Governor News – Update on Early Years and the Playground

The Local Authority have recently given us a firm commitment that following the re-development of the school site, they plan to refurbish the Early Years building and turn it into a state funded nursery.   The governors have agreed that in principal, provided there is suitable investment, Morley would be very interested in submitting a tender to run the nursery.  Click here for more details about the proposed re-development.

Improving the outdoor space is a priority for children, staff, parents and governors. Last academic year, our plans to develop the playground were unexpectedly delayed due to issues around drainage. There were big implications for cost and the various suggested solutions impacted on how we could use the space. We now have enough information from surveyors to be able to move ahead with developing firmer plans. A playground working party with representation from staff, governors, parents and Friends of Morley was set up last term. It is developing a clear design brief based around our vision for the school. The design brief will be formally agreed by governors later this term and we will then ask a number of playground designers to come up with some initial thoughts. We will ask the designers with the most exciting ideas to present more detailed plans, from which we will choose the best. We are looking forward to have something concrete to show parents and children in the near future.

Governor News – Governor Communication

Governors have been looking again at how we inform parents about what governors have been up to.   Instead of a governor newsletter, we will be using the website, weekly newsletters and noticeboards as our main methods of communication.  We hope this will enable parents, carers and the wider community to better understand what we do, who we are and how to contact us.

Website

The school website is the main method of providing up to date communication between governors and parents.
On the website you can find the following information about the work of the Governing Body.

Weekly Newsletter

Governors will use the weekly newsletter to give brief governor news and to inform parents that they can find further details on the school website. We hope to include a clickable link for those receiving the electronic version of the newsletter that will enable parents to click straight through to the relevant page on school’s website.

Noticeboards

There is a “Governors News” section on the noticeboard outside the main office with pictures and names of all the governors, information about how to contact us and the latest governor news.

Letters and Parentmail

Where appropriate, governors will use Parentmail and letters in book-bags to keep parents informed of particularly important pieces of information.

Face to Face

Governors sometimes meet with parents face to face to discuss particular issues. For example, in February 2014, governors were available on three separate occasions to talk to parents about the proposed re-development work.

Morley Matters Newsletter

In the past, the main method of communication between governors and parents was via Morley Matters, the governors’ newsletter.  The governors have decided to replace Morley Matters with communicating primarily through the website, weekly newsletter and noticeboards. We believe this will enable news to be given to parents more frequently and will provide a more rounded picture of the work of the governing body.

Back copies of Morley Matters are available to view here. Scroll down to the section on “Morley Matters”.

Future developments

The governing body regularly evaluates our practice and actively thinks about how we can introduce improvements. If you have any suggestions or ideas about how governors could improve our communication with parents, please feel free to get in touch by emailing chair@morley.cambs.sch.uk

 

 

Governor News – A busy year for governors

As we come to the end of the academic year, I would like to share with you how the governors have fulfilled our three core roles over the past twelve months.

1)  Governors are responsible for ensuring clarity of vision,  ethos and the strategic direction of the school. 

  • In September 2013, governors met with all the teachers and teaching assistants for a “visioning day”.  Governors contributed to the planning of the day, debated the issues and ensured parental views were heard by feeding back priorities and values identified in the 2013 parental questionnaire.  Participants agreed a core purpose of “Making Learning Irresistible”, a set of values that will underpin everything the school does and discussed what kind of school they would like Morley to become over the following 4 years.
  • Following further discussion, governors formally agreed the following vision for the future of Morley:  We aim to create independent, resilient, motivated learners.  Over the next 4 years (2013 – 2017) we will do this through:
    • Brilliant teaching and facilities that provide the support and challenge that is appropriate for all learners.
    • Providing a creative curriculum that stretches and rewards all learners.
    • Engaging all parents in their children’s learning and the wider community in the life of the school.
    • Helping all children at Morley develop the social skills they need to thrive.
  • Governors later discussed and formally agreed the school’s four year strategic plan outlining how that school would turn the vision into reality.
  • In the Autumn term, governors and the school’s senior leadership team agreed five key priorities for the current academic year to be included in the school’s Raising Attainment Plan.  The priorities for 2013 – 24 were : further stretching high attainers, developing writing, supporting vulnerable groups (children with special needs and children receiving pupil premium) and strengthening provision in science and early years.  We have already begun to identify priorities for next year.
  • Governors have taken key decisions about the proposed building work and redevelopment of the playground.
  • Governors have agreed a number of policies, including the teachers’ pay policy.

2)  Governors are responsible for holding the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils. 

  • Every term, teachers  tracked the progress of all children in the school in reading, writing and maths.  This data was presented termly to the governors’ Learning Committee.  We looked at progress in every year group for the following groups: the whole year, boys / girls, children with special educational needs, children in receipt of pupil premium and children with English as an additional language.  If progress was slower than we would expect for any of these groups, we questioned Mr Catchpool as to why this was and what specifically the school intended to do to remedy the situation.  We have not shied away from asking challenging questions.
  • We have monitored the school’s progress towards meeting targets identified in the Raising Attainment Plan.  We have done this by looking at school planning documents, discussing at meetings what actions the school has taken, analysing data and by visiting the school to talk to teachers, teaching assistants and children.
  • Governors visited the school to monitor specific areas, for example, whether the school is meeting it’s safeguarding responsibilities.  (It is).  Following OFSTED, governors visited to see how issues identified around phase leaders have been addressed.  (Very successfully.)
  • Governors performance manged Mr Catchpool and monitored to ensure that teachers’ performance management had taken place.
  • Governors have also monitored data on quality of teaching, attendance, racial incidents and exclusions and have discussed a report from school on how well the children behave.
  • We are currently organising the 2014 parental questionnaire because we want to know how well parents think the school is doing and how it could improve.  Click here to see how we responded to themes identified in the 2013 questionnaire.

3)  Governors are responsible for overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

  • Governors have met with the business manager approximately once a month to closely scrutinise the school’s budget and ensure money is not wasted.  In May 2014, we formally agreed the budget.  Throughout the year, the Resources Committee have kept a close eye on the school’s financial priorities, considering how these could best be met.  We have monitored to ensure that proper procurement procedures have been followed.

This year, the governors have had one additional role, that of appointing Morley’s new head teacher.  A selection panel, appointed by the full Governing Body, is responsible for the whole process – writing the application pack and advert, devising the interview process, interviewing the candidates and recommending the appointment to the full Governing Body.  The advert went live in late June and we are hoping to make an appointment in September 2014.

It has been a very busy year and I would like to thank all of the governors for the support they have given the school over the last twelve months.  Governors are all volunteers who give very considerable amounts of time to attend meetings, visit the school, write reports, analyse data and contribute to a myriad of other duties incumbent upon them.  What they do makes a real difference to the education your child receives at Morley.

Nicky Odgers, Chair of Governors

 

Governor News – 2014 Parental Questionnaire now open

Every year the governors run a parental questionnaire to see how parents feel Morley is performing.  It gives valuable feedback about what the school is doing well and helps identify areas for further development.  We read every answer and work with the school to address common themes.  The questionnaire should only take about ten minutes to complete and we would like as many people as possible to fill it in so that we get feedback that is representative of the whole school community.

Click here to complete the 2014 Parental Questionnaire and see how the school responded to the 2013 questionnaire.

If you would prefer to complete a paper copy of the questionnaire, these are available from the school office.  Please return the questionnaire to the office.