The Governing Body’s Annual Statement 17-18

Publication of Governor’s Details and Register of Interests

In the interests of transparency, all schools and academies should publish, including on their website, up to date details of the structure of the governing body and any committees, together with the names of their governors and their particular roles and responsibilities within that structure.  This information is required for each governor who has served at any point over the past 12 months.  They should also publish relevant business and pecuniary interests.  This information must be published in a readily accessible form which means that the information should be on a webpage without the need to download or open a separate document. 

Schools and academies should also publish an annual statement setting out the key issues that have been faced and addressed by the governing body over the last year, including an assessment of the impact of the governing body on the school.

Governing Body’s Annual Statement
There are three strategic core functions of the governing body:

• To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school.
• To hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its’ pupils
• To oversee the financial performance of the school and ensure that its’ money is well spent.

The Issues faced and addressed by the Governing Body over the last year were: 

• To make a positive contribution to the children at Whitehouse and the community.
• To provide a high level of challenge and support to the school, overseeing the post Ofsted action plan.
• To support new appointments effectively.
• To increase the effectiveness of the sub committees.
• To promote the inclusive ethos of the school.
• To ensure that the school is GDPR compliant.

The impact of the Governing Body on the school was good.

• We are grateful for the increased support that parents/carers give the school and are glad to see so many getting involved in fairs, charity events, reading with your children in and out of school. Together we can make a difference and enable each child to achieve their full potential.

• We have supported the school in improving attendance and maintaining rates of progress across the Early Years and provided a high level of challenge to leaders, asking tough questions when needed. We know what is needed to move the school forward. We understand progression across subjects well through regular meetings with the Headteacher.

• We have been involved in new appointments to ensure that Whitehouse recruits the best staff for our children.

• There is a regular calendar of sub committee meetings (at least 6 per year.) The sub committees are: Finance and Staffing, Curriculum and Standards, Health & Safety, including Safeguarding. The decisions of these meetings have fed into the governing body agenda, including budget planning and approval, class monitoring visits. ‘We agree to monitor the new funding formula and its impact on the Whitehouse budget.’ (Actions-Finance meeting  Autumn 2018.) Regular presentations by subject leaders have deepened our understanding of the curriculum and how it is delivered at Whitehouse Primary School. Regular monitoring of the School Development Plan has ensured that we are all focussed on the same positive outcomes for our pupils.

• The subject leader has reported on the provision and standards in school of all pupils with SEND. The Additional resourced Provision has been the focus of subject visits. The governing body have a clear understanding of the complex needs of our pupils and of the complexity of our data, as a result of the inclusive ethos.

• All GDPR procedures and documentation is in place.