Our Governing Body

School governors play a significant role in the life of any school. Their responsibilities include

• supporting the headteacher and other members of staff;
• representing the views and interests of parents and children;
• helping with the management of the school's finances
  monitoring the educational standards achieved by pupils.

The Governing Body of the school is made up of a mix of staff and members of the wider community. There are a total of 12 governors, as follows

• 2 staff governors, of whom one is the Headteacher
• 4 parent governors
• 5 co-opted governors
• 1 Local Authority governor

Who Appoints the Governors?

Each of the various categories of governor prescribed in the Regulations has its own eligibility criteria and means of appointment.

Once appointed or elected, all governors must operate in the best interest of pupils, not as representatives to lobby on behalf of themselves or others. Their task is to govern the school. This means focusing on the core functions of providing strategic leadership, holding the headteacher to account and making sure the school’s money is well spent. This is a demanding task for which all governors need to have, or develop, relevant and appropriate skills.

The Regulations create an explicit requirement that all appointed governors have the skills required to contribute to effective governance and the success of the school. The specific skills that governing bodies need to meet their particular challenges will vary. It is, therefore, for governing bodies and other appointing persons to determine in their own opinion, having regard to this guidance, what these skills are and be satisfied that the governors they appoint have them.

They may interpret the word skills to include personal attributes, qualities and capabilities, such as the ability and willingness to learn and develop new skills.

Term of Office and Tenure

The term of office for all governors is four years with the exception of the Headteacher who only ceases being a governor when they resign their position as head of the school.

The tenure of the chair and vice-chair of the governing body is two years.  The position is through nominations and election by fellow serving governors.

The tenure of the chair of each committee is one year.  The full governing body, at the beginning of each academic year, elects the chair and vice-chair of the Finance Committee.  Chairs of other committees are agreed by members of each committee in the first meeting of each academic year or the first meeting of the committee.