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 creative. 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 last year – for pupils, staff and the whole school. The Governors are delighted to acknowledge these and congratulate the school on another fantastic year. We encourage individual success for each child and strive to follow our vision and motto to let each child’s light shine. Staff focus on helping the children to keep up not catch up and have received training on cognitive load and retrieval strategies.
The 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 were of course excellent achievements by the children individually outside of the school and the Governors are immensely proud to see the children representing their school so admirably and having their efforts recognised by the wider community, especially in fundraising for local and national causes. The weekly Friday Flyer publication celebrates these achievements and is shared with the whole school community.
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,
- drop-in visits to lessons and lunch times,
- rigorous appraisal systems and interviews with staff,
- informal visits to join in with activities and trips.
The Governors have worked in four main ways to achieve these successes:
- Setting the vision for the school and strategic direction of the school.
Three governors were part of the Head Teacher performance management review alongside an external adviser. Key targets were set with a focus on leadership and management, quality of education and behaviour and attitudes. This enables the governors to plan for and focus on key improvement issues for school via the Head Teacher targets with those of the rest of the school workforce linked to these.
The Head Teacher targets relate to the 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. This is considered when recruiting for new governors, currently a Local Authority governor.
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 the various data sources, e.g. data dashboard and ASP. The Head teacher is called upon to account for school performance during the termly governor meetings.
In conducting the annual performance review of the Head Teacher the Governors assess the overall school performance and hold the Head Teacher to account.
Governors consider any recommendations by the Head Teacher for pay awards to teaching staff and ratify when appropriate.
The Head Teacher writes 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 Head Teacher 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.
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.
The Chair of Governors attends the termly briefing for Heads and Chairs and shares key updates re KCSIE.
All governors are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.
Additional governors are trained in ‘Safer Recruitment’.
We continue to ensure Governors understand their role well and carry it out effectively.
We revisit our school vision and values and explicitly communicate these to all stakeholders.
We focus on improving teachers’ subject, pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge in order to enhance teaching of the curriculum and use of assessment.
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 [email protected] or leave correspondence at the school office marked ‘for the attention of the Chair of Governors’.
We look forward to another amazing year in 2024-2025 where we can look towards a great time of learning and enjoyment of all that the school life of St. Peter’s can offer.