Meet The Governors & Newsletters

Hello.  Welcome from the governors of Winnall Primary School. 

 

This page tells you about who we are and what we do.

 

What is our role in the school?

Working together with the Headteacher, we are responsible for the high-level and long-term decisions about the school to ensure that;

• the school’s ethos and ambitions reflect the community’s needs;

• high educational standards are set and are achieved; 

• the finances of the school are in good order and are focused to benefit the children; and

• everyone is safe.

We also appoint the senior staff and consider any complaints that haven’t been resolved by the Headteacher.

 

All the day-to-day decisions for the running of the school are undertaken by the Headteacher and her staff and all routine enquiries should therefore be referred to them. However, we are always pleased to hear your views about the school.  You can contact us via the Headteacher or the school office.

 

 

How do we conduct our business?

We oversee the school’s business, mainly through a number of formal meetings.

• The Full Governing Body meets each half-term to consider the main business.

• Two committees; Curriculum and Finance & Resources meet each half-term to look at particular matters in detail.

• The Headteacher’s performance and staff pay matters are considered by special panel meetings once a year.

 

We also regularly visit the school to meet with staff and pupils to discuss future plans and aspirations (We call these our 'Learning Talks') and observe it operating both on typical days and during key events such as the SATs (our 'Learning Walks').  These help us consider the school's progress and its future needs. We meet regularly with the Junior Governors ( an elected group of pupils) where we discuss the curriculum and well being of the pupils in the school. 

 

We issue a brief report on our recent activities and give our assessment of the school's performance in December and July each year (see below or the Newsletters page).

 

Each governor tries to attend as many meetings as their other commitments allow and we always seek to ensure our governing body and committee meetings have well over the 50% attendance necessary under our constitution.   In 2017/8 our combined attendance was as follows.

Full Governing Body – 88%

Finance & Resources Committee - 95%

Curriculum Committee – 73%

 

We frequently attend training sessions on routine and developing issues including those related to our individual interests and responsibilities, e.g., safeguarding, behaviour management, SEN and finance. These are provided by Hampshire Governor Services. The Full Governing Body also commission an annual joint training session of wider interest. In 2015/6, this has involved looking at the arrangements for the new Primary Schools' Curriculum.   

 

Our current strategic priorities

Although we secured a 'Good' rating in our Ofsted inspection in November 2015, we are keen that the school develops further and so we have identified a number of actions for ongoing improvement.

These relate to​ improving;

• teaching and learning;
• pupil outcomes;
• curriculum development;
• early years and foundation stage;
• behaviour and welfare; and
• safeguarding

 

Our Constitution

We renewed our constitution in May 2015 to accord with the 2012 Constitution Regulations and refreshed it in 2017.  We now have up to 12 official governor positions. These are

• The Headteacher

• A staff governor who is nominated / elected by the staff

• A local authority governor who is nominated by Hampshire County Council.

• Two parent governors selected from the school’s pupils’ parents. These may be subject to competitive election when there are more applicants than vacancies.

• Seven co-opted governors who are elected by the whole governing body to widen our skills and contacts.

We can also appoint non-voting Associate Members to assist us with their expertise in certain topics.

  

Who are we? 

Each governor is appointed for a term up to four years (see end dates below). They each bring different skills and perspectives from a wide range of backgrounds, interests and involvement in the local community.  

• Kirsty Atkins is one of our parent governors

• Peter Brown is the local authority governor with an interest in equalities and performance data. (20.11.21).  

• Fiona Innes is a co-opted governor who sits on our Finance Committee

• Nicki Elks is a co-opted governor (30.03.21)

• Chris Pines is a co-opted governor and former teacher who chairs our Curriculum Committee (14.5.19).  

• Alison Rhodes is our Headteacher.

• Julian Sambrook is a co-opted governor who links to our pyramid secondary school, The Westgate School.   

• Dan Wakefield  is our staff governor (05.07.21)

• Rosemary Walker is a co-opted governor and our current Chair (14.5.19).

• Chris Poulter is a co-opted governor who sits on our Finance Committee

 

Vacancies - We currently have a vacancy for one co-opted governor. 

Governor Responsibilities

The key responsibilities taken by our governors are set out below.

 

Pupil Premium                                                              Peter Brown

Junior Governors                                                          Fiona Innes

 

 

Register of Governor Interests

The governing body is required to publish a listing of any business interests of the governors relating to the school, details of any other educational establishments they govern and any relationships with members of the school staff including spouses, partners and relatives. In July 2017, the current governors declared they have no such interests other than the employment by the school of the Headteacher and staff governor.