Excalibur Primary SchoolLocal Governing Body Handbook 2023/24
1. Purpose and Scope
The purpose of this page is to set out the key elements of Governance surrounding Excalibur Primary School. It will need to be read in conjunction with other key Governance documents that are downloadable at the bottom of the page.
The scope of this document is related to the governance of Excalibur Primary School and the inter-relationship between the Head and the local governing body of the school.
2. Introduction
At Excalibur Primary School the head teacher, staff and local governing body work closely together to provide high quality and effective education for all under the auspices of Cheshire East Council Children & Young People’s Services following the guidance of the Department for Education (DfE) and its regulations for the governance of schools.
Our local governing body consisting of representatives from the local community, the parents and staff. The governors strive to act at all times with integrity, objectivity and honesty and in the best interests of the school and its pupils. They are accountable and as such will undertake to be transparent and open about the way in which they act and make decisions.
Their role is largely a strategic one in the running of the school. This includes setting up a strategic framework for the school, setting its aims and objectives, setting policies and targets for achieving the objectives, reviewing progress and reviewing the strategic framework in the light of progress. The Governing Body is accountable for making effective use of its monitoring, evaluation and reviewing activities to hold the school to account for the quality of the education provided
The head teacher is responsible for the management of the school and its internal organisation, for advising the local governing board on the strategic framework and for implementing it. She will formulate aims and objectives, policies and targets for the governors to consider adopting and will regularly report to them on the progress of such items.
The Chancery Multi Academy Trust directors will decide the roles delegated to the local governing board, individual governors, the head teacher and other school or trust staff.
Governors are collectively responsible for the financial decisions that are made and are answerable to parents and the wider community. The financial procedures of the school are set out by Chancery Multi Academy Trust.
3. The Strategic Role
At Excalibur Primary School this means that the Head and Governors decide what they want the school to achieve and plan the strategy or framework for achieving it. This will include setting suitable aims and objectives, agreeing policies, targets and priorities and monitoring and reviewing those aims and objectives and whether the policies, targets and priorities are being achieved.
The School Development Plan will provide the strategic framework and will be supported by the school’s Self-Evaluation form (SEF) and other specific development plans and policies. Working strategically, governors should use monitoring evidence to evaluate and review progress against agreed improvement targets to establish the effectiveness of policy and practice. The head teacher is responsible for providing any data or information that the local governing body has agreed as necessary for it to effectively monitor progress. The head teacher is responsible for facilitating the local governing body’s agreed monitoring systems and the arrangements necessary for governors to fulfil that function, including visits into classrooms, attendance at staff meeting, INSET days, senior management team meetings, termly head and chair of governors meetings and termly head, chair and School Improvement Partner meetings.