Our Governing Body
We are proud of our fully-committed and enthusiastic Governing Body. Their primary role is to support Mrs Peal and the staff to run the school as effectively as possible for the children. In order to do this, they have specific responsibilities:
Support the school when setting strategic goals and targets:
The Governing Body needs to consider the longer-term impact of a range of factors on the school such as Government policy or demographic changes. They support the school in the development of a School Plan which allows them to focus on specific areas of improvement over the long medium and short term. For example, one of the current areas of focus is learning environments and the creative curriculum.
To develop policies for the school
The Governors are responsible for developing the policies for the school, everything from Health & Safety policies to Behaviour and Curriculum policies.
To be financially accountable
The Governing Body are responsible for managing the school budget and ensuring that the school has the adequate funds to deliver against the school’s objectives.
To be accountable to the parents
The Governing Body are also responsible to the parents, and there are several parent governors appointed via parent elections.
Ensure National Curriculum is delivered.
Each Governor has specific areas of Curriculum responsibility, and makes regular visits to the school to discuss developments in their area.
To help in recruitment of staff
We have a key role in recruitment, particularly at the senior level.
To manage the premises
We have to ensure that the premises we have are adequate for the needs of the children and staff, including Health & Safety. A few years ago, the Governing Body were responsible for raising the funds to build an extension to ensure that we were able to continue to accommodate the large numbers of pupils wishing to enter the school.
Management of the Charitable Trust Fund
95% of the funding we get from the local authority goes towards teacher's salaries, leaving just 5% to fund everything else such as books, pencils, repairs etc.. In order to ensure that we can run the school as effectively as possible from a financial point of view we have set up a Charitable Trust Fund, and we ask parents to make contributions of £100 per pupil per year. This additional funding allows us to provide the excellent standard of education that we believe our school offers. In previous years we, and most schools in the county, have had what is called a “deficit budget” i.e. we did not get enough money from Government to cover the costs of running the school, so we have used the Charitable Trust Fund to cover this deficit, plus other things such as ICT equipment etc.. Over the last couple of years however it seems that we have not had a deficit and hope to be in the same position going forward, so we will be able to spend more on projects that will deliver immediate value to the school and its pupils.
Governing Body
There are 15 Governors in total, split into four categories: Parent Governors, Staff Governors, Community Governors and LEA (Local Education Authority) Governors.
Parent Goverors:
Rafael McDonnell (Chairman)
James Dickinson (Vice-Chair)
Ruth Marshall
Adrian Klean
John Flower
Staff Governors:
Mrs Peal
Mrs English
Mrs Brown
Mrs Bascombe and Mrs Mannion (Associate)
Community Governors:
Gordon Hall
Alan King
LEA Governors:
Rev Melvyn Bleakley
Jeremy Ryman
Julia Barber
We are always interested in talking to people who are keen to become Governors, as Governors come to the end of their term of office, so if you believe this is something that might interest you, please let us know. We require Governors from all walks of life who can bring different perspectives and skillsets to the Governing Body.
I hope this has given you an insight into the role and work of the Governing Body. Please feel free to contact any of the Governors with any questions you may have.
Rafael McDonnell
Chairman of Governors