Governor Roles & Responsibilities
Whilst the Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Team have responsibility for the day to day running of the school, governing boards have a strong focus on three key strategic functions:
Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils and the performance management of staff; and
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
Additionally as a voluntary controlled Church of England school our foundation governors have a specific responsibility to maintain the Christian character of the school.
We re-constituted our governing board at St. John's in 2015. Our Instrument of Governance allows for three foundation governors appointed by the Diocese , Parochial Church Council and the Vicar of St John's as an ex-officio Governor, one Local Authority appointed governor, two parent governors, one governor elected by staff and five co-opted governors appointed by the governing body for their specific skills and competencies. The Headteacher is also a governor.
The full governing board meets at least six times a year. Once approved, minutes of our meetings are published on the school website.
To make the very best use of the skills of our governors, we have allocated them to specific areas of responsibility including:
Appraisal & staffing
Communication with parents
Curriculum
Finance
Health & Safety and premises (where it impacts on our children's learning)
Pupil progress and improvement (including closing the gap for vulnerable children)
Statutory inspection of Anglican and Methodists Schools (SIAMS) and the school's Christian ethos
Safeguarding (including behaviour and safety) and special educational needs and disability (SEND)
During the school year, governors are expected to carry out a number of monitoring visits to assess progress in the areas for which they are responsible with the lead professional in the school, likely to be a member of the senior or middle leadership team. Details of the visits are recorded and any recommendations for action are considered by the full governing body who will also take responsibility for implementation.
The Chair of Governors, Astrid Goodwin, and the Clerk to the Governors, Jan Davies, can be contacted through the following email address: clerktogovernors@st-johns.kent.sch.uk or via the school office