Governors

The Governing Body at Christ Church C of E Primary School offer you a very warm welcome to the Governors’ Page.

Governors are a group of committed people from across the community, who work to support our school and ensure every child feels happy, safe and secure whilst receiving the best education possible.

What do the Governing Body do?

The Governing Body is essential to the effective running of the school. It is a rewarding way to make a difference to the lives of our children. Governors set the overall strategy, vision and direction of the school, act as a critical friend and are responsible for the school budget. We work through meetings, committees and visits to the school. Governors also measure the impact of school and constructively challenge school leaders to ensure we best meet the needs of all of our children.
Our Governors are people who:

• have a genuine interest in our children’s future
• offer time, energy and enthusiasm
• have a desire to make a difference
• accept responsibility
• work as a team
• are happy to ask questions, listen & learn

How do I become a Governor?

From time to time we have vacancies on our Governing Body.  Some of our Governors are parents or former parents, some are school staff, some are members of our local community – we welcome anyone who has experience to contribute, a desire to make a difference to the lives of children and a commitment to integrity in our common working.   All our Governors receive regular information and advice to help them in their roles and full training is provided.  As we are becoming part of a MAT our Local Governing Board will reduce in number from 13 to 7 or 9.  As a number of vacancies have arisen over the last year these have not been filled in anticipation of the reconstitution of a smaller LGB.

Who are our Governors?

Our Chair of Governors is Louise Wagstaff .  You can find a full list of Governors, how they are appointed (whether elected by parents, appointed by the Local Authority or Diocese, Staff Governors or Co-opted) and the dates of their terms of Office below.  This document will also give you details about the Committees that Governors serve on, dates of terms of office, business and financial interests and their attendance record from committee and full governing body meetings.

Diversity of our Governing Board

We will consider the diversity of our local area when making future appointments and seek to encourage under-represented groups to apply. Our current Board is 100% White British and majority female. We do have a wide spread of different ages represented from 20s to 70s.

Policies, Procedures and Audits 

Governors help the school run efficiently so that children have the best start to their education.  You can find a list of all the policies, procedures and audits undertaken by the Governors here Rolling Programme of Policies for Academic Year 

Link Governors

All Governors have a role in monitoring and ensuring that the school is improving and holding the Headteacher to account for the school’s performance.  This is done through allocating Governors to areas of the School Development Plan and asking them to take special responsibility for that priority.  They do this through critical questioning at Board and commitee meetings, visiting the school and talking to pupils and staff about that area and meeting with the leaders who are leading the improvements.

We also have joint link Governors for Safeguarding and Prevent Duty: Wendy Brogden and Lucy Willis and a link Governor for Special Educational Needs and Disability: Wendy Brogden.

The Importance of Transparency

Governors hold to the highest standards in serving in this role.  This means they declare if they have or could be seen to have a conflict of interest in any decision making.  For Parent Governors, this means that they are aware of putting the interests of every child and the whole school ahead of any personal interest or passion about their own child’s education.  It also means that Governors declare specific conflicts of interest on any agenda.  Mrs Tracey Cansdale declared that she is a trustee of Multi-Academy trusts in her role as a member of the Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education.  Governors also fill in a yearly declaration of any business interests, alongside staff and other public sector employees.  There are no other declared conflict of interests.  Part of that transparency is also being accountable to the school community for attendance at Governor meetings.

Stakeholder Consultation

We are currently consulting with parents and stakeholders over a Governing Body proposal to join a newly forming Multi-Academy Trust (MAT).  Please read:

Consultation Letter for Parents June 23

Frequently Asked Questions for Parents about joining a MAT