Welcome Year 7 / new parents and students

Firstly to all new FPSS parents, whichever year group, thank you for choosing Furze Platt and entrusting us with your son or daughter’s education.

We never forget you have a choice or take it for granted, every student matters and by joining the school they and you have become part of a great community. A community which is committed to helping them; learn, develop, grow, try new things and leave the school well equipped to seize life’s opportunities and make the most of their potential.

For Year 7 students and parents the change from a Junior/Primary school environment to a Senior school one is huge. Moving from a smaller school where you know everyone to a much larger campus and knowing probably only a handful of people from the previous school is daunting for the whole family. Parents in particular please do take the opportunity to get involved when you can.

PTFA

Our fantastic team of parent volunteers on the PTFA (click here for details) always need more help and support and do an excellent job of raising much needed funds and would love to hear from you.  

If you are interested at any stage in becoming a governor do get in touch with me through the school (click here for details) and we can talk further about the role and what is involved.

New staff

A warm welcome to you all from Governors, we hope you really enjoy your time here and make a real difference to our students and your careers.

School Governance

School Governance has of course continued throughout the lockdown and we have had to adapt to Zoom meetings instead of face to face ones. Our agendas have remained as full as ever and we have been kept in the loop on the day to day operational issues and the impact of covid on them.

I recently sneaked a preview of the new Theatre and it is a fantastic space and facility which will make such a difference to the school community. I am very much looking forward to seeing it being used and us being able to get together again as a community.

In the meantime I hope you and your families are managing and continue to stay safe and well.

 

Gavin Tisshaw, Chair of Governors

You will have noticed from my regular newsletters that Governors have been kept busy and this is a summary of the work undertaken through our various committees.

GOVERNANCE 

This academic year, as indeed the last, has been a mixed one for all of us. Despite the ongoing coronavirus challenges it has remained one in which both the school and the governance surrounding it have been able to move forward successfully.

We have been particularly impressed with how well the school responded to the pandemic and the rigour with which it has undertaken to keep our students and staff safe. The ongoing provision of education to our students has been challenging but the school staff have done everything possible to ensure the continuation of a meaningful and worthwhile education. It was good to see the school take the decision to start up school clubs again for the last term and how well this was received.

Our Strategic Plan continues to influence the direction of the School and the agreed priorities which are regularly reviewed have been firmly embedded in the latest School Action Plan.

As a result, strategic working groups have been set up in the areas of IT, Marketing, Site Development and Staff Welfare. The effectiveness of these working groups and their outcomes has and will become particularly evident over the next couple of academic years.

A Governance Development Plan is also in place and is regularly reviewed to monitor our progress and effectiveness as a governing body.

We have a strong and developing team of Governors in place with a wide range of skillsets who are able to hold the school to account and ask challenging questions when needed. However, it is vital that we continue to strengthen these skills by ongoing training and effective succession planning.

Our main committees meet regularly throughout the year and these have been mainly online via Zoom.

Pupils & Parents

The Pupils & Parents Committee acts as the link between pupils, parents and the governing body. The student leadership team has continued to attend meetings to ensure that pupils’ voices are heard. Throughout the year the committee has also invited key staff members along to discuss plans and review progress. Discussions this year have included issues such as behaviour,  support for pupils during coronavirus as well as marketing and communication. The committee has continued to focus on the most vulnerable students.

 

Staffing

Despite the turbulence of the last year, staff have continued to develop their knowledge and skills through training and sharing best practice. Just like students, staff had to adapt to new ways of teaching and providing support to ensure students received the best possible education during lockdown and subsequently once back on site. Governors have been impressed with the commitment of staff over the past year and recognise the additional support and work they have contributed that has helped to minimise the impact of the disruption. 

 

Governors were involved with a new working group to develop a Staff Welfare Plan as part of the overall strategic plan. As a result, a number of aspects were implemented to support staff wellbeing during challenging times. Further work will continue in the new academic year to develop and enhance the welfare support for all staff.

 

 

Teaching & Learning

 

Due to restrictions on visits to school, Governors have been unable to undertake their usual monitoring activities throughout the last year. However, we have been updated regularly with students' progress and the various changes to the delivery of lessons during remote learning periods. 

 

We were very impressed to see the effort and hard work students in Year 11 and 13 put in for their assessments and their achievement of Teacher Assessed Grades. Students in other year groups were also working hard and we were able to see examples of their work through the weekly newsletter. Governors were delighted with the feedback from students and parents/guardians on how our community rallied together to care and support each other at times of stress and uncertainty whilst still providing a good standard of education. 

 

Governance Committee

This committee’s purpose is to drive cohesion and best practice between committees, encourage best use of Governor skillsets, enable monitoring and review of processes and their effectiveness, develop succession planning and maintain the distinction between strategic and operational objectives.

The Committee has continued to ensure every aspect of best practice governance is maintained, encouraging greater levels of collaborative working between Governors and staff (in particular through the Raising Standards process) and continuing the evolution of the mid and longer term strategy for the school.

Resources

The Resources Committee had a busy year. Aside from ongoing budget monitoring and policy reviews we finalised the specifications and funding for both the new teaching block and the new theatre, both of which are state of the art facilities that will enrich the school and local community for many years to come.

We have been advancing development of the school’s IT strategy to ensure we are able to enrich teaching and learning in school and at home using the fullest capability of the technology. Our IT and computing teams’ excellent and rapid response to the COVID lockdown gives us confidence that we are building on a great foundation for the future.

We have also driven the school’s new strategic marketing strategy to ensure that we continue to reach and appeal to the broadest range of prospective students from our community.

The Resources Committee incorporates the school’s Audit Committee that agrees a programme of work annually to deliver internal scrutiny.

Our philosophy as a governing body is to ensure the best possible education for all our students and it is impressive to see the range of universities, apprenticeships and jobs that our sixth formers move onto when they leave Furze Platt.

However, Governors are acutely aware of the need for continual improvement and remain fully committed to achieving this in all aspects of our great school.

 

Gavin Tisshaw MSc

Chair of Governors