The Governing Board of Elworth CE Primary School
The Role of Governors
All schools have a governing board. School governors are one of the largest volunteer forces (there are currently some 300,000 across the country) playing an important role in raising standards across schools.
Governors are appointed and elected to:
- provide strong links between the school and the community it serves;
- bring a wide experience of the outside world into the school;
- ensure an independent view;
- create a visible form of accountability for the head teacher and staff of the school;
- create a team focusing on long-term development and improvement;
- ensure accountability to the community for the use of resources and the standards of teaching and learning in the school;
- act as a “critical friend” to the head teacher and staff.
Being on a governing board is similar to being on the trustee board of a charity, or the board of directors of a limited company; the governing board is a “corporate body”. This means that it is the governing board as a whole that is liable for decisions, rather than an individual governor; an individual’s duties are carried out as part of the wider governing body team.
The government encourages governing boards to focus on three main strategic functions within the formal, legal framework that applies to their specific type of schools:
- Setting vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding head teachers to account for the educational performance of the school/ pupils;
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school; making sure its money is well spent.
In doing so, the governing board must also ensure that parents are involved, consulted and informed as appropriate, with information to the community being made available as required. The head teacher is then responsible for the internal organization, management and control of the school and the implementation of the strategic framework established by the governing body.
So, the role of the governing board is to act as strategic planners, promoting high standards of educational achievement, ensuring that children at their school are able to achieve to the best of their ability. As such it therefore:
- Provides a long term strategy for the school by establishing a vision and setting the ethos and aims of the school;
- Appoints and holds the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school;
- Performance appraises the head teacher;
- Agrees the school improvement strategy, including setting targets with supporting budgets and staffing structures;
- Monitors and evaluates the work of the school by reviewing the performance of the head teacher, the effectiveness of the policy framework, progress towards targets and the effectiveness of the school improvement strategy;
- Signs off the school’s self-evaluation process and responds to Ofsted reports.
Types of Governor
At our school there are several types of governor, each appointed in different ways. For a Local Authority maintained school, the types of governor include:
- Parent: Parent governors are usually parents (or have parental responsibility) of children at the school. Most are elected by the parents of the school in question;
- Staff: Staff governors are elected by those who are paid to work at the school;
- Co-opted: Co-opted governors are appointed by the governing board itself. In Local Authority maintained schools (like Elworth) this is on the basis of the skills they can bring to support the effective governance and success of the school;
- Foundation: These are governors appointed by the Chester Diocesan Board of Education - the foundation body; in addition to their responsibilities as governors, foundation governors also have to ensure that the religious character of the school is upheld;
- Local Authority: Governors nominated by the Local Authority and then appointed by the governing body;
- Associate members: Associate members are not governors, but can be invited to sit on one of the committees of a governing board, usually because they have specific skills.
All governors have a shared responsibility and work as a team, although to manage its workload most effectively and to draw on the specific expertise of individual members, the governing board delegates many of its functions to: a sub-committee, an individual governor, or to the head teacher. The governing board as a whole, however, always remains accountable for any decisions taken including those delegated to a committee or an individual.
Within the Governing Board specific responsibilities are also allocated to individual governors for: Health and Safety, Website, Special Educational Needs, Safeguarding, Disadvantaged Children and Pupil Premium. Additionally, there are governor links associated with school priorities to provide support and challenge.
The full Governing Board meets at least six times a year, once each half-term, with additional meetings over and above this if necessary. The Chair and the Vice Chairs are elected by the governors at the first meeting of each academic year, or as required.
Information about all of our governors is provided below. If you need any further information, please don't hesitate to contact the school. Admincontact@elworthce.cheshire.sch.uk
Or, a message can be left on the school phone: 01270 698914
Barrie Pitt - Chair of Governors
Eddie Lea - Vice Chair of Governors
Gill Merry - Local authority Governor
Vacant Position - Ex Officia Foundation
Nicola Hathaway - Foundation Governor
Goodyear Lombe - Parent Governor
Ruth Williams - Co-opted Governor
Bev Carron - Vice Chair of Governors
Mark Moulding - Co-opted Governor
Scott Heaton - Staff Governor
Neil Garratt - Head teacher
John Cargill - Foundation Governor
Ciara Duggan - Parent Governor
Anthony Rigby - Associate Member