Annual Statement last academic year 2023/24
Annual Governance Statement for the Governing Body:
The governing body of Drighlington Primary School acts in accordance with the three core functions of a governing body as set out by the Government. These are:
•Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
•Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff;
•Overseeing financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
The governing body is currently made up of 8 members and we have 3 co-opted vacancy to fill. Membership details and a brief pen portrait of each governor can be found on our website. Our governors are committed volunteers who bring a range of skills and experience to the role. We are passionate about providing support to the school so that they can ensure every pupil attending Drighlington Primary School achieves the best start in education; achieves their full potential, and is given the skills and encouragement to pursue learning opportunities. We are fully committed to our school ethos of Nurturing, Supporting, Believing and Achieving, this ethos underpins the work of the school and the governors. The governing body works alongside a professional clerk who is responsible for arranging meetings, taking minutes and providing advice on procedural matters. Minutes of meetings are approved and are available for viewing upon request. The full governing body meets at least 3 times per year. In 2023/24 we also had the following committees/ subgroups
• Resources – focussing on finance and premises
• Children, Teaching and Learning – focussing on quality of teaching, the curriculum, attitudes and behaviour and personal development of our pupils.
• Headteacher performance management
The governing body and the committees all have clear terms of reference and all Governors are required to abide by a Code of Conduct.
Overview of 2023/24
In September 2023, in order to strengthen stability within our school leadership team, the governing body agreed a new leadership model. We appointed an Executive Headteacher, Mrs Harris, to work with us, alongside Mrs Abidi as Acting Head of School.
Mrs Harris is very experienced and highly skilled, she has been a Headteacher for a number of years and has also worked as a Senior School Improvement Advisor for Leeds City Council. Mrs Abidi knew our school well, following 7 years as our Deputy Head Teacher, and was well known by staff, pupils and families. Mrs Abidi had very successfully led on curriculum and child protection for a number of years. The transition to the new leadership
model was smooth and, working together, pooling their many skills, Mrs Harris and Mrs Abidi were able to drive forward our school improvement priorities.
Our leadership team was further strengthened by our Assistant Head Teachers and Inclusion Lead; Mrs Sowden, Mrs Pickering, Miss Ainley and Miss Wright.
Mrs Harris is the substantive Headteacher at Robin Hood Primary School. Our link with Robin Hood Primary has been one of our biggest successes in 2023/24. This link has allowed us to work collaboratively and share best practise. Drighlington Primary School has benefitted greatly from this relationship, with their leaders, staff and governors working with us to help us develop, progress and embed many aspects of our school improvement plan. We would like to thank them for their commitment and collaboration.
In June 2024, Ofsted inspected our school. The inspection was over two days and covered all aspects of our school. Inspectors met with the leadership team, wider staff team, governors, pupils, parents/carers and our School Improvement Advisor. The Ofsted report was published, and sent to families, in July 2024.
The outcome of the inspection was a Requires Improvement grading.
The inspectors gave very detailed feedback to the leadership team and governors. They recognised that the school is on a continuing journey and that our foundations around curriculum, teaching and learning, behaviour and leadership and management are established but require more embedding. The inspectors commented that rapid and sustained improvements had been made since September 2023, but they could not grade us as ‘Good’ as we were not yet able to evidence the impact of the work we had done.
Although we were advised that things are on the right track, we are not complacent and are working alongside our leadership team and School Improvement Advisor to drive forward the areas for improvement identified in the report as well as continuing to work on our school improvement priorities.
The governing body would like to thank our leadership team and wider staff team for their work throughout the year. We are proud of the team we work with and appreciate all they do.
In August 2024, we experienced another change in our leadership team as Mrs Abidi left us to become Headteacher of her own school. We will miss her and wish her the very best in her new role.
The governing body understands that the changes in leadership over the last three years have been unsettling and may have caused concern for some families. We are working with our leadership team, School Improvement Advisor, HR and Governor Suppoort Services to ensure we have a permanent model in place from September 2025, we will share details about this with you as soon as we can.
School Improvement Priorities in 2023-2024
During 2023-2024 our school improvement priorities were;
•To ensure all staff have high ambitions for all children, delivering a broad and balanced curriculum that builds upon long term memory with clear end points.
•To further develop positive attitudes so that children have the greatest possible opportunities to reach their potential.
•To continue to promote a wide range of opportunities through a rich and personalised curriculum so that all children develop skills, knowledge and cultural capital.
•To ensure that leadership and management work is highly effective because it is shared by different individuals and distributed across the school.
•To ensure children are safe, happy and healthy, have self-belief and cultural capital, and provision is challenging for all children, so that the % GLD is increased.
Governors visited school during the year to monitor key priority areas identified in the School Improvement Plan. Governor monitoring visits allow governors the opportunity to observe and communicate with staff and pupils and ensure that actions agreed in the School Improvement Plan are being actively undertaken by the school.
Governors met with SLT and key staff members to discuss pupil progress and actively monitor the impact of new initiatives on pupil outcomes. Key governors have responsibilities for monitoring and overseeing key roles, such as SEND, Pupil Premium and Child Protection, they meet with school staff responsible for these areas and report back to the full Governing Body.
Monitoring visits took place in 2023/24 in the following areas:
•Child Protection and Safeguarding.
•Children Looked After (CLA)
•SEND
•Pupil Premium
•Early Years
•Attendance
•Well-being of Staff and Pupils
•Health and Safety
•Premises Management
•Behaviour and Attitudes
•Learning walks with the Headteacher
The governing body is focussed on continuous school improvement and utilisation of school budget to ensure that all children are given the best possible opportunity to meet their full potential. We constantly review the maintenance and development of the school premises and make decisions about how the school should use its budget. We will continue to focus on “vulnerable groups” of children and how the Pupil Premium Grant is being spent by the school to promote and improve learning outcomes. The governing body monitor staff performance and assess the staffing needs of the school. They also ensure that legally required polices are in place to support staff management.
Safeguarding is of paramount importance. The governing body meets all statutory requirements in terms of training and policy approval. We have a safeguarding governor who acts as a link between the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the governing body.
Governors undertake regular training to ensure they are compliant with their statutory responsibilities. Training is usually provided by Leeds City Council, we have also had upskilling provided by an external company to help us understand our responsibilities in relation to an Ofsted inspection.
The governing body regularly review their effectiveness. In July 2023 we commissioned a skills audit to ensure that we have the necessary skills and experience to successfully undertake our roles. The audit identified gaps in Health and Safety and premises management and also school financial management. These gaps will be addressed by governor training or through future governor recruitment. We have used our links with Robin Hood Primary School to ensure these areas are addressed and all statutory responsibilities have been addressed. Following the skills audit, governors agreed that a focus of future recruitment would be to broaden the diversity of the board to better represent the local community.
Throughout the year governors have worked with the Leeds School Improvement Team, Governor Support Services and HR to ensure that we are following all policies and procedures correctly.
Governors are active members of the school community, attending many school events. In 2023/24 we have attended
•School trips
•Parents evening
•Nursery and reception new parents meetings
•Sports Day
•Year 6 leavers plays
•Christmas events
•Halloween Disco
•Drigmass and Drigfest to support our pupils on stage
These events allow us to interact with staff, pupils and parents on a more informal basis and give us a real insight into what is happening in school and how our school community is feeling.
Governor Focus for 2024-2025
A main focus for governors this year is to evaluate the needs of the school and ensure that leadership is stable and effective. We will continue to work with the School Improvement Team and HR to ensure this is done and communicated to the school community.
During 2024-2025 the governing body will:
•Meet half termly with the School Improvement Team, in Strategic Improvement Group meetings to review our progress against our Ofsted Action Plan.
•Evaluate, half termly, the impact of our actions against our school improvement priorities.
• continue to work with all stakeholders and strive to develop and work towards the long-term strategy of the school
• continue to act as a critical friend to the SLT, challenging and holding them to account whilst providing the required strategic support.
• continue to self- evaluate our skills and knowledge and to take advice from all stakeholders to ensure that governance remains a strength.
In 2024/25 our school improvement priorities are focused on the key areas of Teaching and Learning, Leadership and Management, Pupil Support, Pupil Outcomes, Well-being and Early Years. They are;
•To deal effectively with the behaviour of a small number of pupils with complex needs in order that this is not disruptive to the school environment. Ensure all pupils feel safe in school. To continue to review and revise our strategies for managing complex behaviours and provide robust support and reassurance for all pupils and parents.
• To develop the curriculum, including in the early years, in full, in order that knowledge in all subject curriculums is sequenced well. To ensure that all subjects across the curriculum are assessed well, ensuring pupils remember essential concepts. To support new leaders in order that they make sure the curriculum is implemented effectively.
• Supporting the wellbeing of staff, including leaders by reducing workload. Raising the profile of wellbeing in school and the wider school community.
• Ensuring that teaching and learning across Early Years is at least good and that staff, including the EY leader, are supported and familiar with a ‘language rich environment’ which offers challenge. Governors will continue with our monitoring duties and ensure we are visible and active members of the school community. Membership Matters It has been an exceptionally busy 12 months for the governing body. We have seen some changes in membership, this has given us some challenges in ensuring we remain effective and all roles are covered, however, we remain strong and committed to achieving our school improvement priorities. We would like to thank those members who have left us during the year for their time, effort and commitment; Michael Devaney, David Smith, Paula Beck, Natalie Webster and Nicola Abidi. We have welcomed new governors and look forward to working with them over the coming year, they are; Anne Marshall (Associate Governor) and Hayley Ingle (staff Governor). We would also like to thank our long-standing clerk, Sharon Burn, for her continuing help and advice. Governors are confident that all areas of the school are moving forward and that progress is being made towards our improvement priorities. The school is a happy and welcoming place
and it is a pleasure for us to be part of the school community, we look forward to further developing our relationships with staff, pupils and parents. We are looking forward to 2024/25 being a successful, productive year in which our pupils are nurtured, supported, believed in and achieve their goals. Natalie Felton Chair of Governors, on behalf of the Governing Body of Drighlington Primary School