What do we do? | Selsted Church of England Primary School

What do We do?

School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Governors appoint the Head teacher and Assistant Headteacher. It is governors who hold the main responsibility for finance in schools, and it is governors who work with the Headteacher to make the tough decisions about balancing resources.

The role of the governing board is a strategic one and its key functions are to;

set the aims and objectives for the school
set the policies for achieving those aims and objectives
set the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making towards achievement of its aims and objectives
be a source of support and challenge to the Headteacher (a critical friend)

We recruit our Governors for their skills, commitment and passion for education. Our Governing Board has 10 Full Governors and a number of Associate Governors. Each year we undertake a skills audit so that we can identify areas where we may need more expertise. All Governors undertake appropriate training.

Our governors currently bring the following expertise;

Leadership
Educational Experience
Health and Safety
Premises management experience
Counter – Terrorism
Child Protection
Finance
Recruitment
HR
Spriritual Development
Legal expertise
Local Planning
Local Politics

As a Church of England school, two of our Governors are known as Foundation Governors; they are appointed by the Diocese and their role is to have an especial care for the school’s Christian character. In particular, they work with the Head Teacher in preparing for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS). SIAMS (which is separate to an Ofsted inspection) evaluates the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school. At our most recent inspection in May 2015 the school was evaluated as Good.

We meet 6 times a year as a Full Governing Board and have a 2 committee structure that meet in-between. In those committees we focus on Finance and Resources and Learning and Development. We also spend time in school looking for evidence of inspirational practice and wonderful learning.