Governors’ Impact Statement
Governors’ role
The role of the Governing Body is an intrinsic part of the leadership of the school, although often unseen by parents and other community stakeholders. This impact statement is one way in which the Governing Body articulate their role in school leadership, the impact which they have had on school improvement and be transparent about their activities.
Training
All members of the Governing Body receive training. The impact of this is that the Governing Body are kept abreast of their responsibilities with regard to the latest requirements and expectations.
Impact of the Full Governing Body meetings
Headteacher’s appraisal
The Governing Body carries out the head teacher’s appraisal annually. Several Governors have undertaken headteacher’s appraisal training and expert assistance was sought from an independent educational advisor. The appraisal process allows us to look closely at the performance of the headteacher, have discussions about areas of strength and weakness in that performance and set new targets against which the headteacher’s performance will be evaluated.
The impact of this is that governors understand the areas of strength and weakness in teaching within the school. This enables them to challenge the headteacher on how good practice within school is being shared for whole school benefit and how weaknesses are being addressed. The different sources of data enable us to triangulate information and ensure that conclusions drawn from various sources are congruent.
Reconstitution
The structure of the Governing Body was reconstituted in line with new regulations. Porchester’s Governing Body now consists of nine members:
- Two staff governors
- Five co-opted governors
- Two parent governors
In addition to the Full Governing Body we also have two other committees:
- School Improvement, Review and Evaluation
- Finance and General Purposes
All members of the Governing Body sit on both committees.
The impact of reconstitution is that committee meetings are more focused and productive, and all members are aware of all the strategic issues pertaining to the school.
Recruitment
The Governing Body is involved in all areas of recruitment and this year made the decision to create a new post of assistant headteacher; this was influenced by the deputy headteacher's request to reduce her days of work from five days to three days. This appointment is having a positive impact on the day-to-day running of the school.
Impact of the School Improvement, Review and Evaluation committee
Achievement of pupils
Progress and attainment data for all children across the school, including vulnerable groups, is analysed in this committee. Data is focused on reading, writing and maths. Analysis is done at varying levels, including year groups, classes, pupil premium, high ability and boys/girls. The impact of this is that governors are aware of how children are performing, where there are issues and can ask challenging questions to ensure that any identified problems are addressed in a timely manner. This ensures that the Governing Body know throughout the year how the school is progressing towards the school priorities and targets.
Governors are all familiar with a range of data which enable them to benchmark the school’s performance against other similar schools and nationally. They are also all familiar with the RAISE online data for our school which again shows our performance in the national context. Governors are not yet trained in the use of ASP which is the replacement to RAISEonline.
Impact of the Finance and General Purposes committee
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
The Finance and General Purposes committee consider financial issues and in conjunction with the work of the School Improvement and Review committee, ensure that the money is well spent by evaluating the impact of school spending on pupil outcomes. In particular this year, governors have a much clearer idea of how the pupil premium funding is spent and are able to ensure that it is targeted at eligible children in particular.