Governors

Sherington Governing Body

The Sherington governors share the enthusiasm and excitement for learning that pupils and staff have and are proud of Sherington’s outstanding achievements. We are committed to the Sherington vision of “Aspire, Believe, Create, Achieve” and between us we bring a wide variety of skills and experience to our role.

To get in touch, you can email governors@sherington.greenwich.sch.uk, leave a message in the school office or catch us in the playground – questions, ideas, comments all welcome! (Please note that the first point of call for any issues relating specifically to your child is your child’s class teacher.)

Sherington’s Governing Board has three key responsibilities:

The role of the governing body is strategic (not operational – the headteacher is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school). The governing body acts as a “critical friend” to the school and its leadership.  Governors focus on three core strategic functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction– we help decide the school’s strategy for improvement. We do not get involved in the day-to-day management of the school but focus on key issues that will raise standards and achievement.
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff. We use our knowledge and experience to support and challenge (in a constructive way) the headteacher and staff so as to get the best possible teaching and outcomes.
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent . We work with the staff to ensure that the school makes best use of its resources.

Governor Impact Statement – Jan 2022 

2021 saw the continuation of the challenge to manage COVID and grapple with the changing demands and constraints that the pandemic can inflict. Throughout the year, the Sherington governing board continued to provide support to the senior leadership team (SLT) and given the extraordinary situation, gave extra focus on the critical areas where the school needed immediate support.

In particular, governors have been kept informed on the school’s plans and provided input on-

• • • The COVID risk assessment and health and safety provisions. Through the year there was increasing focus on how to plan for a safe return to the classroom
    • Mental health and wellbeing of staff and pupils
    • Remote learning policy and home-schooling offering
    • Child protection and safeguarding procedures, in particular taking into account remote working and the particular impact on vulnerable families
    • How the COVID-19 catch up premium is deployed and support for disadvantaged children and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)

Additionally, the governing body has supported recruitment on the SLT and, as the pandemic pressures alleviated, we have focused on implementing processes to enhance governance.  

Some key activities include-

• A skills focussed approach to governor recruitment and the onboarding of 4 new governors
• Supporting the headteachers and SLT in the appointment of a new deputy head
• We have revamped the terms of reference for all committees, clarified the delegation of authority, and introduced a governors code of conduct
• We have introduced vice-chairs for each committee and named governors to support linked governors for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), child protection (CP) and safeguarding
• Through the Finance and Premises Committees, the governing body supported the painting and decorating of the school
• We have supported the school in a complete review and overhaul of all policies
• We have implemented a new approach to governor visits that tracks to the school strategic and improvement plan
• We promoted and supported the development of the dedicated school website
• Governors have a statutory duty to provide performance management for the headteacher. When the governing body and the head found the existing process unsatisfactory, we developed a new review structure that provides space for a much broader creative and strategic approach, while also providing rigorous challenge
• We have provided an increased focus on financial planning, for example by initiating a change to service provider for bursarial services that better suits the needs of the school, and supporting the development of a 3 year plan
• Implemented a governor body action plan to improve how we monitor the quality of the school’s self-evaluation (SEF), implementation of the school improvement plan (SIP) and prepare for potential OFSTED inspections

How do we ensure effective governance?

We have a full governors meeting once a term, with three sub-committees which meet at least termly:

• Finance and Personnel
• Premises
• Learning and Achievement

At these meetings we review levels of achievement across the curriculum, monitor how children’s needs are being met and how the pupil premium is being used to narrow attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, contribute to the school’s evaluation procedures and development plan, agree the schools budget and monitor its implementation.

We make regular visits to develop a fuller understanding of how Sherington works as a school. Visits can be very informal (e.g. attendance at school concert or assembly) or may be planned with a specific focus.

We play an important role in the appointment of new staff, particularly those at a senior level.

Governing bodies are supported by the Local Authority through the provision of training and advice. OFSTED evaluate how effectively governors challenge and hold senior leaders to account for all aspects of the school’s performance and ensure financial stability, and will judge the effectiveness of governance against the three core strategic functions.  

Head Teacher Appraisal

The governing body carries out the headteacher appraisal annually. Several governors have undertaken headteacher’s appraisal training, and with expert assistance from an independent educational advisor through the Local Authority, the appraisal is carried out. The appraisal process allows us to look closely at the performance of the headteacher, have discussions about areas of strengths, and where necessary, areas for development. New targets are then set against criteria which the headteacher’s performance will be evaluated.

Training

All members of governing body have and continue to have significant training. All members have undergone safeguarding and safer recruitment training. Alongside the whole governor body training, governors attend individual courses and training.

Please click here for attendance of meetings for the last completed school year.

All terms of office are 4 years unless otherwise noted.

Our Clerk is Lucy Davies, provided by Royal Greenwich Governor Services.

F&P = Finance & Personnel, L&A = Learning & Achievement, P = Premises, Pay = Pay Committee

ROI = Register of interests

The Governing Body including the Head are required to register any business interests on appointment and at every Governors Meeting.  The Register of Interests is held in the school office. 

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