Contributing to discussions at governing body meetings which help to:

• determine the vision and ethos of the school
• set clear and ambitious strategic priorities and targets for the school
• ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs, have access to a broad and balanced curriculum and that the school encourages the pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development
• agree the school’s budget, including the expenditure of the pupil premium grant
• devise the school’s staffing structure and key policies

Holding the senior leaders to account by monitoring and evaluating the school’s performance; this includes:

• scrutinising the leadership’s own evaluation of the school’s performance and ensuring the conclusions are used to inform the priorities in the school development plan
• considering relevant data and feedback on all aspects of school performance, in particular pupil progress
• asking challenging questions of school leaders

The responsibility of a governor is to be strategic – to challenge, evaluate, monitor and support.  It is essential that governors do not get involved in the day-to-day operation of the school. That is the role of the headteacher and staff.  Governors and the school leadership are supported by a school improvement partner from the local authority who is an expert in primary education and provides independent advice to continually assess the school's strengths and areas for development.

Governors also:

• appoint the headteacher and other senior leaders
• undertake the performance management of the headteacher
• set the headteacher’s pay and agree the pay recommendations for other staff
• hear staff grievances and disciplinary matters
• hear appeals about pupil exclusions

At Darell, every governor is linked to a specific area of responsibility. This can be a target within the School Development Plan or an area of responsibility such as Safeguarding or Health and Safety.  Governors undertake regular monitoring visits to understand the main strengths and challenges of the topic to which they are linked and may meet with pupils as well as staff as part of the visit.

There are a maximum of 12 members including seven co-opted members, each of whom is appointed for a four-year term, after which time they may seek re-election.

Full members are drawn from four areas of the school community:

1. Parents of current pupils – two members elected by the parent body
2. Staff – the headteacher and one other staff member elected by the staff of the school
3. Local Authority – one member appointed by the Local Authority
4. Co-opted – seven members co-opted for the skills and experience they bring to the school and appointed by the governing body.

It is important to note that, although these members are representative of the school community, they are not intended to represent the views of the particular community from which they are drawn. Once elected or appointed, members should always act in what they consider to be the best interests of the school and bear in mind the seven principles of public life, which are:

Selflessness

Integrity

Objectivity

Accountability

Openness

Honesty

Leadership

Governors undergo a recruitment process which includes an interview, providing references and undergoing safeguarding checks. Governors also adopt a Code of Conduct which is reviewed annually. Governors accept collective responsibility for all decisions taken, regardless of whether they personally voted for the decision, and ensure that the details of discussions in meetings, including the votes of individual governors, remain confidential. This latter point is crucial for ensuring mutual trust, which is essential for effective school governance.

Meetings of the governing body and committees

The full governing body meets at least once a term and committees typically meet twice per term. Parents and staff are welcome to approach the Clerk (clerk@darell.richmond.sch.uk) to ask to attend these meetings as observers, except where confidential matters are to be discussed.   Minutes of governing body meetings are available, once they have been approved, by contacting the Clerk. Much of the work of the governing body is done through committees. There are currently three committees:

Achievement and Curriculum

 Holds the school leadership to account for improving pupil and staff performance by asking the right questions, informed by data.

Resources

 Oversees the financial performance and ensure public money is well spent 

Pupils and Community

Ensures the effectiveness of the school's safeguarding procedures

Monitors pastoral aspects of the school including attendance, behaviour, equality and communications

Contacting governors in confidence