Governors

Governors are the largest voluntary organisation in the UK, with just over 300,000 members.

Governors are essential to the work of the school.  We are legally responsible for its finances, for the teaching and learning that take place there and for the general strategic direction of the school.

In practice, we appoint the Head teacher and then delegate the day to day running of the school to them.  The Governors, however, are still involved in major decisions, for example we approve the Budget, the School Development Plan and we help appoint new senior staff.  By working closely with the Head teacher the Governing Body helps shape and monitor policy and practice.

In total there are 12 governors at Helsby Hillside Primary School, four of whom must be parents.  These governors are elected by the other parents to serve for four years.   We value our Parent Governors particularly for their common sense approach in dealing with practical issues.   They play a full role in the work of the Governing Body.

All Governors are expected to be 'critical friends' to the school supporting the whole school team and, when appropriate, asking searching questions.  Broadly the work involves the following:

• Attending and participating in one full Governing Body meeting per term
• Joining one sub-committee which meet once a term
• Exploring and forging links with the school – for instance with subject areas or a particular aspect of school life (reading assistants etc).  Governors are invited to visit school during the school day, parents evenings and at the many events run throughout the school year.

All this involves approximately 15-20 hours per year.  Meetings usually take place between 5.15pm and 6.15pm (Full governor meetings: 5.15pm to 7.15pm).  Depending on their interests and time available we have some governors who like to be involved in other aspects such as fund raising, joining in school trips or offering specialist advice and support in an area of expertise.   Others chair the sub-committees which involves planning and liaison with senior members of staff.

Function of Governing Boards

As set out in the Governance Handbook, all boards have three core functions:

1. Ensuring clarity of the vision, ethos and strategic direction.
2. Holding the executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the school(s) and its pupils and the effective and efficient performance management of staff.
3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school(s) and making sure that its money is well spent.      

Executive leaders are responsible for the internal organisation, management and control of schools. Every board must have a single executive leader at the head of the line management chain of the whole organisation. It is their job to implement the strategic framework established by the board. Boards should work to support and strengthen the leadership of their executive and hold them to account for the day-to-day running of their school(s), including the performance management of staff.  

Boards should play a strategic role and avoid routine involvement in operational matters. They should focus strongly on holding their executive leader to account for exercising their professional judgement in these matters and all of their other duties.

The role of a parent governor is not as a spokesperson for the views of parents. They are the same as any other governor on the board, providing a ‘parental viewpoint’ i.e. representative parents rather than representatives of parents.

The role of a staff governor is the same as any other governor, strategic leadership and holding the Headteacher to account, but also includes providing a ‘staff viewpoint’. It is important for prospective staff governors to fully understand the nature of the role prior to appointment. Staff governors are not a spokesperson for the views of all staff, nor should they be held to account in relation to their staff role by the governing board.

A LA governor is a representative of the local authority. The role of a LA governor is the same as any other governor, including providing a ‘LA viewpoint’, and they should participate in the same way as other governors. They are not required to be affiliated to a political party, although they should be aware of local issues.

Co-opted governors act in the best interests of the school and wider community, but should not be required by others, such as the appointing board or community, to take a particular stance on issues discussed at board meetings.

Associate members are appointed by the governing board to serve on one or more governing board committees. They may also attend full governing board meetings. They are not governors and do not have a vote in governing board decisions, but may, on approval from the board, be given a vote on decisions made by committees to which they are appointed.

Training

Of course we anticipate that Parent Governors will bring a wide range of knowledge and experience with them, however to support you further in this new role a variety of training activities are available through our National Governance Association (NGA) subscription which has various online training modules available.

Complaints Procedure

For a general complaint:

Step 1 If a parent is concerned about anything to do with the education or support that we are providing at our school, they should, in the first instance, discuss the matter with their child’s class teacher; most matters of concern can be resolved positively in this way. All teachers work very hard to ensure that each child is happy at school, and is making good progress; they naturally want to know if there is a problem, so that they can take action before it seriously affects the child’s progress.

Step 2 Where a parent feels that a situation has not been resolved through contact with the class teacher, or that their concern is of a sufficiently serious nature, they should make an appointment to discuss it with the head teacher. The head teacher will consider all matters of concern very seriously and investigate each case thoroughly. Most complaints would normally be resolved at this stage.

Step 3 Only when an informal complaint fails to be resolved by the head teacher should a formal complaint be made to the governing body. This complaint must be made in writing, stating the nature of the complaint, who has been spoken to already and the preferred outcome. The parent should send this written complaint to the chair of governors [email protected]

 For a complaint about the head teacher:

Step 1 If a parent is concerned about anything to do with the behaviour, leadership or management of the head teacher, they should, in the first instance, discuss the matter with the head teacher; most matters of concern can be resolved positively in this way.

Step 2 Where a parent feels that a situation has not been resolved through contact with the head teacher, or that their concern is of a sufficiently serious nature, they should make an appointment to discuss it with the chair of the governing body. The chair will consider all matters of concern very seriously and investigate each case thoroughly. Most complaints would normally be resolved at this stage.

Step 3 Only when an informal complaint fails to be resolved by the chair should a formal complaint be made to the governing body. This complaint must be made in writing, stating the nature of the complaint, who has been spoken to already and the preferred outcome. The parent should send this written complaint to the governing body via the Chair to the governors [email protected]

Our full complaints policy is attached.

Governor Details

Below details the current members of the Full Governing Body which includes category of Governor, committee membership, terms of office and a register of business interests.

The Instrument of Government, Governing Body Code of Conduct, Report of the Effectivess of the Governing Body, Images and a Register of Meeting Attendance are also attached below.

Files to Download