Governors

Introduction

Every school has a Governing Body which could consist of between 9 and 20 people depending on the size of the school.

• Town Lane Governing Body consists of the Headteacher, elected staff and parents, people from the local community.
• The Headteacher can choose whether or not to be a governor at their school.
• Parent governors have a child at the school and are elected by other parents.
• Two staff governors are elected one from teaching, and one from non-teaching staff, by their colleagues.
• Community governors are appointed by other governors as representatives of the wider local community, as business representatives, or because of particular skills they can bring to the governing body.
• Foundation governors are appointed by the Church or Trust which supports the school.
• LEA governors are nominated by the Local Education Authority.

What does a governing body do?

Part of a school governing body's responsibilities are to:

• promote high standards of educational attainment;
• agree the School Improvement Plan;
• set an annual budget detailing planned spending;
• approve a staffing structure;
• make sure that the curriculum is balanced and broadly based, in particular that the National Curriculum and Religious Education are taught, and report on pupils' achievement in National Curriculum assessments and examination results.
• draw up an action plan following an Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) report;
• produce policies on a number of issues including Sex Education, S.E.N;
• appoint staff, ensuring the implementation of a range of personnel procedures;
• secure high levels of attendance and good standards of pupil behaviour;
• ensure the health & safety of pupils and staff;
• develop the strategic plan for the school, acting as a critical friend and ensuring accountability;
• deal with complaints against the school

Basically, governors oversee the work of the school and make sure it provides a good quality education for its pupils

Governors work in partnership with the Headteacher and staff.

What should I do if I have a question or problem?

Details of communication channels can be found on the prospectus page. If a parent has a question or problem regarding a pupil they should firstly approach the class teacher. If the problem is not resolved, or it is not appropriate to deal with the class teacher, parents should approach Mrs Body, the Headteacher.

All other matters relating to the day to day running of the school can be addressed to the Headteacher in person, or in many instances the Secretary, Mrs Frost.

Serious matters and complaints have to be dealt with following correct procedures and the school has a complaints policy to deal with these. In the first instance these will be dealt with by the Headteacher, or are to be addressed to the Chair of Governors, care of the School.

Governors may be able to clarify decisions they have made or direct parents to sources of advice in school. They may also raise issues that concern parents, at meetings.

Town Lane Governing Body members are:

Governor	Name	Position	Term of Office	Photograph
The Head Teacher	Mrs Y Body
Parent Governors	Martin Stacey	Chair of Governors
	Steve Osborne	Vice Chair of Governors
	Sally Arnold-Young
	John Potter
	Anne-Marie Davies
	Andrew Rumsby
Staff Governors	Jade Edwards
	Mrs Tina Ward
	Sarah Makin
Community Governors (previously called co- opted Governors)	Kevin Turner
LEA Governors	Jennifer Russell
	Kevin Turner
Associate Governor	Miss S. Makin
Community Governors	Sue Bailey
Clerk	Jill Motley

The Town Lane Governing Body is supported by a Clerk.

If you would like to know more about the work of the Governing Body the Head Teacher is always available to provide further details. As an alternative you are likely to find one or more of the Parent Governors at the School Gates most days, hopefully the photos provided will help you recognise them.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council has developed a website providing information and guidance for prospective and serving Governors. The URL is
http://www.wirral-mbc.gov.uk/governors/index.asp