Governor's Statement of Behaviour Principles 2023-2024
Governing Body Annual Statement 2023
At Hunslet Moor Primary School, we recognise the importance of identifying and demonstrating the impact of our governance. We hope this statement is useful in sharing the work of the governors and their contribution to and impact on school improvement and development.
Who are we? The governing board includes parents, staff, and members of the local community. You can view the current list of governors here: https://www.hunsletmoor.co.uk/our-school/governors/
Why are we here? The governing board has the strategic responsibility for the school, acting within the framework set by national legislation and the policies of the Leeds Local Authority. The governing board meets as a whole board a minimum of four times a year.
What is our Role?
• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Holding the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
You can find out more about how we do this below.
How do we do this? The governors report on the objectives through the Teaching and Learning (T&L) Committee, Pupil Support (PS) Committee and Resources (Rs) Committee. The governors visit the school regularly and report on the progress made towards the school development plan priorities. Over the year governors will undertake a number of activities in order to monitor progress, these include:
• Visiting the school to see the work that is being undertaken to achieve the objectives outlined in the School Development Plan • Conducting surveys of pupils, parents and staff
• Inviting members of the SLT to meetings to report on and discuss key areas
How are we supported and developed? The governors and school leaders are individually and collectively supported by external advisors who provide an outside view of our strategic performance to identify and monitor our strengths and areas for improvement. Action plans are devised by individuals and committees as part of our on-going commitment to improvement. We undertake a wide range of training to help us carry out our roles, in the past year the governors have had development in Early Years, Safeguarding, Safer Recruitment and more. During the summer term of 2023, all governors took part in a skills audit, based on DFE guidance and resources from The Key to identify strengths and areas for development which are being addressed with some targeted training from ‘Leeds for Learning’ and individual sources.
How do I join?
We regularly review our skills and recruit governors who can further add to our work at Hunslet Moor. If you are interested in becoming a school governor, please do not hesitate to get in touch through the school office who will pass your details on.
What we have done this year:
Pupil Support Committee The Pupil Support Committee works to support all pupils at Hunslet Moor, and supports staff to create an inclusive, engaging, and pleasant place to learn. We meet regularly to get updates from the Headteacher about what has been going on and to look at future plans. We also invite other members of staff to present to us and we love hearing from the school council members. We have been looking at what our school day looks like, and how we can support more productive learning, and create a better school-homelife balance, for both children and adults. We have supported school in providing a healthy school lunch at a cost affordable to everyone, helped shape after school provision and provide a breakfast snack for ALL children. We are very proud of this. We have reviewed and approved many policies, including a child friendly any-bullying and behaviour policy.
Teaching and Learning Committee This year school has implemented a new phonics system called Read, Write Inc and staff have received full training to ensure that it is impactful and supports the learning of our children. As governors we have taken the opportunity to view lessons and see this in action. As a committee we have listened to subject leaders in school giving an overview of attainment and progress outcomes. We have been particularly interested in the actions school is taking to close the gaps in children’s learning and to help them progress. Another example of the work of this committee is through the examination of the quality of the SEND provision; any unidentified SEND and the quality of interactions when one to one staffing was in place.
Resources Committee During the last year the resources committee has continued to oversee the financial performance of the school and ensure its money is well spent. We do this by planning in great detail the income and expenditure school receives and monitoring the impact of the interventions that are funded. We also look closely at how and where sports premium and pupil premium is spent and again what impact it has had. In addition to the budgetary responsibility of the committee we spend time on:
• Staffing matters including a review of teachers performance management
• Recruitment of new staff
• The health and wellbeing of the whole staff team
• Educational visits including the residential trip
• Updates to the school premises including any repairs, redecoration and general maintenance
Ofsted requirements - Our last inspection by Ofsted was in November 2018. The inspector confirmed that the school continues to be good, and that “Leaders have worked relentlessly and have successfully transformed the school since the last inspection” and “The governors provide a strong strategic direction and oversight.” The full inspection report can be found here: http://www.hunsletmoor.co.uk/our-school/ofsted-report/
Performance Management Committee The governing body is responsible for the performance management of the Head Teacher annually. Together, with expert assistance from an independent educational advisor, we set targets which are closely aligned to the school development plan and review the progress towards these targets throughout the year, with the support of an external adviser.
A brief statement from the Chair of Governors. As a group of governors we conduct our business through a combination of virtual and in-person meetings. We attend the committee meetings outlined above to understand and gain knowledge in areas of strengths and weakness in teaching and practices within the school. We use different sources of information from the school and around the country to try and get the full picture about how the school is doing and what more we can do to support both the pastoral and educational development of our children. We are proud to work closely with the Headteacher and whole staff team. One way we do this is by each governor having one or more areas of the curriculum that they are responsible for monitoring. This link governor arrangement assists us in assessing how well the school is performing. We ensure frequent visits to see the teaching and learning in action and to meet with key members of staff and our children. As governors we strive to be inclusive and value the contribution of all members. We continue to build a strong and cohesive team in partnership with the Headteacher that has a clear shared vision with the school, understands data and ensures that we have the interests of the pupils at Hunslet Moor at the centre of our decisions and actions. As a school we want to provide a safe environment for pupils to thrive, a place where they are encouraged to recognise and achieve their full potential. We are committed to our community becoming a high achieving community that will meet the needs of all pupils and their parents. If you would like to find out more about us and our role as Hunslet Moor Primary School governors, please take a look at our profiles. If you have something you wish to bring to a Governor’s attention, there are several ways you can get in touch: https://www.hunsletmoor.co.uk/contact
