The Role of the Governing Body
The purpose of the Governing Body is to work together to have a positive impact on the attainment of the pupils in the school.
The Governing Body is made up of volunteers. These volunteers are drawn from parents of pupils at the school, teaching and support staff, members of the community and those nominated by the Local Authority.
Governors find being part of the Governing Body a worthwhile and rewarding experience. They enjoy being involved in the life of the school, being able to make a difference and seeing the children benefit.
The full Governing Body meets six times a year. Some responsibilities are delegated to committees.
The key roles of the Governing Body are:
- Strategic Leadership – the decision making based around the values, aims and aspirations of the school
- Support and Challenge – the monitoring and evaluation of the school’s effectiveness, asking challenging questions and pressing for improvement
- Accountability – the Headteacher is accountable to the Governing Body for the attainment and progress of every pupil in the school, the curriculum they receive and the leadership and management decisions that help this to happen.
The key responsibilities of the Governing Body are:
- Pupil achievement – the Governing Body establishes an ethos of expectations and aspirations for all. It will identify how well the school and individual pupils are achieving and challenge any underperformance of cohorts and groups each year and over time. It identifies whether pupils are making expected progress, and where pupils fall behind, what action the school is taking to support those pupils, and whether that remedial action is successful
- Financial Management – the Governing Body has overall responsibility of the delegated budget and reviews the finances regularly to ensure that the school is on track and obtaining value for money.
- Staffing – whilst recruitment and appointment of new staff is the responsibility of the Headteacher, the total number of staff employed remains the Governing Body’s responsibility. They appoint the Headteacher and carry out the performance management of the Headteacher each year. Retention of good staff and leadership planning is an important consideration for the Governing Body.
- Health and Safety – the day to day Health and Safety of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher however the H&S committee and all governors monitor the school to ensure everything in place is to a high standard and compliant with guidelines
Additional Information can be found here
A note from our Chair of Governors
Dear Parents and Friends of William Bellamy Primary School
On behalf of the Governing Body, we would like to welcome you to our school.
The Governing Body is involved with our school at every level. This includes finance, safeguarding, premises management and staff appointments. As Governors, we consider our most important role to be the safety, welfare and education of our pupils.
The children in our school achieve high standards across the curriculum. We are justifiably very proud of them and would like to thank the parents who encourage and support their children so admirably.
Governors are appointed to ensure that objectives are met, and that future planning is both visionary and realistic. We provide strategic direction for the improvement of the school; monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the school; and hold the school to account for the standards achieved and the quality of education. We are here to support and encourage our Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team and all school personnel to ensure that every one of our children has access to an enriched education and to all the opportunities that they deserve.
Should you wish to contact us to discuss any matter further, we can be contacted via the School Office. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible throughout the school year.
Best regards
James Walker
Chair of Governors