Governors
As a group, we are known as governors and our role is to effectively run the school in partnership with the headteacher.
Our Governing Body has a vital role to play in ensuring that every child receives the best possible education by driving up school and children’s performance. We are the key decision making body of school and set the school’s strategic framework. As a Governing Body we agree the strategic priorities, aims and objectives and sign off policies, plans and targets in order to achieve them. We monitor progress and regularly review the strategic framework.
The Governing Body leaves the running of the school to the headteacher, which is the only appointment that we make. It is our role to support and strengthen the headteacher’s leadership and hold her accountable for the performance of children and staff.
As governors we need to know our school. We do this through visits to see the school in action. We check that the school is implementing the polices and improvement plans we sign off and see for ourselves how the vision and plans for the school are working in practice. While is it helpful to see children in class, we are not inspectors and it is not our role to assess the quality or method of teaching.
All our governors bring with them a range of different skills and experiences. Decisions are taken by the whole Governing Body but to make the best use of everyone’s time and expertise all governors also join committees. Committees work on particular aspects of school life and present their recommendations to the Governing Body for approval or discussions.
Our committees are:
- Finance and Staffing – to monitor and control school expenditure and staffing matters.
- Health and Safety – to monitor school performance against Health & Safety policy and ensure the safety of children.
- Pay – to decide on any pay increases for teaching staff.
- Teaching and Learning – to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of leadership and the impact of quality of teaching on rates of pupil progress and standards of achievement.
The Governing Body consists of:
- Parent Governors – elected from and by parents.
- Local Authority Governor – nominated by Leicestershire County Council.
- Staff Governor – representative of teaching and support staff elected by their colleagues.
- Co-opted Governors – appointed by the Governing Body on the basis that they have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.
- Associate members – are not governors and do not have a vote at the full governing body meetings, however they are entitled to attend those meetings.
There are 5 full governors meetings per year.
Constitution of the Ravenhurst Governing Body
| Type | Name | Start of Term | End of Term | Attendance at full Governors meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Co-opted (Chair) | Mrs Val Moore | 10/05/2016 | 09/05/2020 | Full attendance |
| Co-opted (Vice Chair) | Mrs Helen Hall | 13/02/2015 | 12/02/2019 | Full attendance |
| Headteacher (Ex-officio) | Mrs Keily Stretton | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Co-opted | Mr Neil Browne | 27/11/2018 | 26/11/2022 | Full attendance |
| Co-opted | Vacant | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Co-opted | Mrs Claire Smith | 26/01/2018 | 25/01/2022 | Full attendance |
| LA | Mrs Julie Shaw | 15/06/2017 | 14/06/2021 | Full attendance |
| Staff | Mr Mark Poole | 25/01/2018 | 24/01/2022 | Full attendance |
| Parent | Mr Rakesh Patel | 16/04/2018 | 15/04/2022 | Full attendance |
| Parent | Mrs Katy Redford | 27/11/2018 | 26/11/2022 | Full attendance |
| Associate member | Mrs Kim Peet | 17/02/2018 | 17/02/2022 | n/a |
The Clerk to the Governors is Mr Graham Lampard
Committee Membership
| Headteacher Performance Management | |
|---|---|
| Member |
Attendance |
| Val Moore (Chair) | Full |
| Helen Hall | Full |
| Julie Shaw | Full |
| Staff Performance Management | |
|---|---|
| Member |
Attendance |
| Helen Hall (Chair) | Full |
| Neil Brown | N/A |
| Val Moore | Full |
| Claire Smith | N/A |
| Finance and Staffing | |
|---|---|
| Member |
Attendance |
| Val Moore (Chair) | Full |
| Helen Hall | Full |
| Julie Shaw | Full |
| Teaching and Learning | |
|---|---|
| Member |
Attendance |
| Julie Shaw (Chair) | Full |
| Val Moore | Full |
| Helen Hall | Full |
| Katy Redford | Full |
| Health and Safety | |
|---|---|
| Member |
Attendance |
| Mark Poole (Chair) | Full |
| Neil Brown | Full |
| Eddie McMillan | Full |
| Kim Peet | Full |
| Katy Redford | Full |
| Claire Smith | Full |
Members of the Governing Body who have resigned in the past 12 months
| Type | Name | Resignation date |
| Co-opted | Mr Rob Goodenough | 26/11/18 |
| Co-opted | Talent Nyandoro | 03/09/19 |
Pecuniary interests and relationships with school staff
Mark Poole’s spouse is a supply teacher who is on occasion employed by the school. None of the Governors hold governance roles at another educational institution.
Next meeting date
Full governors meeting: 24 March 2020
Becoming a Governor
Different Governing Bodies operate in different ways, but governors will be expected to do far more than merely attend meetings. Effective governors attend the school regularly to see and understand how the school operates. They undertake governor visits for a particular purpose and produce reports for their governor colleagues. Governors will be expected to receive and understand reports from the headteacher and senior leaders so they can question, challenge and support, thereby improving the quality of the whole educational provision.
The governing body operates a code of conduct which sets an ethos of professionalism and high expectations of governors. You will be provided with this part of your induction into the school and will be expected to work within it, since a governing body operates as a corporate entity with corporate responsibility.
Skills and Experience
Governing Bodies rely on a range of skills and experience. You will need a strong commitment to the role, the inquisitiveness to question and analyse, and the willingness to learn. Good inter-personal skills, a basic level of literacy in English and sufficient numeracy skills to understand basic data are essential.
What is equally important to us is that you have a willingness to learn and undertake whatever training or development activity is needed to fill any gaps in the skills you have to contribute to effective governance.
Training and Support
The governing body is committed to developing the skills and experience of governors to promote success in the role. As a new governor you will attend induction training and a programme of courses to help you fulfil your role.
Next steps
Prospective governors are encouraged to contact the Chair of Governors, to visit the school and if time allows to be invited to attend meetings of committees and the full governing body as an observer, thereby gaining an insight into the life of the school and an understanding of the role you can play as a governor.