The Governing Board at Fearnville Primary School
Governors at Fearnville aim to “provide confident and strong strategic leadership which leads to robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance” (Gov.uk Governance handbook 2019)
School Governors help the Headteacher, the Senior Leadership Team and staff to achieve the school aims. Governors work as a whole group (eg. Full Governors meetings), committees (eg. Finance) or as named Governors for specific area of school support (eg. S.E.N).
Fearnville Primary School is part of the Nurture Academies Trust. The Governors at Fearnville have delegated responsibility on behalf of the Trustees and Members of the Trust.
The Governing Body at Fearnville Primary School consists of a combination of people nominated, appointed, elected or co-opted by Nurture Academies Trust, the local community, staff and parents.
The Governors spend time each term visiting the classrooms and seeing the children in their learning environments. The Senior Leadership Team are held to account by the Governors. Governors also support the Senior Leadership through rigorous scrutiny of practices and procedures to ensure safety, security, support and opportunity for every child at Fearnville.
We are very proud of the hands-on approach by our wonderful governors.
General Information about Governors and their role at Fearnville:
The Skills Governing Bodies need:
Experience has shown that all governors need a strong commitment to the role and to improving outcomes for children, the inquisitiveness to question and analyse and the willingness to learn.
All newly appointed governors should have the skills to contribute to effective governance and the success of the school. Skills could include personal attributes, qualities and capabilities, such as the ability and willingness to learn and develop new skills.
The work of the school is overseen by the governing body on behalf of the trust which has responsibility for:
- Setting the school's values, vision and strategic aims, agreeing plans and policies, and making creative use of resources
- Monitoring and evaluating performance, acting as a critical friend to the headteacher to support and challenge them in managing the school
- Ensuring that the school is accountable to the children and parents it serves, to its local community, to those who fund and maintain it, as well as to the staff it employs.
What do governors do?
- Set the future direction of the school through agreeing school policies and the school development plan
- Monitor how well the policies are working
- Support and challenge the headteacher
- Report on the school's achievements
- Agree the school budget and oversee spending over the year
- Respond to inspection recommendations
- Appoint staff
- Agree and monitor performance targets for the headteacher
What are the different types of governor on our board at Fearnville:
- Parent governors - all parents or registered carers of pupils at the school are eligible to stand for election as a governor (unless they are an elected member of the LA or work in the school for more than 500 hours per year). They are elected by parents or carers of pupils registered at the school - parents should contact the school directly if they are interested in this role.
- Staff governors - elected by staff, anyone paid to work at the school is eligible to be a staff governor - staff should contact the school directly.
- Co-opted governors - appointed by the governing body. They are people who in the opinion of the governing body have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school - individuals should contact the school directly.
- LA governors - nominated by the LA and appointed by the Governing Body - a person is disqualified from appointment as an LA governor if they are eligible to be a staff governor at the school - individuals should contact School Governor Service.
- Associate members (not governors) - appointed by the governing body to attend committee meetings and/or full governing body meetings due to their particular skills or experience.