Finance, Personnel & Premises Sub Committee

The Finance, Personnel & Premises Sub Committee met on Friday. This sub committee meets twice every term and covers issues ranging from the strategic (such as approving the school budget, agreeing staffing arrangements, and monitoring major capital projects) through to important operational issues (such as checking that the fire drill has been carried out correctly).

This meeting was heavily focused on our planned investment in Technology. We need to invest in the infrastructure to make sure that we have robust systems that are easy to maintain and upgrade. However, we are working really hard to try and make sure that as much of our financial investment as possible directly benefits the children. Clare Rudd is doing a great job talking to other local schools about best practice in this area and meeting with IT companies. She also spoke to the Staff and Pupils to make sure that we are meeting their needs. We look forward to telling you more about this project soon.

This is also the end of the Financial Year for the school and we are busy setting budgets for the next year. The Sub Committee regularly looks at the income and expenditure position of the school;  it is in a healthy financial position and we are looking forward to the year ahead.

Post by Alison Wilkinson

Global Visitors to the School Blogs

With my focus being on IT currently, as a governor, it is fantastic to see all of the staff and pupils putting so much effort into their blogging. It is clear that there really is a lot going on at Great Gaddesden School. Some of the posts written have been absolutely amazing and it's great for parents to be able to see what is going on in their child's class. We have had some great comments from parents about how much they enjoy reading the posts that are being produced.

As well as people associated with the school reading the posts, the Great Gaddesden School Blogs have had some more global visitors too!



Nursery and Reception have had over 1000 page views on their blog. Their audience mainly comes from the UK, USA and Germany. They have even had visits from Serbia, Russia and Finland!

Over 700 people have visited the Year One and Two blog. Their visitors come from the UK, USA, and Germany. They have also had visits from Serbia, Australia and China!

Over 600 people have had a look at what Year Three and Four are doing in class. Their visitors come from the UK, USA, Germany, and Ireland. Their visitors have also landed on the blog from China, Spain, Finland and Russia!

Over 800 people have visited Year Five and Six's blog. They had a google search hit when someone asked their search engine "how to decorate a year 5 classroom" and found the post Year Five and Six wrote. Adding "labels" or "tags" helps to make a post searchable by a search engine.

Their visitors come from United Kingdom, USA, and Germany. There have even been some visits from South Korea, Spain, Finland, Malaysia and Russia!

Over 800 people have visited Miss Worsley's Headteacher blog. They come from the UK, USA, and Germany too. She has also had visitors from India, Spain, China and Finland!

What a global school Great Gaddesden is becoming!

It just goes to show, when you write your post, you never know who will end up seeing it! It could be viewed by people half way around the world - perhaps by other pupils from schools in different countries!

I wonder if the pupils can find the countries that have visited their class blogs on a map or a globe, or even on google earth!! I also wonder if they can find a school blog from another country! Feel free to add it to the comments on my post below if you do!


Clare Rudd

Science Survey

Today I went into school to talk to the children about SCIENCE. Miss Groves and I spoke to one or two children from every class to find out what they enjoyed about their science lessons. We looked at their books together to find out what work they were particularly proud of and asked for their ideas about how we could make Science even more exciting.

I was really impressed by the children’s scientific understanding and their thoughtful  answers to our questions.  Many thanks to Josh, Neive, Bradley, Krysta, Kaia, Seth, Eleanor, Harvey, Harry and Grace. I really enjoyed talking to you today.

Post by Alison Wilkinson

Curriculum and Standards sub committee 28th February

In our committee this afternoon we did what it says on the tin - discussed curriculum, standards, attainment data, policies... We also heard all about the school's response to the recent Ofsted report and the progress we are making. Best of all was the report by Gemma Ayres on her work towards Curriculum 2014. Gemma has responsibility for French, Geography and History. The new history curriculum, with its emphasis on chronology, will provide new challenges for the teachers. We hope to use it as an opportunity to bring history to life, giving the children real historical artefacts to help their understanding of the past. The teaching of French has developed into an adventure for the children of Year Six who will soon be putting their French into practice during their trip to Paris! They have practiced speaking, done puzzles and games on their computers, and now they will climb the Eiffel tower and look at the City of Paris spread beneath them. I hope they are learning some suitable phrases to describe what they see. Maybe they will write some diaries about their experiences.

Posted by Gill Edwards

Great Gaddesden Parish Newsletter

As Governors we are very proud that Great Gaddesden CoE School is firmly rooted in the local community. Every month we publish an article about the school in the local Great Gaddesden Parish Newsletter. This is a great way to let the local community know what brilliant things are going on in their local school. I often get feedback from parishioners about how much they enjoy hearing about the school. They particularly like it when the children write the article, which is something we are trying to do more often.

In February the article focused on the investments in IT and in March the article highlighted some of the wonderful activities that took place during Writing Week.

Past copies of the articles can be found in the 'Letters' section of the school website.

Post by Alison Wilkinson

Governing Body Meeting February 2014

The Governing Body meets six times a year - our last meeting was on Monday 10th February. It was a very productive meeting with lots of discussion about our progress against Ofsted priorities and our plans to invest in IT infrastructure.

Many Governing Bodies only meet once a term, but we believe that we can support the school more effectively by meeting more regularly. We have three main roles:

1. The strategic role, which is about developing a vision and a strategic plan for the school.
2. Our 'Critical Friend' role, and in this role we visit the school to monitor and evaluate the school's work
3. Our Accountability role which is concerned with reporting on progress, meeting statutory requirements and setting policies.

Our next meeting is planned for 24^th March when we will also invite all members of Staff to join us for discussion about the strategic direction of the school. We think it is very powerful for the Governors and the Staff to work together in this way.

 

Post by Alison Wilkinson

 

Current Governing Body

The School Governors have a new blog, in order to keep staff, parents and carers better informed about the work of the Governing Body.

The current governing body is as follows:

Parent Governors – Clare Rudd, Catherine Wilkinson (VICE-CHAIR)
Staff Governors – Nikki Worsley, Ceris Groves
LEA Governor – Gill Edwards
Foundation Governors – Andrzej Gaudyn, Kerry Jones, Ian Steward, Caroline Potts, Abby Pethard, Alison Wilkinson (CHAIR)
Ex Oficio – Revd John Russell

You can contact Alison Wilkinson, our Chair of Governors on the following email:
awilkinson@greatgaddesden.herts.sch.uk