Governors
Pupils flourish when given responsibility. They grow in confidence as members of the school council and eco-committee and when fulfilling roles such as sports leaders, reading monitors and playground buddies.
Governors
Greswell Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment.
Welcome to the Greswell Governing Board.
The Governing Board comprises a mixture of school staff, parents, Local Authority representatives and individuals from within the local community.
School governing bodies are responsible for working with the school to ensure that it delivers the best quality education for the children. Together with the headteacher who is responsible for day-to-day management, they set the school’s strategy, aims and policies.
Key roles of governors:
- To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
- To hold the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
- To oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent
They also carry out a number of other important duties, which include:
- Determining how the school’s budget is spent
- The appointing and dismissing of staff
- Hearing appeals and grievances
- Forming policy on the school’s curriculum
- Setting standards for pupils’ behaviour and discipline
- Making sure school buildings are welcoming and safe
- Setting and monitoring the school’s aims and policies
- All Governors are volunteers
At Greswell, we have a very proactive Governing Body that works collectively with the school senior leadership team to provide an excellent learning environment for all pupils to enjoy during their time at our school.
What is the purpose of the governing board?
The governing body provide a strategic management role, with a remit to both support and challenge the senior leadership team of the school.
Governors at Greswell are committed to provide a safe environment for children, where they have the ability to strive for excellence every day.
There are 3 key legal obligations set out by the secretary of state for Governors to:
- Define the strategic direction of the school including procedures, policies and objectives
- Approve the school budget
- Robustly review progress against the objectives and achievements
When do governors meet?
The full Governing Board meets every half term. Currently Greswell School is rated as Good with outstanding features. The aim of the School and the Governing Board is to achieve full Outstanding status as rated by Ofsted. The full Governing Board meetings are the vehicle with which we review current performance, achievements and progress of the school towards its goal. This allows the GB to ensure that all processes, methods, procedures and measures are in place, and also to identify areas for improvement which will contribute to achieving an Outstanding school.
Every half term, the Finance Committee also meet. The finance committee meets to review the financial health of the school, and to make decisions around current and future funding. The Curriculum and Standards committee meet as part of the full GB meeting, to review general pupil progress, the current curriculum and any changes as stipulated by the local authority. This committee has a responsibility to ensure that the teachers and teaching methods are reflective of Local Authority guidelines, and also aligned with our expectations for school and pupil performance. The curriculum committee is also responsible for ensuring compliance with Safeguarding and any changes in legislation relating to SEND reforms.
Other committees are formed on a ad-hoc basis as required.
Chair of Governors - gemma.bullock@greswell.tameside.sch.uk
As the Governing Board of Greswell Primary School, we are proud of the school and its welcoming, inclusive ethos and strong family atmosphere.
In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing boards, the three core strategic functions of the Governing Board at Greswell Primary School are:
Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
Governance Structure
The Governing Board is made up of 14 Governors as follows:
- 4 Parent Governors appointed by ballot of the parents at the school
- 1 Local Authority Governor appointed by the Local Authority
- 1 Staff Governor appointed by ballot of the staff
- 1 Headteacher
- 7 Co-opted Governors appointed by the Governing Board based on a skills audit
- During this last year 2 new Co-opted governors were appointed to replace governors who have resigned. There is currently a vacancy for a Parent governor.
The Governing Board appoints a Clerk through a SLA with the Local Authority. The Clerk is responsible for arranging meetings, taking minutes and following up on all actions. The Clerk also advises on procedural matters and plays a role in the work of the Governing Board.
Governors are volunteers who apply for and are appointed to their roles (except for the Headteacher), are independent and have equal status to each other. Co-chairs and one Vice Chair have been elected annually by the Governing Board and work closely together with the Headteacher and the Clerk.
The Full Governing Board meets twice each term. The Finance and Personnel Committee meets twice per term. The Governing Board also has a Pay and a Pay Appeals Committee which meets annually and a Safeguarding Committee which meets termly. A termly Health and Safety Walk around school also takes place.
The overall attendance record of Governors has been very good, and every meeting has been quorate during the school year. Details of the attendance of school Governors are published on the school website under Information, Governors Attendance Record. Governor attendance is monitored at Full Governing Boards each term.
The Headteacher’s Appraisal Committee is supported by an external advisor. Additionally, there is a facility to bring together small panel/committees as and when needed. The Governing Board and the committees all have terms of reference which are reviewed annually and all Governors are required to abide by a Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is reviewed annually and Governors sign a copy to confirm their acceptance to abide by it. Governors declare any Pecuniary or Business Interests at the first autumn term of the year and any PIs are recorded on the school website. Governors’ declarations of interest are checked at the start of each Full Governing Board and or Committee meeting.
The Trust Governor (TTG) management system was successfully implemented in September 2019. TTG is a web based secure system which assists Governing Boards to become paperless before, during and after meetings with e-mail communication and a document management system. TTG holds Governor’s profiles, skills audit and training records. All documents are easily accessed and shared. All documents are stored in the cloud and our policy renewal dates are clearly tracked and easy to action.
Governing Board Skills & Knowledge Development
The Governing Board recognises that to effectively fulfill its role, it must ensure that all of its Governors have the required skills and knowledge to support the achievement of the school’s priority objectives. Recognising the importance of training and development, the Governing Board has a Training Link Governor to ensure there is a committed and consistent focus on the areas where the Governing Board needs to develop. Skills audits are undertaken to identify and address any skills gaps.
Governor Focus in Academic Year 2022-23
At the beginning of the school year, the Governing Board agreed with the Headteacher and the School Leadership Team a School Improvement Plan. This annual planning document is used to identify the key areas on which the school and the Governing Board wish to focus during the academic year. It includes scheduled milestones and measures to assist with on-going monitoring as well as impact indicators so that the Governing Board can assure itself that the actions taken within the plan will improve teaching and learning outcomes for all children. In addition to school monitoring visits, the Governing Board uses other school data including, SATS results, Local Authority data, government data (Analyse School Performance), Phonics Screening Check, Baseline Assessment, the Ofsted Data Dashboard and regular internal school assessment data. Pupil progress and attainment is scrutinised through data analysis. Vulnerable groups including pupil premium and SEN children are closely monitored.
Assessment of Impact
Governors provide a high level of challenge to the Headteacher and the school. They consider a range of documents and data provided by the school in order to judge the impact of strategies within the school. Governors visit school to meet with staff to gain a greater understanding of the school and the on-going requirement to raise standards. The Governors were delighted school continued to be judged as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in March 2018.
Governors monitor finance stringently to ensure the school’s budget is spent to achieve the best possible outcomes for students. The school provides good value for money.
Governor focus areas for 2022.23
The Governing Board will continue to provide support and challenge in all areas with the target areas being:
- To externally audit the quality of teaching in maths and the use of Numicon to ensure all children are making progress across school
- Curriculum – To ensure all subjects are meeting the needs of all children and to ensure it is a knowledge-based curriculum
- To ensure the more able children are making at least expected progress throughout the school
- To update the text used within KS2 guided reading sessions to ensure they are purposeful and meet the needs of our children
- To improve the quality of rewards used to motivate children
- To reduce the number of children classed as Persistent absent over the academic year
- To reduce the number of suspensions during this academic year
The main priorities for the Governing board are:
To have a plan for September 2023 with a permanent Chair of Governors in post
To improve the links between Governor with roles and responsibilities and the relevant staff
Contact details
The Governing Board welcomes suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents/carers. Please contact in writing the Chair of Governors c/o the School.
Attendance record 2024-2025 click Governor Attendance 24-25 to download
- Gemma Bullock was appointed 20/09/22 end 19/09/26 Co-opted
- Sarah Rosser Smiley was appointed 28/11/23 end 27/11/27 Co-opted
- Lis Rogers was appointed on 30/01/24 end 29/01/28 Co-opted
- Susan Watmough was appointed 17/04/23 end 16/04/27 Parent
- Heidi Mohamed was appointed 01/10/24 end 30/09/28 Co-opted
- Louise Smiley was appointed 13/05/25 end 12/05/29 Co-opted
- Hannah Eisenberg was appointed 13/05/25 end 12/05/29 Co-opted
- Mona Mohamed was appointed 13/05/25 end 12/05/29 Co-opted
End of term of office:
- Rachel Marsland was appointed 19/09/23 end 18/09/27 Co-opted
- Nesta Willis - resigned 11/09/23
- Claire Davies – resigned 17/09/23
- Owen Rees – resigned 24/01/24
The following declaration of pecuniary/personal interest are noted:
Mr Cooper’s brother is a sales representative at Ultimate Marketing Co. who school is considering ordering supplies from. At the time of the meeting, no transactions have taken place. School is looking into ordering supplies as they offer good value for money. Mr Cooper’s partner and sister in law are employed at Greswell Primary School.
