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Camelsdale First School: Governors Newsletter Autumn 2009 If you would like to print this newsletter please select;
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the PDF version. Welcome to the Autumn Edition of the Governors’ Newsletter. We welcomed new children and a number of new members of staff to the school in September and everyone seems to have settled in well. Our Year 6 have taken their place at the top of the school with an exciting new curriculum, their own laptops and new responsibilities. Feedback from the pupils, staff and parents has been very positive and everyone is working to make this a very memorable year for these pupils, culminating in the trip to Burgos planned for May next year. Sadly we will be saying farewell to Michael Bolger who is retiring after 14 years as a Governor. Michael has been an invaluable member of the Governing Body. He was instrumental in setting up the Community Partnership Group and has chaired this very successful sub-committee since its inception. The group has developed a network of partnerships with the local community which have proved of great benefit to the school. Michael introduced S.W.O.T (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to the Governing Body, this has proved a valuable tool in the work that we do. He has also taken a key role in staff recruitment, being part of the interview panel for most of the staff appointments in recent years. Mr Bolger will be remembered by hundreds of children for the work he has done with them on disability during Disability Awareness week each year. I‘ve listed just some examples of the enormous contribution Michael has made to the school. We will greatly miss his skills, commitment and enthusiasm. I know Michael has enjoyed his time at the school and he is one of Camelsdale biggest fans; he never ceases to sing the praises of Camelsdale when ever and where ever he can. We would like to thank him sincerely for everything he has done for the children and the school and wish him all the very best for the future. We will also be saying farewell to Morag Dalton who is retiring at the end of term. Morag has given help and support to so many children over the years. It’s not just her teaching skills that will be missed; Morag’s flower arranging and cake baking skills are legendary. Morag will be staying in touch with the school and I’m sure she will be popping in from time to time. I’d like to say a big thank you to Delia and the PTA committee for their continued support and fund raising for the school. The Christmas Fair on the 28th November was another successful and enjoyable afternoon with fun for all the family. The help and support of parents is invaluable to the school and I’d like to thank each and every one of you for the contribution you make. The refurbishment work is almost completed and I would like to thank Sarah Palmer and all the Camelsdale team for minimising the impact the building work has had on the pupils’ education. Thanks must also go to the children who adapted quickly to moving rooms, having classes in the hall and the other changes. The builders have been fantastic too. It’s not been an easy term what with the refurbishment work, pupils and staff sickness and the weather. On several days this term there were 40 pupils absent from school with Swine flu and other illnesses. Hopefully we are over the worst of this now, absence rates have returned to normal levels. On behalf of the Governors I’d like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. Best wishes Barbara Baldwin ____________________________________________________ Hello from the School Council. The School Council now has new members. These are: This term the Council has: 1. Reviewed and made a new cover for our School Rule Book.
7. Talked about what we should put in our school grounds next! By Jacob - Secretary, Max and Francesca ____________________________________________________ Resources Committee The members of the committee are: The committee has met once this term. The Financial Management Policy has been reviewed and updated to include reference to the debit card which the school now has. The annual Supported Data Review and Target Setting meeting took place on the 13th November. At this meeting the Headteacher, Chair of Governors and School Improvement Partner (Joy Considine) reviewed the performance data for each year group to ensure they are making the expected progress. A number of targets are also set for attainment at the end of KS2 in the National Curriculum tests.These include the statutory targets;
The school is also required to set an attendance target for the academic year. Mrs Morag Dalton is retiring at the end of term. Morag has worked at the school for many years providing support for children that need extra help and those with special needs. I would like to wish Morag a long and happy retirement and thank her for everything she has done at the school. Emma Robins has been working at the school this term to cover Mrs Rice’s maternity leave and also provide supply cover for other members of the teaching staff. I would like to thank the PTA for their continued support this term. The Christmas fair on the 28th November was another very successful event and a fun afternoon for all the family. The school has received £230 from Waitrose, from their local community donation scheme. The majority of the refurbishment work will be completed by the end of this term; although the builders will have to return to the school during the February half-term to finish work in the library. The school will have to contribute an additional £6000 for repairs to the main hall roof and where the old and new roofing meet. The governors agreed to have this work carried out while the builders were onsite. In addition £4000 will be needed to fit lockers in the new cloakroom. There will also be a quantity of additional fittings and furniture that may need to be purchased once the refurbishment work is finished. A number of concerns have been raised about the standard of cleaning around the school. Since January this year the school cleaning has been contracted to an outside company. It has been difficult at times for the cleaners with the refurbishment work going on. The committee is monitoring the cleaning closely and is happy to report that the standard is now improving due to the new team of Rajin Sunawar, Lila Bhandari and Yuki Roughley. We welcome them to the Camelsdale team.With the addition of Year 6 pupils this academic year, there are now 215 pupils on the school roll. This has brought with it additional administration work and the admin team are finding themselves stretched. The committee agreed to increase the school Secretary’s hours by 4 hours per week to ease the burden and to keep this under review. Barbara Baldwin (Chair) ____________________________________________________ Health, Safety and Facilities Committee The members of the committee are: The committee met on 14th October to discuss the new build, which is going well and to schedule. It is great to have four refurbished classrooms with the children settled in, and the kitchen and new cloakroom well underway. To have some essential work done on the leaky roofs of the smart new front entrance and hall is also good. Thanks go once again to Mr Lockwood who spent much of his summer holiday assisting the builders with deliveries and snagging points. As well as all that he is still managing to keep the school looking clean and tidy, repainting parts, fixing broken things and managing the contractors which all keeps the school running smoothly. He gave a detailed report at our meeting and we will be working on a maintenance schedule with him once the building work is complete. Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Gray are our appointed first aiders, and have already updated the children's health care plans for the new academic year. Please keep the Office up to date with any medical changes for your children. Mrs Mitchell has attended a Swine Flu workshop, so we are prepared. All staff have attended updates in First Aid and Child Protection training during the Inset Days at the beginning of term and received asthma and epi-pen update training. The committee also reviewed the accident book for this period. Also thanks to Mr Edwards who carried out an Energy Survey so we can now display the Energy Certificate, which goes towards the Sustainable School and Eco Green Flag Award. Susanna Colwood (Chair)____________________________________________________ Development Committee Chair: Lisa Lye. The development team met on Wednesday 30th September 2009. We continue to monitor our extended schools provision. In addition to our excellent after school facilities we also have a morning and after school club. These continue to be well supported. We have had requests for an earlier start of 8am but at present we are unable to accommodate as this impacts on the staff running the club who are also TA’s. We are investigating a playwork NVQ for the 3 staff that run the club. A competition to brand and rename our club the BATS (Before and After Teaching Club) has been held and the winner was Lydia Thornhill. The new logo will be in place for the new year. The school grounds have been tidied; plans are in motion for additional play equipment particularly for our year 5/6 children. In the longer term we plan to develop our courtyard and improve the soil so that we can grow fruit, vegetables and herbs for use in our new kitchen. The secret garden is being well used. Wild school is being taught for yr 1, 3 and 5. As part of our school travel plan we continue to offer the walking bus, drop off zone service, car share, walking boot challenge, school crossing and footsteps programme. Thanks to staff and volunteer parents who help make these happen. We have been able to use the Mill Tavern Bus and the MRC minibus for trips. As the building work comes to an end we start to think about how we celebrate our new primary school. We are in the process of planning something for the spring term.Having read this report if anyone has any ideas or is able to support in any of these developmental areas please contact myself or any of the other committee members by emailing the school on: office@camelsdale.w-sussex.sch.uk. Thank you ____________________________________________________ Community Partnership Group The members of the Group are: Michael Bolger (Chair), Sarah Palmer, Janet Glue, Emma Hackett, Louise Bicknell, Kate Bysouth, Sally Read and Simon Labrow. The Group continues to develop its already extensive network of partnerships of mutual benefit with individuals and groups in the local and wider community, as a result of which our school has received a wide rage of services, professional advice on key issues, as well as generous donations. This has included help with: publishing our excellent new prospectus; auditing the PTA accounts; undertaking our Energy Display Certificate survey; printing the latest edition of our colour School Grounds booklet; and the provision of blinds for our refurbished rooms. Money received from our PTA, the Lynchmere Parish Party and Waitrose is being spent on our new kitchen. Please let us have ideas on other ways in which we can establish such viable links. We hope you enjoyed reading our Community partnership Newsletter “The Link” detailing all our networking efforts which are benefitting the children. Michael Bolger (Chair) ______________________________________________________ Curriculum Committee The Committee met twice this term: on the 07 October and 24th November. The members of the committee are: A summary of the activity of the committee for the term is as follows:
Jan Ahern (Chair) ____________________________________________________ Learning how to learn is as important as learning information. Confucius (attributed) and Camelsdale (attested). Ask! ____________________________________________________ Previous editions of the Governors Newsletters are available below in pdf format Spring 2009 Summer 2009 Autumn 2009 Spring 2008 Summer 2008 Autumn 2008 Spring 2007 Summer 2007 Autumn 2007 Spring 2006 Summer 2006 Autumn 2006
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