Governors’ Newsletter
A belated welcome to this the second newsletter from governors. In the first I outlined some of the roles of the governing body. In this newsletter I would like to describe some of the discussions that we have been having and look forward to the start of the next academic year next month.
Learning and Achievement Committee
The principal focus of this committee during the final term last year was receiving reports on the progress towards sending off the teachers’ recommendations to the examination boards for the GCSE, A Level and BTEC results for our year 11 and year 13 students. This involved a huge amount of work to ensure that the results were received by the examination boards in good time.
The other focus of the committee was behaviour. As many of you will be aware we have had more incidents of poor behaviour by students in the school this year that previously. This is almost certainly due to the impact of the bubble system that we have had to employ. The committee will be monitoring carefully next year how the effects of the removal of the bubble system and our ability to offer better pastoral operations using the pastoral support centre impacts on behaviour.
Finance Committee
This committee has been monitoring how the money that we receive from central government is being spent. It must also ensure that we do not overspend our budget. An important aspect for this committee in the final term was confirming how the budget for next year will be spent and recommending to the full governing body meeting that the proposed budget should be approved. We were also required to project our likely budget needs forward for three years by the trustees of the Nene Valley Partnership.
Personnel and HR Committee
A major focus during the final term has been discussing the way in which some of the faculties will operate next year. These changes are organisational and will not affect the quality of education that we give to our students or the way in which they are taught.
Health and Safety Committee
As its name suggests this committee monitors all health and safety issues in school, including receiving reports on all accidents that have happened. It also receives a regular report from the site manager on any maintenance issues that have arisen and how they were rectified. Finally, it receives a report on all the school trips that have taken place or are due to take place.
Summer Examinations
On behalf of the Governing Body I would like to congratulate all our Year 11 and Year 13 students on their results this year. For both groups it has been a very hard two years with lockdown, on-line learning and then the bubble system and so their achievements are particularly creditable. I’d also like to thank the staff for all their hard work in a very trying situation and also you as parents and guardians who have been not only so supportive of your children but also of the school in a set of circumstances we hope never to see again.
Paralympics
I am sure that you would like to join me in wishing Maisie Summers-Newton good luck in her events in Tokyo over the next couple of weeks.
Next Year
As governors we are all looking forward to being able to go into school in order to carry out our role in school improvement. It is always a pleasure to talk to students and staff, visit classes, look at exercise books and generally get a feel for how the school is operating. This also includes carrying out faculty reviews where a small group of governors spend a few hours talking to senior leaders within a faculty, looking at data for that faculty and looking at plans for improvement as part of the overall school improvement plan.
Mike Thomas