Ashburnham Governors had voted unanimously at an earlier meeting, although this was not discussed by the Fox Governing Body or taken into account in its decision. This means Fox and Ashburnham will form a combined Governing Body in September 2015 and the schools will formally become a Federation. There would be no other changes to either school as Paul Cotter is already acting as the Executive Head of Ashburnham.
Ben Ward and Jodie Terry sent to Governors, ahead of the meeting, every comment received in consultation so that Governors could see what concerns parents had. Governors had also been presented with feedback from children earlier in the week. There was also a discussion about the views of staff, who are overwhelmingly supportive of federation.
The results of the consultation showed a narrow majority in support of the Federation. There were however many concerns addressed about the structure of the proposed combined GB. As a result of the feedback, the Fox-Ashburnham Governors Federation working group proposed a number of changes to the committee structures aimed at addressing those concerns. During the March 30th meeting, Governors spent a long time considering the feedback and the proposals for changes to the committee structure where it was felt parents’ concerns could be best addressed.
It was proposed that at the end of the first academic year, there would be a review of the committee structure, the Chair and Vice Chair positions, as well as a full review of how well the Federation was working.
Ben Ward and Jodie Terry sent to Governors, ahead of the meeting, every comment received in consultation so that Governors could see what concerns parents had. Governors had also been presented with feedback from children earlier in the week. There was also a discussion about the views of staff, who are overwhelmingly supportive of federation.
The results of the consultation showed a narrow majority in support of the Federation. There were however many concerns addressed about the structure of the proposed combined GB. As a result of the feedback, the Fox-Ashburnham Governors Federation working group proposed a number of changes to the committee structures aimed at addressing those concerns. During the March 30th meeting, Governors spent a long time considering the feedback and the proposals for changes to the committee structure where it was felt parents’ concerns could be best addressed.
The overriding concern expressed during the consultation was that having one Governing body created a risk that Governors would ‘take their eye off the ball’ at Fox with a negative impact on the excellence of teaching and learning.
The Federation working group therefore proposed that there be a separate Standards Committee for each school. The Fox standards committee for example would focus specifically on the attainment and achievement of pupils at Fox as well as other school specific issues and parental concerns. Fox parent Governors would sit on this committee, along with Paul Cotter and the Fox teacher member of the Governing body as well as other governors. Additionally a separate Building committee would be set up to oversee building works at Fox.
It was proposed that at the end of the first academic year, there would be a review of the committee structure, the Chair and Vice Chair positions, as well as a full review of how well the Federation was working.
The Governing body was very appreciative of the time taken by parents to contribute the consultation.
