Our Governors

All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. A key role is to act as a ‘critical friend’: to support, to challenge, to ask questions, ultimately to represent the school community.

The Governing Body works in close partnership with the headteacher, staff and the local authority. Whilst the headteacher is, of course, responsible for the day to day running of the school, the governors are involved with such things as staffing, curriculum, school buildings and finance. It ensures the school functions well and maintains the proper range of academic and social objectives.

The Governing Body meets four times each year. Much of the work of the Governing Body is done by committees which meet at least every term (three times in the year).

At Sacred Heart, we have the following committees:

Teaching, Learning and Curriculum:  Its main purpose is to discuss and monitor all aspects of the school’s work around pupil attainment and progress, and ensuring that the school’s curriculum is broad and balanced and meets statutory requirements; it has various ‘link governors’ for English, Maths and Early Years (although these may very depending on the priorities set out in the School Development Plan).

Safeguarding: The main purpose of the committee is to discuss and monitor all aspects of the school’s pastoral work which includes areas such as attendance, behaviour, safeguarding, health, and spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) provision; link governors include ones for Child Protection, Inclusion and Health; an important role of the committee is to ensure all Child Protection policies are fully understood and correctly implemented by all staff.

Finance and staffing: This committee’s main purpose is to ensure that the school spending remains within budget and that all funds are spent wisely to best meet the needs of the pupils; whilst it meets every term.