Annual Governance Statement

Annual Governance Statement for the Governing Board of the

Old Catton and White Woman Lane Federation

In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing boards, the three core strategic functions of Old Catton and White Woman Lane Federation Governing Board are:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
Holding the Headteacher 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.

Governance arrangements

The Governing Body of the Old Catton and White Woman Lane Federation is made up as follows: -

1 Authority Governor
7 Co-opted Governors
1 Head Teacher Governor
1 Staff Governor
2 Parent Governors
2 Foundation Governors

Co-opted governors are appointed by the Governing Board and are people who have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

There are also four Associate Members appointed, for their roles within the schools.

The Full Governing Board (FGB) meets twice each term, and we have two committees, Curriculum, Safeguarding and Personnel (CPS) and Finance and Premises (F&P) to consider different aspects of the school in detail. Membership of committees is decided at the first Full Governing Board meeting of the academic year.

There is also a Pay committee which usually meets annually following completion of the teaching staff performance management cycle.

A list of types of governors and terms of office is included in Appendix A.

Attendance record of governors

Governors have excellent attendance at meetings and we have never cancelled a meeting because it was not “quorate” (the number of governors needed to ensure that legal decisions can be made).

Details of individual governors’ attendance at meetings are included in Appendix B.

The work that we have done in our committees and in the governing body

Full Governing Board We continue to work in close partnership with the Headteacher and staff to ensure that the children at Old Catton and White Woman Lane schools receive the best education possible. As part of this, a focus of this year has been our involvement in the Nebula partnership, our innovative way of working with other local schools. This has included establishing standards across the partnership and governors taking a lead in the Strategic Steering Group. One major benefit has been the opportunity to moderate pupils work across the schools.

Curriculum, Personnel and Safeguarding committee

Governors have reviewed key data for both schools and have received presentations on the revised KS2 curriculum and tests.

The annual Health and Safety monitoring is carried out by the nominated Governor each November.

An audit of policies and procedures was carried out by the CPS committee at the first meeting of the new academic year.

Finance and Premises committee

Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) was achieved for both schools. This is a self-assessment that schools undertake to evidence the effective financial management of resources and is submitted to the Local Authority on an annual basis. Revenue was earned from courses run from the White Woman Lane Lodge which are opened up to other schools.

The Bristol Double Decker bus has been delivered and has proved to be a valuable and enjoyable resource.

Old Catton have replaced two external doors and general maintenance and decoration has been carried out at White Woman Lane during the year.

The staffing structure was adjusted in line with the Nebula partnership.

Policies have been reviewed and agreed in accordance with our policy timetable.

Some governors also have specific responsibilities in addition to the work they do in their committees. We have a governor with oversight of safeguarding, another with oversight of SEND and another with oversight of Pupil Premium and Looked After Children. These governors work with senior leaders to ensure that all children are safe at school and that those children with additional needs are supported.

Minutes of Governing Board and Committee meetings are public documents which are available from the school office.

Future plans for the governors

The Governing Board is looking forward to working as a significant part of the Nebula Partnership to embed a high level of governance and build on the benefits of working together to raise standards and increase the opportunities for pupils.

We have found that the experience of six schools working together brings opportunities to develop expertise and extend the professional development of staff and enables the schools to benefit from economies of scale. We will continue with this work.

How you can contact the governing body

We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents – please contact the Chair of Governors direct on 01603 429986

You can see the full list of governors and more information about what we do, on the Governors’ page of the school website.

Appendix A

Old Catton and White Woman Lane Federation – Governor Membership and Terms of Office

Full Name	Governor Type	Term From	Term To	Roles
Neil Aylott	Co-Opted	17 Mar 2014	15 Mar 2018	Vice Chair Pupil Premium Looked After Children
Ashley Best-White	Headteacher	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Finance & Premises Committee Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee.
Kate Connelly	Staff	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee.
Cathy Fiddy	Parent	1 Sep 2015	1 Sep 2019	Safeguarding
Liz Howe	Co-Opted	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Finance & Premises Committee
Nick Johnson	Associate Member	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee
Judy Leggett	Authority	31 Aug 2012	30 Aug 2016	Chair Substitute SEN Governor Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee
Sylvia Mak	Foundation	19 Nov 2013	17 Nov 2017	Health & Safety Finance & Premises Committee (from 11/7/16) Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee
Marian McKee	Associate Member	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Voting rights Finance & Premises committee
Sharon Money	Foundation	29 Jan 2013	14 Dec 2015	Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee
Nicky Pellatt	Associate Member	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee Finance & Premises Committee
Rebekah Quiles-Richmond	Co-Opted	01 Sep 2015	29 Aug 2019	SEN Governor Finance & Premises Committee
Alison Randall	Co-Opted Foundation	01 Sep 2015 15 Dec 2015	14 Dec 2015 14 Dec 2019	Chair of Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding
Martin Reeve	Associate Member	1 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee
Daniel Richmond	Co-Opted	01 Sep 2015	29 Aug 2019	Curriculum, Personnel & Safeguarding Committee
Robert Wagstaff	Parent	01 Sep 2015	30 Aug 2019	Finance & Premises Committee
Ian Wicks	Co-Opted	18 Sep 2012	17 Sep 2016	Chair of Finance & Premises

Appendix B

Full Governing Board Meetings

28/9/15

17/11/15

26/1/16

21/3/16

25/4/16

17/5/16

27/6/16

Neil Aylott

Present

Ashley Best-White

Present

Kate Connelly

Present

Cathy Fiddy

Present

Liz Howe

Present

Terrence Isaac Griffiths

______

_______

Present

Nick Johnson

Present

Judy Leggett

Present

Sylvia Mak

Present

Marian McKee

Present

Sharon Money

Present

-------

--------

Nicky Pellatt

Present

Rebekah Quiles

Present

-------

--------

Alison Randall

Present

Martin Reeve

Present

Daniel Richmond

Present

Robert Wagstaff

Present

Ian Wicks

Present

Finance and Premises Committee
	17/11/15	1/2/16	21/3/16	19/4/16	11/7/16
Neil Aylott	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present
Ashley Best-White	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present
Liz Howe	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present
Judy Leggett	X	Present	X	Present	X
Sylvia Mak	------------	---------	----------	-----------	Present
Marian McKee	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present
Rebekah Quiles-Richmond	Present	Present	Present	X	----------
Nicky Pellatt	X	Present	X	Present	Present
Robert Wagstaff	Present	Present	X	X	X
Ian Wicks	Present	Present	Present	Present	Present

Curriculum, Personnel and Safeguarding
	5/11/15	29/2/16	11/7/16
Ashley Best-White	Present	Present	Present
Kate Connelly	Present	Present	X
Nick Johnson	Present	Present	X
Judy Leggett	Present	Present	Present
Sylvia Mak	Present	Present	Present
Sharon Money	Present	--------	--------
Nicky Pellatt	X	Present	Present
Alison Randall	Present	X	X
Martin Reeve	Present	X	Present
Daniel Richmond	Present	Present	Present