'For nothing will be impossible with God' (Luke 1:37) St. Peter’s CE Primary School & Nursery

Annual Statement of the Governing Body 2023-24

Welcome to the St. Peter’s Governing Body report to parents for the school year 2023-24. The staff and children have settled into the new school year and we extend a warm welcome to our new families who have joined us this year in Nursery, Reception and other year groups.  We hope your school days at St. Peter’s follow our vision of learning through a stimulating and inspirational learning environment.   

The Governing body were pleased to be able to support Year 6’s residential visit to Plas Menai in June, and Year 3’s visit to Kingswood earlier in the year, both of which were a great success. St. Peter’s were very lucky to offer and support these opportunities given the challenges for additional spending seen by our families currently. We look forward to supporting more residential trips for the children this coming year. Additional school trips have been more difficult to offer this year due to rising costs of transport. We were therefore, extremely grateful to the Royal British Legion who funded the cost of travel to visit the National Arboretum last term. 

Mrs Medhurst has led on a change to the curriculum followed in school. This follows the national lead from Ofsted that it should provide a broad and balanced education and not just preparation for exams. The progress made by the children will be evident in that they will ‘know more and remember more’ which is key to good outcomes in primary education. The children continue to be challenged to achieve their best while remaining engaged and excited to learn. We hope that you can join your children in exploring each curriculum topic as it is taught throughout the year.

Phonics teaching in early years has had a significant investment in teaching resources and this effort is now seen in raised standards and learning. The Year 1 Phonics screen and KS1 SATs results demonstrated this improvement with fantastic results illustrating the progress that was made by this age group. A specialist leader of education continues to work closely with staff to ensure the improvement is embedded and progressed. Now that nursery is part of the St. Peter’s teaching journey, phonics learning can start with a consistent approach from the beginning of the Early Years Foundation Stage. 

The governors have been involved in overseeing the strategic direction of the school, staff recruitment and supporting Mrs Medhurst and her staff in their exceptional work for the school.  Last year we welcomed Mrs Roden as nursery teacher and Miss Eleanor Yardley, Mrs Kirsty Wood & Mrs Sarah Cooper as teaching partners. This year we welcome Miss Charlotte from nursery to support in Reception as part of our work to strengthen transition into school.

The Governing Body has a vacancy for the position of local authority governor and is currently advertising locally to fill this post. 

The Governing Body and the Headteacher share responsibility for the strategic management of the school, acting within the framework set by national legislation and by policies of the Local Authority (LA). While the LA is the employer of staff, the Governing Body and Headteacher have separate and particular responsibilities for the selection and management of staff. The internal management of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher, the role of the Governors is not to run the school but to support, challenge and be a critical friend.

The Governing Body holds a full meeting each term with further meetings held to discuss specific issues. These sub-committees cover the areas of curriculum, learning, finance, health and safety and resources. Each governor also acts as a link for specific subject areas such as English or STEM.

I had the privilege of being re-elected as Chair of Governors for this year and would like to thank my fellow Governors, our school staff and our parents / carers who support the school so well and contribute towards making our school so successful.

Ruth MacMullen

Chair of Governors

Future Plans for 2023/24

In line with the SDP, the focus for the strategic development of the school involves the following areas for development:

• To continue to develop and maintain an inspiring and inclusive school environment.
• To maintain & improve further standards in KS2 reading.
• To embed standards in EYFS and KS1, including phonics.
• To embed improvements in the teaching of writing, with a focus on Greater Depth.
• To develop the approach to assessment in the foundation subjects.
• To create and embed a new behaviour policy in line with national guidance from the DFE.
• To ensure effective use of the updated SIAMS Framework with Staff & Governors.

The major focus of the Governing Body is to ensure that our pupils progress appropriately in their education. The governors appreciate that for this to happen the pupils must be supported by a well led, enthusiastic, professionally competent and motivated staff all working together within a safe, supportive, stimulating environment. Governors appreciate too the requirements of our children's parents and carers and their need to be satisfied about the overall leadership and management of the school and how it affects the safety, learning and enjoyment of their children. To achieve their objectives governors too must continually evaluate the role they have played within the life of the school, and publish relevant information to all interested parties.

This statement is part of that evaluation and publication process.

The Governing Body consists of 9 members:

Celebrating School successes

St. Peter's Primary School is a school we can be proud of. The school is a vibrant, positive place to be. Our children become responsible citizens who enjoy a great deal of success in a wide variety of experiences; academic, sporting and artistic. They enjoy coming to school and are motivated by their successes. They are secure in the knowledge that this school supports and safeguards them and welcomes their whole family - we work together as a team, with the welfare and education of each child being our focus. We aim to take every child on a journey throughout their time at St. Peter's. We strive to ensure that the journey encompasses opportunities for awe, wonder and success at every level: academic, spiritual, creative and social. Pivotal to the experience is the development of the school environment to inspire, nurture and celebrate each individual's potential. We foster a "can do" attitude in all of our pupils.

There have been very many successes this year – for pupils, staff and the whole school. The Governors are delighted to acknowledge these and congratulate the school on another fantastic year. The achievements are despite the many challenges that the global coronavirus pandemic brought. Although the pandemic is now behind us, the school are still mindful of the impact it had on the children. The governors are pleased to note that consideration is still given to supporting and catching up where necessary.

Additionally the school has maintained flagship status from the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM), this being a very prestigious award in recognition of the schools inclusive practice and ongoing commitment to developing educational inclusion. We congratulate the Headteacher and her team on such an achievement.

Our children are encouraged to participate in a wide range of sporting activities and regularly represent the school at team events within the wider locality.  There are also excellent achievements by children individually outside of school and the Governors are immensely proud to see our children representing their school so admirably and having their efforts recognised by the wider community, especially in fundraising for local and national causes.

How did the Governors contribute towards this?

The Governing Body monitored school improvement through:

• regular reports from Link governors who met with school and curriculum leaders, and effective training,
• scrutiny of documentation,
• rigorous appraisal systems and interviews with staff

The Governors have worked in four main ways to achieve these successes:

1. Setting the vision for the school and strategic direction of the school.

Three governors were part of the Headteacher performance management review alongside an external adviser. The key targets were set with a focus on leadership and management, quality of education and personal development & attitudes to learning. This enables the governors to plan for and focus on key improvement issues for school via the Headteacher targets with those of the rest of the school workforce linked to these.

The Headteacher targets relate to the School Development Plan (SDP). Governors share in developing the SDP, with it being reviewed and challenged at each Governor meeting.

The governors have undertaken an annual Skills audit that enabled the appointment of governors to key roles within the governing body and greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities within their specific remit.

The Governors have been involved in the recruitment of new staff to ensure that we appoint the right calibre of staff to contribute towards the excellent performance of the school and continued development of the children.

Governors hold meetings each term one of which is the full Governing Body meeting.

Governors, throughout the year, have attended training courses to improve their skills in order to support the development of the school and ensure that we fulfil our role effectively.

2. Holding the Head Teacher to account

The governors are aware of the key strengths and weaknesses of the school identified through various data sources, e.g. the IDSR and ASP. The Headteacher is called upon to account for school performance during the termly governor meetings.

In conducting the annual performance review of the Headteacher the Governors assess the overall school performance and hold the Headteacher to account.

Governors consider any recommendations by the Headteacher for pay awards to teaching staff and ratify when appropriate.

The Headteacher has written a termly report to the Governing Body, which includes attainment and achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and the curriculum offer. Governors have tabled strategic questions to the Headteacher regarding the reports to ensure that the impact of Teaching and Learning in our school is resulting in positive outcomes for all our pupils.

Governors questioned the underlying reasons for resignations and long term illness to better understand the challenge of securing effective/motivated teaching staff.

3. Ensuring financial resources are well spent

Budget Monitoring is overseen by the Governing Board who have a sound understanding of the financial position of the school. Two governors are identified as lead governors for finance who ensure that spending is in line with the ‘best value’ ethos. Areas for spending are linked to the priorities on the School Development Plan and any other ‘emergency’ spending.

The Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) form was completed and submitted. This ensures that the budget is spent wisely and properly, allowing the school to optimise resources, and so raise standards and attainment for all pupils.

The Certificate of Presentation of Audited School Funds was submitted and approved. Audited School Funds are presented at the Full Governing Body meeting on an annual basis.

Governors also identify the use and impact of spending the Pupil premium grant with a strong focus on the impact on pupil outcomes.

4. Ensuring statutory duties are met and priorities approved

All governors plan ahead for attendance at meetings and managing workload.

Statutory policies are reviewed annually and updated.

An audit of the school website was undertaken.

A Health and Safety audit has been completed.

Governors have given particular regard to the new statutory guidance and updates on ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and are conversant with key points.

All governors are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.

Additional governors are trained in ‘Safer Recruitment’.

How to contact the Governing Body

We would love to hear your views and opinions on our school. The school sends out an annual questionnaire and you can complete the same questionnaire online at Parent View on the OfSTED website. If you would like to discuss something in particular, please contact the Chair of Governors at office@stpetersedgmond.co.uk or leave correspondence at the school office marked ‘for the attention of the Chair of Governors’.

We look forward to another amazing year in 2023-2024 during which all our children can continue to flourish and enjoy all that school life at St. Peter’s has to offer.