Governors' Newsletter July 2011
Thursday, 20 October 2011 16:27
What a busy exciting year for the pupils and the school.
Our wonderful building has lived up to expectations, the snagging problems have been completed and there are already plans afoot to make some improvements.
I would like to give a huge vote of thanks to Terry Mullins for her devoted 12 years of service as chair of governors a difficult act to follow!
We welcomed Sheilagh Banner, Mark Clements, Gail Cook, Kate Dell-Smith and Teresa Evans to the governing body and said a sad farewell to Caroline Trasler, Bill Parker and Pam Barnes. Governors volunteer their time to ensure that this school continues to grow and develop so that it can offer the very best to each and every pupil. They have much to contribute to the smooth running of the school and I would like to say thank you to all past and present for their time freely given.
We celebrated Mary Saunders retirement after 13 years of leading Bettridge from strength to strength. She will be sadly missed but we wish her a happy retirement. We went through the appointment process to find a new head—a very daunting prospect! How lucky we were to find an outstanding candidate on the first advert. We welcome Mandy and we look forward to working with her at the helm and all the exciting ideas she has to take the school forward.
We are looking to the future and investigating the possibility of becoming an Academy. All parents, staff and partners will be fully consulted throughout the process which is in its very early stages. We, as a governing body, very much hope that as parents you will be fully involved at every step.
Rowena, Chair of Governors
Staffing Committee 2010–2011
The Staffing Committee is responsible for all school personnel.
Throughout the year we have dealt with all aspects, involving individual to whole school staff issues, including the review and update of several policies, performance management and recently the Terms of Reference for this committee.
The autumn term was the busiest, not just for the Staffing Committee but the Governing body as a whole. We embarked on the process and appointment of our new Headteacher to join and lead our committed and dedicated staff. The highlight of this process was being able to observe our school council interview the candidates; they had compiled their own questions and were very professional during the whole process.
Finance and Premises Committee 2010–2011
The Finance and Premises Committee has responsibility for all matters concerning the school’s funding and accommodation. Of particular importance is the setting and control of the annual budget, ensuring that the children and staff receive maximum benefit from the resources at the school’s disposal. Because of national spending cuts the next few years are bound to present difficulties for all schools but Bettridge is fortunate in having experienced and expert staff and new and excellent facilities for all aspects of the childrens’ education. By careful planning the Committee is determined to see that Bettridge’s very high standards are maintained and developed even during a time of financial constraint
The Community Committee 2010—2011
Work has continued on reviewing and revising the curriculum throughout the year, with special emphasis this year on Key Stage 3. The Key Stage 2 curriculum has been evaluated and revised. Also, for the first time at Bettridge, some pupils in Key Stage 3 have been working on Entry Level GCSE Maths. The Pupil Voice project for students with PMLD has progressed, and working for the Sing Up Silver Award has resulted in much enthusiastic participation, including lunch-time sessions. A new curriculum is proposed for all 14-19 year olds, to allow all pupils to gain nationally recognised accreditation. This will be in line with foundation learning and will cover vocational skills, personal development and functional English (communication), Maths and ICT. This will start September 2011. The therapeutic and sensory needs of our students will be evaluated closely next year and incorporated into the curriculum as appropriate. This will happen throughout all Key Stages.
The Community Committee is responsible for Bettridge's profile in the local community, partnerships within the school community (for example Friends of Bettridge), partnerships with the wider community (including other schools, local businesses and international links with other schools). The Committee periodically reviews the school website ensuring that information is kept up to date and relevant for parents and visitors to the site. 
At the start of the school year the Committee reviewed the Playscheme report provided by Sandra Roberts who, after 15 years, has retired from her role as Playscheme Leader. A number of recommendations were considered by the committee. Parents’ views on these were canvassed through a questionnaire. Overall comments were mostly positive and parents felt that playscheme was good value for money and helped them to survive the long summer holiday. The committee thanked Sandra for her longstanding commitment.
An open morning in November, which was advertised in the local press, attracted 40 visitors including neighbours of the school and ex pupils. There was lots of positive interest.
The Committee approved two informative leaflets produced for two different audiences to inform them about Bettridge. The Visitors leaflet provides essential information about the school, including an introduction to the needs of the pupils. The leaflet for Businesses invites local companies to think about ways they can help Bettridge, such as providing mentoring or work based learning opportunities. 
The Community Committee has unfortunately spent a large amount of time this year trying to resolve issues that have prevented the creation of a new pathway to ensure there is a safe and accessible walkway along the full length of the drive serving all schools on the site. We realise that this is of concern to many parents and we continue to do what we can to reach a solution.
The Community Committee has recently learned that governors will receive photo ID passes similar to those now worn by school staff.
