Framework for Recording Governor Visits
Governor’s name: Margaret Broadhurst Foundation and Acting Inclusivity Governor
Location of visit: St Andrews School
Date of visit: Wednesday 11 March 2015
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Purpose of visit
Previously agreed by the governing body or Curriculum Committee with the Headteacher
To observe a literacy lesson for Year 1/2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Links with the School Improvement Plan
How does the visit relate to a priority in the SDP (School Development Plan)
SDP Action Plan 2: To raise the quality of teaching higher so the achievement for all pupils is at least
good with a focus on SEN/FSM/EYFS in English and Maths.
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Governor observations and comments
e.g. What does the focus of your visit look like in the classroom? What did you see? What did you learn? How long was the visit?
In discussion with the class teacher after the visit – What would you like clarified? What impact is the focus of your visit
having? What improvements does the class teacher find? What difficulties have arisen?
This was an opportunity for me to observe how children of different ages, stages and abilities are
learning and being taught in a literacy class for Year 1/2.
Some of the things I would expect to see are:
Children engaged in purposeful work throughout the lesson
Lesson planning with a clear Learning Intention
Differentiation in work for groups of children
Effective use of TAs and Teacher’s time with small groups and individual children
Children engaged in purposeful work throughout the lesson
What struck me most was that throughout the lesson there was steady, purposeful engagement of the
children in learning. I think this engagement came from Mrs Holt asking questions of the children and
listening to their answers. Whether these were right or wrong she was able to use the answers to
extend the learning of individual children and the whole class. This steady momentum of engaged
learning between Teacher (and later in group work with support of TAs as well as the Teacher) and
children was never lost.
Lesson planning with a clear Learning Intention
The Learning Intention of the lesson was for the children to be able to:
Use Time Connectives in sentences
The lesson was carefully planned.
It began with a plenary session and a review of Connecting Words such as ‘and’, ‘because’ etc to join
sentences. The children had to think hard about this and after several suggestions from different
children and guidance from Mrs Holt came to a correct understanding. Using the Electronic
Blackboard with examples of Time Connectives Mrs Holt helped the children to understand how these
words are used in sentences. They gave examples.
Leading into their group work Mrs Holt read the story of ‘Farmer Duck’ from a large print version of the
book which they had read previously. Mrs Holt used the story to emphasise the phonic ‘Q’ as the
children joined in the reading of ‘Quack’ and also to reinforce the names of punctuation marks that
she pointed to in the text which the children would have learned in previous lessons ( . ! ...) Mrs Holt
reintroduced a flip chart of the sequence of events in the story. It was a list in note form with bullet
points which the children had drawn up with her yesterday. Together they used Time Connectives to
turn the notes into sentences.
The children then moved in an orderly way into their table groups with Mrs Holt telling each group
their task. Each group would write sentences about the story beginning with a Time Connective and
using the list of story notes of consecutive events to help them.
Finally, the children came back for a plenary session. TA Linda was in the hot seat. The children
asked questions of her about the Farmer Duck story and she answered using Time Connectives. The
children understood the difference between unsuitable questions that required a yes or no answer
and suitable open ended ones. The children clearly enjoyed questioning Linda.
Differentiation in work for groups of children and
Effective use of TAs and Teacher’s time with small groups and individual children
The children sat in 4 groups with appropriate work set for each group.
The least able Year 1 children with TA Lyn
This group included one child with SEN (global delay) for whom Lyn was the dedicated one to one
TA. She had this child next to her and was also responsible for the whole group of 6 children. In this
group each child would think of a sentence beginning with a Time Connective and Lyn would write it
on a wipe clean ruled card for them to copy into their book. The children aimed to complete 3
sentences.
The more able Year 1 children with TA Linda
Each child in this group had a work sheet with six lines. They were to complete 6 sentences and
Time Connectives were provided for the first three. One of the children was using a Peg to record his
sentences before he wrote them so he could remind himself of the sentence he had thought of.
The least able Year 2 children
Children in this group were able to work on their own. They had the same work sheets as the above
Year 1 group. In addition one child used a wipe clean ruled sheet to compose his sentences before
copying onto his sheet and another child used a Peg. The children also used word cards with Time
Connectives on them so they could select different ones.
The most able Year 2 Children
These children wrote directly into their books and their task was 9 sentences.
With the help of the TAs all the children were focused and working in their groups, receiving the
support they needed.
Mrs Holt visited each table. She began with the Year 2 least able children and invited me to watch
one of the children use their Peg and then moved to the other Year 2 table.
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Governor observations and comments on Christian values and ethos
e.g. What Christian values did you see demonstrated in the school during your visit?
You may like to think of these as social, moral, spiritual and cultural aspects.
All the children were equally involved in this lesson. In the initial plenary session they occasionally
called out but generally they waited for the named child to answer Mrs Holt’s questions. They settled
to group work responsibly even when a staff member was not attached to their group. Their
behaviour maximised the learning opportunities for all children.
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Any key issues arising for the governing body
e.g. the way resources are allocated, the way the school communicates, progress in implementing a key policy
The quality of teaching is foundational to the achievement of all the pupils. We are fortunate to have
high quality teaching in our schools. Providing teachers with the resources they need is invaluable to
ensure the achievement of all children whatever their ability. TAs enable the teacher to support each
differentiated group of children and are essential to maximise the achievement of the children. The
appointment of a TA as a one to one support for a child with SEN in this class has accelerated the
progress of the child who was struggling without this consistent, targeted support.
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On my next visit I would like to focus on:
Discuss at next Curriculum Meeting
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Action following governing body meeting
Record any action agreed by the governing body with regard to this visit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------After the Visit
Write up record of your visit and send a copy to the Headteacher. Discuss the record with the Headteacher and then distribute
to Governors and give one to the school to keep on file.
Thank you
I would like to thank Mrs Holt, TAs Lyn and Linda and the children for letting me sit in on the literacy
lesson. It was a pleasure to see the children working so well in a steady, focused way.