What is a Governor?

School governors do not have to be ‘experts’ and are all volunteers who work with the Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Team to support the children, their learning experience and achievement. In doing this, they support and at the same time act as independent “critical friends” and question and challenge ideas put forward by the head or leadership team, and so provide a ‘sounding board’ for the Head and the school as a whole. A school will look for Governors with a broad range of expertise to cover all their responsibilities. Governors must work as part of a team and have some spare time to attend meetings and read related papers. 

The Governing body has a strategic role in determining the direction and vision of the school, while the Headteacher is responsible for the day to day management of the school. 

The Full Governing Body meets formally once a term to make sure all legal policies and procedures are in place. We also meet to work on our Self-evaluation, assess our skills, amend and monitor our Action plan,  assess the Impact we are making on pupil outcomes, and we also take part in training which is relevant to all of us. New Governors have an induction course where they learn more about what being a governor means. 

There are three main types of governors in our school – we have three parent governors, who are elected by the parents; one local authority governor, and 8 Co-opted governors who are chosen for particular skills they can bring to the whole Governing Body. There is also a staff Governor, and the Headteacher is a member of our Governing Body. They can use their skills be it in health & safety, finance, education or being able to work on specific projects, whether it be checking through school policies, or an IT project, such as the website. This is why we look for a variety of skills when appointing new Governors and actively recruit for certain skills which would help our Governing body. 

All governors are linked to an area of the School Curriculum to ensure they can monitor the work and achievements of the school. They also join a committee or small group to look at key aspects of their work; for example; the curriculum, learning and achievement, finance and personnel or health, safety and premises, data protection regulations. They make visits to classes, attend whole school events and make reports on a regular basis to show that they see the school in action.

We also have a more informal Full Governing Body meeting every term when we have an agenda which reflects what we need to discuss. For example; we monitor what we have done that term and look at Governor visit logs, review our effectiveness,  note what actions to take from this and plan our next term actions. 

When OFSTED visits the school the Governors are part of the inspection process and are questioned by the inspectors appointed. Governors also have the training to keep up to date and expand or consolidate their skills, be it individually or in group sessions, sometimes run by the teaching staff. 

The Chair of Governors, can be contacted via the school or through the email address below. 

The Governors email address is governor@ivervillageinfant.co.uk