School Governance

The Governing Body and Headteacher – Working in partnership

Why have a Governing Body and a Headteacher?

The Headteacher is responsible for management of the school, ensuring that strategic plans are implemented, the curriculum is delivered effectively and that the policies of the school are acted upon. He or she makes the ‘chalk-face’ decisions to ensure that children are cared for, socially, emotionally and academically on a day-to-day basis, in line with the school’s policies.

The Governing Body provides the strategic management and long- term direction for the school; it acts as a ‘critical friend’ to ensure that standards are high and maintained. Governors act, not as individuals, but as a group to support the work of the Headteacher, staff and pupils. School Governing Bodies are the largest voluntary group in the United Kingdom. They are unpaid and give up their time freely.

What is the composition of our Governing Body?

The Governing Body of Ashgate Primary School is led by Miss Jessamie Self (Chair), elected by the Governing Body from within its membership. Staff members, including the Headteacher, cannot be elected to this office.

Governing bodies are made up of key stakeholders:

Parents - Parent Governors are elected by other parents at the school.
Staff - including the Headteacher - Staff Governors (teaching and non-teaching) are elected by the school staff.
The Local Community - the Governing Body appoints Community Governors i.e. members of the local community.
The Local Authority (LA) - appoints one or more Authority Governors.

What do governors do and how did they attain this role?

Great emphasis is given to recruiting Governors who can bring professional skills to their work on the various committees, so that we are qualified to conduct the School in line with our statutory duties. These include promoting high standards of educational achievement, acting in a strategic manner to help the development of the School through effective management of resources and working closely with the School Senior Leadership Team to create and promote the School's values.

How do we do this?

We have considerable flexibility in how we achieve this but most of our time is taken up with:
• Developing and reviewing a range of written policies and

procedures to address statutory requirements and our local

priorities
• Implementing actions from the meetings of our Full Governing Body

and the main committees - Resource Management; Teaching & Learning; Strategic Development and Performance Management

• Undertaking delegated individual tasks in support of specific Curriculum areas

• Contributing to and reviewing the School Improvement Plan and using this document as one of the key resources for setting priorities and monitoring impact

• Using a combination of reports, visits, results and other information to monitor the progress of our School.

Governors have responsibility for raising school standards through their three key roles of setting strategic direction, ensuring accountability and monitoring & evaluating school performance.

The Governing Body uses a committee structure to undertake its monitoring and evaluation roles. Membership and terms of reference of committees are determined annually.

Governing Body key responsibilities include:

- Setting strategic direction, objectives, targets and policies

- Reviewing progress against the budget, plans and targets
- Approving the school budget
- Acting as a “critical friend” to the Headteacher by providing support

and challenge
- Appointing the Headteacher.

Our Chair of Governors, Miss Jessamie Self, may be contacted through the School Office.