Every Governing Body is expected to have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of its school. Governors acquire this knowledge in a variety of ways:
- reports from the Head Teacher and other senior staff
- Local Authority (LA) and National data
- Local Authority (LA) performance data sent to the Head Teacher is shared with the whole governing body
- the school's key performance indicators from RAISE online
- Ofsted reports
- School Development Plan and ongoing self-evaluation
First hand knowledge is gained by governors visiting school. Regular planned visits give governors insight and understanding about school and help to strengthen the governing body's strategic and monitoring role.
There are two kind of governor visits - formal and informal.
Governors make formal visits to the school in connection with their responsibilities as governors. Formal visits have a clear focus, linked to priorities in the School Development Plan.
Governors on informal visits attend in a more personal capacity, much as a parent might do (school performances/PSA events/Sports Day etc). Such visits add to individual governors' knowledge and understanding of the school and strengthen relationships and foster trust and respect between governors, staff, parents and most importantly children.
If you would like to contact any member of the Governing Body, please send correspondence, marked "FAO Chair of Governors", to the school office.