Parents' Open Forum

16.03.05

Firstly, Mr McTegart shared some very good news about the school's standing in the County.

Secondly, he gave an update as to the recruitment of a new member of staff for Red Class, At the time of the meeting, there had been thirty five requests for application packs and the school had so far received three completed applications. There had been three visits from potential candidates, with more arranged for the near future.

Thirdly, it was announced that there was an anomaly in the numbers for the Foundation Stage for September. Seventeen children had been accepted for the year, rather than the fifteen expected. (This has now reduced to sixteen children.)

· The new Oxfordshire admission system, sending out CAF forms via the local Health Service provider, had resulted in problems across the county. Many families had not received forms at all, In our case, two families with siblings already in the school had 'slipped through the net'.

· We had offered places to, and had accepted fifteen children before this came to light. Out of loyalty to our existing parents we have accepted these two extra children, subject to the following provisos:

The year group above, being only ten children, will make the class 27, which is well below the 30 maximum.

Next years intake should be limited to thirteen.
(This has been accepted by Oxfordshire, who are now issuing a formal notice to this effect.)

All parents in the school will be approached before the next round of formal applications, to ensure that no siblings are left out in future.

(Oxfordshire have decided to revise their application process in the light of similar problems encountered throughout the county.)

· We then discussed what problems our number anomalies would bring us in the future and possible solutions to these.

Projected School Population Figures

2005-6

Yellow(27)     Green(33)     Red(29)
F1/17 - Y1/10 - Y2/14 - Y3/19 - Y4/11 - Y5/9 - Y6/9

2006-7

Yellow(30)      Green(24)     Red(39)
F1/13 - Y1/17 - Y2/10 - Y3/14 - Y4/19 - Y5/11 Y6/9

2007-8

Yellow(23)      Green(27)      Red (44)
F1/10 - Y1/13 - Y2/17 - Y3/10 - Y4/14 - Y5/19 Y6/11

We discussed the problems we faced and agreed that we might need to restrict the intake number in the Foundation Stage in 2007-8 in the light of the school's maximum number (90) being overreached. It was also agreed that any restriction, if introduced, should not be too drastic, in order to maintain stability for the future.

The 'overcrowded' class groups could be partially alleviated by having some children 'nurtured' for longer with their existing teacher. (eg- not passing perhaps half a dozen children straight through into Red Class from Green Class in 2006-7 would give a more even 30 - 33 split).

In the academic year 2007-8 it would be possible to take on a half time member of staff to teach Year Six children in the mornings for Literacy and Numeracy, working, perhaps, in the Reading Room. Though the class would be together in the afternoon, this would give an 11:1 pupil/teacher ratio for the most part, which is almost unheard of in education, both in the State and Independent sectors. The continuation of the 'nurturing' system, with just three children being given extra time in green class, could then achieve a 30-30 split between Green and Red Classes in the mornings.

As a staff, we had discussed the possibility of temporary accommodation, but the potential cost of around £40,000, plus a full time teacher's salary, plus LSA cover, would have meant an expenditure of at least £70,000 in the first year; a figure we couldn't hope to raise within our budget.

The above figures assume full takeup of places and no children transferring out though family moves. Experience tells us that these things happen regularly, that this is a constant, ongoing phenomenon and ought not to be ignored.

Where large groups do exist, we are able to target part time teaching support and withdrawal facilities, due to the recent expansion of our school accommodation. Let us also not forget that our LSA staff, which is larger than in most other Primary schools, has received more training than most similar bodies and possess, collectively, a wide range of skills and experience which benefit our children. (We have recently been commended, independently, by two professional bodies, on our levels of training for and the positive attitude of our LSA staff.)

After much discussion, we then touched on several topics including:

· Transportation to Checkendon for gym and the effect of larger class numbers. Yellow Class will be continuing to travel to Checkendon for Term 5.

· The current investigation into a change of status for the school from Voluntary Controlled to Voluntary Aided and the building of a new school hall. The results will then be presented to the Governors who will, if they are satisfied with them, present them to parents in order to make a decision.

· School lunches.

· Homework in Red Class. (The allegedly missing homework book, on investigation, had been home regularly)

· Reports to Parents. These will continue to be given out in the Summer term, while all staff are willing to discuss children's progress at any convenient time.

· The teaching role of the Headteacher from next September. This will revert to teaching three afternoons in order to cover release time for teachers and with a morning for SENCO work and other mornings for staff to cover courses, etc., will probably remain a significant part of the role.

· The School Council.

The meeting finished after 9.30pm.