Schools do not close books on 31 March. An annual pack that mixes unvalidated August outcomes with a January attendance freeze confuses the clerk and the new parent governor alike. We date every chart with the extract freeze, in British date format, in the footer.
The autumn pack is usually last year’s results, destinations where the school has them, and a look-back on attendance for the year just finished. The spring pack is in-year assessment, current attendance, and any groups the board asked to watch in September.
Summer is a poor moment for a full pack in most primaries: staff are on residential trips, and Year 6 has left. We will still turn around a short attendance briefing if a board insists on a July meeting, but we will say what cannot yet be final.
Training providers follow funding years and intake cohorts, not term dates. Their packs are timed to quality committees, which may sit in August. We ask for that calendar at briefing so we do not promise a school-shaped timetable to a provider, or the reverse.
When you write to commission work, put the meeting date in the first sentence. The rest of the scope is easier once that date is real.