The role of the governing body is to operate as a board akin to the board of trustees of a charity or the board of directors of a company and works in conjunction with the trust board of the academy.

In all matters, the ‘board of governors’ should operate at a strategic level, leaving the headteacher and senior school leaders responsible and accountable to it for the operational day-to-day running of the school.

The overall focus of the governors is to ensure that our pupils progress appropriately in their education and for this to happen the pupils must be supported by a well led, enthusiastic, professional and motivated staff all working together within a safe, supportive environment with high expectations.

Governors appreciate too the requirements of our children’s parents and carers and their need to be satisfied about the overall leadership and management of the school and how it affects safety, learning and enjoyment of the children.

To achieve these aims, the Governing Body focuses strongly on 3 core functions:

1. Setting the vision and strategic direction of Northmead.

   Governors are responsible for setting the school’s strategic framework, identifying priorities for school improvement and monitoring progress towards these goals. We are also responsible for setting a school ethos of high expectations of behaviour, progress and attainment of all pupils and of conduct of staff and governors.

    

2. Holding the headteacher to account for its educational performance.

   Governors must provide challenge to the school and hold the headteacher and senior leaders to account for improving the quality of teaching and learning and school performance. We do this through questioning, visits and regular monitoring and analysis of data on children’s performance and progress. Governors also hold the headteacher to account for the performance management of teachers.

    

3. Ensuring financial resources are well spent.

   Through visits, questioning and analysing financial statements Governors ensure that the school makes efficient use of its budget and provides best value for money.

 

Governance Structure and Meetings

The Governing Body of Northmead is made up of:

2 Staff Governors

3- 4 Parent Governors

3 - 8  Community Governors

Click here to view a list of current governors and their responsibilities

Meetings

The Full Governing Body meet 6 -4 times in the whole academic year. There are also sub group meetings focussing on particular aspects of governance.
 

The following are some of the ways in which the Governing Body impact on the strategic management of the school:

School Improvement Plan (SIP)

Governors work co-operatively with the head teacher and senior management in the writing and monitoring the School Improvement Plan. The School Improvement Plan sets aims for the school. The current SIP is based on priorities identified from data, school self-evaluation and Ofsted priorities. The SIP is set out with clear aims, the key tasks which will be completed in order to achieve these aims and the success criteria in order to measure outcomes. The SIP is monitored and reviewed termly, with an evaluation overview being completed and presented to governors within the Headteacher report.

Governor visits

The governors are invited to visit the school as part of their monitoring of the SIP and of specific issues. Guidance in terms of the roles and responsibilities of link governors are provided to relevant governors and regular training is available in order to up skill our team.

Data analysis

Data is made available to governors through termly meetings with verbal and written presentations followed by question and answer sessions with the head teacher and members of the senior management team thus the governors are able to benchmark their data against similar schools, the Local Authority and schools nationally to ensure the schools standards and expectations are high and are able to be closely scrutinised. Particular scrutiny is placed on pupil progress across all ability groups including vulnerable groups and on the effective use of the Pupil Premium.

Policies

Governors review all relevant policies on a programmed basis to ensure that all guidance is current and up to date. Specific attention is paid to ensure that the school complies with the Department of Education mandatory policy list and the Local Authority recommended list and are aligned across the Athena trust.

Financial management

Members of the governing body have been trained in School Finance management. The impact of the governors' role in the school ensures that the budget is managed effectively and improvements are effective and continuous.
Governor expertise – the governors bring a wide variety of expertise to the school and this helps to ensure the school is moving forward

Staff recruitment

The head teacher and a number of governors are trained in “Safer Recruitment”.
Governors are involved in the recruitment and selection of all teaching staff and use the appointment process to ensure that high quality staff who share the school’s mission statement and aims are appointed.

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