Role of Governors

All schools are required by law to have a Governing Body and the Department for Education (DfE) decides what categories of governors there should be as well as the minimum numbers of these. At Wilthorpe Primary School there is provision for 3 parent governors; 1 staff governor; 1 Local Authority governor; 6 co-opted governors and the Headteacher. Once they become members, the governors are there to represent the children not the people who elected or co-opted them.

The purpose of governance;

“The purpose of governance is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.

All boards, no matter what type of schools or how many schools they govern, have three core functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and

• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.”

(taken from the DfE Governance handbook January 2017; the full handbook can be downloaded here from the DfE website).

Further information regarding the role of governors and governing bodies can be found in the Wilthorpe Primary School Governors’ Handbook.