Governors

What is the role of a Governor?

The Governing Body (GB) works with the Headteacher in setting the direction of the school by helping to build on its strengths and identifying areas for improvement. Individual governors need to understand how to study and use the educational evidence available to them, such as SATs results, Ofsted reports, the Department for Education (DfE) data analysis tool known as RAISEONLINE and the Fischer Family Trust data to answer questions such as 'are we providing outstanding teaching and learning for every pupil', 'are there any barriers to consistent high performance and if so how do we overcome them',  'how do we secure sustained improvement for the school' and are we ensuring our pupils have a safe space to learn and grow? 

Governors are also responsible for supporting the Headteacher in staff recruitment (advertising, short-listing, applicant interviews) & recruiting a Headteacher, the school budget, the curriculum, resources and buildings maintenance and, overall, have a strategic role in managing the school, being challenging but fully supportive of the Headteacher and school senior leadership team who are responsible for managing the operational aspects of the school.

Governors are drawn from parents of children in the school and others from our local communities. The school's legal 'Instrument of Governance' defines the number and types of governor and anyone interested in becoming a school governor can apply to join the Governing Body by first making contact with the school. 

The categories of governor are defined as:

Staff Governors:
There are 2 Staff Governors on the Board as well as the Headteacher.  They will be elected by the staff team at the start of each academic year. 

Parent Governors: 
There are 3 parent governors and when a vacancy arises the school seeks volunteer(s) from the parents, who are then asked to vote on their choice of candidate. This process is managed by the school and, unlike the appointment of community or associate governors, the decision is not subject to the prior agreement of the Governing Body as a whole.

Co-opted Governors: 
There are 3 Co-opted governors, who are drawn mainly from le local area or the Station. There are advantages in seeking experience from outside of the base to offset the effects of frequent changes in Service governors when they are posted.

Local Authority (LA) Governors: 
This 1 governor is appointed by the LA, usually on the recommendation of the Chair of the Governing Body and usually for specific reasons such as gaining a governor with a specific skill set (e.g. educational, financial).

Associate Governors: On occasion, an individual may be interested in becoming a governor when there are no vacancies on the Governing Body, or they may have a specific skill set that would be beneficial to a committee.  Such volunteer governors are always welcome and the Governing Body may appoint them as Associate Governors.

The Governing Body usually meets once a month and is supported by 2 committees (Resources and Curriculum, Standards and Performance) who also meet once a term if appropriate. These formal meetings do not make onerous demands on individual governors.  However, Governors will also visit the school at various times during the year on an individual basis to conduct monitoring visits or, take part in school activities or watch performances.