About the Governors

The Governing Board are responsible for driving forward the strategic direction of the school and to act as a ‘critical friend,’ supporting the work of the Head Teacher and other staff.

Governor Statement

Responsibilities

Governors have considerable responsibilities, all of which are exercised as part of a Governing body and not as individuals. We do not manage the school, this is the role of the Headteacher and her senior leadership team, but we do oversee the development of the school - the main aim of which is to always provide a high standard of education for each and every pupil – no matter who they are.

Governors are selected and appointed on their skills and experience and training is also available to gain new skills as well as to enhance existing ones. It is a voluntary role that requires a degree of commitment to ensure we effectively carry out our statutory duties.

The Governing Body has three main roles:

STRATEGIC - This sets the general direction of the school, looking at how it should best develop. This is done by agreeing and reviewing policies, targets and priorities and the monitoring and reviewing of our aims and objectives

CRITICAL FRIEND - The Governing body works with the Headteacher to create a clear understanding of the challenges faced in managing the school. The Governing body question and challenge the school and this is achieved through trust and mutual respect

ACCOUNTABILITY - Our school is a business and its stakeholders are the pupils. The Governing body has a professional attitude and uses its collective skills to benefit the pupils. It gathers views and asks questions to determine what is best for the school. The Governing body is answerable to parents and the wider community.

Our Vision

The Governing Body supports the vision of the Trust by ensuring that the school provides a safe, caring and stimulating learning environment where every pupil can realise his or her full potential and develop a thirst for learning for life.

We will achieve this through being actively involved in the life of the school, and by working closely with the school’s leadership team to:

• Set challenging aims and objectives for the school

• Agree policies, priorities and performance targets for accomplishing these objectives

• Look for evidence that these objectives are being achieved and ask challenging questions of the leadership team

• Ensure that the pupil premium is used effectively for those pupils it applies to

• Ensure that best value principles are followed

Our actions are rooted in the best interests of the school and its pupils, and we are always prepared to explain our decision openly and honestly to staff, parents, pupils, government and anyone else in the wider community with an interest in the conduct and standards of the school.

Our Objectives

• To set high standards for all pupils and staff and to set clear targets for improvement

• To be a critical friend in this process

• To help the school be responsive and pro-active to the needs of parents and the community

• We are here to ask challenging questions, which are non-confrontational and to work with the Headteacher and her staff

• Governors are not involved in the day-to-day running of the school and respect the professionalism of the Headteacher and her staff

How do we achieve our objectives?

The agreed working document for school improvement is the School Improvement Plan (SIP). The SIP is the mechanism by which we can monitor how well the school is doing its job. The SIP has clear goals and clearly identifies success criteria, which the Governors monitor and review, at regular intervals. Governors set their own targets as part of the plan.

Although raising standards is our key objective, Governors also monitor many other aspects of school life, some of which include:

• School’s budget and finances

• Curriculum

• Health and Safety

• Special Educational Needs

• Online Safety

• Performance Management

• Behaviour

 Governors regularly visit the school as part of our monitoring role in addition to attending school functions and assisting staff and children during school time in a variety of ways.

 Should you wish to contact the Governing Board, please do so via the the Clerk to the Governing Board at clerk@halling.medway.sch.uk