the gps Governing Board

Governing Board

"Governors have worked with leaders and staff to create an ambitious vision for the school" (Ofsted 2023). "Governance is effective. Governors are astute and insightful and committed to the vision of the school" (Ofsted 2017).

What do Governors do?

Governors have three main roles:

To work with the HT & senior leaders in providing strategic direction for the school - this is linked to 'vision', ethos, teaching and learning, curriculum, budget, recruitment and longer-term forward planning.
To provide support & challenge to the HT and senior leaders.
To ensure accountability.

They also carry out a number of other important duties, which include:

Setting and monitoring the school's overall aims and key policies.
Ensuring - strategically - that the school budget is wisely spent.
Working with senior staff to oversee policy on the school's curriculum, teaching and learning, SEND, and on collective worship.
Setting standards for pupils' behaviour and discipline.
Making sure school buildings are welcoming and safe.
Making strategic decisions about staffing, as well as being involved in the appointment of key staff.

Click here for an NGA leaflet, on the role of Governors.

The DfE Governance Handbook - here - also has information setting out the roles of school governors.

Structure & Make-Up of our Governing Board

Our Governing Board is structured as follows:

Headteacher Governor x 1
Staff Governor x 1
LA Governor x 1
Co-opted Governors x 6
Parent Governors x 3

Total number of Governors at Grangetown (if all positions are filled): 12.

Types of school governor and governing boards

Co-opted (sometimes known as community governors)
The majority of governors we place are co-opted governors. Co-opted governors, in the opinion of the governing board, have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. Typically, co-opted governors bring perspectives from the local community, and are sometimes involved in local businesses, voluntary or charitable activities, arts, cultural or sporting organisations. We have 6 co-opted Governor positions on our Board.

Parent governors
Governing boards usually have between 2-4 parent governors, who represent the parent community and provide a 'parent perspective'. We have 3 Parent Governor positions on our Board, all of which are currently filled.

Staff governor
Usually one or two members of school staff are elected by the staff to sit on the board as their representatives. We have 2 staff governors, one of whom is the Headteacher. Our Deputy Head also attends all Governing Board meetings.

Associate
A board may appoint associate members. When a school has no governor vacancies but is in need of someone with specific skills, this may be a helpful option. Similarly, if a governor is retiring, a governing board may decide to recruit an associate to bridge the gap. Often, schools will consider associate members first when any vacancies arise on the full governing board. Associate members have no voting rights on the full governing board, but may vote on any committees to which they have been appointed. Currently, we have no associate members.

Local authority governor
A governor nominated by the local authority but appointed by the governing board.

Meet our Governors

Name	Category / Role	Joined the Governing Board	Current Term of Office ends
Sharon Boyd	Co-opted Governor	05/04/2017	31/03/2026
Simon Briton	LA Governor / Chair	1/9/2008	29/03/2026
Julie Maven	Co-opted Governor	9/12/2020	09/12/2024
Les McAnaney	HT Governor	1/1/2010	Ex officio
Ceri Payne	Parent Governor	9/12/2020	09/12/2024
Fr David Raine	Co-opted Governor	28/9/22	28/9/26
Sarah Richardson	Parent Governor	28/9/22	28/9/26
Lesley Russell	Observer - DHT	n/a	n/a
Catherine Tose	Staff Governor	28/9/22	28/9/26

Committees - Membership & Remit

We have 2 main Committees, each meeting termly. Other committees are in place, and meet as and when required.

Teaching, Learning, Curriculum, and Pastoral Committee (TLCP)
C Payne (Committee Chair)
S Boyd
S Richardson
C Tose
L McAnaney (HT)
L Russell (DHT)

Remit of the TLCP Committee :

To monitor, evaluate and influence the work of the school in relation to curriculum development, quality of teaching, pupil attainment and progress, and pupil behaviour and attitudes. The Committee also considers the Vision and Ethos of the school.
Committee Members receive detailed information about these aspects of the school's work, engage in discussion, and ask a range of questions designed to hold school leaders to account and ensure that the school is has an effective approach.
Committee members act as Link Governors in areas related to the work of the Committee.

Staffing, Budget, and Site Committee (SBS)
S Briton (Committee Chair)
J Maven
Father D Raine
S Boyd
L McAnaney (HT)
L Russell (DHT).

Remit of the SBS Committee:

To monitor, evaluate and engage in the work of the school in relation to staff recruitment and deployment, staff deployment, staff appraisal, budget and finance, the development and upkeep of the site and building (including Health & Safety), and the purchase and deployment of resources and support services.
Committee Members receive detailed information about these aspects of the school's work, engage in discussion, and ask a range of questions designed to hold school leaders to account and help ensure that the school has an effective approach.
The Committee is charged with ensuring the school receives best value with large financial purchases, and that the budget (& grant funding such as Pupil Premium, Recover & catch-up funding, and Sport Premium etc) is wisely and appropriately used to ensure best value.
The Committee assesses annual budget proposals, looks at the strategic impact of budget decisions (by examining benchmark data as well as long term projections) and makes recommendations to Full Governors.

Dates of Meetings for this Year (2023-24)

Autumn

TLCP Committee - Tuesday 3rd October
SBS Committee - Tuesday 14th November
FGB - Tuesday 28th November

Spring

TLCP Committee - Tuesday 6th February
SBS Committee - Tuesday 5th March
FGB - Tuesday 26th March

Summer

TLCP Committee - Tuesday 14th May
SBS Committee - Tuesday 11th June
FGB - Tuesday 9th July.

Attendance at Meetings

Attendance for the current school year is below. The record of attendance for last year - 2022-23 - is here. Attendance for the year before - 2021-22 - is here.

Autumn 2023

	TLCP Committee 3/10/22	SBS Committee 14/11/22	FGB /12/22
Sharon Boyd	Ap
Simon Briton	n/a
Les McAnaney (HT)	✓
Ceri Payne	✓
Julie Maven	n/a
Fr David Raine	n/a
Sarah Richardson	✓
Lesley Russell (DHT)	✓
Catherine Tose	✓
Also present	SLT members: V Hanlon, N Roberts, L Millican, V Quinn
Clerk	D Allen

Notes for attendance tables:

✓- present
✓v - present virtually (Teams, Zoom, etc)
n/a - not a member of this committee
Ap - Absent - apologies submitted
A - Absent - no apologies submitted
R - resigned
T - term of Governance has ended.

Link Governors

Each Governor takes a special interest in one or more particular aspects of school, mainly curriculum related. Governors then meet on a regular basis with the member of staff responsible for that area, & they also have opportunities to meet children, see children's work and visit classrooms. Link Governors report back to the full Governing Body and to Committees.

Area	Link Governor	Staff Member
Leadership, Strategy, Budget, Staffing	S Briton	L McAnaney
SEND	S Boyd	L Russell
Safeguarding & CP	S Boyd	L Russell
EYFS	J Maven	V Hanlon
English	C Payne	N Roberts V Stell
Mathematics	S Richardson	L Millican
PSHE	S Boyd	N Holyoak

Business and Pecuniary Interests

Members of the Governing Body are asked to record any business or pecuniary interests held either personally or through a company or relative or partner. A 'pecuniary interest' is a situation where a member of the governing body may be affected personally or financially, directly or indirectly, or in some other way by a decision made at a meeting where the governor is present.

The School Governance (Procedures) (England) Regulations state that members of the governing body with any such interest must declare it as soon as possible at any meeting of the full governing body or committee meeting, must not take part in a discussion related to the particular 'interest', and should withdraw from any such discussion (with the withdrawal minuted).

A Governors' Register of Interests is kept for Grangetown, and is updated by the Clerk at appropriate intervals.

Our current situation regarding Business and Pecuniary interest is shown here.

Useful documents

A selection of external documents, related to effective school governance.

Ofsted comment on Governance at GPS

"Governance is effective. Governors share the Headteacher's moral purpose and commitment to pupils and the wider community. The governing body has an effective combination of specialist insight and close community awareness that enables them to hold the school to account well. Governors are astute and insightful and committed to the vision of the school. They have the expertise to hold leaders to account for key aspects of performance. Governors have regular updates on pupils’ progress and meet middle leaders to gauge the impact of improvement strategies. Governors visit the school regularly to check the accuracy of the information they receive. They review the impact of improvement plans, such as their recent review of actions to promote a stronger interest in reading. They are rightly proud of the school and of the action that teachers take to promote strong links with families" .