Dear parents,
Please see the minutes from today's meeting. It was very useful to hear what you had to say about different aspects of our school's development. The more people that attend the better, so that we get a real cross section of the parent community.
If there are any issues you would like to discuss further, please do not hesitate to fix an appointment, speak to us on the gate, or drop us an email.
Monday 13th November 2013
Update on staffing
Resignation of Mrs Pike – but she will be returning to work as a casual member of staff
Resignation of an MDA
Absences
Miss Rutherford will be out until at least w/c 25th Nov
Miss Chau and Mrs Caccavale will ensure that the class is not disrupted
Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Hoffman are also supporting the class
Vacancies
We are currently advertising a TA post – which could possibly become two posts depending on the quality of applicants
There is also an advert out for the MDA post
Update on pupil numbers & Attendance
Pupil numbers are now up to 396
We only have spaces left in Reception, Year 2 & Year 3. All other Year groups are full.
Overall attendance is now back to above 95% for the year so far.
Term time holidays
· Department for Education guidance is very clear – only in exceptional circumstances should holidays be authorised. In all other cases holidays should be unauthorized and the parents fined for taking the children out of school.
· The school does not set the amount
· The school does not receive any of the monies raised by the fine – all go to the Local Authority
Expansion & build update
It is expected that Broadford will become 2FE school at next Cabinet meeting. The implication is that two additional classrooms will be needed, a larger car park and bigger staffroom
As yet there is still no agreement on the future of the old building.
Outstanding issues of funds still to be addressed - £23,000 of bills for the building have been presented to the Council, but we are yet to be paid for any of them.
Implications
· £23,000 of school funding tied up paying for old building related costs means that we can’t spend that money on your children
· Parents were asked to contact the local councillors to ask what is being done to resolve the situation
Forthcoming visits and enrichment
A ‘Serious Fun on Saturdays’ project, with Bancrofts School in Woodford, is finally coming to life – more news will follow. It is likely to involve 4-5 children from Year 5 to begin with. If it is successful there will be a scaling up of the project.
Our school council have begun to build links with Dersingham Primary – who also have Mrs Gordon as the Chair of Governors. The children will be inviting the pupils back to visit our school in the near future. We will also look to do a joint project and possibly trip with them.
Year 2 have their trip to Tower of London on Friday.
Miss Morris is running a project that will be looking to put learning in a context for the children and for them to understand how their learning will be useful in real life situations.
Miss Sparkes will be leading a Spinebreakers trip to Waterstones where the lead readers for each class will choose a new book to promote to their class
Reward for completing spelling books every week – out of 306 pupils only 72 were eligible for the prize draw. The pupils just need to bring in their spelling book every week of the half term.
The yearly pantomime for YR-Y6 is on Tuesday 12th November - Aladdin
Next week Year 3&4 are going to the Guild Hall as part of their Roman topic
This week we have football matches vs Brookside & Hilldene
Community
Following the success that we had last year, our choir has been in demand with local groups. The children will be singing at lots of local events for Xmas:
There is another reading volunteers meeting 22nd November
Update on staffing
Resignation of Mrs Pike – but she will be returning to work as a casual member of staff
Resignation of an MDA
Absences
Miss Rutherford will be out until at least w/c 25th Nov
Miss Chau and Mrs Caccavale will ensure that the class is not disrupted
Mrs Nicholls and Mrs Hoffman are also supporting the class
Vacancies
We are currently advertising a TA post – which could possibly become two posts depending on the quality of applicants
There is also an advert out for the MDA post
Update on pupil numbers & Attendance
Pupil numbers are now up to 396
We only have spaces left in Reception, Year 2 & Year 3. All other Year groups are full.
Overall attendance is now back to above 95% for the year so far.
Term time holidays
· Department for Education guidance is very clear – only in exceptional circumstances should holidays be authorised. In all other cases holidays should be unauthorized and the parents fined for taking the children out of school.
· The school does not set the amount
· The school does not receive any of the monies raised by the fine – all go to the Local Authority
Expansion & build update
It is expected that Broadford will become 2FE school at next Cabinet meeting. The implication is that two additional classrooms will be needed, a larger car park and bigger staffroom
As yet there is still no agreement on the future of the old building.
Outstanding issues of funds still to be addressed - £23,000 of bills for the building have been presented to the Council, but we are yet to be paid for any of them.
Implications
· £23,000 of school funding tied up paying for old building related costs means that we can’t spend that money on your children
· Parents were asked to contact the local councillors to ask what is being done to resolve the situation
Forthcoming visits and enrichment
A ‘Serious Fun on Saturdays’ project, with Bancrofts School in Woodford, is finally coming to life – more news will follow. It is likely to involve 4-5 children from Year 5 to begin with. If it is successful there will be a scaling up of the project.
Our school council have begun to build links with Dersingham Primary – who also have Mrs Gordon as the Chair of Governors. The children will be inviting the pupils back to visit our school in the near future. We will also look to do a joint project and possibly trip with them.
Year 2 have their trip to Tower of London on Friday.
Miss Morris is running a project that will be looking to put learning in a context for the children and for them to understand how their learning will be useful in real life situations.
- Visit to Toby carvery to meet chefs and learn about roles in a restaurant
- Visit of police to talk about different careers, how to apply, typical day at work and challenges faced
- Visit to Hair Dressing academy to look at training required, how long college takes to complete and the different aspects of hair care you need to know about.
Miss Sparkes will be leading a Spinebreakers trip to Waterstones where the lead readers for each class will choose a new book to promote to their class
Reward for completing spelling books every week – out of 306 pupils only 72 were eligible for the prize draw. The pupils just need to bring in their spelling book every week of the half term.
The yearly pantomime for YR-Y6 is on Tuesday 12th November - Aladdin
Next week Year 3&4 are going to the Guild Hall as part of their Roman topic
This week we have football matches vs Brookside & Hilldene
Community
Following the success that we had last year, our choir has been in demand with local groups. The children will be singing at lots of local events for Xmas:
- Light Up Harold Hill on 5th December 4.40pm
- Myplace Pensioner’s Group 10th Dec
- Triple S 11th Dec
- William Tansley 12th Dec
- Cottons 13th Dec
- Salvation Army 16th Dec
- Romford YMCA 16th Dec
There is another reading volunteers meeting 22nd November
Any parents who would like to come in and watch a RWI session are more than welcome. Please just see us on the gate to fix a time to come and watch the children completing a Phonics session.
Parent View Results
To find the results so far for the Parent View survey, please visit: http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results and search for Broadford Primary
The response (from over 121 families) is overwhelmingly positive. We are still waiting for our Nursery parents to complete the questionnaire before we consider the results to be complete.
Closure at end of Summer term
It was explained that attendance for the end of the Summer term – where we only had a two day week – the attendance was down to 80%.
The consequence was that the whole school attendance from the year dropped down to barely over 95%. All the certificates, all of the hard work, all of the badges, all of the assemblies, all of the top trumps cards were almost in vain.
Mr Drakes suggested that school could be closed 3 days earlier this year so that we finish on a Friday instead of a Wednesday. This would be possible as currently the school is open earlier than required, which means the children will have already worked the three days needed. Staff would still be expected to attend work for the three days.
Parents who attended the meeting stated that
The Parent Governor elections will be finished by Wednesday 13th, and the results will be in the next newsletter.
Date of next meeting
Monday 3rd March @ 9am
Actions from this meeting
Parent View Results
To find the results so far for the Parent View survey, please visit: http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results and search for Broadford Primary
The response (from over 121 families) is overwhelmingly positive. We are still waiting for our Nursery parents to complete the questionnaire before we consider the results to be complete.
Closure at end of Summer term
It was explained that attendance for the end of the Summer term – where we only had a two day week – the attendance was down to 80%.
The consequence was that the whole school attendance from the year dropped down to barely over 95%. All the certificates, all of the hard work, all of the badges, all of the assemblies, all of the top trumps cards were almost in vain.
Mr Drakes suggested that school could be closed 3 days earlier this year so that we finish on a Friday instead of a Wednesday. This would be possible as currently the school is open earlier than required, which means the children will have already worked the three days needed. Staff would still be expected to attend work for the three days.
Parents who attended the meeting stated that
- If school is open until the Wednesday, parents should ensure their children are in school
- The school should continue with the policy of fining those families who do not attend
- Activities should be placed in those three days that will incentivize the children to want to attend
- Parents of pupils who did not attend should be contacted to remind them of their responsibility to achieve good attendance
The Parent Governor elections will be finished by Wednesday 13th, and the results will be in the next newsletter.
Date of next meeting
Monday 3rd March @ 9am
Actions from this meeting
- Mrs Griffin Stenning will look into the costs of Group Call – a system that allows the school to contact parents via text message
- Mr Drakes will publish the end of term date at the end of every newsletter to remind parents
- Parents will be offered the option to have the newsletter emailed to them
- Targeted letters will be sent to those families who did not attend the final days of term in the Summer holiday
- Mr Drakes will publish the contact details of local councillors so that parents can contact them about the expansion plans and old building
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