Governors

 

The Ogston Federation Governing Board Representing Morton Primary School  and Stretton Handley CE VC Primary School.

September 2021

In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing boards, the three core strategic functions of the Governing Board are:

• 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 performance management of staff.
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

Governance Arrangements

Following the Federation of Morton Primary School and Stretton Handley CE VC Primary School in September 2021 a new Instrument of Governance was established and the Governing Board is now made up of 15 Governors:

• LEA Representatives:  1
• Foundation Governors: 2
• Parents: 2
• Co-Opted Governors: 8
• Staff: 1
• Executive Headteacher: 1

DfE Governance Handbook states

 

In the case of a federation governing body, not only must they fulfil these functions for each individual school, they must also set, monitor and evaluate the strategic direction of the federation overall, ensuring the best possible outcomes and life chances for all the pupils. To manage this effectively, it is essential for the governing body to make the optimum use of the time available to them. Setting up the new governing body when the federation is established provides the ideal opportunity to focus on the elements that will make the governing body most effective in its own context. There is no one route to or set model for federation – there are many different combinations of school size, phase, type and location.

 

Skills and knowledge required that contribute to effective Governance and the success to the school:

• Knowledge of the school and local area
• Finance
• Personnel H/R
• Health and Safety
• Information Technology
• Buildings
• Communication
• Leadership and Decision Making 

 

How to contact your Governors:

Governors can be contacted by the following methods:

Morton Telephone: 01773 872360 - Stretton Telephone 01246 590418

Letter: Chair of Governors - Sam Watson, Morton Primary, Main Road, Morton, Alfreton, Derbyshire. DE55 6HH

             Chair of Governors - Margaret Gill, Stretton Handley, 19 Beresford Ln, Woolley Moor, Alfreton DE55 6FH

E-mail: info@morton.derbyshire.sch.uk  or info@strettonhandley.derbyshire.sch.uk 

 

 

Ogston Federation Governing Board 

 

Governor	Category of Governor	Date of appointment	Term of office	Committee	Specific area of responsibility
Kevin Flint	Executive Head Teacher	01/09/21	01/09/25	All	All
Lindsey Eyre	Parent	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress
Nick Morrissy	Parent	01/09/21	01/09/25	Finances & Resources
Margaret Gill	LEA Governor	01/09/21	01/09/25	Finances & Resources	Joint Chair - Stretton
Jo Forrest	Staff	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress
Jill Fox	Foundation	01/09/21	01/09/25	Finances & Resources	Safeguarding/Pupil Premium
Fran Roberts	Foundation	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress	SEND
Sam Watson	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	Finances & Resources	Joint Chair - Morton
Lisa Baines	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	Finances & Resources	SEND/Pupil Premium
Joanne Hardwick	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	Finances & Resources
Hayley Bramley	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress	Safeguarding/Sports Premium
Tina Chipp	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress	Safeguarding
Natasha Knight	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress
Liz Cooke	Co-Opted	01/09/21	01/09/25	School Improvement/ Pupil Progress
Ben Cooke	Associate	01/09/21	01/09/25		Sports Premium

 

Declaration of Interest

A declaration of interest is explained at the start of governor meetings where a person may be affected either financially or in some other way by a decision made at the meeting where he/she is present. In other words, any governor must withdraw from a decision from which he/she or a partner or close relative stands to gain or where he/she is too involved to be objective. This is then minuted at the meeting.

Governors also sign an annual declaration of conflicts of interest form at the first meeting each year.

 

Appointing Bodies

• Headteacher - by virtue of their position
• Staff - elected by school staff
• Parent - elected by parents
• Local Authority - nominated by the local authority
• Co-opted - appointed by the GB

 

Named Governors with specific responsibilities

Some governors will have specific areas of responsibility that they will report on to the FGB

 

Governor Visits

The governors visit the school as part of their involvement with SDP, Safeguarding and  other areas of Governance. Governors with specific responsibilities meet for regular reviews and updates and then present a report to the Full Governing Board. Governors regularly attend school open evenings, assemblies, presentations and information evenings including sports and musical events in order to engage with parents and seek their feedback. Furthermore, they actively seek opportunities for our children to be ambassadors for the school both within our community and further afield.

 

Declaration of Pecuniary & Personal Interest

All governors sign a declaration of pecuniary interest at the start of each year.

 

Dates of Meetings for the academic year 

 

Full Governing Board

29/09/21

w/c 24/01/22

w/c 29/05/22

w/c 11/07/22

School Improvement & Pupil Progress

w/c 13/12/21

w/c 04/04/22

07/07/22

Finance & Resources

12/10/21

08/11/21

21/03/22

28/03/22

09/05/22

 

School Improvement and Pupil Progress Committee

This committee is responsible for monitoring:

• The delivery of the National Curriculum
• Pupil Progress
• Quality of Education
• The SEND provision
• Pupil Premium
• Sports Premium
• Behaviour and attitudes

Finance and Resources Committee

This committee is responsible for:

• Agreeing and monitoring the school budget, including staffing and resource costs
• Monitoring systems that promote the health and safety of the pupils and staff within school
• Monitoring buildings and premises work carried out
• Monitoring the spending of grants, such as the Pupil Premium or Sports Premium funding
• Agreeing the Published Admission Number (PAN)
• Reviewing staffing structures and pay progression
• Monitoring staff and pupil absence
• Monitoring exclusions
• Monitoring behaviour
• Parental complaint

Governor Training 

Governors attended various training events as necessary to fulfil their roles and responsibilities including Safeguarding and GDPR. 

Attendance of meetings

A record is kept, by the clerk to the governing board, of governors’ attendance at meetings. Apologies for absence are presented to meetings for acceptance.

 

Attendance by Governors to all meetings is reviewed annually.

 

Data Analysis

Data is made available to governors through the Headteacher Report with verbal and written presentations followed by question and answer sessions with the Headteacher which includes scrutiny of the data from all year groups in order to heighten their awareness of focus groups and vulnerable areas, whilst maintaining governor knowledge.

 

Policies

Governors review all relevant policies on a scheduled basis to ensure that all guidance is current, relevant and up to date. Specific attention is paid to ensure that the school complies with the Department of Education mandatory policy list

 

Staff Recruitment

The Headteacher and a number of governors are trained in Safer Recruitment. Governors are involved in the recruitment and selection of all teaching staff and use the appointment process to ensure that high quality staff, who share the schools’ vision statement and aims, are appointed. Governors work hard to recruit quality teachers and leaders. They have considered a wide range of strategies to ensure that the right staff are appointed to drive forward the actions that are necessary to improve the school.

 

Financial Management

The governing body has been trained in School Finance management. The governors work with school staff to achieve 'The Schools Financial Value Standard and Assurance' (SFVS) on an annual basis. The impact of the governors’ role in the school ensures that the budget is well managed and improvements are effective and continuous. External audits confirm that finances are well managed.

 

Safeguarding

Governors take responsibility for ensuring that safeguarding arrangements meet current statutory requirements. They evaluate and review the annual safeguarding audit.

 

Strategic Planning for the future

Governors work co-operatively with the Headteacher and senior leaders in the writing and monitoring of the School Improvement Plan (SIP). The SIP details aims for the forthcoming year and is based on priorities identified from data, school self-evaluation and Ofsted priorities. The SIP lays out clear strategies and tasks, details who is responsible for carrying these out and the resources required. Monitoring procedures and tasks for the governing body are also included.

 

Wider Contribution of the Governing Board

The wider contribution of the Governing Board to the leadership and management of the school this year has involved:

• Monitoring Safeguarding and attending safeguarding briefings.
• Monitoring the current budget and approving the budget for 2018 -2019 including the allocation of Pupil Premium funding, Sports Premium funding and monitoring its impact.
• Reviewing a wide range of existing and new policies.
• Undertaking the performance management of the Headteacher.
• Monitoring regular updates on behaviour, attendance and SEND
• Monitoring new developments within the curriculum such as the continued development of Guided Reading
• Analysing a range of data sources and agreeing targets
• Monitoring the condition of the school building
• Approving various educational visits
• Being actively engaged in the Five Pits Partnership collaboration with all the schools that feed into Tibshelf Community School including the secondary school itself
• Engaging in Governor training
• Engagement in Curriculum Development Day