Great Wood School

Governors

Governor Code of Conduct

Great Wood Governors  Information, Committee Membership and Attendance 2022 -2023

Great Wood School Governors. The school governing body consists of 16 volunteers. The current constitution is made up of one governor elected by the local authority (L), three parent governors elected by the parents of pupils at the school (P), one staff governor elected by the staff at the school (S), ten co-opted governors elected by the Governing Body (C) and the school headteacher (H). The aim of the constituent design was to give flexibility to the governors to create a governing body where there is a range of skills and experiences that will challenge and support the school leadership to maximise standards and development. When co-opting governors, the results of a skills audit is considered along with any danger of an imbalance from anyone group (e.g. those with an education background, parents, direct relationship with the school.)

All governors are elected to serve for four years before they have to apply for re-election.

Governors work as a team. They are responsible for making sure the school provides a good quality education for all pupils. Raising educational standards in school is a key priority. This has the best chance of happening when there are high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Governors promote effective ways of teaching and learning when setting the school aims and policies. They do this together with the head teacher, who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school. Head teachers are recruited and selected by governors. The governing board’s main role is to help raise pupils’ standards of achievement.

The Governing Board:

• is accountable for the performance of the school to parents and the wider community
• plans the school’s future direction 
• selects the head teacher 
• makes decisions on the school’s budget and staffing including the performance management policy 
• makes sure the agreed Curriculum is well taught
• decides how the school can encourage pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development 
• makes sure the school provides for all pupils including those with special needs

Governors are at the heart of how a school operates. It’s important they get things right. How they do their job effects the interests of pupils, staff and the reputation of the school in the community. Governors support and challenge head teachers by gathering views, asking questions and discussing what’s best for the school. They are not there to rubber stamp decisions. They have to be prepared to give and take advice and must be loyal to decisions taken by the governing board as a whole. As long as they act within the law and take appropriate advice, governors are protected from any financial liability for the decisions they take.