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:

Curriculum and Pupil Outcomes Committee - (Julia Jones, Debbie Docherty, Jan Grover, Alex Thornton, James Hargreaves, Esther Elegbede, Samantha Delaney and Nick O'Connor)    Chair: James Hargreaves

Resources Committee - (Julia Jones, Debbie Docherty,  Alex Thornton and Esther Elegbede) Chair: Debbie Docherty

Performance and Pay Committee -  (Jan Grover, Julia Jones and Debbie Docherty) 

Chair: Jan Grover

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 2022-2023

Full Governing Body meetings

Governors Information Board

Feedback from the Full Governors Meeting - Friday 27th January 2023

At this first meeting of 2023, the morning was dedicated to Governor monitoring of the maths provision in the school.  The maths subject lead, Mrs Williams, provided an update on the implementation of the White Rose Maths teaching scheme and an overview of the resources used to support the delivery of the curriculum and the implementation of the new calculation policy through the Autumn Term. A learning walk took place throughout the school focusing on the delivery of White Rose maths within Phases 2, 3 and 4, also the Maths Mastery programme within the Nursery. Children were confident in explaining their learning and they demonstrated clear evidence of progression particularly within number.  A ‘book view’ was undertaken and it could be seen that children have the opportunity to write formal calculation methods. Children were then welcomed to join the meeting and provided a demonstration of Numbots and Times Tables Rock Stars, along with the new Times Tables Challenges that have been introduced within the school.  This enabled the Governors to check the children’s learning experience and, indeed, the morning provided a strong, clear overview of the school’s ongoing work to enhance the outcomes within maths at the end of the current academic year.
In the afternoon, the agenda focused on the Governors’ review of progress made on the school’s Self Evaluation and Development Plan, with reference to the Headteacher’s Report for the Autumn Term.  The Governors, who had submitted detailed questions on these documents prior to the meeting, were able to talk through with the Headteacher her responses and discuss any additional matters arising from the discussions.  In particular, we discussed the importance of strong attendance as this is a key priority of the school . We have revised the attendance strategy, along with an updating of the Attendance Policy to bring it in line with the new attendance Code of Conduct. All parents are asked to be aware of the changes and to support the school in the drive to maintain high levels of attendance.
The Governors would like to thank all staff for their continued inspiration and dedication to ensure that the curriculum is being delivered in a broad and engaging way across the school. We wish you all a lovely half term break.
                                                                                                       Mrs Debbie Docherty - Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Autumn Term Meeting of the Curriculum and Outcomes Committee -

Friday 7th December 2022

This Committee meets every term and has a vital role to play in making sure every child gets the best education at Barons Court. Our priorities this term have included the curriculum provision for all children, their outcomes and the well-being of all stakeholders. The Headteacher provided an overview and training on the significance of the schools 2021-22 assessment data and how the information can be used to help scrutinise current data when it is presented at the Full Governing Body meeting in January 2023. The committee also received a report on their recent Governor Monitoring of Wellbeing and CPD. The feedback was extremely positive across all staff and it was shared that staff are engaging in professional reading and the sharing of insights from research at meetings to encourage best practice and innovation. Another highlight of the day included hearing an update from the Deputy Head Teacher on the enquiry based curriculum. Governors reviewed the process of assessment and how this feeds into the current data provided to them at the Full Governing Body meetings. The new floorbooks were presented to the Governors and it was explained how they provide a snapshot of learning against each enquiry question. This was followed by a Learning Walk to see maths teaching and experience the enquiry curriculum within a real life context. The Governors received a presentation from pupils where they confidently talked about their maths experiences. They explained their learning and the use of calculations in problem solving contexts. They all enjoyed their maths lessons and said that their teachers provided them with opportunities for challenge. This is the last meeting before the Christmas holidays and the Governors would like to send everyone Seasons Greetings and to thank them for their hard work and commitment to ensuring that pupils get the best possible education at Barons Court.

Debbie Docherty – Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Autumn Term Meeting of the Performance and Pay Committee Meeting 20th October 2022

The Performance and Pay Committee met to receive an update on the school’s Pay Policy 2022-2023 and to review and approve the implementation of the annual review for pay and progression for teaching staff where the Headteacher provided the context.  The Governors have been informed of the decision making process and this has been factored into the school budget. 

There is a robust appraisal process for 2022-2023 where all staff are assessed against their objectives for the year, the teaching standards and overall performance. Following discussion, the Governors approved the annual pay review for teaching staff.

                                                      Debbie Docherty, Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Resources Committee – Wednesday 12th October 2022

The main purpose of the meeting on the 12th October was to review the school’s financial position and a presentation was given by the school’s Finance Officer. This included a comparison between the budget for the current financial year and the actual figures.

The budget was found to be largely on track however it was noted that, there are upward pressures, particularly on the cost of food and energy. The school’s energy costs are being closely monitored and the school is committed to finding value for money wherever possible.  It was noted that the new minibus was enabling considerable savings to be made on school trips and swimming which all of the children are enjoying.

Various other matters were also discussed at the meeting including a new Health and Safety assessment system, personnel matters and asset management within the school.

Andrew Scales – Chair of the Resources Committee

Feedback from the Full Governing Body Meeting – Friday 23^rd September 2022

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

This academic years first meeting of the Full Governing Body is an important meeting to review the outcomes for the past year and to set the agenda for the coming year.  The business of electing Chair and Vice Chair confirmed myself as Chair and James Hargreaves as Vice Chair for the forthcoming year. We are lucky to be supported by a full governing body who agreed their committee memberships and areas of responsibility in order to make best use of their expertise for the school this year.

The governors were thrilled to be presented with the summary of outcomes for last year which were strong in all areas of the curriculum. This is a fantastic achievement considering the obstacles that had to be overcome following the return to school after the pandemic.  We wish to say a big thank you to all involved; staff, parents and carers  and pupils for all your support and hard work. Following this, we discussed the School Development Plan for the coming year and took a tour around the school to witness how the new approach to Hygge is producing a calm, reflective learning environment, where children can enjoy their learning.

So again, a big thank you to our parents and carers for all your support for the school and I look forward to seeing people at events over the coming year.  

Debbie Docherty, Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Full Governing Body Meeting – Friday 15th July 2022

This lively, well attended meeting was the last of the full governing body meetings for this academic year. We were pleased to welcome our new Governors to a packed agenda where the main focus was hearing from the Headteacher about our progress, this year, against the School’s Development Plan.  It is pleasing to note that the new Governors are already making a positive contribution through use of their expertise and applying a fresh eye to raise standards and manage resources effectively.  It is heartening to see that, moving into next year, we have such a talented and motivated team of Governors to support the Headteacher and school. Due to the continuing presence of COVID, it has been a challenging year for both pupils and staff at Barons Court and it is pleasing to note that we have, despite this year’s challenges, ensured strong outcomes for pupils across our school. The Governors expressed their sincere gratitude for the efforts made by everyone at school to ensure that all pupils are given the best opportunities to succeed.    Mrs Jones answered the Governors’ detailed questions from her report and we looked at themes for next year to aid our strategic planning. Attendance will continue to be a priority, as good attendance is linked to pupil success and, to achieve this, your support remains invaluable.  We also spent time planning our Governor monitoring sessions for next year as these programmes are key to helping us understand how the curriculum is designed and delivered at Barons Court.  Other agenda items included receiving various reports, such as the Sports Funding Grant Report, Pupil Premium Impact Report and the SEND Information Report. The plans for next year’s club offer were also discussed and the residential visits for next year were confirmed. A big thank you to our parents and carers for all your support for the school this year and, again, to all staff for their hard work and dedication to providing excellent learning opportunities for all the children at Barons Court.

Debbie Docherty, Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Curriculum and Outcomes Committee - Wednesday 8th June 2022

We were pleased to welcome two new Parent Governors, to this terms meeting.  As Governors, our role is to support and challenge the Headteacher by gathering views, asking questions and discussing the next steps for the school.  Governors are required to play an active part in the decision making process of the school, getting involved in real issues - we do not merely ‘rubber stamp’ decisions. This week, we were paid a visit by our external School Support Partner, whose role is to support the Headteacher in evaluating the performance of the school. He dropped into our meeting to check that, as Governors, we are carrying out our function effectively. He asked us a variety of probing questions about our work and was complimentary of the work of the school and the Governing Body.  Another highlight of the meeting included hearing an account of the Reading Monitoring which was recently carried out by the Governors. This extended the Governors’ understanding of how reading is delivered across  the school through input from the subject leader and seeing a variety of strategies employed in class.  The Pupil Leadership Team visited the meeting to tell Governors about the projects they had undertaken to support reading in school such as reorganising the Library and the very successful Book Festival which included a week of activities and a visit from an author, Gareth P Jones. The Governors were impressed with the pupils’ confidence in reading aloud and their ability to discuss books with us. The pupils certainly passed on their passion for books and reading to the committee. It has, yet again, been a challenging year as we come out of the pandemic and the meeting closed with the Governors wanting to pass on their thanks to all staff for their support for pupils and the hard work and dedication that goes into ensuring that all pupils receive the best possible education at Barons Court.  

Debbie Docherty – Chair Curriculum and Outcomes Committee

Feedback from the Resources Committee - Wednesday 22nd June  2022

On Wednesday 22nd June, the Resources Committee of the Governing Body met. They received a presentation from a National Governance Leader on benchmarking our schools income and expenditure against similar schools from across the country. This training gave rise to a conversation around value for money, procurement and other financial matters which will support our school further in the new academic year. The committee received and reviewed financial information from the current financial year and ensured that all expenditure was within budget and following forecast for the coming year. 
The Governors also reviewed all current health and safety policies, analysed planned maintenance and repairs to be completed in the summer holiday and beyond. 

Alex Thornton - Chair of the Resources Committee
 

Feedback from the Resources Committee – Wednesday 16th March 2022

The Governors’ Resources Committee meet termly to be given an update from the school’s Finance Manager and Headteacher regarding the in-year budget, health and safety, personnel matters and the asset management within the school.   The main focus of this meeting was to review the 2022-2023 budget which was approved and will be submitted to the Local Authority for final evaluation. The three-year budget forecast was also approved for submission to the Local Authority.   A robust Asset Management Plan was mapped to the budget to ensure the maintenance and upkeep of the school’s buildings and projects, such as improvements to the playground and outside learning spaces, were approved. The Autumn Term Health and Safety Audit, which was compliant and in line with Local Authority and statutory HSE practices, was presented to the Governors.   Current staffing structures were  also reviewed to ensure appropriate levels of staff are maintained and there is a continued focus on staff wellbeing.   The committee devoted time to reviewing the outcomes of the staff annual survey and they heard of the measures being taken to support staff and pupils  as we all adjust to life post COVID.   
                                                                                                     Debbie Docherty - Chair of Governors