Barlby Bridge Community Primary School

Annual Governance Statement

ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT FOR THE GOVERNING BODY OF BARLBY BRIDGE C.P. SCHOOL

                                                                                 July 2018

In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing bodies, the three core strategic functions of Barlby Bridge C. P. School Governing Body are:

  1. ENSURING CLARITY OF VISION, ETHOS AND STRATEGIC DIRECTION
  2. HOLDING THE HEADTEACHER TO ACCOUNT FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SCHOOL AND ITS PUPILS
  3. OVERSEEING THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF THE SCHOOL AND MAKING SURE ITS MONEY IS WELL SPENT.

The Governing Body of Barlby Bridge C.P. School has been reconstituted and is now made up of 11 governors of whom 2 shall be parent governors, 6 co-opted, 1 local authority governor, 1 staff governor and the head teacher.

To effectively contribute to the governance and success of the school the Governing Body employs a range of attributes in finance, education, business and management helping to provide a strategic view for improvement to ensure accountability and act as a critical friend so that good quality education is provided by Barlby Bridge C.P. School. The Governing Body has a programme of meetings throughout the school year, and a committee structure that focuses on specific areas of governance including Standards and Pupils, Performance Management and Personnel, Finance and Buildings.

  • In September we have one vacancy for a Co-opted Governor and one vacancy for a Staff Governor.  Governors attendance at meetings can be viewed on the website information for the academic year 2017-18.

The Governors at Barlby Bridge have had a clear overview of the schools’ work on raising outcomes for pupils this year.  Key improvement priorities have been overseen by governors throughout the year embracing teaching and learning, leadership, personal development, behaviour and welfare and outcomes for pupils are rising. In addition, the Governors acknowledge the immense amount of activity that has taken place in school to provide a broad, balanced , unique curriculum for all pupils at Barlby Bridge. As a consequence, the end of year results for Key Stage 2 overall have risen significantly and have been in line with or above national for two consecutive years.  Progress rates, which were an area of weakness historically, have also risen significantly in RWM indicating the work of school leaders is impacting positively upon outcomes for pupils.  The pupils in EYFS have made good progress towards the GLD compared to their on-entry scores; this will remain a target group in 18-19 to ensure the end of KS1 outcomes rise. Leaders will also focus further upon strengthening transition arrangements between EYFS, KS1 and LKS2 to UKS2 to ensure increased progress and attainment for all pupils; with focus upon vulnerable groups and pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium funding.  All staff are to be congratulated on the excellent feedback from the Basic Skills Quality Mark programme visit in October 2017 and the Bronze Sports Mark award.  Barlby Bridge successfully led the EYFS school cluster meetings in the Selby Alliance and Mrs Aston (EYFS ) and Ms Burroughs ( acting Deputy Head Teacher ) have  been selected  as moderators for NYCC.  All the staff and pupils are to be congratulated for the effort and progress they have made.

Leaders at all levels have worked hard to ensure that monitoring and evaluation procedures are systematic and robust. The recent visit led by North Yorkshire County Council recognised that Barlby Bridge has strong improvement plans with systems for assessing and tracking pupils’ progress that are reliable and rigorous. All staff use data analysis to target pupils so that each child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential. A judgement of Good was agreed, the school is to be commended for a very positive review.

School staff continue to share good practise with colleagues in their cluster group through regular meetings and the school council was successfully re-launched under the guidance of Ms Burroughs. In September the school introduced wraparound care which is beginning to prove popular and through this further provision has been created to target pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium funding; a positive impact upon data outcomes has been seen. Clubs and extra- curricular activities prosper and the Governors thank FOBBS for all the fund raising they do.

Individuals wishing to read more about the work of the Governing Body at Barlby Bridge can request to see the approved minutes by contacting the school office. Please allow 48 hours notice for this request.

In planning for the future the Governors say farewell to Sarah Drayton and we wish her all success for the future. Claire Hughes and Wendy Hockley embarked on maternity leave and in their absence Gavin Dyer successfully acted as temporary Head Teacher beginning September 2017 with the full support of the Governing Body who approved strategies for the challenges ahead and monitored the work of the School Development Plan.  He was joined by Su Burroughs the Acting Deputy Head Teacher. Su successfully interviewed for the TLR position in July 18 and will lead the English curriculum and Year 5/6 phase team in 2018-19. In September 2018, Claire Hughes and Gavin Dyer will share a Co-Headteacher role with Claire having a 0.8 responsibility and Gavin fulfilling the 0.2 Headteacher role when Claire is off site.  This working arrangement has been approved by the full governing body.

Further information about the work of the Governing Body at Barlby Bridge is available on the school website.

Stephen Walker B.Phil., B.A., P.G.C.E.     Chair of Governors

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