins, from Barnet’s School Improvement Service (BPSI). Governors monitored school performance targets against the school improvement plan and attainment outcomes from the past year. Governors have undertaken to create a termly evidence folder to ensure they are challenging the school to raise standards more rigorously.


8th December 2016: Liz Court: Year 1 Show – How to be an Angel

Congratulations to all of the children and adults in Year 1. Today’s performance was a delightful way to tell the Christmas story. The singing, acting and instrument playing was truly excellent. I am sure that all of the watching families were very proud.


7th December 2016: Liz Court: Year 2 Show – The Three Wise Guys

The Year 2 Christmas Show was a treat to watch. All of the children sang and acted with enthusiasm. Many congratulations to the pupils and staff involved in the excellent production. I hope that the watching families were delighted.


7th December 2016: Elenore Thompson: EYFS Monitoring Visit

I visited school to review the main attainment and progress data for EYFS with the Deputy Head. I also discussed the main plans to support progress for this year. I understand the work on ‘Communication Friendly Status’ achieved last year from Elklan will continue. Focus areas in the curriculum will be Maths and English as this limits the attainment at the end of the year, Good Level of Development, (GLD). A lot of positive work is being done and planned to engage parents; including sharing with parents’ observations of their child online and encouraging parents to contribute with their own observations. There is also planned training for parents by staff, in January for phonics, maths and writing.


24th November 2016: Michelle Allen – Autumn Music Concert

I attended the Autumn Strings Concert this afternoon. It was great to see all the talent for music at woodcroft. The standards were high even though some have only started learning to play since September.  Thoroughly enjoyed the performance.


18th November 2016: Liz Court – Children in Need Spotacular Assembly

An enjoyable and fun event where the children and staff had made imaginative efforts to dress very spotty! The children and I particularly enjoyed the staff team games. Congratulations to everyone for making such an effort and raising lots of money for this charity.


18th November 2016: Donna Dolphin – School Meal Times

I visited school on Friday to observe school lunchtimes. Behaviour was good in the dining hall. I would like to enquire further about portion sizes, especially for the older children.


8th November 2016: Liz Court, Elaine Hurley and Mervat Khalil – Governor Development

Governors attended the following Local Authority Governor Development training course:
– Role of Curriculum Committee 8/8/16


2nd and 3rd November 2016: Mervat Khalil – Governor Development

Attended the following Local Authority Governor Development training course:
– Assessment beyond Levels 2/11/16
– Management of School Premises 3/11/16


1st November 2016: Liz Court – Infant Music Festival

I was happy to invited to attend the festival, hosted at Woodcroft and involving 260 pupils from other local schools. What a joyful occasion, the children had worked extremely hard learning all of the songs. Many congratulations to the teachers. A special thank you to Sharon Broughall form BEAT, our Music Hub, for organising the event.


11th October 2016: Liz Court – English Monitoring (Reading Focus)

Following the school’s data analysis reading outcomes were lower than expected. Addressing this is a school priority. I was interested to discover how the school is developing deeper understanding of texts to be able to demonstrate good understanding and comprehension. Areas for further monitoring included:
1. how questioning is introduced and developed in foundation stage
2. how effective are systems for hearing children read (1:1 and groups)
3. what interventions are in place to support reading development
4. Is there sufficient coverage of poetry
5. What pupil groups had made good (or not so good) progress and what was being done about it.


11th October 2016: Liz Court – Arts Monitoring

I reviewed the children’s work related to Art Week. The displays in classrooms and corridors are outstanding. I also monitored how enrichment events are used to support the core curriculum and observed samples of English writing form Years’s 1 to 6 that had been stimulated by the various art projects.


12th October 2016: Liz Court – Foundation Stage Monitoring

Following a Foundation Stage walkabout I met with the Early Years Intervention Coordinator, Avis Powell. We reviewed the Elklan Project that focused on developing children’s speech and language. I also looked at the baseline assessments used on entry to the setting and to track porgress. Finally I talked about the interventions used to support children and looked at the planning and record keeping for the ‘Talk Bost’ programme.


20th October 2016: Liz Court – Governor Induction

I met with our new parent Governor to begin her induction and introduce her to the work of the Governors.


20th October 2016: Liz Court – International Day

I enjoyed the school’s International Day celebrations.


11th October 2016: Father Hugh Moore – PSHE Governor Visit

I visited Woodcroft to review Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education (SMSC) with Assistant Head, Jackie Valoti. The school has implemented a new curriculum programme for PSHE based on the school’s AIM themes that also include religious and cultural festivals. I also admired the many trophies celebrating the children’s achievements in sport, dance, music and art work that demonstrate the broad and rich experiences of Woodcroft pupils. In addition, the bright and colourful school building creates a warm and welcoming environment for children, staff and visitors.


7th October: Mervat Khalil – SEN Governor

In my capacity as SEN Governor attended the TES SEN Exhibition. I was particularly looking at effective intervention and mechanisms to map provision within the school


20th September: Liz Court – parent governor elections and website updates

I met with the Headteacher to ensure parent governor elections were proceeding to schedule. We also review Governor responsibilities and updated the website with up to date governor details.


28th September: Liz Court – Early Years Foundation Stage

I monitored the continuing impact of the Elklan Project action plan to develop a communication friendly the Reception and Nursery classes. I particularly focused on the use of language to support continuous provision within the setting.


29th September: Mervat Khalil – Financial management of Schools for Governors

I attended training for school Governors lead by Barnet’s Schools Finance Manager, Nick Adams. We looked at the roles and responsibilities of Governors as part of the regulatory framework. We also covered, fraud, contracts and the School Financial Value Standard.


30th September: various Governors – Charity Coffee Morning support

Donna Dolphin, Karen Griffin, Mandy Morrison and Liz Court attended the Macmillan Coffee monring


14th July: Juliyah Brown –  Training, Monitoring & Evaluating Pupil Progress

I attended Local Authority training and prepared materials to feedback to Governors at our next meeting relating to how governors can challenge standards with school.