the gps Governing Board

"Governance is effective. Governors are astute and insightful and committed to the vision of the school.     OFSTED.

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 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 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.

Meet our Governors

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)
S Boyd
A Hall
C Payne (Committee Chair)
R Forster
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
A Hall
L McAnaney (HT)
L Russell (DHT).

Remit of the SBS Committee: To monitor, evaluate and influence the work of the school in relation to staff development, staff deployment, staff appraisal, staff recruitment, budget and finance, the development of the site and building (including health & safety), and the purchase of various annual Service Level Agreements. 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 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.

Attendance at Meetings

Summer 2022

Spring 2022

Autumn 2021

Notes for attendance tables:

• ✓- present
• ✓v - present virtually (Teams, Zoom, etc)
• n/a - not a member of this committee
• A - Apologies submitted
• X - Absent - no apologies
• 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.

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.

• DfE Governance Handbook
• DFE Competency Framework for Governance
• Being Strategic - NGA (2020)
• Curriculum Effectiveness - a Guide for Governing Boards - NGA (2022)

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" (OFSTED, June 2017).