Little Heath Primary School

What is The Governing Body

Every school has a body of people that are volunteers drawn from parents, staff and members of the local community.  We contribute to the leadership of the school and are involved in setting strategic direction & the formulation of policies.  Helping the headteacher and staff to evaluate progress and setting the school’s aims & values are also part of our role.  We have an increasing number of statutory responsibilities, such as approving the annual budget and appointing the headteacher.

However we do not become involved in the day to day management of the school – this is the headteacher’s responsibility. But we hold the headteacher to account for the performance of the school.

Our role is sometimes described as a ‘critical friend’.  This means we try to provide independent challenge by asking questions to ensure continuous improvement.  It does not mean that we ‘criticise’ the headteacher or staff. Being a governor requires time and commitment but is very rewarding.

How do we do it?

We meet as a full governing body (FGB)  at least 5 times a year to consider a wide range of issues.  These include discussions about the school development plan, policies, budgets, admissions, monitoring visits, risk management, and reports from the headteacher – which also includes details of the latest school performance data. We also attend training courses, individually and collectively – and evaluate our effectiveness.

We have established committees to allow us to discuss issues in more depth and report back to the governing body.  The current committees are
–        school improvement committee
–        resources committee

The committees also meet at least 3 times a year and governors choose which committee they wish to sit on (except the headteacher who is a member of all).

We also carry out monitoring visits to help us appreciate and understand the workings of the school. We do not make judgements about the quality of teaching or the progress of individual children.

What Kind of Governors are there?

The Governing body recently reconstituted in line with Department for Education guidelines. There are five types of Governor.  These are listed below with the number of each type of Governor we have beside it.

A list of all the current Governors at Little Heath can be found on the Governors page of the Little Heath web site – it lists their names, how long their term of office is, which committees they sit on with positions of authority (FGB Chair, FGB Vice Chair, and Chairs of Committees) they hold http://littleheath.sites.schooljotter2.com/about-us/governor-listinfo

How do we contact the Governors?

You can get in touch with any of the Governors by letter addressed to the Chair of Governors and given to the School Office or by e mail to: chairgovernor@littleheath.herts.sch.uk.