Governors
Governors Information and Duties
The role of a School Governor
The role of a school governor is to contribute to the work of the governing board in ensuring high standards of achievement for all children and young people in the school by:
- setting the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction
- holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
- overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
School governors are people who want to make a positive contribution to children’s education.
Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country and have an important part to play in raising school standards. The role of the governing board is absolutely key to the effectiveness of a school. Time and time again Ofsted (the national inspection body for schools) has noted that the most effective schools demonstrate effective leadership and management - including by the governing board.
What do governors do?
School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Governors appoint the head teacher and deputy headteacher. In some schools the site is owned by the governing board. 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.
Each individual governor is a member of a governing board, which is established in law as a corporate body. Individual governors may not act independently of the rest of the governing board; decisions are the joint responsibility of the governing board.
The role of the governing board is a strategic one, 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 challenge and support to the headteacher (a critical friend)
Governors don’t get involved in the everyday operation of the school; that is in hands of Mrs Hughes and her Senior Leadership Team. Our role is mainly to help shape the strategic direction and priorities of the school, and help drive those priorities forward. We meet as a whole Governing Body several times a year. In addition to this, two sub-committees meet and each has a particular focus on different areas of school life:
1. Achievement and Inclusion committee
2.Resources committee
Much of the work is done in these committees, and each one will meet once or twice per term. In addition to these meetings, some of us also fulfil statutory roles which oversee different aspects of school life (e.g. Safeguarding, Health and Safety, and Special Educational Needs). The work of the Board of Governors helps ensure that staff can get on with doing what they do best – educating our pupils to a high standard but at the same time creating time, space and resources for your children to do the more fun things in life.
Governors Pecuniary Interests and Attendance Register
The Pecuniary Interests Register is a statutory requirement to be completed by all governors. This is also an standard item for the agenda for every governors meeting.
The Attendance register for governors, shows which governors attended each of the meetings in the specified academic year.
The chair of governors is Mr Adam Woof and can be contacted through the school office on 0161 223 0370 or admin@ravensbury.manchester.sch.uk