Statement from Governors 2018
The governors at Wickford Primary School are committed to helping the education and welfare needs of all the children in our school, working with all staff to help each child develop and enjoy their experiences during their school life. Each governor brings their own life experiences to enable the governing body to support the leadership team by being a critical friend and asking challenging questions.
We continue to support teaching staff, enabling our children to make good progress both in their academic attainment and social and emotional development. We will also continue to help set challenging targets for all pupils as well as focussing on children in receipt of pupil premium and SEN support.
We regularly meet to discuss curriculum, financial and personnel matters with the senior leadership team and other outside bodies. We work within the guidelines of the government and help to enforce the aims of the school: for all children to become independent, motivated learners and responsible citizens. Through achievable and challenging experiences we aim for children to acquire the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that will enable them to understand the world and contribute positively to the wider community.
All governors are encouraged to come into school regularly to meet and observe the children’s working day, with key governors focusing on the learning journey and attainment of focus children. Details of their visits can be viewed on our Governor Visits blog.
There are three main committees: Finance and Premises, Curriculum and Personnel. The committees meet termly except Finance and Premises which meets half-termly.
Within the Finance & Premises and Personnel committees, there are also sub-committees: catering, disciplinary, appeals and pay. These meet when necessary but at least every 6 weeks. We continue to meet the needs of the school despite the tightening budgets set by the government.
The full governing body meets once a term for scheduled meetings and occasionally for additional meetings. All governors are expected to attend relevant meeting and most are well attended.
Our focus this year will be on the successful implementation of the primary school curriculum and consistency from Early Years Foundation Stage through to year 6.
You can contact Fiona Kemzura, Chair of Governors, through the school office (01268 733071) or via email (clerktogovernors@wickford-pri.essex.sch.uk).
Personnel Committee
The personnel committee meets regularly on a termly basis. Within this committee are the pay and salary committees, discipline and appeals committees. Minutes are taken for every meeting and any private and confidential matters are strictly adhered to. The committee is regularly updated at these meetings on staffing matters, recruitment and pupil related matters. All policies are checked and discussed annually.
Fiona Kemzura
Finance, Premises & Catering Committee
This committee meets half-termly ensuring that we obtain the best value of its financial expenditure and that appropriate resources are in place to enable the children to have a qualitative journey whilst at WPS.
The income received from the Local Authority has again been reduced for financial year 2018-2019 and is predicted to get significantly worse in the forthcoming years. Thus we are in a financially challenging time to balance our budget and tough decisions will need to be made to ensure continued best value. This may mean provisions and activities that we provide above the national curriculum requirements may necessitate being reduced or stopped altogether.
Les Tobbell
Curriculum Committee
In the Curriculum Committee we evaluate the standards of learning and teaching and the impact that this makes on children’s achievement and attainment. We look at this in terms of the whole school and also for groups of pupils such as boys, girls, those with a special education need or differing ethnicity. The committee monitors how the school ensures that we achieve our national and locally set targets and the targets that we set ourselves. We discuss and review curriculum polices and any changes to the provision, frequently meeting with staff and pupils to gain an insight into a particular subject area.
Sue Blake
Governors Responsibilities 17-18