Pupil Progress Meetings Observation

On 3 January 2017, I was one of a number of governors who attended pupil progress meetings to observe planning discussions for pupils in Years 3, 4 and 6. Each year group discussion took place in the context of overall progress and attainment data for the cohort. I was impressed by the detailed knowledge that both class teachers and the senior leadership team demonstrated about individual pupils, their barriers to learning and contextual information. Where it was agreed additional support was required, the benefits of different intervention plans were discussed and personalised support plans were agreed, with clear time frames and actions for specific teachers. All those present demonstrated the school’s high ambitions for all pupils, along with detailed analysis of the data and considered assessment of the most effective response. I came away convinced that holding these meeting every half term will ensure that all pupils are supported to achieve to the best of their ability, and that any issues or difficulties can be quickly addressed. 

Full Governing Body Meeting Day – Wednesday, 28 January 2015

Full Governing Body Meeting Day – Wednesday, 28 January 2015

 

One day a term Governors spend the whole day in school; Wednesday started with a formal meeting where we were able to hold the leadership team to account and thus ensure our visions for the school are being achieved. Among the items presented were an update on the School Aims and Development Plan; we received a budget update, monitored pupil mobility and attendance and ensured school policies were being reviewed.

The Clerk to the Governors then led a training session on promoting fundamental British values as part of the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils.

There have been recent issues with ISS (catering contractors) regarding the quality of the food prepared for our children; there have also been times when they have not provided enough food. The Governing Body had school lunch and was able to feedback comments and criticism to Mrs Dye ahead of a scheduled meeting with ISS. We will keep this under review and ensure only the best quality food and service is given to our children.

We find meetings during the day are a helpful way for Governors to find out more about John Bramston; we had the opportunity to talk with pupils and staff. Governors also have links to particular subjects; we spent the afternoon focusing on our individual links to ensure the school is implementing the policies and improvement plans we have signed off and to see how they are working in practice.

 
Mrs C. Holder
 

I spent the afternoon with Mrs Dye so my afternoon consisted of looking at the outside learning areas. This really is going from strength to strength from floor markings, Pirate ship and stage to active lunch facilities.

There is now an outside maths area which gives children the fresh air and space to look at the world around them whilst learning in a fun way.

The allotment is coming along and has its own orchard! The Eco Rangers upkeep this on a weekly basis and you can see the passion from those involved.

 Nursery was using the ‘green’ screen which the whole school have the use of which is a fantastic confidence boost for the children. EYFS were busy using inside and outside.

I visited Omelette and Snowball who kindly laid two eggs – picture attached.

 

Mr W. Worth

As part of the Critical Friend I met with the SEND Coordinator. With all the changes to educational needs I wanted to ensure that the school and teachers could deliver effective intervention and education to all pupils.

I looked at Child Protection and Equalities as well as SEN and was delighted to find that the school was delivering an effective range of work to help the children and keep them safe.
 

I noticed that the whole process was on going and teacher training was still progressing to build on their knowledge and understanding of the changes.

 Ms S.  Brookes

As link governor for writing, I met with the school leads for English in Key Stage 1 and 2. We looked in detail at current attainment and progress data in writing for all year groups, and discussed the wide range of literacy interventions in place for pupils most in need of support, including children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding and underachieving boys, as well as those capable of achieving above the expected level. We looked at Years 5 and 6 in particular detail, as they approach the end of Key Stage 2, and what is being done to ensure they meet expected levels before moving on to secondary school. This included the challenges posed by the Year 6 SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) test introduced recently and how these are being addressed to ensure all pupils are prepared.  Staff shared their planning documents for ensuring progress in grammar for all pupils, and we discussed training received by lead teachers and how this is being cascaded to all class teachers to ensure that effective teaching of grammar is embedded throughout the school. We also looked at attainment and progress in reading, and talked about the importance of pupils’ enjoyment of reading as a way to support writing development. Staff confirmed that recent investment in new book stock, as well as the Book Bug online reading scheme for Key Stage 1 will help ensure all pupils have access to high quality reading materials to support both their reading and writing development. Use of Book Bug will be monitored to help identify areas where pupils are exceling, as well as those where they may need more help, so will provide further useful feedback to class teachers and phase leaders. There are challenging targets for writing this year, but with the appropriate planning in place we aim to ensure all pupils will get the support they need.

Mr K. Varnes

I met with the Deputy Headteacher and was shown how assessments for the New Curriculum will be carried out using Target Tracker. Teachers will regularly upload data building up a pupil’s profile over time. Teachers will be able to apply filters and make judgements to give individual pupil assessments; this will be shared with parents/carers on reports sent home. Target Tracker can also provide teachers with a Gap Analysis to identify areas to be developed in a child’s learning.

We also looked at the new (draft) way for measuring progress using APS (Average Points Score) and aspirational expectations.

Governor Visit - 14th October 2011

My name is Valerie Thompson, I am a school Governor and I visited the John Bramston on Friday 14th October 2011 to look at one of the School Improvement Priorities – Emotionally healthy pupils ready for learning.

The school has highlighted two success criteria, one being that lesson observations will show that pupils reflect on their learning and are willing to take risks and demonstrate resilience and secondly that pupils say that they feel safe, valued and cared for.

I began my visit by attending the sharing assembly with a large number of parents. We were treated to a variety of items including dancing from one class and a song from another. Each form teacher gave out awards for the week and I certainly saw many pupils feeling valued and praised. It was also an opportunity to observe that the pupils who did not receive an award at the assembly were very pleased for their classmates and supported them in their pleasure of winning.

During the morning, I visited years 2,3,4,5 and actively looked for the success criteria. I saw a variety of pupils, eagerly taking risks with their learning, by offering answers to difficult questions. Staff were encouraging all pupils in the class to stretch their comments and expand their answers to questions; to move them on to the next level of learning.

None of this is possible without an atmosphere of trust within a classroom and I feel that the pupils at John Bramston are in a very supportive environment, where they do feel safe, valued and cared for.
I look forward to working with the staff to ensure that this priority is achieved this year.I would like to thank all of the staff and children for making me feel so welcome during my visit.

Lack of Direction!!! Not in 3C…

Lack of Direction!!! Not in 3C…

I was fortunate to join 3C just as they started doing some compass work. All pupils were gathered in a circle with their compasses, each taking it in turn to point to an object in the class with another pupil having to work out whether it was North, East, South, and West. Mr Cusack really had the class engaged with this very hands on learning, well done…

What could you do with £10,000?

Well 4G (Miss Gould maths lesson) certainly knew. The task seemed simple, to fit out an empty classroom with £10,000 to spend! However the class soon realised that it wasn’t as easy as they first thought. In groups they were each given tasks to purchase things like, furniture, stationary, computers, interactive white board etc…The class were really excited about this and were more then happy to share their ideas with me. Full marks again to a really interesting and hands on lesson, I wish maths was this much fun when I was at school!!

Val Thompson Governor Visit

I visited the school on Thursday 17th February 2011 in my role as community governor. As I am a newly appointed governor this visit had been organised to let me see as much as possible of the school.
I managed to see most of the year groups apart from the nursery classes. I found an active working environment with the children fully engaged in their activities. The staff work very hard to provide excellent learning experiences and I saw a range of lessons including music, maths and painting.
A special assembly took place during my visit, a representative from the chosen charity of the year, NSPCC, came to tell the children that their fund raising had totalled over £2000. It was very interesting to find out how the money would be used to both help children and to train adults to help in the future.
I joined the children for lunch at the end of my visit and enjoyed the calm and polite way everyone made the most of the mid day break.
I would like to thank all of the staff and children for making me feel so welcome during my visit.

Governor visit - Thursday 17th february 2011

Visit to John Bramston Primary School - Thursday 17th February 2011

Governor - Brian Walker (SEN Link)

Focus - Interventions to support SEN

I spent a few very happy hours in school seeing how staff support children who need a little extra help. As it was nearing half term there were assessments taking place.

I spent time with Class Y6 K/L as they undertook a 45 minute Science test. Staff were fully engaged in reading out the questions from the test paper for those children that would benefit from this extra help.

I then observed some out-of-class interventions that support children. Mrs Murcutt was working with a year 4 child to help with fine motor skills / speech & language. Mrs Murcutt has introduced some great ideas and resources for her work with children.

I then met Mrs Evans who showed me some of her intervention work. Mrs Evans is trained in using the Precision Teaching technique and works with individual children to support their reading. I observed her working with a child, who told me that the sessions are helping him to 'remember words.'

After a quick visit to Reception and Nursery where I tried extremely hard not to trip over tiny people, I went into Class 4B where there was assessments taking place This time it was a writing assessment. I stayed long enough to witness how well the children were working on their assignments.

I briefly spoke to a lady in the Staff Room who was a representative from the NSPCC. She had just just received over £2000 which had been collected by the children of John Bramston for the charity! She was clearly moved by the amount that was raised.

As always, I was impressed by the colourful and calm environment of the school.

My visit concluded with a debrief with the Assistant Headteacher.

Thank you and well done to everyone who helped to make my visit so pleasurable and informative.

Governor Visit: Stuart Cheek

Governor Visit: Stuart Cheek

I attended the school on Wednesday 9th June 2010 in my role as Parent Governor.

I initially met with Miss Abela in my capacity as Link Governor for Assessment For Learning. I was impressed at the amount of targets that have been met and the plans for the future. I was impressed with Miss Abela’s knowledge of the subject and her plans for the future. I was shown the numerous resources and ideas that she has implemented into the day to day life of the staff and pupils also how she monitors that this Policy is being complied with.

I then met with Mr Lee, where he explained to me about the Family SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning). I was informed about the course being offered out to Parents and the content of the course being provided by Mr Lee. It is clear that this appears to be a good way to engage parents.
I also reviewed the way the school interacts with the parents through letters etc. and was surprised at the shear number of letters sent out keeping parents informed. I was also impressed at the amount of trips arranged for the children and it is clear that they are very lucky. It is apparent that the parents are kept fully updated with the progress of the children and through activities in the school. I have also reviewed the web page for the school including the blog spot and was impressed with how much information and assistance can be found for parents about activities for them and their children.

I then visited the Nursery and had a talk with Mrs Murcutt as to the activities available to Nursery children’s parents. Again I was surprised at just how much goes into making the children feel welcome and I liked the innovative ways in which parents are included in this crucial first stage of development. I was especially impressed with the new book bag idea that has been developed, which will encourage learning at home with parents.

I concluded my visit with a discussion with Miss Jennings about the school profile and we discussed the current draft.

Yet again I was made to feel welcome throughout my visit and would just like to express my thanks to all the staff and Miss Jennings for taking time out of their day to give me further information on both my link governor role and also my role to develop the school SEF.