October 13, 2015
Board Members
Jette Serjersen – Board Member – Parent/non-teacher
Carole Ansell – Board Member - Teacher
Parven Ghandour – Board Member - Teacher
Louay Khatib – Chair Person/Partner Business
Sameer Merchant – Partner Finance
Marion Sinclair – Partner Education
Maureen Chapman – Head Teacher
James Martin – Board Member - Parent
Minutes
Julie Francis
Apologies
Jette Sejersen, Paul Green
Meeting:
General Board Meeting
1: Previous Minutes
1. Acceptance of Previous Minutes – Minutes were accepted by the previous
attendees.
2: Parent Representative
New Parent Representative – James Martin.
 Brief introduction of the Board was followed by details of the role for a parent
representative.
 Mr. James then gave a brief outline of his current skills and how they will add
value moving forward.
3: Headteachers Update
Quality of teaching and learning:
 Currently preparing for the KHDA Inspection
 BSO award now means we can recruit NQTs moving forward and some staff
have also undergone Mentor Training. This will result in lower costs for
recruiting new teachers next year.
 Further training was held which included teachers from other schools in
Dubai and was also attended by our Arabic staff, all found this training very
useful. We are therefore looking to hold more training at school with a view
to opening up to other schools/teachers.



Lesson Observations have been ongoing with a result of 90% of teaching at
Good or better. 2 lessons deemed lower have been offered improvements
and will be re-visited.
Islamic is showing as Good with very good features at present. Arabic A is
Good over all, with Arabic B as showing the most challenges. Improvements
have been put in place and will continue:
o CA is now responsible for the Arabic/Islamic staff as a whole
o Teachers are taking more ownership
o Staff are happier
o Timetables have been amended
o 1 teacher always available for intervention
o To share with parents the improvements in Arabic more use is being
made of the Newsletter and the HT drop In mornings
Communication has shown dramatic improvement over the last 12 months
but this still needs focus such as follows:
o Non confidential HT update for the website
o Add to the school development plan
o Utilise all channels for communication on a regular basis
SEN:





Large emphasis on SEN in the Inspection forms.
Safa was deemed as Acceptable 2014/2015 we are currently standing at
Very Good.
2.3% of children are on the SEN register (20)
Tracking children into Year 7 at SCS will be a useful tool.
Extra training for Teachers/TAs and Parents has been held, with further to
follow. New processes and procedures drawn up.
Partnership with parents:


All communication has improved slightly.
Emphasis on prompting parents to complete the surveys to increase from the
original 30% last year. Class Mums will be utilized to promote this.
Pupils Achievements:


Tracking of children’s progress constant and ongoing.
o Star Reader every month
o Star Math’s
o Progress tests in Math’s
o PIRLS/TIMMS
Data showing large improvements over 12 months
AOB


MS: How can we show KHDA/Parents the contribution of the Board and meet
their expectations?
o Look at holding a once a year meeting for Board/Parents with small
presentation
MC: Advised we now have a brand new team for the Friends of Safa
Meeting adjourned 3.55pm