Governors

Governors know their school well, use data well, based on training to understand pupils’ achievement. They play a full part in the school’s self-evaluation and improvement. They have a good overview of the budget and make sure that the pupil premium funding is spent wisely.
– Ofsted 2014

The Role of the Governing Body

The governing body is a group of volunteers who commit a significant amount of time and energy every year to ensuring that Windermere offers children the very best educational opportunities. Acting similarly to a ‘board of directors’ the governing body has a statutory responsibility for the management, strategic planning and welfare of the whole school.  We monitor the budget and evaluate the work of the school through an extensive programme of visits and meetings. The whole Governing Body meets 5 times a year and their work is further developed by two committees: the Resources and the Curriculum, Policy & Communications Committee (CPC), which also meet at least termly.

The Resources Committee

This committee is responsible for overseeing the school’s finances, health and safety and safeguarding.  It is also the committee that ensures the school premises are kept in good condition and meet the needs of our pupils.

Financial Disclosure: No school employees have a gross annual salary of £100,000 or more.  If you would like further information about the school’s financial situation, this can be found on the schools financial benchmarking service.

The CPC Committee

This committee is responsible for teaching and learning and the school’s curriculum.  They must ensure that it is in line with statutory requirements and offers all our pupils a broad and balanced education.  Part of this committee’s role is to challenge the school leadership on pupil attainment and progress, so that we know every pupil is achieving their full potential.

It is not just meetings; we are in constant communication with Miss Gilliver ensuring we are all working as a team to meet the school’s needs.  This communication is really important to make sure as governors we are all aware of what is going on in and around school.  All governors undertake regular visits to the school.  These might be part of a formal ‘Governor Visit Day’ when governors visit classrooms and meet with the children, or it might be more informal when we join pupils in assemblies and at performances or sports events.  All governors have additional specific responsibilities e.g. for special educational needs or safeguarding.  These governors will meet with the appropriate staff, generally on a termly basis, to review progress against objectives and to set targets or agree action plans.

Communication with our ‘stakeholders’ – parents and pupils – is also very important.  When we come into school we like to meet with pupils and ask their views.  We also like to talk to parents about the things the school does well and the things that might need to be improved.  Every 12-18 months we ask parents to complete a questionnaire about the school.  If you have anything specific you would like to discuss with the governors or questions you may like to ask please get in touch with us through the school office or by email.

Mrs J Perry
Chair of Governors

School Governors

A school governor can be a

• parent
• member of staff
• community representative e.g. local business people
• Local Education Authority appointed representative

Each governor brings to the role their own interests, personal strengths and diverse experiences.

Parent Governors

Parent Governors ensure that the viewpoint of parents is represented on the Governing Body, however they must not be thought of as direct representatives of the parents. They speak and act as individuals within the clearly defined roles and responsibilities of any school governor.

Following the reconstitution of the governing body on 31st August 2015, these are the members of the governing body. Please also see the governor biographies here.