The Role of the Governing Body

Our Governing Body:
• Sets the broad strategy for the school's development.
• Is accountable to those who fund the school, the parents and the wider community.
• Must act in accordance with the requirements laid down in Acts of Parliament, statutory regulations and the school's Instrument of Government.
• Must at all times act fairly and without prejudice.

Meet the Governors

The Structure of our Governing Body

The Full Governing Body of Barons Court Primary School and Nursery meets at least once a term. Much of the work takes place in meetings of smaller groups of governors, which concentrate on managing specific areas of the school linked to school improvement.

These smaller groups which also meet at least once a term are the:

Teaching and Learning Committee - (Jessica daSilva, Julia Jones, Debbie Docherty, Jan Grover, Alex Thornton, Sian Ovel, James Hargreaves, Stuart Cockling and Esther Elegbede)     

Chair: Debbie Docherty

Personnel, Pay and CPD Committee -  (Personnel and Pay - Jessica daSilva, Julia Jones and Debbie Docherty; CPD - Esther Elegbede, James Hargreaves and Jan Grover) 

Chair: Jessica daSilva

Finance/Premises Committee -  (Julia Jones, Jessica daSilva,  Alex Thornton , Sian Ovel, Stuart Cockling - joined by Alison Overton: Finance Manager)     

Chair: Sian Ovel (Finance) Alex Thornton (Premises)

Each of these committees have a defined role to support school improvement. Governors are all volunteers, and the numbers and types of governors are set out in the Instrument of Government for the school. The composition of the Governing Body reflects a wide range of groups in the community. The Governing Body has a business of interest register which is reviewed and updated termly.

Timetable of Meetings 2018-2019

Full Governing Body meetings

Governors Information Board

Following parental feedback we are pleased to see that many of our parents find the information provided by our Governors on their role and work highly beneficial. We will continue to use our newsletters for regular updates on the work of our Governing Body. Please see the welcome from our Chair of Governors below:

“I would like to introduce myself as the Chair of Governors.  I have been a Governor for 12 years now and was the Vice Chair of Governors for a year before becomg the Chair of Governors. I have been working in the school kitchen as a volunteer  and both of my children have attended the school.

I am proud and excited to be working with an enthusiastic team of governors who are striving to ensure high standards of achievement for all the children in our school, so that each child leaves the school emotionally and academically ready for the challenges of secondary school.  

As Governors we have 3 main roles:-

• Helping to set the school’s vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

We have continued to re-structure the governing body to try to make it even more effective and focused on the areas that have been identified for development. We will be reporting to parents regularly through the newsletter and via the website, as well as through the parent council where governors, the headteacher and parent representatives will work on school projects in line with school development plans. Look out for more updates coming soon.”

Jessica da Silva – Chair of Governors

Governor Feedback

Welcome back to everyone in the school community for the last term of the academic year. The year seems to be flying by and I know this term your diaries will be crammed with many exciting school events.

At the end of last term, the governing body met and reviewed progress against the school’s priorities for the year. We received reports covering all areas of school development and had a chance to ask challenging questions to ensure that the headteacher and senior leaders are held to account. Safeguarding is always a top priority and this is rigorously monitored by staff and governors and reported on at this meeting.

We also reviewed the school’s financial position, including the 2019/20 budget plan and the three year budget forecast. The school is continuing to focus on effective budgeting, scrutiny and income generation where possible to help enhance all of the learning experiences of the children.

For the second half of our meeting we investigated the implementation of the wider curriculum within the school. We had a chance to take a learning walk through the school focused on the breadth and depth of the curriculum. We were able to question teachers and pupils on the quality of provision and on their progress and learning experiences.

We were impressed with the confidence and awareness of children across all aspects of the curriculum and we will continue to monitor further developments.

As always, I would like to extend a big thank you to parents and carers for your continued support of your child’s learning, and of the work of the school and I look forward to sharing with you at some of the special assemblies and events planned this term.

Mrs Jessica da Silva, Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Teaching and Learning Committee.

The Teaching and Learning Committee met on Wednesday, 19 June 2019.  This committee meets once a term and covers a wide range of topics including monitoring academic performance and reviewing the overall curriculum and teaching and learning policy at Barons Court.

The main purpose of this meeting was to receive an important update from the Headteacher on the new Ofsted School Inspection Handbook, published in May 2019. This document outlines how schools are now to be judged by Ofsted Inspectors under a range of headings such as Quality of Education, Personal Development, Behaviour and Attitudes.  Mrs Jones highlighted the proposed changes and how they will affect our school.  The Governors were impressed with how the Senior Leadership Team and teachers are already designing and planning next year’s curriculum to ensure we are meeting these new changes and to ensure your children continue to receive an exciting, challenging curriculum next year.

As this is the last Teaching and Learning Committee Meeting of this academic year, the Governors spent time reviewing the school’s strategic planning processes and considering the format of next year’s School Development Plan. 

The Governors would like to thank all members of staff for their hard work and positive contribution to the planning and development of the curriculum for next year and for their hard work throughout this academic year in ensuring amazing learning experiences for all of your children. Once again we would also like to thank you as parents for your continued support - it has been another fantastic year!

Debbie Docherty, Vice Chair of Governors.

Feedback from the Finance and Premises Governor Committee

The Finance and Premises Committee covers a wide range of topics. Oversight of the school’s finances and ensuring the school premises are being well maintained and fit for purpose are crucial jobs undertaken by the Governing Body.  The committee meets at least once a term and most recently on 7^th June 2019. At this meeting we reviewed the school’s budget for the current financial year.

A vast amount of work goes into ensuring that this is accurate, realistic and sustainable and we would like to thank Mrs Jones and the Mrs Overton for the comprehensive detail provided. As a Governing Body we continue to closely monitor income and expenditure. We compare and benchmark it with other schools both locally and nationally, ensuring that we are using our resources to best effect and that we, at all times, are focused on achieving the best outcomes for the children. The majority of our budget at Barons Court is spent on staff, as we strongly believe they are our greatest asset and make such a difference to the experiences of all of our children.

It was noted that the processes in place to ensure the school adheres to GDPR regulations are thorough and detailed.

We reviewed a recent report from the Local Authority covering the health and safety of the whole school site.  It showed the school to be well-maintained with a robust system of health and safety checks. 

The committee also reviewed the school’s asset register and found that staff adhere to the processes in place and spot checks show that items of school property are fully accounted for.

The committee will meet again in the Autumn Term.

Siân Ovel – Chair of the Finance Committee

Governor Feedback

Firstly, I would like to wish a warm welcome from the governors to all new families starting at Barons Court this term, and a welcome back to the families who are returning.

There are lots of exciting new challenges ahead this year and everyone in the school community has started the year with energy and enthusiasm!

Recently the governing body had their first meeting of the new academic year and discussed the school’s current priorities. Every year, the governing body re-structures its committees to ensure that we are focused on these priorities. One of the priorities will be reading with a particular focus on broadening vocabulary so look out for parent workshops and tips and strategies that you can use at home to help children build their word banks.

The two committees to come out of this restructuring are Teaching and Learning which monitors standards of teaching and outcomes across the broader curriculum, and another committee which looks at Personnel, Pay and Continuing Professional Development of staff and governors. There are committees still on-going which monitor other crucial areas such as Finance and Premises.

At Wednesday’s meeting we also discussed the strong outcomes achieved by pupils across the school last year and we congratulate all pupils and staff for their hard work that led to these outcomes. The pupils continue to build on the strong foundations laid both at school and at home and we thank you too as parents and carers for your continued support of your child’s learning, and of the work of the school in enabling every child to reach their full potential.

Mrs Jessica da Silva – Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Personnel and Professional Development Governor Committee Meeting

The Personnel, Pay and CPD Committee met on Wednesday 8 May. The main focus of this committee is to review the school’s personnel issues and it is a priority, at this time of year, for the governors to meet with the Headteacher to look at the projected staffing needs within the school to ensure the best educational experiences for all of the children next year.

The Governors met with a number of staff from all areas of the school: catering, LSA, teacher, play leader, premises team, and the office,  to ask them about their well-being and the projects the school have implemented this year. The feedback from this was extremely positive and all staff clearly have a dedicated commitment to ensure the very best of themselves and the work of the school.

There was a discussion about CLIC funding.  CLIC is not financed from the school budget and funding has to be found from alternative sources through funding grants and bids which at present the school is actively seeking. The governors, along with the wider community of our school identified the valuable purpose of the work of CLIC within our local community and are committed to sourcing further funding to ensure the facilities we offer can be continued to be offered next year.

Staff have attended a range of training throughout the year both online and face to face as workshops, twilight sessions or day conferences.  There are also opportunities for staff to visit other schools and to take staff meetings based on training they have undertaken so that information is disseminated through the staff. 

The Headteacher talked about CPLD that has been arranged through the Teaching School Alliance.

The governors thanked the staff and headteacher for all their hard work in ensuring that all children at our school continue to receive an exciting curriculum and enjoy all the learning experiences on offer.

Jan Grover  (Chair Personnel ,Pay & CPD Committee)

Feedback from the Finance and Premises Committee

The Finance and Premises Committee covers a wide range of topics. Oversight of the school’s finances and ensuring the school premises are being well maintained and fit for purpose are crucial jobs undertaken by the governing body.

The committee meets at least once a term and most recently on 19th October 2018. At this meeting we reviewed the school’s budget for the current financial year, and for the two subsequent years.

A vast amount of work goes into ensuring that this is accurate, realistic and sustainable and we would like to thank the staff for the level of detail which is provided. As a governing body we continue to closely monitor income and expenditure. We compare it with other schools both locally and nationally, ensuring that we are using our resources to best effect and that we, at all times, are focused on achieving the best outcomes for the children. Most of our budget at Barons Court is spent on staff as they are our greatest asset and make such a difference to the experiences of all of our children.

It was noted that the Barons Court Fundraising Committee have been very proactive in raising funds for the school to enhance the teaching and learning experience for the pupils. We are truly fortunate to have the support of the families of Barons Court and the Governors would like to extend a huge thank you to the Fundraising Committee who do such a brilliant job.

The Health and Safety Governor advised that he had conducted a comprehensive monitoring visit of the whole school site. He said the premises team were very efficient and that there was a well-maintained system of health and safety checks.

The committee also reviewed the schools accessibility plan and found that Mrs Jones and the premises team continue to ensure that the school remains accessible to all pupils and visitors.

The committee will meet again in the Spring Term.

Siân Ovel – Chair of the Finance Committee

Feedback from the Personnel, Pay and CPD Committee Meeting

The Personnel, Pay and CPD Committee met on Wednesday, 31st October. The main focus of this committee is to review the school’s personnel and professional development opportunities.

The staffing structure of teaching, support and CLIC staff were reviewed along with the role of governors within the staffing structure of the school.

Governors received feedback from two members of staff about their on going external professional development. They were asked about how this impacted on their skills and the wider work of the school and both felt that this opportunity has been well received and is already impacting on the experiences and outcomes for children. Mrs Jones also updated Governors on the Teaching Alliance CPLD opportunities and the impact this would have on staff development across both our own school and the wider community.

The Governors thanked all members of staff for their dedication and commitment to the benefit of the pupils again this term.

Jan Grover - Chair of CPD Working Party