About School Governance

About School Governance

Governors are responsible for helping to provide an environment in which a good quality education can be delivered. In all types of schools, governing bodies should have a strong focus on three core strategic functions:

a. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

b. Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and

c. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

This involves:

• Helping to decide the school's strategy for improvement
• Supporting and strengthening the leadership of the headteacher

• Monitoring and evaluating the school's effectiveness
• Asking challenging questions and pressing for improvement

• Receiving reports from the Headteacher and other staff on the school's performance
• Discussing and questioning the Headteacher's proposals and strategies
• Answering to parents and to the wider local community for the actions of the Governing Body and the school's overall performance

Responsibilities and authority of our Governing Body 

• The responsibility for educating pupils falls primarily on the staff and the day-to-day running of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher, but it is the Governing Body that is ultimately responsible for the school's performance.
• The Governing Body executes its responsibilities collectively. It may assign specific tasks to a sub-committee or to a particular governor, but individual governors do not have any authority or right to act on behalf of the Governing Body
• Action falling to the Governing Body that cannot wait for a previously arranged meeting of the Governing Body (or for an Extraordinary Meeting) is taken by the Chair of Governors or by the Vice-Chair if the Chair is not available. This is only in circumstances where delay is likely to be seriously detrimental to the interests of the School, a pupil, parent or a member of staff.

How do we work? 

• We meet as a full Governing Body twice a term. Extraordinary meetings are arranged if circumstances warrant such action.
• We have elected a Chair and Vice-Chair from amongst the existing members of the Governing Body (employees at the School cannot be elected to these positions).
• The Governing Body also has a Clerk who advises the Governing Body on the nature of its functions, arranges its meetings, circulates the agenda and papers, takes minutes of full meetings of the Governing Body, and circulates information to Governors from the Local Authority.

The Chair of the Governing body is Mrs Beverly Jones.

The Co Vice-Chairs are

The Clerk to the Governing body services are provided by Cambridgeshire County Council Governor Support Service.

Governor Monitoring Groups

In order to delegate and share the responsibilities of the Governing Body more effectively, we have set up the following Monitoring Groups with members of the SLT to support. These also meet at least once every term separately from the full Governing Body meetings:

Inclusion Monitoring Group

Sally Hammond - Staff Governor and Lead

Amy Law - Parent Governor and SEND Governor

Clare Greaney - Co-opted Governor

Teaching and Learning Monitoring Group

Caroline Truman - SLT and lead

Sally Hammond - Staff Governor

Helen Kundra - Co-opted Governor

Amy Law - Parent Governor

Alana Brown - Headteacher

Mandy King - SLT

Resources Monitoring Group

Beverly Jones – Chair of Governors and Lead

Alana Brown - Headteacher

Kate Taylor - Parent Governor

Clare Greaney - Co-opted Governor

Sam Pritchard - SLT

Leadership and Management Monitoring Group

Beverly Jones – Chair of Governors and Lead

Father Paul Hutchinson - Foundation Governor

Alana Brown - Headteacher

Sally Hammond - Staff Governor

Safeguarding and Health and Safety Monitoring Group

Amanda Harrison –  LA appointed Governor and Lead

Alana Brown - Headteacher

Caroline Truman - SLT member

Tim Geraghty - Premises Manager

Christian Distinctiveness Monitoring Group

Father Paul  Hutchinson –Foundation Governor and Lead

Beverly Jones - Chair of Governors

Jo Foster - SLT member

These monitoring groups are a flexible way of dealing with specific or fairly detailed matters. They offer individual governors wider opportunities to apply their personal expertise. They also make full Governing Body meetings more effective and efficient.

In addition we have a Discipline Committee that meets only when required.

The governing body will make available for inspection, to any interested person, a copy of meeting agendas, signed minutes and reports or papers considered at meetings as soon as is reasonably practical. The governing body is obliged to make this information available upon request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, unless any other of the specific exemptions in that Act apply. For example, the governing body will withhold personal data or confidential information. Please make any request in writing to the Headteacher.