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 - (Jessica daSilva, Julia Jones, Debbie Docherty, Jan Grover, Alex Thornton, James Hargreaves, Jane Cross, Jillian Robinson and Esther Elegbede)     

Chair: Debbie Docherty

Resources Committee - (Jessica daSilva, Julia Jones, Debbie Docherty,  Alex Thornton and Jane Cross) Chair: Jane Cross

Performance and Pay Committee -  (Jessica daSilva, Julia Jones and Debbie Docherty) 

Chair: Jessica daSilva

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 2020-2021

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 and school website  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 14 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 - look out for more updates coming soon.”

Jessica da Silva – Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Governors Curriculum and Outcomes Committee - Friday 5th March 2021.

The focus of this committee is to ensure that every child gets the best possible education at Barons Court and the Governors would like to acknowledge the tremendous effort made by everyone: leaders, teachers, support staff, parents and pupils to ensure that this has happened during the recent school closure period.  It has been a challenging and worrying time for those involved with home schooling, so many thanks are due to all for their hard work in supporting and educating the children at home. The focus of our recent meeting was to receive information about the curriculum offer and the systems in place for the full opening of the school on the 8th March, with the main emphasis being placed on the emotional health and wellbeing of both pupils and staff.  The Governors heard that the curriculum focus will be on learning outside as much as possible, in response to feedback from the pupils themselves. 

The Risk Assessment for the full opening of the school was shared with the Governors who were impressed with the attention to detail in the document. The Headteacher outlined the systems devised to mitigate any risks. Now that pupils are returning to school, an ‘at home learning curriculum’ has been placed on the website to ensure a consistent approach for all pupils, should they have to self-isolate or if a bubble has to close.

The meeting closed after Governors received a report from the Year 6 Pupil Mentors on their work during the Autumn and Spring terms.  The Headteacher advised that a ‘Be Kinder Project’ will be launched and run over the next year by the Pupil Mentors and will be the legacy of  the COVID - 19 pandemic  experienced by us all.  

Debbie Docherty – Chair Curriculum and Outcomes Committee

Feedback from Full Governing Body - Friday 29th January 2021

Well, this year really hasn’t started as any of us would have wanted but I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and well and you are finding ways to cope day by day with the current situation. I wanted first and foremost to say a huge thankyou to the Barons Court team for the absolutely tireless work of leading the school through these very difficult months. It is very humbling to realise that it has been nearly a year that leaders, teachers, support staff, parents and pupils have had to deal with constantly changing parameters, managing both onsite and home provision, with rapidly changing information and guidance. Staff have been educators, caretakers, mediators and tech trouble-shooters at times. The well-being of the school community has been the absolute priority but it has also been exciting to look forward to future developments and plans. Your children have an exciting curriculum ahead of them to explore in the coming months and teachers are working hard to make sure this can be equally accessed by those at home and those at school. Governors met last week to discuss the School’s Development Plan for the year including catch up plans to plug any gaps in learning and to move forward to help every child achieve their full potential. Last term we undertook some monitoring and will be doing so again in the coming weeks to understand the experiences of the school community. Governors spoke to pupils and staff and I was lucky enough to talk to some parents who were incredibly open and helpful and it really gave us as a Governing Body some useful information to aid in the school’s continued care for its pupils, families and staff. I know that the last year has been a challenging and anxious time for families and I would like to recognise the hard work of parents and carers in trying to support and supervise children’s learning while at home. Your patience and adaptability have been a huge boost for the leaders and staff and your kind notes, cards and personal thanks have really helped lift the spirits and strengthen the whole Barons Court community. Thank you again for your continued support and we all look forward to better times in the months to come.

Mrs Jessica DaSilva - Chair of Governors

Feedback from the Curriculum & Outcomes Committee - Friday 4th December 2020

This Committee meets every term and has a vital role to play in making sure every child gets the best possible education at Barons Court . This term, the Governors agreed that the top priorities for the group are to monitor: The wellbeing of all stakeholders; review attendance figures and to evaluate the curriculum provision for all children and their outcomes.
Stakeholder Wellbeing Monitoring, November 2020 - Governors received an update on this initiative which aims to monitor, in light of the current global pandemic, the effectiveness and impact of the school’s mental health and wellbeing provision on teaching staff, support staff, pupils and parents to ensure that they are meeting the needs of our community at this challenging time. Some of the highlights included:
Support and Teaching Staff – All staff felt supported by their teams and their managers. ‘Everyone is being kind’.  ’People are going above and beyond to meet the needs of the community, at all levels.” Governors reported that it was an enjoyable experience to connect with the school community and to gather their views. Really useful and positive feedback was received and some requested adjustments had already been made, where possible, by leaders across the school. 
Pupils – All pupils spoken to seemed happy to be back in school, they feel safe and inspired to learn, they are enjoying school and understand the rules. They enjoyed the lockdown learning which was provided especially the creative learning menus and the live connection with the school in that time. 
Parents – 100% said the relationship during lockdown with the school was maintained incredibly well and felt the school had gone above and beyond. They appreciated the face-to-face calls and visits. With regards to emotional wellbeing they felt their immediate and extended families had been supported. All felt safe and happy for their children to return and that communication was good regarding safety and remote learning. Parents feel they now have an even better relationship with staff and wanted the level of relationship connection to be maintained as they liked the home doorstep visits and direct contact. Parents requested more outdoor learning and more time for lunch. Additional ideas included a bubble disco or a late night stay which were also requested and leaders were currently seeking ways to implement such suggestions in a safe way. 
The Governors would like to thank all staff for their dedication and the hard work that they have put in during these particularly difficult and challenging times to ensure that all our pupils get the best possible education. We are proud to be part of such a positive and supportive community. 

Debbie Docherty – Chair Curriculum and Outcomes Committee
 

Feedback from the Resources Committee - October 2020

The Resources Committee of the Governing Body met on the 16th October to oversee and discuss the latest resources and budget figures available.  As you can imagine,  this financial year has been very different as we all face the challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic. We continue to strategically financially plan to ensure the safety, enjoyment and well-being of all of our community. We acknowledge that it is such a shame that visits, especially residential visits have been cancelled this year and unfortunately we are unable to implement any lettings, however we know the school is in the planning stages of ensuring some great community fundraising events over the next half term. This term two additional hot food trolleys have been purchased to ensure our pupils and staff continue to receive hot meals delivered to the learning spaces. New I-pads have been purchased for the pupils and staff to use in school, and a tablet/ laptop loan scheme is being compiled so that pupils can have access to home learning if necessary. Several new smart white boards have also been installed and the new outdoor theatre has been completed, all of which were included in our budget plan and are being enjoyed by all of the staff and pupils. Adjustments to the school budget have been made in line with our current requirements, and careful monitoring and management will ensure that our school will continue to provide excellent teaching, and a safe and supportive environment for learning. We have welcomed new staff to our community, and thank our dedicated staff for their outstanding commitment to our school. All school policies and procedures have been reviewed and updated, and will continue to be evaluated to ensure compliance, safety and effectiveness. Despite the challenges the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought to our school community, all the staff  and families have provided excellent support to our pupils throughout the pandemic lockdown with personal contact and emotional support, providing meals, and providing teaching and learning for pupils of key workers, as well as on-line teaching for all pupils. We as Governors are proud of our school community in these difficult times and thank you for your on-going commitment and support.        
                                                                                                Jane Cross - Chair of Resources Committee

Feedback from the Full Governing Body - September 2020

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. I have been so impressed with how calmly, yet excitedly all the children have started the new term. They have all settled in so quickly and picked up the new arrangements in place to keep everyone safe. It was a joy for me to help out with taking the reception children to the beach this week and to see that Barons Court outdoor learning is still making the curriculum come alive for children in all year groups. We even saw the seals (even if they were a very long way off in the distance!)

Governors have met several times over the course of the last few months initially just focusing on decisions that were critical to the school’s safe operations and to ensure that the provision of education has been in line with government guidance. We have scrutinised risk assessments for the school and continue to make sure that these documents are ‘live’ and adapted to mitigate current and future risks. Safeguarding the welfare of all members of our school community has been upmost in our minds over the last months, but it was also exciting to discuss the School’s Development Plan for the coming year. We heard how the school plans to assess where every child is in their learning, to plug any gaps, and to move forward to help every child achieve their full potential. As governors, we will be monitoring this over the coming months.

It is inspiring to see that even in unsettled times, our school community is incredibly strong and resilient and I really want to thank all staff for their unfailing dedication to making sure that children are safe and can keep learning. Staff have radiated support, reassurance and positivity and I feel incredibly proud to be part of a school where we have such an amazing team.  I would also like to thank all of the Barons Court families for working with the school. For your continued patience and understanding in constantly changing times and for making Barons Court ‘the core of a collaborative, creative and confident community’.

                                                                                                              Jessica daSilva - Chair of Governors