St John Fisher RC Primary School

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to a new school year! On behalf of the Governors I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to all new pupils and parents.

One outstanding feature of St. John Fisher School is the friendly community atmosphere and the strong pastoral care that pupils receive. I am therefore sure that those of you dropping off new children for their first term will find that they are very happy here.

"Meet the Governors" evening

We were delighted that so many of you came to the "Meet the Governors" evening at the end of last term. The chart below summarises the feedback we received across the key areas of a questionnaire issued on the evening. Under each of the overall headings I provide a few more comments on what you said and how we will respond.

Premises

Overall you were very happy with what we have done on the school premises, with, in particular, many positive comments about the prayer garden.

Clearly our ability to undertake major works in future is likely to be constrained by the overall funding situation for schools. However, we will continue to be able to undertake improvements with the support of the PTA and the Governors' fund, for example as with the resurfacing of the junior playground over the summer holidays.

There was a common theme relating to improving play equipment, and we were delighted that so many of you were willing to help out on projects if needs be!

Equalities

Overall you were happy with the equalities priorities we had set out for the school, and we will proceed with implementing these in our equalities policy.

Communication

This is clearly an area where you feel we could be doing better. Over the coming year we propose to address your concerns as follows:

Through this termly Governors' newsletter we aim to keep you better appraised of the strategic priorities of the school and the work of the Governing Body.

At the start of each term Mr McNerney will aim to set out a timetable of key events taking place during the term. Of course some dates may require finalisation, but the school will aim to give as much notice as possible of the events that are fixed.

Governors will continue to be available (and more visible) for discussion at parents' evening.

We will run a repeat of our "Meet the Governors' evening" on Wednesday 16^th March 2011, and will aim to hold this event at least once a year.

A "Governors' Suggestion Box" will be placed in school reception in which you can place any ideas or suggestion you have as to how the life of the school could be improved.

We are developing a plan for promoting the school better, including launching a new website (more details on this will follow shortly)

Other aspects of communication relating to teaching and learning are dealt with in the relevant section below.

Child protection

Overall you were satisfied with the child protection policies in place at the school. However, in response to your desire for more information in this area, we will be placing the child protection policy on the website.

Teaching and Learning.

Your main concerns in this area related to communication about teaching and learning activities in the school generally, and in relation to your child's progress in particular.

Much excellent work has been done by the Senior Leadership Team and the Teachers since the last Ofsted report, as reflected in the update Mr McNerney sent to parents following an interim inspection in the Autumn term.

A key area has been the better use of data and pupil-specific tracking and targeting. This year we plan to share more of this information with parents in order to enable you to support your child's learning at home.

As a starting point we plan to give you better information about the targets that your child is working towards through the year. We believe that the Autumn Term parents' evening is the best opportunity to provide you with this information once your child's new teacher has had an opportunity to assess their progress after the summer.

Your child's teacher will therefore be providing you, at parents' evening, with key targets that they are working towards in maths and literacy. This will enable you to support your child's learning at home. Mr McNerney has also stated that there will be information sent to you, probably in January, regarding your child's progress as there is quite a lengthy gap between the two parents' evenings.

We have also been developing subject-specific aids to help you understand how your child is being taught, and will continue to share these with you. An example is the maths methods leaflet that Mrs Goulding produced last year in her role as maths co-ordinator.

Priorities for the 2010/11 academic year

The Governors and Teachers remain committed to providing your child with an excellent education across all aspects of school life. However, our priorities for the year are shaped by two main influences:

The desire to make continued progress in response to the feedback from the last Ofsted visit in 2008; and

The feedback we have received from you as parents

Clearly the life of the school extends beyond meeting Ofsted's requirements, and our teachers take a balanced view at all times of the needs of your child. However, the Ofsted process does provide valuable insights as to how the school is doing, and I'd like to touch on the actions we have been taking in response to the 2008 report and what we need to do in preparation for the next visit, likely to be in a year or so.

The 2008 report contained positive feedback in many areas, for example the school's strong pastoral care, friendly and supportive atmosphere, and strong moral and ethical values instilled in pupils.

However, two areas we have been focussing on in response to feedback from Ofsted are:

The role of Governors; and

Use of data and targets in teaching and learning.

The Governing body has worked extensively over the last year reviewing its priorities and taking a more proactive approach in supporting the Senior Leadership Team and guiding the strategy of the school.

On the teaching side, significant investment has been made in the use of systems to track progress. Students work in the core subjects is regularly assessed and their progress tracked across the year (and their school career). This allows staff to quickly pick up on students who are slipping behind, and also allows them to spot students who might need to be challenged more.

Our use of data was demonstrated to our School Improvement Partner by the Senior Leadership Team and myself in the summer term and they said:

"The school is now far more aware of the progress of individuals and groups of children. Where under achievement is identified the school is responding to this more quickly with targeted interventions."

They also said "Overall the school has made good progress against these key areas over the year."

We are not complacent, but are confident that we are making good progress as a school since the last Ofsted visit. Clearly it is crucial that this year we work to ensure that the efforts of all involved with the school are fairly reflected in the next Ofsted report.

Conclusion

It is a great privilege to be Chair of the Governors at St. John Fisher. We have an excellent school, and I believe we have created the platform to enhance yet further the education we provide for all pupils. The Governors would like to thank Mr McNerney, the teachers, and you the parents for all the support provided as we strive to ensure the best possible education for your children.

Yours

Mary James

Chair of Governors