The Local Governing Committee is there to help the school provide the best possible education for your children by:
Working strategically to help raise standards.
Monitoring and evaluating progress made towards agreed priorities and targets.
Supporting the head teacher and staff as well as challenging their expectations.
Accounting to all interested parties or stakeholders for the decisions made in trying to achieve the above.
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governors ‘govern’ the school and are not responsible for the day-to-day management issues.
All governors are appointed/elected not as delegates, but as individuals to provide a view that is representative of a parent’s, Diocese’s or member of staff’s perspective.
A governor’s role includes:
Foundation Govenor
Co-opted Govenor
Foundation Governor
Foundation Governor
Staff Governor
Staff Govenor
Parent Govenor
Parent Governor
The Local Governing Committee is comprised of the following positions:
The Local Governing Committee has a Chair (Dominic Dow), who leads and manages the governors, and a Clerk (Teresa Mangan) who advises governors on their functions and duties, thereby ensuring that the team operates efficiently and effectively.
One of the governors is also a Link Governor, whose role is to be aware of the knowledge and skills held by members of the Local Governing Committee.
The primary interest of St Joseph’s Local Governing Committee is to ensure high and rising standards of education for all pupils in the school.
The Local Governing Committee delegate functions to various committees, who report back to the full Local Governing Committee at regular intervals with recommendations for approval. The Local Governing Committee also tasks individual governors to take an interest in a specific area, such as Special Educational Needs (SEN) for example.
Every year, governors review the Governors’ Code of Conduct and renew their commitment to it. Governors are expected to work as a team for the benefit of the whole school community. Governors must declare any conflict of interest they have with any item of business at any meeting.
Ofsted has published the criteria that inspectors will use to judge the effectiveness of a school’s governance.
Principles to adhere to:
Governors at St. Joseph’s are mindful that in exercising Local Governing Committee functions, they must act with integrity, objectivity and honesty and in the best interests of the school, and be open about the decisions they make and the actions they take.
How can I find out more about being a school governor?
There are many sources of good information online but perhaps the best “first port of call” would be as follows:
A Parent Governor, just like all governors, has to maintain a strategic approach to school governance. Although being available to advise parents on appropriate routes of action is an important aspect of the role, it is vital that governors do not become personally involved in individual concerns. Apart from the possibility of this jeopardising appropriate complaints and appeals procedures, no governor has the authority to act individually on the behalf of the school.
From experience, we have found that most concerns can be dealt with quickly and efficiently by talking directly to your class teacher. In addition, the Heads of each Key Stage, the Assistant Head Teachers and the Head Teacher are available to discuss concerns and work with you towards a positive outcome. In the vast majority of cases, we find that most problems are generally resolved at school level. However, the Local Governing Comittee would step in to bring resolution, in the event that all school stage levels of communication had been exhausted.
© St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School
Bosco Catholic Education Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.