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Parents Fact Sheet on Stockham School Governors

Parents Fact sheet on Stockham School Governors

“We want children to enjoy a rich and varied education, to help them achieve their best and soar high”

What is a governor?

All schools have a governing body. It is the governors who are responsible for ensuring that their school provides a good quality education for the pupils. The governors and head teacher set the school aims and policies and they work closely together to achieve the targets. The head teacher is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school.

Who are the Stockham School Governors?

At Stockham School the governing body consists of 13 governors who volunteer their experience, enthusiasm and spare time. The governors are all friendly, approachable and enjoy meeting parents and children. The current chairs are Katy Radburn-Smith and Ian Wallis and Fiona Henderson is Vice Chair.
 
The governing body is made up of:
 
Type of Governor Position Held By
Chair of Governors Ian Wallis, Katy Radburn-Smith
Vice Chair Fiona Henderson 
Clerk  
Associate  
Head Teacher Ruth Burbank (ex officio)
Local Authority  Fiona Henderson
Parent Governors Dennis Burson, Chris Norris, Katy Radburn-Smith
 
Staff Governor Jess Wylde
Co-opted Governors Fiona Henderson, Stephen Mbuthia, Tyrone Rees, Lucy Todd, Ian Wallis

The governors are appointed or elected every 4 years. Many of Stockham’s governors have willingly agreed to be re-appointed or re-elected two or three times which shows their long term commitment to the school. All Governors are DBS checked upon appointment. 

What is their role?

The governing body has a wide range of responsibilities and, working in partnership, these include:

Making decisions about:

• Setting the school aims and policies.
• Raising standards of achievement.
• Making sure the money is spent wisely
• Appointing staff.
• Improving the school environment.
• Making sure all pupils receive rights to all education opportunities.

Governors also:

• Support school activities.
• Visit the school on behalf of the governing body.
• Promote their school in the community.
• Act as a ‘critical friend’ which involves monitoring and evaluating how the school is progressing.
• Dealing with complaints and appeals.

The above tasks are not always easy, but they do affect the interest of the pupils, staff and how the school is perceived by you as the parents, prospective parents and the local community.

When do they meet?

Stockham School’s full governing body meets once a term. Occasionally the governors have meetings during the school day but mainly the meetings are held in the evenings. There are currently four sub committees: Quality of Education, Leadership and Management, Finance, and Pay committees. Dates of the governing body meetings are arranged well in advance and rarely change. Please feel free to contact the school office if you would like to know when the meetings are held or would like to see minutes of the meeting. Any confidential matters that may be discussed at governor meetings are not made public for obvious reasons.

How can I access school policies?

You can see a copy of any/all of school policies by contacting the school office. Also available is the School Development Plan, a rolling three-year programme of actions aimed at the progressive development and improvement of the school.

Need further information?

A full contact list of the governors is available from the school office (Tel: 01235 764407) or please visit the web site www.stockham.oxon.sch.uk