Governors

Our Aims and Accountability

1 Purpose

Our purpose is to support and challenge the school to provide the best possible education for its pupils. We have three statutory strategic functions:

to ensure the school has clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
to hold the Headteachers to account for the educational performance of the school, and for the performance management of staff;
to oversee the financial performance of the school to ensure its money is spent well.

Ofsted judges our effectiveness by reference to these functions. It uses The School Inspection Handbook to consider how well we:

carry out the three statutory duties and understand the boundaries of our roles
support the school in preparing the children for life in Britain and ensure it promotes respect for people of differing beliefs, cultures and lifestyles
ensure the school’s clarity of vision, ethos and strategic planning
contribute to the school’s self-evaluation and understand its strengths and weaknesses
understand data about the pupils, particularly the data dashboard, and ensure the school acts upon the information it shows
assure ourselves of the rigour of the assessment process
are aware of the impact teaching has on learning and progress in different subjects and year groups
challenge and hold the Headteachers and other leaders to account for improving the quality of teaching, pupils’ achievement and pupils’ behaviour and safety, and that we do not hinder school improvement by failing to tackle key concerns or by not developing our own skills
ensure the school uses the pupil premium and other resources to overcome barriers to learning
ensure solvency and probity and that the financial resources made available to the school are managed effectively
monitor performance management systems and understand how the school makes decisions about teachers’ salary progression
are accountable, including in terms of recruitment of staff, governance structures, attendance at meetings, and contact with parents and carers.

2 Accountability and Responsibility

We are accountable to:

the children
their parents and guardians
the Local Education Authority
the wider community.

Together with the Headteachers we bear overall responsibility for determining the aims and conduct of the school, deciding how it should develop, and approving policies and procedures which support that development. This strategic responsibility means that we:

seek a shared understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses
assist in the planning and agenda for school improvement
self-evaluate, so that we can ably plan further development
monitor school performance through school visits, meetings with subject leaders and examination of pupil data
use external reports about the school to drive improvement
endeavour to reflect the views of parents and the wider community by engaging with them
ensure we understand the school and confirm that our strategic aims are being met by spending time on site during the school day in order to build and refresh our knowledge.

To this end governors serve for a term of four years. We meet as a Full Governing Body twice a term, plus each committee, Resources and Curriculum meet twice a term, we also have Pay committees and Head Teacher Performance Review committees, plus adhoc parents committees, all committees report back to the Full Governing Body.

Volunteering as a School Governor

Reasons to volunteer
Being a school governor means being interested in getting the best education for the pupils at the school. Governors can become involved in a range of school matters, which can include recruitment, finance and curriculum. They also provide a strong link between the school and the local community, and an independent view to support the school on long term development and improvement.

Governing bodies meet on at least a termly basis and governors are also expected to get to know their schools through visits. There are a range of training opportunities available to help governors undertake their duties and develop their understanding of the key areas of school management.

Please click on this link for more information about volunteering to be a school governor.

Governor Attendance Record 2022 – 2023

FGB Meeting Dates 2023-2024

Governors Statement of Behaviour Principles

Governors
Name	Governor Category	Appointing Body & Date of Appointment	Term of Office Expiry Date	Position Held	Register of Interests
Ron Harman	Chair of Governors	Governing Body 01.03.2023	28.02.2027	Online Safety & GDPR HTPM Committee
Vicki Clarke	Parent	Election 26.01.2022	25.01.2026	Safeguarding Governor
Emily Cole	Co-Opted Governor	Governing Body		SEND/LAC/Pupil Welfare/Diversity PHSCE and RSE
Odele Davies	Headteacher	Headteacher 2.09.2017		Associate Headteacher
Claire Edwards	Parent	Election 26.01.2023	31.01.2027	Attendance and Behaviour
Alex Emery	Staff	Staff Election 21.09.2021	20.09.2025	Development and Training Governor Website	Mengham Junior employee
Garath Greaves	Co-Opted	Governing Body 26.03.2023	26.03.2027	Health & Safety/Annual Site Survey Internal Control Checks Pay Committee
Governors who have resigned in the last 12 months
Peter Griffiths	Chair of Governors	Governing Body 10.09.2022 Resigned 23.01.2024	20.09.2025	Governor for Allegations against the Head Teacher SEND/LAC/Pupil Welfare/Diversity	Grandfather of two children in Y3 & Y6.
Johanna Birch	Vice-Chair	Governing Body 17.10.2022 Resigned 24.10.2023	16.10.2026	Attendance & Behaviour Pay Committee	Community Fridge co-ordinator. OSCA Childcare Limited.

CODE OF CONDUCT – MENGHAM JUNIOR SCHOOL GOVERNING BODY