Financial

The school’s accountant, Jenny Ang, attended the meeting to present the 2015 half year accounts and provide commentary. No issues were identified and Jenny confirmed that the school was on track financially. She also confirmed that the audit of the 2014 Financial Accounts had gone well and the school had received an excellent Audit Completion Account.

Curriculum

The main business of the evening was the presentation of the mid-year student achievement data which showed a couple of areas of slight concern, but also highlighted some areas of improvement. In particular, the data showed some previously hard-to-shift boys in writing making significant progress in the first half of the year. Lesley pointed out that mid-year data is generally slightly lower than end-of-year data as progress and achievement tends to gain momentum as the year progresses. Interestingly, in her experience, the first four or five weeks of term four are often the time when a lot of progress is made, which is why she tries to keep these weeks as uninterrupted as possible.

It is amazing how quickly and well ESOL students pick up correct English constructions. However, an area of need that has been identified through the writing data is with tenses and plurals. This a minor learning need but a programme will be put in place to assist with this.

In the report, Lesley commented that in spite of teachers’ best efforts, staff changes have a short term impact on student achievement. It takes time for teachers to get to know the students and the teaching and learning programmes – momentum can be lost. There has been quite a lot of staff “churn” this year and this has definitely had some short term impact on learning. However, changes in staff are inevitable.

Lesley assured the Board that teachers have plans and programmes in place to ensure ongoing progress for all students.

Property

Adventure playground: The Board heard that the new adventure playground costing $140,000 has been booked for installation over the Christmas holidays. Several funding applications have been made. The school has already heard back from Pelorus Trust which has granted $5000.00 - the amount applied for. However, other much bigger applications are in with trusts and organisations and it is now a waiting game. Further fundraising will be essential to fund this big undertaking.

Heating problems: The school has experienced some heating problems over the past two winters. The board received an update which shows that the system is leaking a small amount of water each day. This impacts the pressure. However, there may also be problems with aspects of the original design which are being explored and remedied.

25,000l water tank installation: Lesley updated the Board in relation to the 25,000L water tank which is to be installed at the gully end of the field to provide water to residents in an emergency. The plan is to make the tank more attractive by painting a mural on it.

Legislation

Attendance Report: Lesley provided the half year attendance report to the Board. This showed that attendance in the first half of the year has been lower than in any previous year (at 94%). Lesley will post an article about the findings of the report for parents which flags some concerns.

Policy revision: The board approved a new Fundraising Policy. Thanks to Lorraine and Frances for their work on this. They also approved the revisions of the Fraud Prevention Policy and the Tiriti O Waitangi Policy.

The next meeting will be held Wednesday, 26 August, 2015 at 5.30pm. All welcome.

Amesbury School Digest

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