The School Governing Body

THE VISION OF THE GOVERNING BODY

As a Church school it is our overarching vision to ensure that all pupils and staff, regardless of their race, faith, gender or disability, should find that Hordle CE Primary School is a place where they both grow and thrive.

Our Governing Body is made up of volunteers who guide and support the strategic direction of the school; providing challenge and support to the headteacher and her team. This includes people from a wide range of backgrounds who bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to support the strategic direction of the school.

WHAT DOES THE GOVERNING BODY DO?

The Governing Body works within the statutory framework and are required to focus on three core functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff;
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

To ensure that our governors are able to contribute to effective governance we regularly attend training sessions that are specific to their roles.

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WHO ARE OUR GOVERNORS?

Our Governing Body consists of:

9 foundation governors
3 parent governors
1 executive headteacher
1 local authority governor
1 staff governor
1 co-opted governor

Categories of Governors

Foundation Governors – 6 governors are appointed by Winchester Diocese 2 are appointed by the Parochial Church Council. The Principle Officiating Minister of All Saints Church, Hordle is also appointed as a Foundation Governor.
Parent Governors are elected by the parents of the school
Local authority governors are appointed by the County Council.
Staff Governors are elected by the staff at the school
Co-opted Governors are appointed by the governing body based on the skills that they have
Associate members may also be appointed by the governing body based on their skills

HOW IS THE GOVERNING BODY STRUCTURED?

The Governing Body has several sub-committees (detailed below) The Governing Body and all of the sub-committees meet half termly.

Full Governing Body – the overall purpose of our meetings is to work together to support our vision, ethos and strategic priorities to ensure the very best outcomes for our children, parents, staff and the wider community. We ensure that the school’s Christian Ethos is maintained. We have an overview of the School Excellence Plan and monitor this throughout the year.

The full governing body has an oversight of the work or the committees as all committees report to the full governing body.

School Improvement – The School Improvement Committee focuses on the curriculum and standards across the school – from Nursery to Year 6. We look at and analyse data including reports on equality, behaviour and attendance. We receive presentations from pupils and staff about the intent, implementation and impact of the curriculum.

Resources – The focus of this committee is the physical and human resources of the school and ensuring that we achieve best value. This committee monitors progress of the Capital Maintenance plan for the school. Pay and Performance, Health and Safety and Finance Committees report to this Committee.

Admissions – Hordle Primary School is its own admissions authority. This committee agrees the admissions policy for the school, attends admissions appeals and agrees both in year and main round applications.

Pay and Performance – This committee has oversight of the performance management of school staff including the headteacher. It agrees the pay progression for staff, monitors performance against targets and recommends the Pay Policy to the Governing Body each year.

Safeguarding – This committee meets half termly to review all aspects of safeguarding. The Chair of the Committee is the Safeguarding Governors and membership of this committee includes all DSLs, the E-Safety Lead and the Chair of Governors. All other governors in rotation attend a safeguarding meeting to ensure broad understanding of the importance of this committee.

Finance – This committee is responsible for detailed analysis of the budget for the school and nursery. It monitors income and expenditure and recommends the annual budget to the Governing Body. It compares categories of expenditure with other schools to ensure best value.

Health and Safety – The Health and Safety Team of Governors each hold specific responsibilities related to: premises, children, staff and visitors and emergencies. All Governors, on rotation, are involved in the monitoring of Health and Safety including walk arounds and the monitoring of statutory documentation.

GDPR – Governors of the school maintain an overview of the General Data Protection Regulation and work alongside the Data Protection Officer to review any breaches and ensure that the standards of the law are upheld.

Subject Links – Every Governor holds a subject specific responsibility and they liaise subject leads throughout the year to monitor progress towards subject specific priorities and the school excellence plan.