Governance arrangements
The Governing Body of JRCS is made up of:
- 1 LA Governor
- 6 Co-opted Governors
- 2 Parent Governors
- 1 Staff Governor
- 1 Headteacher Governor
The term of office of all categories of Governor is four years.
Governors are appointed by the Governing Body and are people who, in the opinion of the Governing Body, have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school. Detailed pen portraits which highlight the skills our Governors bring to their role can be found on the school website. The appendices summarise the roles of our Governing Body. The Governing Body have a wide range of educational, business and financial experience. A Headteacher of a local primary school, senior staff from other secondary schools alongside lawyers, LA inclusion officer and an LA finance offer a wealth of experience relative to the post. This has resulted in a sharp focus upon accountability and the role of governance within the school.
The full Governing Body meets once each term, and we also have a number of committees to consider different aspects of the school in detail. These also meet termly in addition to the full Governing Body meeting.
At JRCS we have the following committees:
Finance Committee
Monitoring all aspects of the school’s budget and ensuring compliance with all financial regulations. The committee also consider issues relating to premises and personnel, health and safety, safeguarding arrangements and the Castle Green trade account. The Chair of the Finance Committee reports back to each full Governing Body meeting and, along with the school’s Finance Manager, answers any questions relating to the school’s income and expenditure.
Standards Committee
Monitoring all aspects in relation to student progress and attainment, student attendance, progress of different groups including disadvantaged students and SEND, and the school curriculum.
Pay Committee and Pay Appeals Committee
The first of these committees ratifies or challenges all decisions relating to staff performance review and pay progression (including the Headteacher’s). The second is responsible for hearing and deciding on any appeals raised by staff in relation to their pay progression.
All other committees are convened as and when necessary meeting statutory requirements in relation to the number of Governors required to be in attendance. This includes occasions such as pupil permanent exclusions, staff disciplinary, competency, grievance and redundancy.
Attendance records of Governors
Governors have excellent attendance at meetings and we have never cancelled a meeting because it was not “quorate” (the number of Governors needed to ensure that legal decisions can be made). See Appendix 1 for details of individual Governors’ attendance at meetings.
The work that we have done on our Committees and in the Governing Body
- TThe reconstituted Governing Body includes a number of members who bring specific skills to their roles. Governing Body meetings therefore have a focussed approach to both challenging and supporting the Headteacher on a range of issues and outcomes. The Governing Body continues to become more reflective of the school population.
- An ongoing programme of Governor induction training ensures that all members have an up to date knowledge of all key educational issues and practice. Governors have attended a range of training opportunities both in school and through the LA Governors’ Training Provision. Online safeguarding training, OFSTED Framework, Prevent training and data management are examples of some of the training Governors have participated in.
- Governing body members have conducted Governors’ visits that have included learning walks, student voice interviews and speaking to staff about their work. This has allowed them to see for themselves the progress being made by the school.
- Last year the Standards Committee worked alongside senior staff to monitor the progress being made by pupils in Year 11 to continue to ensure the progress made by pupils continued to improve. There was a focus on the development of reading across the school and this remains a focus this year. We also undertook a race and social justice visit and a safeguarding visit.
Future plans for the Governors
- To ensure that Governors have the opportunity to involve themselves in the full life of the school community in order to broaden their understanding of their role and the impact their actions can have.
In addition to this, the Governing Body will support the Headteacher and the staff in the school in achieving the school improvement targets as outlined in the School Improvement Plan. The Governing Body this year will be focusing on the following improvement targets:
- To ensure we provide a consistently high quality of education across the school
- Continue to close the gap for disadvantaged students
- Review school systems to ensure the climate for learning in the building is positive and all students are effectively supported
How you can contact the Governing Body
We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents – please contact the Acting Chair of Governors, Mrs Sue Richardson, via email to headteacher@jorichardson.org.uk or write c/o the school and your correspondence will be forwarded on to her directly.
You can see the full list of Governors, their attendance at meetings and more information about what we do, on the Governors’ page of the school website and in the appendices to this page.