About the Governing Body

Like all schools, we have a Governing Body which is made up of individuals from different walks of life who come together, along with the Headteacher, to form the Governing Body of Carleton St Hilda’s Church of England Primary School.

They play a vital role in the school community as they help to lead the school, evaluate its progress and ensure the school is always looking and moving forward. Governors are seen as part of the Leadership and Management of Carleton St Hilda’s Church of England Primary School.

The main duties of the Governors are:

• to ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction within a Christian context
• to monitor standards of attainment and progress of pupils across the school
• to monitor the quality of educational provision across the school including the delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum and opportunities for extra-curricular provision
• to hold the Headteacher and staff to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
• to oversee the financial performance of the school and ensure its money is well spent

The majority of the work a Governor does is through the membership of committees which meet once every term. Governors are part of one or both of the following main committees:

• Curriculum and Standards – including teaching and learning

• Resources – including staffing, buildings, health and safety and finance

• Other committees include: Admissions, Headteacher Appraisal, Pay, Appeals, Grievance, Pupil Discipline and Staff attendances, Discipline and Dismissal

The full Governing Body also meets once each term. The agenda for these meetings is agreed between the Local Education Authority, the Headteacher and Chair of Governors. The meetings are clerked by Lancashire County Council. We also have a Local Authority appointed school adviser who will work with the school, including Governors.

Any new legislation or policies that need to be adopted are addressed. The Headteacher submits a comprehensive termly report advising Governors of the different aspects of work undertaken in school and how different cohorts of children are progressing in their learning journey.

Many of the Governors have specific responsibilities and these include inclusion, safeguarding and child protection. Nominated Governors also work alongside a member of the Senior Leadership Team and take responsibility for one key area each year within the School Improvement Plan. Progress towards each key area is reported within the full Governing Body meeting each term.

Examples of Governor activities include:

• deciding how the budget should be spent, ensuring good value for money
• making sure the curriculum provides and is relevant and effective for all pupils
• understanding the data to monitor whether or not the children are on track with regard to their expected progress from Reception through to Year 6
• making sure the school buildings are welcoming, safe, well used and fit for purpose
• setting and monitoring the school’s values, aims and policies
• appointing staff and making sure appropriate professional development is provided together with ensuring the appraisal process is followed by the Headteacher
• visiting school to meet with staff and children to oversee their particular areas of responsibility

Training is important and enables Governors to increase their knowledge of different areas in order to ensure a successful school. Training includes updates on finance, inspection, curriculum, interpretation of data, safeguarding etc.

The constitution of the Governing Body is:

3 x Parent Governors
1 x Local Authority Governor
1 x Staff Governor
1 x Headteacher
8 x Foundation Governors
1 x Co-opted Governor

The total number of Governors is 14.

Foundation Governors

In most cases, one of the Foundation Governors will be the incumbent of the school’s parish/benefice by virtue of their office. This is called the Ex-officio Foundation Governor. Foundation Governors are appointed by the PCC (Parochial Church Council) or nominated by the PCC and appointed by the DBE (Diocesan Board of Education).

Parents Governors

Parents, including carers, of pupils at the school are eligible to stand for election as parent governors. They are elected by other parents.  If not enough parents stand for election, the governing body can appoint parent governors. The law does not allow elected members of the local authority, or people who work at the school for more than 500 hours in a year, to become parent governors. The headteacher makes arrangements for holding an election if there is a vacancy for a parent governor at the school.

Staff Governor

Staff governors are elected by the school staff. Both teaching and support staff employed to work at the school are eligible for staff governorship; volunteers are not eligible. The headteacher makes arrangements for holding an election if there is a vacancy for a staff governor at the school.

Local Authority Governor

Local authority governors are appointed by the local authority (Lancashire County Council) or nominated by the local authority and appointed by the governing body. Anyone who is eligible to be a staff governor cannot be appointed as a local authority governor, but any other eligible person can.

Co-opted Governors

Co-opted governors are only in schools with governing bodies constituted on or after 1 September 2012. Governing bodies constituted before that date have community governors. Co-opted governors are appointed by the governing body and are people who the governing body believes have skills which will contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. There is no restriction on the categories of people who can be appointed as co-opted governors.

All Governors are appointed to serve for a four year period.