Governance Culture
Our governing board is made up of a committed team of individuals nominated by Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council, parents of children attending the school, representatives of teachers and non-teaching staff of the school, co-opted governors (often members of the local community) and the Headteacher.
Leadership
At the start of each school year, we elect our chair and vice chair following a nomination and election process which allows the board to consider if the nominee(s) have the right qualities to lead our board. School governors are there to give a long-term strategic direction to how the school is run; to be critical friends to the school; and to ensure the school is accountable for its actions and statutory responsibilities. Governors discuss and have input on: school policies, the strategic planning planning for the continuous improvement of the school, target setting and budget planning.
Governors are also responsible for the appointment and dismissal of staff, dealing with complaints from pupils, staff and parents and ensuring the school meets all statutory and legal requirements.
Governance Professional
To support the role of our governing body, we appoint a qualified governance profession the a SLA with the Local Authority. This professional is up to date with current legislation and practice giving invaluable, impartial advice to the board.
Skills and diversity
We undertake a skills audit regularly (usually in the summer term) and use the outcome to inform our succession planning, recruitment strategy and training and development. During the appointment of new governors we seek to extend the diversity of experiences held by our board members. This ensures a broad range of skills, views and cultural/life experiences.
Induction and development
All new governors are invited to meet the Headteacher and Chair of Governors prior to attending their first full governing board meeting. The school further buys in to a governor training program via the REAL Trust which offers a full range of both face to face and virtual course.
Governors are encouraged each term to access the different training opportunities on offer and courses attended are recorded each term.
Board Structure:
Below you can read the latest Governors annual report to parents regarding, amongst other things, governor roles, responsibilities and attendance at meetings.
Core functions
Values, ethic and culture
The governing board has worked with the headteacher to review othe schools values and it regularly tests that the school drives an ethical behaviour and a healthy culture through revision of whole school policies i.e. behaviour policy
Vision
During the summer term the governing board conducts a full review of that year's school improvement priorities and supports the Headteacher and senior leadership team in establishing and agreeing the priorities for the year ahead.
Strategy
Alongside the school improvement plan, the governing board establish and agree a longer term stategic plan for the school. These are a smaller number of strategic aims that guide the wider development priorities for the school. Our current strategic plan can be found within our school improvement planning page.