The Core Functions of the Governing Body
Our Governing Body is made up of different groups of people including parents, staff, the Local Authority and members of the local community.
We provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools and have three key functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
- Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and the effective and efficient performance management of staff.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governors set the aims and objectives for the school and set the policies and targets for achieving those aims and objectives. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the Headteacher. In action, this means:
- Appointing and performance reviewing the head teacher and senior leaders, including making decisions about pay.
- Managing budgets and deciding how money is spent.
- Engaging with pupils, staff, parents and the school community.
- Sitting on panels and making decisions about things like pupil exclusions and staff disciplinary matters.
- Addressing a range of education issues within the school including disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special needs, staff workload and teacher recruitment.
- Looking at data and evidence to ask questions and have challenging conversations about the school.
Our Statement to Parents
We believe that at the heart of our school is an ethos of nurturing, inspiring and challenging our children across the whole of the curriculum.
In collaboration with the Headteacher and her staff we have a clear and ambitious vision for our school. We have developed a broad and balanced curriculum which reflects and enhances our inclusivity. We are adamant that the focus should be on the whole child and we are not willing to narrow the curriculum just to improve our test data. Instead, we believe that if you engage and inspire children, test data will naturally improve.
We have talented, charming and hard-working children who are responding positively to our high expectations of them. We have supportive parents, hardworking Governors and dedicated and competent teaching staff, ably assisted by committed support staff.
Team Bartons has readily accepted and put into practice the range of challenges that have been asked of us and we have a culture of continued improvement, inspiration and insight.