Governors

Hoole Church of England School currently has ten Governors, drawn from the church family, local community, parents and staff, with a range of business and professional skills. The Governing Body is chaired by Jolene Weaver. The Vice Chair of Governors is Theo Heath.

What is the role of the Governing body?

We are here to challenge and support the school. Our role can be summarised in three key core functions:

• Ensuring that there is clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
• Holding leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils and the performance management of staff.
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

Our role involves setting objectives, agreeing policies, priorities, and regularly monitoring and reviewing these matters to check that they are being achieved. The Governing Body’s role in relation to the leadership team has been described as that of a “critical friend”; we are here to offer strategic advice, to challenge develop and support the development of the school. We do not get involved in the day to day running of the School; this is the responsibility of the school leaders.

We are very fortunate to have governors with a wide range of skills and expertise in areas such as finance, business, children’s services and health and safety.

This means that governors are well placed to challenge the school’s work constructively. Governors strive to extend their knowledge and skills in school governance by undertaking regular skills audits and training. The governors also completed the Shaping Governance Programme

How is the governing body organised to ensure that its core functions are undertaken?

Full Governing Board

The full governing board meets once every half term for a formal meeting.

During meetings, presentations are received from the Senior Leadership Team and leaders of all levels across the school to ensure that governors are provided with accurate, relevant and appropriate information to enable them to hold school leaders to account for the performance of the school.

In addition to formal meetings, governors meet regularly with relevant staff in school to enable them to maintain an overview of their area of responsibility. This ensures that governors are well placed to ask pertinent, supportive and challenging questions in order to enable to school to drive forward.

Resources Committee

The Resources Committee meets every half term.

This Committee is chaired by Paul Kilmister.  

The terms of reference for the Resources Committee link to the overseeing the use of financial, physical, human and premises resources to ensure that these are used efficiently for the benefit of our school family.

Associate Governors

We do not have Associate Governors with voting rights. The deputy headteacher attends meetings of the governing board as an observer.

How does the governing body support the well being of the staff team, including senior leaders?

Governors are regular visitors to school, monitoring and evaluating our work in school. During these meetings with individual staff members or teams, governors show a high interest in activities undertaken by school staff, offering supportive challenge. Governors take the time to show appreciation for staff efforts in enabling our pupils to shine brightly in line with our school vision. This is regularly reflected in minutes from meetings of the governing board. 

The headteacher’s report, provided half termly in advance of governing board meetings, always includes a section relating to staff wellbeing and workload.

Governors maintain oversight of wellbeing and workload via reports from the headteacher following performance management meetings, including end of cycle and interim review meetings.

Two staff consultations are undertaken during every academic year. In the Autumn term, staff complete a general questionnaire based on the OFSTED staff questionnaire. In the Spring term, staff complete a survey specifically focused on wellbeing and workload. The outcomes of both surveys are reported to governors, along with the timeframe for completion of any actions which result from staff feedback.

The governing body has been highly supportive of action taken to improve facilities and provide support for staff over recent years. Examples of this include the refurbishment of the staffroom and the development of the Staff Quiet Room.

The wellbeing of senior leaders is supported via regular communication with designated governors.

The Chair of Governors is highly proactive in supporting school leaders and regularly conducts formal and informal wellbeing reviews with senior staff. 

Portfolios of Responsibility

Governors are assigned to areas of responsibility aligned to their expertise and professional skills.

Portfolios of responsibility are as follows:

2023-24 Governors Meetings

How to contact us

If there is anything you wish to raise with the Governors directly, please just drop us an email to [email protected] or pop a note into the School Office.