The Governing Body
The school is controlled by what the Government calls an “Instrument of Governance” which sets out the constitution under which the school is governed by its governing body.
We have 12 governors on the governing body and are lucky that so many people want to be involved in school and become governors. Three must be parents of children who are either in school or attended the school during their terms on the governing body. This gives parents a great deal of involvement in the school’s development.
Two are members of staff, Mrs Rune Duncan who is our Headteacher plus one other member of staff, Mrs Joanne Aveyard.
One governor is appointed by the Local Authority, Dr Sue Pope.
Seven are called Foundation Governors of which four are appointed by the PCC; two by Blackburn Diocese Board of Education and the Vicar.
The Foundation Governors are Mr Peter Milston (parent of former pupil), Mr Andrew Bulloch, Rev Gary Lewis, Mrs Margaret Stainton, Mrs Wendy Harrison and Mr Patrick Tostevin. We currently have one vacancy.
The two parent governors are governors that parents would be most likely to see and they are Mrs Leonie Walls and (position currently vacant).
The governors are elected for a period of four years and they can be re-elected if they wish to stand again.
The Chair and Vice-Chair of Governors are elected by other governors and they stay in office also for four years and can stand again for election.
There are three full governing body meetings in a year,one per term. At the full governing body meetings they ratify matters that have occurred at any sub-committee meetings.
We have many sub-committees and they meet three times a year or more often if needed. The main committees are Premises Health & Safety, Curriculum, Finance and Standards & Effectiveness.
What to Governors do?
The Department for Education wants governors to act in a non-executive role like a board of directors would in a public company and new rules and regulations came into force about school governance in 2013. The governors are accountable to Ofsted for their effectiveness and should school have an inspection they would also be interviewed by Ofsted. The governing body all work closely with the Headteacher and hold her to account for:
- Driving up the educational performance of the school;
- The vision and direction of the school;
- Ensuring the financial resources are well spent.
It is the governing body that appoints the Headteacher and staff.