Welcome to our Governors' section. 

Please find below details of how our Governing body is structured, including the names, categories, responsibilities and terms of appointment for each Governor.

THE GOVERNING BODY

Chair of Governors Mr Steve Atkinson

Vice Chair of Governors Mr David Gates

LOCAL AUTHORITY APPOINTEE

Currently Vacant

GOVERNORS ELECTED BY PARENTS OF PUPILS AT THE SCHOOL

Mrs Tracey Meneely

Mrs Debbie Holmes

FOUNDATION GOVERNORS

Rev Helen Eke

Mr Richard Hilliard

1 place vacant

GOVERNOR ELECTED BY TEACHERS AND SUPPORT STAFF

Mrs McCaffrey 

CO-OPTED GOVERNORS

Mrs Jackie Dring

Mr Steve Atkinson Chair

Mrs Karen Frith

Mr David Gates Chair of Curriculum and Standards Sub Committee

Mr David Carson Chair of Finance and Staffing Sub Committee

HEADTEACHER

Mr Richard Allen

CLERK TO GOVERNORS

Mrs Heidi Atkinson

Governors serve on a variety of sub committees: Finance and Staffing, Curriculum and Standards, Appraisal/Performance Management and Progress Milestones Steering Group.

Governors are appointed for four years; the Chair and Vice-Chair are elected annually. Full Governing Body meetings are held a minimum of once a term (6 a year) as are the sub-committee meetings (for finance and staffing and curriculum and standards).

Please see the document below or click on the link below that to access a larger PDF document setting out roles and responsibilities of each of our Governors, their terms of office, register of interest declarations and attendance record at meetings.

Membership of Governor Sub Committees 2023-24

Chairs of each sub-committee present a report to the following full governors meeting outlining, what was discussed, what decisions were taken and any recommendations for governors' approval. All governors will receive minutes of all meetings.

Please click on the link below to obtain a copy of our Instrument of Government

Instrument of Government

Categories of Governor Explained

Parent Governors

Parent Governors are elected by other parents at the school. Any parent, or carer, of a registered pupil at the school at the time of election is eligible to stand for election as a parent governor. Parent governors may continue to hold office until the end of their term of office even if their child leaves the school.

Staff Governors

Teaching and Support staff who, at the time of election, are employed by either the governing body or the local authority to work at the school under a contract of employment, are eligible to be staff governors. Staff governors are elected by the school staff. They cease to hold office when they cease to work at the school.

The Headteacher

The Headteacher is a member of the governing body by virtue of their office.

Local Authority Governors

Local Authority Governors are nominated by the local authority but appointed by the governing body. The local authority can nominate any eligible person as a local authority governor, but it is for the governing body to decide whether their nominee has the skills to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school and meets any other eligibility criteria they have set.

Co-opted Governors

Co-opted Governors are appointed by the governing body. They are people who in the opinion of the governing body have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

Foundation Governors

Foundation Governors are either appointed or take the role by virtue of an office that they hold. Where appointed the appointment is made by the person identified in the instrument of government (in our case the church). A Foundation Governor is someone who, in the opinion of the person entitled to appoint them, has the skills to contribute to effective governance and success of the school, and who is appointed for the purpose of securing:

• In all cases, that the school’s character (including religious character) is preserved and developed; and
• That the school is conducted in accordance with the foundation’s governing documents.

Governing Body Requirements for all maintained schools as set out in ‘The constitution of governing bodies of maintained schools’ August 2015

The governing body must not be smaller than seven members, and must include:

• at least two parent governors (we have two);
• the headteacher unless the headteacher resigns as a governor;
• one, and only one, staff governor (we have one);
• one, and only one, local authority governor (we have one); and
• The governing body may appoint as many additional co-opted governors as they consider necessary. However, the number of co-opted governors who are eligible to be elected or appointed as staff governors under Schedule 2 must not, when counted with the one staff governor and the headteacher, exceed one-third of the total membership of the governing body. There is no upper limit but governing bodies should have regard to this statutory guidance in deciding their size.

Additional requirements for voluntary schools (We are a voluntary controlled school)

In addition to the requirements above, voluntary schools are required to have foundation governors as follows:

• voluntary controlled schools must have at least two foundation governors (we have three).

The Role of the School Governor

School Governing Bodies

All state maintained primary, secondary and special schools, are accountable to their governing bodies, which in turn are accountable to parents and the community. Parent and staff representatives are elected to the governing body; the local authority appoints governors to the governing body and the relevant faith bodies appoint foundation governors in faith schools. In addition, the governing body can appoint its own co-opted governors, and it is traditionally these posts which the governing body uses to cover skills gaps, hence these posts often being offered to governors from the business community. Increasingly local authority appointment panels also look to the skills set of their appointees.

The Value of School Governance

Governing bodies make decisions which are in the best interests of the children and young people. Keeping the decision making as close as possible to those that are affected by the decisions makes for sound and efficient leadership and governance. Fulfilling the role of a school governor is, therefore, both a serious undertaking and enormously rewarding. Not only do governors bring their own knowledge and skills to the role, but in learning how schools are run, they often develop their understanding of leadership. The majority of employers appreciate this and are supportive of their staff taking on the responsibility. In addition, contributing to the growth and development of a school and seeing tangible improvements in the attainment and wellbeing of the children is a satisfying and important contribution to the local community.

The Role of the Governing Body

The governing body is responsible for the conduct of its school and must promote high standards of educational achievement at the school. It is the school’s accountable body and as such:
• Provides a strategic view of the school by establishing a vision and setting the purpose and aims of the school within an agreed policy framework. It appoints and performance manages the headteacher, agreeing the school improvement strategy which includes setting statutory targets with supporting budgets and staffing structures.
• Monitors and evaluates the work of the school by reviewing the performance of the headteacher, the effectiveness of the policy framework, progress towards targets, and the effectiveness of the school improvement strategy.
• Signs off the self-evaluation process and responds to Ofsted reports as necessary. In addition, it holds the headteacher to account for the performance of the school and ensures that parents are involved, consulted and informed as appropriate, with information to the community being made available as required. In order to do this, governors need to gain knowledge of how their school operates through training, by attending meetings, and by getting to know their school community, for example through a small number of visits to the school during the school day. Governors need to work together as a team, under the leadership of the Chair of the governing body. Most governing bodies require their governors to sign a code of practice.

Meetings
Governing bodies are required to meet formally a minimum of three times a year. Meeting dates are set at the beginning of the academic year and meetings generally do not last longer than two hours. Governors are expected to be well prepared for these meetings and attendance is expected, with apologies only for good reasons.

Other Commitments
Many governing bodies meet more frequently than this, and most also delegate work to committees and/or working parties and task groups which meet between the governing body meetings. Governors will be expected to play a full role in agreeing how their governing body works, and then in supporting this. In addition, some governors volunteer to fulfil specific roles, such as being the Special Educational Needs Governor, or the Health and Safety Governor, or the link governor for a particular year or subject. Most governors arrange a couple of shorter visits to school and classrooms focusing on key priorities so that they can see how the school is addressing issues identified for development. In addition, informal visits to special events such as drama productions and sports day are generally encouraged.

Skills and Training

Governors do not need specific skills, but many of the tasks they are required to undertake can benefit from general business knowledge such as understanding management systems, budget planning and HR functions. Local authorities are required to ensure that training for governors is available and most governing bodies buy into their local authority training packages (which may include online learning) to ensure that governors are properly inducted to their role and trained for specific tasks such as appointing the headteacher and then carrying out the headteacher’s performance review. Many governing bodies also belong to a local independent governor association, and join the national representative body, the National Governors’ Association. It is often through these channels that governors develop their knowledge of wider issues affecting schools.

Support for Governors
Each governing body must have a clerk who both advises and services the governing body. All governing bodies should have a comprehensive expenses’ policy which covers out of pocket costs including those incurred caring for dependents. Loss of earnings is not covered, but employers are required to release employees in order for them to conduct their governor role. Release may, however, be unpaid.

For further information on becoming a school governor

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance/becomingagovernor