How does the Governing Body Operate?
As Shepherdswell school is in Federation with Eythorne Elvington school the Board of Governors has responsibility for both schools. The Board of Governors is made up of a number of different types of Governor. These different types of Governor result from the different ways Governors can be appointed (by Parents, Local Authority, Staff, Church etc) but all have the same powers and responsibilities. The Federation Governing body is made up of Governors who have been elected by electing bodies from both schools.
The Governing Body comprises 2 Parent Governors, 1 Staff Governors, the Head Teacher of each school, 4 Foundation Governors (one of whom is the local Rector), 1 Local Authority Governor and 7 Co-opted Governors.
Circle Model Of Governance
The Governing Body operates a circle model of governance where the governing body works as a 'whole team' without any committees, and meets once per term, and receives information from the Head Teachers on the running of the schools and the Federation. At these meetings the reports, new policies, targets and plans are reviewed and can be approved for action. In addition Governors will report back on any visits they have made to the school in relation to the School Improvement Plan during the prior term. This means that governors have up to date information regarding the school, and can offer timely support and challenge, as well as take action should the need arise.
Once a year the Governors, SLT and Teachers gather feedback on the progress of the school from all interested parties and meet to review the schools key strategic document – the School Improvement Plan (SIP). This document identifies the key areas for the Schools development over the next year and beyond.
The Strategy Group – comprising of the Head Teachers, Chair of governors and Vice-chair of Governors (as needed) meet once per term. This group looks at the short and long term strategy for each school and the Federation.
The Governors are also responsible for monitoring the performance of the school. This is done by gaining feedback from a range of sources including the Head Teacher, the Local Authority and Ofsted and by benchmarking performance against similar schools.