Governors
What We Do
The purpose of governance is to provide confident and strong strategic leadership which leads to robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.
All governance boards, no matter what type of school or how many schools they govern, have three core functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.
For more information about Governors at Chiltern Primary School, please click on the link here to take you to the gov.uk website.
How do we perform our role?
As well as meeting at least six times a year as a full governing board, there are two main sub-committees – Finance, Personnel and Premises and Teaching and Learning which also meet six times a year.
Governors are assigned to one of the sub-committees, but may go to all sub-committee meetings if they wish. Meeting dates are set annually and governors are expected to attend regularly and be well prepared by reading documents sent out in advance.
The purpose of the Finance, Personnel and Premises Committee (FPP) is to set policy in respect of finance, and manage and monitor the performance of the school in respect of its planning and resources. This includes financial management - policy, planning, monitoring and audit; buildings, health and safety, personnel, ICT, risk management, procurement and equipment. The committee ensures that good behaviour and safety of pupils is maintained and that pupils have access to value for money provision. Additionally the committee The Pay Committee reviews the staffing structure of the school; manages the implementation of the pay policy and ensures that performance management is undertaken.
The purpose of the Teaching and Learning Committee is to ensure that high standards are maintained and that good quality teaching and learning takes place. Governors monitor that the National Curriculum is being taught and review the school's ethos and curriculum plans. A key focus is to regularly monitor progress and raise the level of achievement for all pupils and compare this against national statistics. Governors are actively involved in the implementation of the School Development Plan, and, with senior staff, take part in book scrutinies, lesson observations, etc. in order to collect evidence of progress being made.
Providing a safe, secure and happy environment for learning is extremely important and for this reason we have an item on "Safeguarding" on the agenda of every full governing board. Both staff and governors undertake regular training and there is specific training for governors involved in the safeguarding of children and the recruitment of staff.
In addition, individual governors with specific responsibilities (see above list) have regular meetings with the Senior Leadership Team and then feed back to the full governing board. Governors are also linked to subjects and come in to talk with subject leads to understand how the curriculum is being implemented and what progress is being made.
Skills and Training for Governors
Governors do not need specific skills, but many of the tasks they are required to undertake can benefit from general business knowledge such as understanding management systems, budget planning and HR issues. Our governing board has a good range of skills including finance, general management, education etc. and we renew the need for additional expertise on a regular basis.
It is vital that governors have sufficient time to devote to their role so that they can come into school and gain knowledge of how it operates and get to know the school's community.
New governors are required to undertake induction training and encouraged to attend addition courses for specific areas in which they become involved. The governing board belongs to the National Governors' Association and The Key which provides a monthly newsletter and a wide range of useful information.
How to contact us?
We can be contacted via the school or by emailing gmalpas@chiltern.northants.sch.uk
Graham Malpas
(Chair of Governors)