Governing Body
Fiona Millar, email: govs@gospeloak.camden.sch.uk |
Who are we?
There are 16 of us:
- Seven parent governors ( elected by the parents): Anwara Begum, Amanda Blinkhorn, Cordelia Brown, Sarah Dann, Anne Gordon, Bernie Herlihy, Leeroy Murray
- Four LEA governors (nominated by the LEA based on recommendations from the political parties to represent the political mix on the local authority): Paul Church, Dugald Gonsal, Simon Horvat-Marcovic, Margaret Jackson-Roberts (joint vice-chair)
- Three staff governors (elected by the staff); Abi Johnson, Lisa McNally, Omer Pallas
- Five co-opted governors (co-opted by the governors from the local community); Bana Ali, Father Roderick Ballantine, Joe Hayman (joint vice-chair), Fiona Millar, Anna Sullivan
- The headteacher also attends meetings as an ex-officio governor as do the two deputies as advisers
What do we do?
Our job is to work with the school on planning, developing policies and keeping the school under review so that all our children achieve their full potential.
Our key objectives are:
- To set high standards for all children and clear targets for improvement
- To be a critical friend in this process
- To help the school be responsive to the needs of parents and the community
We are here to ask questions, which are probing but hopefully not too confrontational, and to work with the head and the staff. Governors shouldn't be involved in the day to day running of the school (or try to) and should respect the professionalism of the head and staff.
How do we achieve our objectives?
The blueprint for school improvement is the School Development Plan. The SDP is the mechanism by which we can monitor how well the school is doing its job. A good plan will have clear goals and success criteria, which the governors can then review, at regular intervals.
Although raising standards is our key objective, governors also monitor many other aspects of school life - the achievement of different ethnic groups, lateness, behaviour and how our school performs in comparison with schools with similar intakes.
Meetings and committees
The governing body meets twice a term but in our case most of the work (and reviewing the SDP) is done in four committees, all of which contribute to the overall objective of raising standards
The Curriculum Committee monitors the delivery of the National Curriculum, standards and quality of teaching and learning. The curriculum committee also includes a literacy governor and a SEN governor - ensuring there is good provision for children with Special Needs is a key responsibility for the governors.
The Staffing Committee deals with matters of pay staff recruitment, discipline and grievances.
The Premises Committee deals with the built and outside environment, building works and maintenance
The Planning and Resources Committee oversees the budget and tries to link the curriculum, staffing and premises key objectives to the amount of money we have to spend. Our Planning committee also monitors other key areas of the school's life such as behaviour, attendance, parent surveys and the work of the race and gender equality groups.
Policies
Governing bodies must have policies, which cover:
- SEN
- Sex and Relationship Education
- Drugs
- Lettings
- Equal Opportunities
- Health and Safety
- Pay
- Teaching and Learning
- Homework
- Behaviour
All these should be reviewed regularly.
Minutes
Governing Body |
Curriculum |
Planning and Resources |
Premises |
Staffing |
Fiona Millar, Chair of Governors
Last Updated January 2010