How the governing body works

The Governing Body

At Birchwood Grove the Governing body is made up of a group of 13 volunteers including parents, staff, and individuals from the wider community. Each governor brings their own experience and expertise to the body to ensure we have a diverse, skilled team. The Governing Body meets three times each term and operates without a committee structure.

Panels, set up and delegated to by the Full Governing Body, undertake specific roles such as the Headteachers Appraisal Panel, the Pay Panel and Pupil Discipline Panel.

The Governing Body works in close partnership with the headteacher to run the school. The day-to-day management of the school is the responsibility of the headteacher and staff. As the “lead professional,” the headteacher and professional staff are accountable to the governing body for the school’s performance. The headteacher provides the governing body with information on the performance of the school and other reports that the governing body may need to carry out its functions.

The governing board provides strategic leadership and accountability and has three key functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.

This means in practice Governors:

Set the aims and objectives for the school and set the policies and targets for achieving those aims and objectives.
Monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the headteacher;

Set and monitor budgets and decide how money is spent;
Engage with pupils, staff, parents and the school community
Sit on panels and make decisions about things like pupil exclusions and staff disciplinary
Address a range of education issues within the school including disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special needs, staff workload and teacher recruitment
Look at data and evidence to ask questions and have challenging conversations about the school

Individual governors may not act independently of the rest of the governing board; decisions are the joint responsibility of the governing board.