Bywell C of E Junior School

OFSTED (December 2018) 'Governors are committed to their roles and want what is best for the pupils in the school.  Governors know the school's strengths and provide high challenge to the leaders.'

School Governors

Role of the Governing Body

This section introduces the School Governors and describes the role we play at Bywell C of E (C) Junior School.

Whilst Ms Z Adam, as Head Teacher, and supported by the Leadership Team, is responsible for the operation and management of the school, the Governing Body has three key statutory responsibilities:

• setting the school’s strategic direction;
• holding the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and
• overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

We also have responsibility for agreeing policies and procedures essential to the operation of the school.

Our role is often described as acting as a “critical friend” to the Head Teacher and staff – we provide support and advice to help them set and achieve targets, raise the school’s performance standards and give all pupils the best possible education. We do this primarily by monitoring and evaluating the school’s effectiveness and asking challenging questions.

We also have a responsibility to handle complaints. However, it is important to note that individual concerns or queries should always be raised initially with your child’s class teacher, and then with the Headteacher if you feel that your concern has not been resolved. It is important to follow the guidelines listed in the school’s complaints policy because if a concern is initially raised with a governor this could, in effect, ‘taint’ the Governing Body meaning that it could be difficult to escalate any concern to to the Complaints Committee if Governors have been involved in any way at the beginning of the process.

See below for other information which explains who the Governors are.

If you would like to find out more about the work we do, are interested in becoming a School Governor, or have any other questions or suggestions for us, then please do speak to Ms Adam, the Headteacher or any of the other Governors. Alternatively, if you pop into the office you can get hold of relevant contact details or arrange to see one of us.

Mr N Calcutt

Chair of Governors

School Governors