Curriculum and Standards Committee Tuesday, 10th February

We have been enjoying the inspiring and informative talks given by our subject leaders. For this first meeting of 2015 Mrs Lilley was in the hot seat! She is responsible for literacy, a topic which is taken very seriously by us all. Spelling, reading and writing are at the heart of everything we do at school. If a pupil has a good knowledge of these three things then they are well on the way to a good education, a good job, a happy life, and possibly they will be able to fly as well... I am very enthusiastic about literacy and books and reading as you may be able to guess. Mrs Lilley gave us a very thorough explanation of why Literacy is important and how we teach it at Great Gaddesden. All pupils, whatever their interests and abilities should be able to learn and enjoy English. Improving writing has been our most recent focus. There is a Star Writers display in the hall, and each class is to contribute to the Parish Newsletter. I am looking forward to hearing that many more students have gained their Pen license for consistent and neat handwriting across all their work books. There are many exciting activities planned and we hope the School Library will be at the heart of these. Many thanks to Mrs Lilley and also to Mrs Wall who is our Literacy Governor. She has worked closely with Mrs Lilley to update our Literacy policies.
Mrs Comer showed us the achievement data for Special needs pupils and it is clear that good progress is being made. We also discussed Pupil Premium funding: how much has been spent and what it has been used for. We are a small school and intend that all pupils should be able to take a full part in the life of the school: in both education and recreation.
Sports provision is exciting at the moment. We receive £8300 a year to spend on sports provision. Half of this is used for good quality sports coaching. In addition all year groups will be able to have WOW sports experiences. Year 5 and 6 have done football which culminated in a penalty shoot our during a Championship football match at Watford FC!!! WOW indeed.
We have quite a few books in the School Library on football and I am reading The Little Village school by Gervaise Phinn. English and Literacy at the heart of everything!

Full Governing Body Meeting January 26th 2015

On Monday 26^th January we held a meeting of the Full Governing Body (FGB).

Mrs Comer gave her termly Headteacher’s report, and presented data from across the school showing pupil progress in reading, writing and maths.  Nationally we have a new, more challenging curriculum and there will also be changes to how children are assessed. Mrs Comer's reports are always very clear and thorough, and the Governors asked lots of questions about the new assessment methods. I am delighted that the children across the school are working so hard and making good progress.

Mrs Comer also reported that our pupil attendance in January was 97.1% and we have 80 pupils at the school.

The Governors approved updates to eight policies, and heard reports of learning walks, visits and meetings that individual governors have made since the last FGB. We discussed potential improvements to the playground, and looked at the school website and prospectus. 

All Governors are actively involved in the life of the school.

Our next meeting will be on Monday 9^th March. This will be our annual joint meeting of Governors and Staff where we take time out together to discuss issues of strategic importance to the school.

Alison Wilkinson

Chair of Governors