GOVERNORS' REPORT

2023-2024

WELCOME

We Are Your Governing Body

Our governing body is made up of twelve local authority, co-opted and parent Governors. All governors are volunteers who want to make a positive contribution to children’s education by ensuring the highest standards of teaching, learning and welfare are maintained throughout our school.

Our Responsibilities

1. Setting the vision and strategic direction for the school, in conjunction with the senior leadership team.
2. Supporting and, where appropriate, challenging the leadership team.
3. Oversight of the finances of the school.
4. Consulting with parents, children, staff and the community about their views of the school.

Back row: Jenny Dearden, Nicki Cann, Laura Rawnsley, Katherine Walker, Nick Choate (headteacher),
Nicky Axon (deputy headteacher), Camilla Missions, Claire Ridge and Paul Brady.

Front row: Sophie Turner, Francesca Thorne, Rachel Roberts (deputy headteacher), Jude Randall, and Andy Parkin.

OUR VALUES

Responsibility

We will take ownership of actions, learning and the wellbeing of all.

"At school, we are responsibe for taking care of ourselves, our belongings and our actions. This includes listening to teachers, following the rules, and look after and treating everyone with kindness."

-- Lucas, Year 6

Kindness

We will be considerate and caring when choosing our words and actions.

"Kindness means treating others with respect, helping people, and using kind words. If someone is lonely, we will play with them. If they are hurt, we will bring them to an adult. If someone is sad, we will comfort them."

-- Henry, Year 6

Positivity

We will be ready to make the best of everyday.

"When I joined my football club, I didn't know very many people. I was positive and tried to get to know everyone. Now we are all friends. In school, being positive helps me learn and get better when I find some things difficult."

-- Jake, Year 5

Cooperation

We will work, learn and play together to achieve.

"I enjoy working in a team in class and in the playground. Sharing ideas and working together means we achieve more than one person can do by themselves. I like talking to other children about ideas and cooperation helps us trust each other."

-- Lucy, Year 5

Resilience

We will persevere through challenges and show determination to excel.

"Even if something does not go our way, it does not mean we have to stop. It's like riding a bike. It may be hard to start with, but if you don't give up, it gets easier the more you try."

-- Matilda, Year 5

Individuality

We will celebrate everyone’s uniqueness and be brave enough to be our true selves.

"Celebrating individuality means we can express what makes us ourselves. We all feel happier when we repect everyone's strengths and differences, and children don't think they have to hide who they really are.

-- Ellie, Year 6

SUCCESSES
2023-2024

Ofsed Inspection

We had a successful Ofsted inspection with an assessment of Good overall, with Outstanding for personal development.

New Headteacher

Six governors led on an intensive recruitment process for a new headteacher. The interviews and exercises were conducted over a two day period.

Therapeutic Thinking

Therapeutic Thinking, an approach to behaviour where the focus is on understanding emotions and thought patterns, was incorporated into the school.

Writing

Great strides were made with writing. The SATS results for 2024 showed a higher number of children achieving a greater level of development.

Shrek! The Musical

Year 6 put on a fabulous production of Shrek! the Musical, Jr., with great acting, singing and back stage support.

Shrek production programme.

Sports

We retained our School Games Gold Mark Award for a second year running. This fantastic achievement reflects the vast number of sporting opportunities available to all children.

One hundred percent of our children took part in intra competitions throughout the year, doing multi sports and invasion games. Whilst a third of KS2 children enjoyed taking part in competitions outside of school including cricket, cross country and football.

Sports week was a key highlight where all children had the opportunity to enjoy activities such as basketball, dance and athletics. Amazingly, the number of pupils that took part in the Sports Week Triathlon this year doubled from last year.

OBJECTIVES

These are few of the objectives that the school will be working towards in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Quality of Education

To improve the pupil’s ability to recall their previous learning through focused work on retrieval in all subjects.

2. Behaviour and Attitudes

To improve overall attendance, reduce persistent absence and provide appropriate support.

3. Leadership and Management

To work with subject leaders to review curriculum coverage and progression of knowledge.

4. Evaluating the Quality of Early Year's Education

To develop early education and care that is inclusive.

MONITORING

Governors carry out school visits, meeting with the relevant lead teacher for the subject. They often see children to hear about their experience with their learning. A monitoring visit report is completed, and this is then discussed and evaluated at Governing Board meetings.

Maths

The Governors have closely monitored how maths is being taught and provided at the school. This year, the focus has been on helping students become fluent in maths and improving their ability to talk about maths, as these are important building blocks for becoming good at the subject. Governors have observed lessons, talked to students about their maths learning, organized workshops for parents, checked workbooks, and attended staff meetings.

Reading

Improving reading strategies has been a top priority for the school in recent years. During a monitoring visit, the lead teacher for Reading, Chloe Evans, reviewed the different efforts made to boost students' reading skills at all ages. These efforts include extra help for students who didn't meet the required phonics level in Year 1, professional development for teachers, and support for advanced readers.

Year 6 Questionnaire

For the first time, Governors gave a questionnaire to Year 6 pupils to hear their thoughts about their time at Storrington Primary School. The responses highlighted a few key areas: the variety of school trips, friendships made at school, the range of topics studied, and the helpful and friendly staff.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is key to keeping children safe in schools. At Storrington Primary, we work together to make sure our children are protected, feel safe, and can speak up about their concerns. As a Governing board, we closely monitor the school’s strong policies to ensure everyone knows their role in safeguarding.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

The school follows a program that includes phonics assessments every half term for pupils in Reception and Key Stage 1. Pupils are grouped by their knowledge and skills, not by age, and are taught daily by specially trained staff. As they get older, those who need extra help can use adaptive texts, such as dyslexia-friendly books, and assistive technology like scanning pens. Progress is closely tracked in all Key Stages, and personalized learning programs and support are provided when needed.

School Meals

The Governors have checked the lunchtime meal service three times during the year and will continue to do so in the new school year. The meals are adequate, and the lunchtime experience for the children improved over the year. The school regularly talks with the lunch provider to give feedback on the quality of meals and the overall experience.

FINANCE

Staff

Staff are one of Storrington Primary’s strengths. Over three quarters of our annual expenditure of £1,872,000 is spent on staff – teachers and education support staff.

PARENT FEEDBACK

We were delighted with the outcome of the Ofsted inspection, with a grading of good overall and outstanding for Personal Development.

We were most grateful for parents who provided feedback to the inspectors. We had a high response rate of 80% overall on Parent View with 91% of respondees saying they would recommend Storrington Primary School for their children.

Some of the other positive comments from the report, made by the Ofsted Inspectors were :

Pupils benefit from a rich and interesting education
Staff are determined to empower all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, to be well prepared for the next stage of their education
Pupils value the exciting range of leadership opportunities
The personal development of pupils is exceptional

The areas of school operation where work is required to further improve performance have been highlighted in the School Improvement Plan for 2024/25.

Governors are planning a survey for parents, in order to obtain feedback on your views on school operation in 2024/25. Nick Choate also has taken the opportunity, at a recent parents’ evening, to obtain parental feedback. Some of the comments gathered were:

Teacher and student relationships are positive
Happy learning environment
Teachers have gone above and beyond to make sure our child settled well
The school offers a positive learning environment with good opportunities
When an area of difficulty is raised this is dealt with well through the senior leadership team
Great communication from staff and teachers

Friends of Storrington School

Don’t forget to support FOSS events organised throughout the year – FOSS do great job fundraising for the school. The staff and governors really appreciate what FOSS give to the school.

Follow Friends of Storrington Primary School on Facebook for updates or contact:

foss-chair@storringtonprimary.co.uk.

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