Governance Impact Statement 2024-25

It is best practice for the Shaftesbury Park Primary School board of governors to publish an annual governance impact statement, providing details of the school’s governance and its work over the year.

The financial and educational context

Shaftesbury Park has faced, and continues to face, significant challenges, all of which are shared by state schools in London and across the country.

The biggest is the financial challenge. School funding has fallen significantly since 2010. Although some funding increases have been made recently, overall funding remains well below pre-austerity levels in real terms. The challenge is compounded by the falling numbers of children in Wandsworth and London as costs continue to rise.

The board has continued to set balanced budgets and are cautiously optimistic about the school’s position but continue to monitor the finances closely.

The school continues to see an increased level of need, this creates extra demand on teachers and resources and securing appropriate funding from the council can be difficult. We are incredibly grateful for the work done by staff, especially the school’s SENCO, in ensuring every child gets the best education possible at the school.

Finally, attendance remains a national problem, and Shaftesbury Park is no exception. Individually, it may just be a case of a few days' absence, but cumulatively, both individual children and classes suffer, as staff have to make up for missed learning. The cumulative effect over seven school years is large.

As always, we would like to formally record our thanks to everyone in the school community. Through both our visits to the school, and evidence from external visitors and assessors, we know that the school continues to provide an exceptional education, through its unique curriculum, to every child. Everyone at the school deserves recognition for achieving so much, despite the challenges and pressures they face every day, as they develop children who think about their world, enlarge their world, and change their world.

The core duties of governance

The government requires governing boards to fulfil three core duties:

1. Ensure clarity of vision, ethos, and strategic direction
2. Hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
3. Oversee the financial performance of the school and ensure its money is well spent

The board

The board comprises thirteen members: the headteacher, one elected staff governor, two elected parent governors, one local authority governor (appointment by the board and approved by the local authority), and eight co-opted governors. All non-staff board members are unpaid volunteers.

The board maintains a skills audit, and the local authority and co-opted governors are appointed based on the skills, knowledge, and experience they can bring to the board. Vacancies are filled using a national charity that specialises in governor recruitment and other networks where suitable governors may be found.

The deputy heads and assistant head attend all meetings as observers. The board uses the local authority’s clerking service.

The board’s membership changed over the year. Andrew Dawes’ term of office as parent governor ended, while Patrick Montgomery and Vita Shapland Howes are standing down after serving for several years. All three made significant contributions to the school, and we are incredibly grateful for their service.

A further vacancy was created by the resignation of a newly appointed governor, due to pressures from his growing business, before he could fully take up the role.

However, we have continued to be able to find high-calibre candidates to fill the vacancies. Celine Monteiro was elected as a parent governor, while Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, Maya Haria and Jonathan Mogford have been appointed to the co-opted positions.

Board structure

The full board meets once per term. It has three committees: Resources; Curriculum and Achievement; and Children, Families and Communities.

Attendance details are listed at the end of the governance impact statement.

 

Governor training

The board recognises the importance of training and development. Over the course of the year, governors undertook training in the following areas:

• Cybersecurity
• Effective governance
• Inclusion
• Information governance
• Marketing
• Prevent
• Safeguarding

The board’s work

During the academic year, the board reviewed all aspects of the school’s operation and running, including:

• School Improvement Plan
• Marketing
• Long-term strategy
• Attendance
• Premises management
• Budget setting and monitoring
• Health and safety
• Quality of teaching
• Pupil progress
• Premises plans
• Staffing structures

Governor visits

Governor visits include both those by a single governor with a focus on a single topic, and governors’ days when several governors will focus on a theme.

Areas that have been a focus for governors’ day visits this year include attendance, science, and school marketing.

We have also benefited from the advice and guidance of our external school advisor, an independent expert, with whom we can compare and calibrate our observations.

The board’s impact

The board believes it has had a positive impact on its core objectives.

The school’s vision

The board is proud of the school’s dynamic mission, which strives to develop children to succeed throughout their lives. We have been particularly impressed to see that vision in action, with children taking ownership and leadership for aspects of school life and applying the skills they learn to their lessons and work.

Holding the headteacher to account

We continue to find the school is well led. While we are not complacent, and always push for more improvement, the headteacher and SLT have created a positive culture in which staff and students can thrive.

Education has become a difficult environment, and each year brings new challenges and increasingly restrained resources with which to meet them. However, the school has continued to provide an exceptional experience, not just for the children, but for everyone in the community.

Although the head and the SLT are always quick to defer credit to others, as governors we are always pleased to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate them for all they do.

Financial performance

The school continues to set a prudent, balanced budget. We are grateful to the school business manager for all the work she and her team do in monitoring the budget and ensuring the school gets the best possible value from every penny.

For the school to remain sustainable will require constant effort and imaginative thinking. We were pleased to see successful pilots of holiday schemes taking place this year, and look forward to exploring other ways the school can leverage its assets to support its core mission.

The board’s future work

The board’s work for the next year will be focused on addressing the challenges faced by the school.

• Continuing to improve the school’s marketing. Work over the past year appears to have had a positive impact. Not only have applications increased, but the school has garnered wider attention, including being featured by the Royal Society of Arts to illustrate the future of education, hosting visits from international educators, and being short-listed for the Educational Establishment of the Year award. We are incredibly proud of the school, and want to promote it as much as possible.
• Raising attainment. The impact of lost learning from Covid and poorer post-pandemic attendance will be with us for several years. The school has done excellent work improving the performance of lower attainers over the past year, and we are keen to build on that with more able learners over the coming year.
• Maximising revenue. The school has a number of physical and intellectual assets that it can leverage to support its financial situation. We are also keen that the school is at the heart of the community, and that by increasing the use of the building, it can maximise opportunities for children, families, and neighbours.

Contacting the governors

The governors are always happy to hear from parents and carers. You can contact them via the school office or contact the chair of governors directly at james.cousins@shaftesburypark.wandsworth.sch.uk.