Governors

West Byfleet Junior School Governing Body

Message from the Acting Chair of Governors

We promote a safe, secure and nurturing environment to embed our school values:

A-Aspiration

R-Resilience

O-Opportunity

C-creativity

K-Kindness

 amongst our pupils, staff and parents.

We are volunteers from the wider community and some of us are school staff or parents of pupils. The role of our governing body is a strategic one - its core functions are to:

  • Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  • Hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and the performance management of staff
  • Oversee the financial performance of the organisation and make sure its money is well spent 

Governors work in partnership with the Headteacher and the senior leadership of the school, acting as ‘critical friends’ who both support and challenge. Governors do not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the school, although there are some statutory responsibilities set out by the Department for Education (DfE) in The School Governance Regulations 2013 (January 2014) and The Governance Handbook (October 2020).

Our governing body currently comprises 11 governors.   The governing body members are appointed for a term of four years. We operate with one full governing body meeting every term, in addition to a business meeting and budget approval meeting. Much of governors’ work is done through committees, to whom responsibilities are delegated to ensure the work the school delivers the strategic objectives set, and to benchmark the school’s performance against external comparators. These committees report back to the full governing body.

The Committees are:

  • Children & Learning which includes monitoring the attainment and progress of pupils, quality of learning, effectiveness of teaching and quality and effectiveness of the curriculum.
  • Business & Safety which includes overseeing the setting and management of the school budget, and ensuring the school meets its safeguarding and health and safety responsibilities. In addition, it supports the Headteacher and senior leadership team in their management of staffing strategy including wellbeing. 

We also have a standing panel for Headteacher Performance Management. 

Additionally, all Governors have individual responsibility for specific aspects relating to the school. These are called ‘link roles’ and twice yearly we undertake school visits to familiarise ourselves in these to a greater depth. We do this by talking to staff and pupils, and observing and participating in lessons (each governor is allocated a curriculum subject). 

Developing our skills and knowledge, and keeping them up to date, is very important to us.  Our governors and clerk regularly attend training provided by Strictly Education 4S and Better Governor.

Do visit our governor list to read our pen portraits for further details about us.

 

Full Governing Body meeting dates 2023-4

September 22nd 2023

December 1st 2023

March 15th 2024

April 26th 2024

July 12th 2024

 

The Governing Body has agreed that Full Governing Body meetings will be 'open'.  Open meetings are meetings to which members of the public, including school staff and parents, can request, in writing, to attend as observers.   Please email clerk@west-byfleet-junior.surrey.sch.uk or write c/o Clerk to the Governing Body, West Byfleet Junior School.

Open Meeting Protocol

1. Governing Body meetings are notified on the school website and through newsletters.

2.Requests to attend the meeting but be sent to the Clerk to the Governing Body no less than 14 days before the date of the meeting.

3.If there is sufficient capacity/space, an invitation will be sent by email 7 days before the meeting.

4. Anybody attending the meeting will be recorded as "in attendance".

5.Persons attending meetings do so at the invitation of the governing body as observers only and must agree to:

a)Not speak or in any way interrupt the meeting.

b)At the request of the Chair leave the meeting if any part is deemed by the governing body to be confidential.

c)Not record any part of the meeting electronically or in writing.

d)Return any papers at the end of the meeting.

7.Failure to abide by these expectations may result in an individual being asked to withdraw from the meeting and potentially be refused an invitation to future meetings.

Thank you for all your support.

Paul Hardwick
Acting Chair of the Governing Body

January 2024

Professional Negligence Statement:  Advice given by governors at West Byfleet Junior School is incidental to their professional expertise and is not being given in their professional capacity.