Our school’s governing body is responsible, as a group, for helping the school to provide the best possible education for our pupils. We do this by:
- Thinking and working strategically to help raise standards
- Monitoring and evaluating progress towards the school’s priorities and targets
- Supporting the head and staff as well as challenging their expectations
- Accounting to all stakeholders for the school’s overall performance and for the decisions we have made
The list of current governors below indicates what type of governor we all are. The head of a school is always a governor and leads the school jointly with all the other governors. Other staff governors are elected by the staff. Parent governors are volunteers, who are elected by the other parents and carers of children attending the school. Parent governors represent all the parents and carers. By all means, do raise any concerns with the parent governors, but we won’t be able to give you an instant response. Church governors normally live and worship near to the school and are committed to helping the school achieve success. They are invited to join the governing body rather than being elected. LEA (Local Education Authority) governors are appointed by the County Council and, again, are committed to raising standards at the school.
There are regular meetings of the whole governing body to take the strategic decisions about the operation and development of the school, but many of the decisions are taken by smaller committees dealing with particular aspects, such as the curriculum or financial matters. Normally, each governor serves on one or more committees. The governing body as a whole is responsible for:
- Setting targets for pupil achievement
- Ensuring delivery of the National Curriculum
- Approving the school’s policies
- Making staff appointments
- Deciding how the allocated budget should be spent
- Responding to formal inspection
This list is not exhaustive by any means, and the governing body receives an enormous amount of professional help and guidance from the Head to assist in the decisions we have to make. Most of the decisions on the day to day running of the school are taken by the Head, who is, after all, the expert we chose to do just that.
There are many aspects of the school about which governors need to know so, to save all the governors having to have a detailed knowledge of every aspect, most governors are ‘linked’ to particular responsibilities or subject areas. The linked governor takes an interest in and gains more detailed knowledge of their area and is part of the planning process for the setting of new priorities. The linked governor also monitors progress in that area and reports back to the rest of governing body.
Being a governor is both challenging and rewarding. Every minute of time spent can help the school to raise its standards higher still and achieve greater success.
Garstang St Thomas Governor Information
Chair of Governors: Dr Emma Bray
Below are documents that contains key information about our Board of Governors:
Governor key information January 2024
Committee Structure: Governor Committee Structure Spring 2023
Further information can be found on : The Get Information on Schools Website (.Gov)