Current Governor Priorities

We value the time we spend in school and like to present what we have done to parents via our school newsletter. On top of our scheduled full governor meetings and link governor visits, we have monitoring mornings so we can see first-hand what is happening in school. Below is an overview of our most recent monitoring visits.

 

25th April 2024

On Thursday 25^th April 2024, our school governors were invited in to school to monitor the progress we have made in relation to one of our school improvement priorities.  They focused on priority 3: Ensure there are clear, explicit and purposeful links between the fundamental British values and our school curriculum.

The Fundamental British Values are:

• Democracy
• Individual liberty
• Respect of those with different faiths and beliefs
• Mutual respect
• Rule of law

Initially, governors spent some time with Mr Marsh exploring the actions that have been completed since September.  They learnt that we have been holding assemblies each term to explore the British values and have also worked hard to establish where our curriculum provides us with opportunities to make natural, meaningful links to these values.  Governors spent time in class determining whether children understood what the British values were.  They saw how the British values were taught and felt children were given lots of time in each class to explore what they meant and how they were applied in school. 

Governors commented on how the values were taught in a purposeful way and how they were carefully weaved in to lessons.  They felt staff are using the values as a vehicle to teach children key personal skills and to help pupils develop an understanding of what is right and wrong - helping them form a clear moral compass.

They saw children applying their knowledge of each of the values and saw pupils making links.  For example, children linked individual liberty and rule of law by explaining that individual liberty is about having freedom to do and say what you want as long as it is not breaking the law. 

Governors ended the morning by watching a whole school assembly and saw children were able to clearly name and explain what the British Values were. 

 

12th March 2024 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On Tuesday 12^th March 2024, our governors visited school to carry out a monitoring morning with a focus on the effectiveness of our curriculum. 

The governors spent time exploring the OfSTED framework to determine what constitutes a good or outstanding curriculum.  They learnt about the importance of a clear curriculum intent – knowing where we want children to get to by the time they leave our school.  They also learnt about the importance of consistency and progression. 

Governors explored the impact of the work that has been carried out to develop computing over the previous academic year.  The computing lead talked through the development of knowledge organisers, a more detailed curriculum overview and the impact of team teaching. 

The governors split up during the morning so each could interview subject leaders about their roles in school.  They felt that subject leaders were very clear about their curriculum intent.  They got the sense that leaders were well supported and were heavily involved in the decisions made about their subjects and their lessons.  This resulted in high levels of ‘buy in’ for new initiatives – such as recent changes to assessment of foundation subjects. Governors felt that vocabulary development and knowledge progression are clear within each subject.  They noted that not all subjects have knowledge organisers in place and questioned whether it was the intention to have these across all subjects.  Governors also felt that subject leaders were actively monitoring and evaluating standards of teaching and learning in their subject areas, made clear reference to their subject policies and know what they need to do next to improve further.

Finally, governors spent time talking to pupils about the curriculum. They saw that students were excited about the topics they learn about.  They felt children had a good depth of knowledge about the topics they have learnt.  Children told governors they enjoy the approach to teaching topics and writing and could find work they were very proud of.  Children could clearly explain their learning sequences. They use good subject specific vocabulary and work looked very well-present.

Governors took the opportunity to ask children whether there were people in school they would talk to if they were worried.  The children responded positively with one child saying: “I would talk to any member of staff because I trust them all.”

 

21st March 2023 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On Tuesday 21^st March 2023, the governors visited school to carry out a monitoring morning. During the visit they explored our curriculum offer. We looked at the website to see some of the key documentation subject leaders have put on there – if you want to explore the information yourself and can’t find the information you are looking for, please ask Mr Marsh. Governors met children to look at some of their work and to see whether they had been able to retain the key information they had been taught. They were very impressed with the children’s answers and the quality of work in their books.

Governors also spent time talking to a group of children about how safe they feel in school. Children asked all said they felt very safe in school and knew who to talk to if they have any concerns.

Governors were particularly impressed with the children’s knowledge of safety in the online world, but asked Mr Marsh to consider ways in which we might be able to further develop the children’s knowledge of safety in the real world.

 

16th November 2022 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On Wednesday 16^th November 2022, we held our first governor monitoring morning of the year. The focus of the vision was on the school improvement priority about literacy and had a particular focus on reading.

During the morning, governors spent time in lessons – watching phonics sessions, whole class reading sessions and reading interventions. They also spent time talking to staff and pupils about their views about reading at Scarcliffe. They had the chance to hold leaders to account by interviewing Mr Horton (our literacy lead).

The governors in attendance left very satisfied with what they had observed in classes and around school. They saw high levels of expectations and consistency and could see that what was should be happening was happening in lessons.

They were impressed with the strategic direction the subject leader had put in place in school and were able to see the impact that our work is having on children’s attitudes towards reading and on pupil outcomes in this area. Governors discussed strategies that were in place to ensure that every child leaves our school as confident, enthusiastic and able readers.

 

17th January 2022 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On Monday 17^th January, the governors were invited to join us for a remote monitoring morning. We spent the first 45 minutes with The Changing Lives Team who are a service which helps to support young people with their mental health. The team explained their roles to the governors – including the work they have already carried out in school. The governors are keen to see how this work develops over the coming months. Mr Marsh shared a mental health audit with the governors following the meeting. Governors are now in a stronger position to check that school is helping to support children with their mental health.

During the second part of the visit, Mr Horton (literacy lead) presented an update of his progress in developing writing across school. The governors were shown the school improvement plan and could then monitor the actions that have taken place this year. To see this in action, they had the opportunity to look through some of our pupil’s work. The work showed that writing is being taught in an organised and progressive way across school. Governors particularly like the way slow writing teaches children how to become better writers. Mr Horton also shared a progression document to show which genres of writing are covered in each class and what is expected during these units. Governors left the meeting feeling that writing was being very well developed and recognised the hard work that Mr Horton (and other staff) had put in to this area.

 

15th November 2021 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On 15^th November, Governors visited school to carry out a monitoring morning focussed on the curriculum and subject leadership.

Governors visited all classes during a morning walk – having an opportunity to look in books and talk to children about their learning. Governors saw evidence that our curriculum was supporting children to be ‘secondary ready’ by the time they left our school. They were particularly impressed by how well a Year 6 pupil was able to articulate her understanding of a very complex maths problem in Class 4 which involved deep understanding and multiple steps. Progression from Reception to Year 6 was very evident when we had visited all classes. Governors also saw the resilience of children in Class 2 who were completing a pre-learning task in maths. Despite not knowing all the answers, children were tackling the questions with enthusiasm and confidence. Governors saw the new phonics based spelling approach in the upper school when spending time in Class 3. Children spoke positively about the new approach and governors now have a better understanding about how this is implemented.

During subject leader interviews, governors noticed that all staff could talk confidently (and many passionately) about the areas they are leading in school. All subject leads spoke about the progression across the curriculum and how the intent document has supported this. Staff were able to talk about standards in their subject areas and where they wanted to go next. Many subject leaders spoke about the need for more formal monitoring of standards and the need to implement summative assessment in their subject area – both SIP priorities. Overall, governors reflected on the high levels of consistency in subject leadership across the school.

Governors spent some time discussing and completing skills audits in order to help us identify future training needs.

 

16th October 2019 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On 16^th October 2019, the governors were invited in to school to complete a monitoring morning. The focus of the morning was to monitor progress against school improvement priority 1 – ensuring effective learning behaviours are in place across school. The governors saw the new Good to be Green system and spoke to the children about this. The children were very clear about the expectations in each class and were able to explain what S.H.I.N.E meant. Every child asked was also able to explain how the consequences system worked in school. Following a learning walk in classes, governors discussed the progress towards the development of a clearer curriculum intent. They discussed and added to the points developed by the parent group who had met earlier in the term.

 

11th June 2019 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On 11^th June, governors visited school to monitor our progress towards the school improvement priorities.

During the visit they spoke to a sample group of children. The children were positive about the learning behaviours that take place in the classroom on a day-to-day basis, but they do feel that some children could still be putting in more effort in order to become the best they can be. During our learning walk, governors noticed the vast majority of pupils were both on task and engaged in their learning.

Governors also checked on the impact of the work that had taken place in school by looking at school data for SPAG and higher ability children.

The group also discussed the key priorities for the next academic year.

 

22nd January 2019 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On Tuesday 22^nd January, a group of governors spent the morning in school monitoring the impact of the work we are doing to:

1. Improve the level of challenge for our most able children.
2. Improve outcomes in terms of SPAG (Spelling, punctuation and grammar).

The governors started by having a learning walk around school. They noticed that working walls were consistently in use across the school and included a clear SPAG focus. They also saw growth mindset displays in each class.

The group spent time looking at the school improvement plan, asking questions about what impact our work was having. They looked in books and spoke to children and were impressed by the level of understanding the oldest children had in relation to SPAG. Books showed that Gold, Silver and Bronze tasks are used consistently across school. Children could explain how they are able to self-select their own level of challenge and the sample of high attaining children said they like to pick the gold task.

The governors also looked at data in relation to the progress of our higher ability children as well as whole school data in relation to SPAG. Governors are reassured about projections in coming years in these areas.

 

20th November 2018 - Governor Monitor Morning

On 20th November, members of the governing body spent the morning in school to monitor the work that is helping to improve school. They spent time discussing learning behaviours across school and had the chance to listen to children explain what learning pits are. Children in Class 4 were very positive about the work they had done with Tim Hall about growth mindset. The governors are excited about the plans to develop growth mindset this year and to see how Forest School sessions progress.
The governors spent time talking to Ms Smith about the curriculum and were pleased by the fact that the school remains committed to offering a broad and balanced curriculum. Following discussions with children, it was clear to governors that the children enjoyed their topics and many had found the exciting topic launches this term a huge positive. The governors are looking forward to spending time with subject leaders this year to find out what their plans are to develop their own subjects within school.

 

20th March 2018 - Governor Monitoring Morning

Governors visited school and spent time evaluating the impact of the school improvement plan. They challenged school leaders and noted that many actions have resulted in improved outcomes for pupils. The governors explore their own action plan for the year and reviewed their progress. The governor section of the school website was also updated, including the ‘Welcome from the Chair’. An additional section has been added to the website to show current priorities for the governing body.

 

7th November 2017 - Governor Monitoring Morning

On Tuesday 7^th November, members of the governing body came in to school to monitor our progress against our school improvement priorities. The spoke to children about safety. All pupils said they felt safe in school and told the governors they had assemblies about safety and did lessons about keeping safe on the Internet. They said they would talk to staff if they ever felt unsafe. The governors also spoke to children about maths and were delighted to hear about how so many children’s maths skills were improving. They loved the Rock Star Maths website that Class 3 are using. During the morning they also spoke to our Special Needs Co-ordinator (Mrs Baldwin) and our PE Co-ordinator (Mr Horton) about the work they were doing in school.

 

3rd October 2017 - Maths Monitoring Morning

Recently governors visited school to spend the morning looking at maths. Maths is a priority for school improvement this year and so it was important to find out what is happening day to day. We saw lessons, looked in books and spoke to pupils. We noticed in lessons that the new resources that have been purchased were being used to good effect and that children were well focused on learning. All children were working on learning key number skills. The books showed good progress and an increase in the amount and variety of work that children were expected to do. During pupil interviews we found out that children are positive about maths and that they were keen to take on difficult challenges.