Barrow C of E Primary School Governing Body
Newsletter - Spring Term 2017
Welcome back to Barrow School after what seems an unusually long period of time following
the end of the Christmas and New Year festivities. I thought we would start this new term by
providing parents, staff, and of course, pupils, with what will hopefully be some useful insight
into the current work of the governing body.
The governing body decided to slightly re-structure how it goes about supporting the school.
Two re-formed committees have been set up; a Finance, Staffing & Premises Committee
chaired by Mr Stuart Mochrie, and a Curriculum & Safeguarding Committee chaired by Mr
Ollie Rackham. The full governing body will meet formally once each term, and a General
Purposes committee will also meet on a termly basis.
Scheduled meetings for this coming term:
Finance, Staffing & Premises Committee
Curriculum & Safeguarding Committee
General Purposes Committee
Full Governing Body Meeting
3.30 pm Wednesday 11 January
3.30 pm Wednesday 01 February
7.30 pm Thursday 02 February
3.30 pm Tuesday 28 February
Full governing body meetings are public meetings and anyone can attend and listen to what
is being discussed (with the collective permission of the governing body) – albeit you will be
asked to temporarily leave should any confidential issues arise for discussion. If you would
like to know more about the school’s governing body, or attending governing body meetings
as an observer, please contact chair of governors John Armstrong on 07770 800053 or at
[email protected].
How best to describe our school?
Governors recently set out to describe in the simplest possible terms the school’s purpose,
and came up with two simple sentences that we think most accurately define Barrow School:
We empower our pupils to achieve their optimum potential in a safe, happy and
individually focused school environment. We are a vibrant school with a strong
Christian ethos at the heart of a village community.
This Mission Statement will now appear on all the formal school literature and on notices
around the school premises. At the same time, we decided to consult on whether the
school’s logo needed any refreshment or revision. Governors were grateful to all those who
responded to a recent short survey. A majority stated they are more than happy to retain the
current school logo which depicts a quill and scroll, thereby identifying the school’s
traditional values.
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This logo will now be slightly refreshed to give it a more modern appearance.
The other school logo which many will be familiar with:
is being phased out for two main reasons; firstly, whilst the design is undoubtedly cheerful
and eye-catching, many in the school community think its emphasis is too heavily weighted
towards the lower end of the pupil range; and secondly, having two competing logos serves
only to confuse.
With the majority of those consulted preferring to retain the more traditional logo, we will now
move to a single logo.
A focus on writing
In discussing the recent national primary school attainment and progress results with Mr
Ramsden towards the end of last term, and whilst it is pleasing to note many children are
working at the expected national standards in maths, reading and writing, there is clear
agreement that there needs to be an increased focus on writing throughout the school. The
Curriculum and Safeguarding Committee will be working closely with Mr Ramsden, Mrs
Wainwright and staff to see how the school can support and encourage higher standards in
writing. Parents can expect to learn more about pupil writing initiatives in coming weeks and
how they can assist the school in its efforts to drive up standards.
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Behaviour in school
Governors and staff have become increasingly concerned about an increasing number of
incidents of poor and disrespectful pupil behaviour. There is no doubt whatsoever the
majority of Barrow School pupils are exceptionally well mannered and polite and fully adhere
to the values quite properly instilled in them by parents and the school alike. However,
instances of poor standards of behaviour among a small number of pupils is taking up a
disproportionate amount of teacher time and governors are resolute in their support for the
school in not allowing such behaviour to remain unchallenged.
Working with Mr Ramsden and staff, governors have recently strengthened the School
Behaviour Policy (which can be found under the School Information page on the school
website). This revised procedure should give staff more confidence to deal with pupils
exhibiting challenging behaviour. Governors are also working with staff to address this
matter in the longer term and will be providing additional training and support.
Some perspective is needed here – over many generations Barrow School has been
rightfully proud of its high standards of behaviour. The problem is that in such a small school
any instances of poor behaviour can be amplified and are that much more noticeable. A
small school of this nature does not always have specialist resources at hand to assist class
teachers deal with instances, and it is unacceptable that teachers have to incessantly put up
with challenging behaviour from primary school pupils. It is for these reasons it is hugely
important the School maintains high standards and governors are supporting - and will
continue to support Mr Ramsden and all staff in dealing robustly with any such incident.
Pupil attendance
At a risk of appearing to overly-concentrate on some negative aspects of school life so early
in a new term, governors note that average pupil attendance rates have showed a slight
decline over the course of the year. Governors would like to reiterate their support for the
school in setting out just how critical it is for your child’s education that they attend school
regularly and that any absences (with the exception of sickness) are authorised by the
school in advance. This is also an issue to which the local authority, Government and Ofsted
alike all justifiably pay close attention. However, attendance is more than just turning up at
school, it includes of course turning up on time, and the school is becoming concerned over
the increase in instances of pupils arriving late. Not only do late arrivals leave pupils illprepared for the start of the day, they also unnecessarily distract and disrupt teachers and
the remainder of pupils. Again, the school will be reinforcing this standards-related issue
early in the new term.
Before and after school clubs and Pre-school
As many parents will be aware, the recent addition of after school care to the earlier
established breakfast club has greatly enhanced the school and is providing a valuable and
much-needed service to many families in the school community.
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Governors are keen to learn what is working well, and what aspects of these clubs can be
improved. As with every new venture, there will inevitably be a bedding in period and it is
perhaps timely to take stock of these services early in the coming term. It is pleasing to note
many who use the before and after school clubs have already provided informal feedback,
and governors of the Finance, Staffing and Premises Committee will be working with the
school and the staff responsible for running these clubs to identify what additional support or
resource may be necessary as well as how the clubs are operating. Governors are
conscious that these services need to be viable and sustainable in the long term.
Barrow Pre-school is now firmly established as part of the school community and feedback
has been overwhelmingly positive following its move to school from the village hall.
Governors are keen to continue to explore how this can become a sustainable part of the
school moving forward, and intend to meet with the Pre-school Committee early in the new
term to begin planning for the future.
Have your say
All school staff and governors are very open to feedback and comments from anyone in the
school community and in the short time I have been chair of governors I have met with as
many parents, pupils and staff as possible. One thing is for certain, there is no shortage of
highly commendable comments made about the school on a daily basis. Where any issues
of concern arise, the school is very much alive to the pressing need to listen and resolve any
such concern in a timely fashion.
To add to this network of feedback, and to ensure anyone who has an opinion who wishes to
share this with governors and staff can do so, governors intend to distribute a parent
questionnaire this term. Your views will help inform the Headteacher’s plans for the ongoing development of the school.
So watch this space – details of the survey will follow during the course of the Spring Term.
Further information about the governing body is available in the Governing Body section of
the school website.
John Armstrong
Chair of Barrow C of E School Governing Body
10 January 2017
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