A message from the Chair of Governors Dave Crane
As Chair of Governors at Goldfield Infants’ and Nursery School, I am pleased to welcome you to the Governance Section of our website.
As Governors, we are extremely proud to be part of the local community and are fully committed to working with Miss Cooper, the staff, our pupils and parents/carers to ensure that we keep encouraging our pupils to inspire each other, believe in themselves and succeed in all areas of life. This page provides a summary of who the Governing Body are and what they do. If you would like to find out more about the Governing Body, please get in touch with the school office.
The governing body, together with Miss Cooper, our headteacher, is responsible for the overall governance of the school ensuring that it is run efficiently and effectively to provide the very best education for our children. In brief, our role is as follows:
Setting the strategic direction of the school ensuring its vision and ethos are met;
Developing, monitoring and challenging the School Development Plan to ensure standards are met and holding the headteacher to account for the performance of the school and our pupils;
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and ensuring its money is well spent and our finances are well managed.
Governors provide their time on a voluntary basis and the governing body is made up of representatives of school staff, parents and the Local Authority. They bring a range of interests, knowledge and skills to the school, but most importantly have a desire to see the school and our pupils thrive. You can find out more about all our Governors here.
The Full Governing Body meets once a term to discuss and review many areas, including: School budget, school policies, Headteacher’s termly report and progress against the school’s development plan. There are also three main committees which meet at least termly covering staffing, curriculum, and finance & premises.
In addition, our Governors all champion specific areas of school improvement, e.g. Teaching and Learning, Pupil Outcomes, Early Years, SEND, Curriculum, Safeguarding, Attendance and Wellbeing. Each term our Governors will monitor these areas and provide a report to the FGB for discussion.
Goldfield has an ambitious strategic plan, developed by the Senior Leadership Team and Governors, committed to ensuring every child reaches their full potential. Among our key priorities are: High Quality Teacher, Wellbeing, Community and Inclusion, Financial Stability, Development of Premises, Environment & Infrastructure. You can read more about our priorities here.
We are always keen to seek the views of parents, so please can and chat if you see us in the school or at any school event. Alternatively, please contact me directly through the school office. If you are interested in becoming a Governor, please talk to the school office. We welcome people with skills and expertise in particular fields, but the most important thing is having the time and willingness to work with the school to make it as good as it possibly can be.
Meetings and Activities
The Governing Body meets as a whole group four or five times a year. There are also three main committees which meet at least termly covering staffing, curriculum, and finance & premises. Governors also become involved in short term working groups to look at specific projects, for example the school travel plan or the healthy schools initiative. A committee has recently been set up to develop sustainable schools policies. Governors also help in various ways in the school, make visits to the school and attend a variety of school events.
A Governor’s time commitment is significant and they have a number of meetings throughout the year. They have six full Governing Body meetings and six committee meetings each year. All Governors belong to one Committee, either:
Resources
The Resources Committee works with the head teacher and senior leadership team to monitor the financial health of the school. We evaluate the school budget and look at premises, health & safety and staffing. We ensure both financial and staff resources are used in a way that maximise benefits for the pupils. The Resources
Committee advises the Full Governor Body on all topics relevant to staff and welfare at the school. We ensure we are supporting best practice, and complying with the legal requirements in the recruitment, deployment, retention, development and welfare for all school staff.
To ensure consistency, the governing body make decisions as a ‘body’, never as an individual.
Learning Matters
The Learning Matters Committee works with the school leaders on the curriculum intent, implementation and impact. We ensure that the school development plan ambitions are in line with the school’s vision, and they ensure first quality teaching for all of our pupils. We consider, monitor and review the wellbeing initiatives in place for our pupils and staff and ensure that we have processes in place for optimum wellbeing at our school.
Anyone can become a Governor, some of our Governors work full-time, some part-time, and others are not in paid employment, but they all share one thing – a commitment to the children at Goldfield Infants’ & Nursery School today and in the future. We welcome people with skills and expertise in particular fields, but the most important thing is having the time and willingness to work with the school to make it as good as it possibly can be.