Bratton Primary School

Governors

On behalf of the Governing Body, I would like to take the opportunity to welcome you to our wonderful school and provide you with an insight into the role of the Governing Body here at Bratton Primary School.

As governors, drawing upon our experiences from a variety of backgrounds, we play a key part of school governance in three areas. We plan the school’s strategic direction from which the School Development Plan is written; we hold the Headteacher and school leadership to account through monitoring and evaluating the school’s performance and quality of education; and we provide financial oversight ensuring money is well-spent. In short, we offer strategic guidance in order that our children can learn, have fun and thrive.

In addition, we have roles as  ‘Link Governors’ appointed to oversee a specific aspect of the work of the school. These include SEN, Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Disadvantaged Learners, and Finance. These roles enable us to develop strong relationships with staff and children and make well-informed judgements about the progress being made towards achieving our priorities and the school improvement plan.

To discharge our responsibilities, we attend a Full Governing Board 6 to 8 times a year, participate in Governor Monitoring Weeks, join staff and pupils in school, on trips and at events and much more. Whilst we leave the operational aspects of the school to the Headteacher, we believe a close working relationship with the leadership team, our staff, our pupils, and their parents and carers is essential. Therefore, should you wish to enquire more about the role of the Governing Body or have any other questions, we would be delighted to answer them. Please email the Clerk to the Governors at clerk@bratton.wilts.sch.uk

Lindsay McDuff
Chair of Governors

The purpose of governance is to provide confident and strong strategic leadership which leads to robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.

All governance boards, no matter what type of school or how many schools they govern, have three core functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction

• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff

• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

Governors at Bratton Primary School are responsible for monitoring the school development plan and ensuring that the vision and expectations are effective. They are responsible for holding the school to account on progress, achievement and delivering a broad and balanced curriculum. Governors are given a timetable by the headteacher and arrange their visits with the subject leader and headteacher. They have a proforma to follow when undertaking learning visits and a report to issue to parents.

  • Set the strategic direction of the school
  • Agree policies to help the school run on a day to day basis
  • Set targets with the staff and Headteacher to ensure that the school attains its best in all areas
  • Monitor the school’s actions relating to these targets
  • Work closely with staff to support them in attaining their targets.

In order to ensure that all children have a successful and happy time whilst learning at Bratton Primary School.

The full Governing body meets approximately 10 times a year. Meetings normally take place in the evening but we also regularly attend school during the school day to monitor performance and identify areas for improvement alongside the Headteacher. We currently have no other committees.

  • By being available to work with staff
  • By monitoring the progress of the school towards its targets
  • By meeting with the school’s staff on an annual basis to set school priorities and to create a new School Development and Improvement plan
  • By meeting with parents and pupils to discuss their school
  • By engaging with the local Authority to be trained in new developments and initiatives.

Lindsay MacDuff -Chair