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Governing Body

The role of the governing body

The governing body exists to ensure high standards of achievement for all pupils in the school.  We do this by:

• Helping to set the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction

• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils  

• Overseeing the financial performance of the school to make sure our money is well spent

Governors work by:

Contributing to discussions at governing body meetings which help to:

  • determine the vision and ethos of the school
  • set clear and ambitious strategic priorities and targets for the school
  • ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs, have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and that the school encourages the pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development
  • agree the school’s budget, including the expenditure of the pupil premium grant
  • devise the school’s staffing structure and key policies

Holding the senior leaders to account by monitoring and evaluating the school’s performance; this includes:

  • scrutinising the leadership’s own evaluation of the school’s performance and ensuring the conclusions are used to inform the priorities in the school development plan
  • considering relevant data and feedback on all aspects of school performance, in particular pupil progress
  • asking challenging questions of school leaders

The responsibility of a governor is to be strategic – to challenge, evaluate, monitor and support.  It is essential that governors do not get involved in the day to day operation of the school, that is the role of the headteacher and staff.  Governors and the school leadership are supported by a school improvement partner who is an expert in primary education and provides independent advice to continually assess the school's strengths and areas for development.

Governors also:

  • appoint the headteacher and other senior leaders
  • undertake the performance management of the headteacher
  • set the headteacher’s pay and agree the pay recommendations for other staff
  • hear staff grievances and disciplinary matters
  • hear appeals about pupil exclusions

At Darell every governor is linked to a member of staff who has responsibility for a specific subject.  Governors meet with their linked staff member two or three times a year to understand how their subject is taught, the main strengths and challenges, the use of teaching resources and integration of the subject in the wider curriculum.

Membership of the Governing Body

There are a maximum of 12 members including seven co-opted members, each of whom is appointed for a four-year term, after which time they may seek re-election.

Full members are drawn from four areas of the school community:

  1. Parents of current pupils – two members
  2. Staff – the headteacher and one other staff member
  3. Local Authority – one member appointed by the Local Authority
  4. Co-opted – nine members co-opted for the skills and experience they bring to the school

It is important to note that, although these members are representative of the school community, they are not intended to represent the views of the particular community from which they are drawn. Once elected or appointed, members should always act in what they consider to be the best interests of the school and bear in mind the seven principles of public life, which are:

  1. Selflessness
  2. Integrity
  3. Objectivity
  4. Accountability
  5. Openness
  6. Honesty
  7. Leadership

Governors must also accept collective responsibility for all decisions taken, regardless of whether they personally voted for them and ensure that the details of discussions in meetings, including the votes of individual governors, remain confidential. This latter point is crucial for ensuring mutual trust, which is essential for effective school governance.

The current members of the governing body are:

Laura Morgan       

Parent Governor

Chair of Governing Body

Safeguarding Link Governor

Joe Porter  Headteacher

Marie Berry

Co-opted Governor

Pupils and Community Committee

Safeguarding Link Governor

SEND Link Governor

Nathan Corbett

Parent Governor

Achievement and Curriculum Committee

Early Years Link Governor

Jane Faulkner

Co-opted Governor

Chair of Achievement and Curriculum Committee

Pupil Premium Grant Link Governor

Jocelyn Francis

Staff Governor

Pupils and Community Committee

SEND Link Governor

Kate Hatcher 

Co-opted Governor

Chair of Resources Committee

Health and Safety Link Governor

Simon Maidment

Co-opted Governor

Resources Committee

Racial Justice and Equality Link Governor

Marianne Paemen

Local Authority Governor

Chair of Pupils and Community Committee

Health and Safety Link Governor

Felisa Saverias

Co-opted Governor

Pupils and Community Link Governor

Racial Justice and Equality Link Governor

Emma Claridge

(Deputy Headteacher)

Associate Member

Pupils and Community Committee

For more information about the governing body please contact clerk@darell.richmond.sch.uk

 

 

Headteacher Meetings of the governing body and committees

The full governing body meets at least once a term. Parents and staff are welcome to approach the Clerk (clerk@darell.richmond.sch.uk) to ask to attend these meetings as observers, except where confidential matters are to be discussed.   Minutes of the full governing body meetings are posted on the website, once approved. Much of the work of the governing body is often done through committees. There are currently three committees:

  1. Achievement and Curriculum
  2. Resources
  3. Pupils and Community

Much of the work of governors will not be immediately apparent to parents, for example it is solely the responsibility of the governing body to recruit a new headteacher, which is probably the most important job governors ever have to do.  Governors do everything from writing the job description and personal specification, to preparing and placing an advertisement in national media, producing a job pack for potential candidates, showing all candidates around the school, planning the interview days (panels, tasks, pupil involvement, presentation topic) and taking part in two full days of interviews.

Contacting governors in Confidence

Normally, any issues concerning a pupil or the school should, in the first instance, be addressed to a member of Darell staff or the Senior Leadership Team. However, should any issue be unresolved via this route or should an issue arise which you would prefer not to discuss with a member of staff, you may contact a governor in confidence at clerk@darell.richmond.sch.uk. Messages may also be left for the Clerk at the school office.