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Responsibilities of Governors

Governing Body’s Strategic Role – the core function

The Headteacher has the responsibility for the day to day running of the school. The Governing Body has a more strategic role, shaping the character of the school and formulating its general direction. To do this effectively the Governors will need to work closely with the Headteacher as their senior professional adviser in setting aims and developing policies to ensure these aims are met. Monitoring and evaluating progress will identify strengths and weaknesses and give direction for further improvement. With the information gained from monitoring and evaluation, the Governors will be in a position to act as “critical friend” and ask pertinent questions of the Headteacher in order to support the school.
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Specific responsibilities of Foundation Governors

Foundation Governors have a particular responsibility for supporting and developing the Christian character of the school as a Church of England School. It is important that this responsibility is understood and shared with all the governors and the Headteacher. Where there is a trust deed, foundation governors are also responsible for ensuring that the terms of the trust deed are upheld. In some schools, there are also associated charities, and foundation governors may also be charity trustees. 
 

Upholding the Christian character of the school as a Church of England school

In a Church of England school, all governors should ensure that:

  • the mission statement has the Anglican emphasis clearly stated;
  • the character and quality of RE is in line with the school's trust deed;
  • they are aware of the legal requirements for RE in a church school, and of the advice from the Board of Education on the development of the RE curriculum; 
  • the RE syllabus adopted, including the faiths to be studied, and the standards achieved in the subject in school;
  • resources made available for RE and collective worship are at least equivalent to the level provided for foundation subjects at least 5% of curriculum time is assigned to RE;
  • a link governor, preferably a foundation governor, is appointed to liaise with the subject leader and keep the full governing body informed and aware of subject needs in RE;
  • RE regularly forms part of the school's improvement plan and self evaluation procedures;
  • collective worship is planned with due regard to the Anglican dimension and the Christian year;
  • when appointing new staff that these appointments are in accord with the mission of the school;
  • they support the Headteacher and senior leaders in their roles as spiritual leaders;
  • foundation governors take a full role in committees and the governing body.


Governors should also monitor:
 

  • the contribution of RE and collective worship to the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of pupils;
  • the quality of self evaluation and the evidence used to support judgements on the four key questions of a SIAMS inspection; 
  • the way in which the Christian character of the school is reflected in the Ofsted "self evaluation" evidence base and judgements
  • the quality of links with the local parish; 
  • the progress of students/pupils in RE and the standards reached;
  • the impact of collective worship on the spiritual development of staff and pupils;
  • the quality of experiences provided by the school such as visits and visitors on the pupils' spiritual development;
  • the way in which the school environment reflects the Christian and Anglican character of the school.


The governing body of a voluntary aided school has particular responsibilities as:
 

  • the employer of the staff - it is recommended that the governing body follow local authority guidance on HR matters and buy in to the appropriate service level agreements.
  • the admissions authority for the school, including setting the admissions policy - the local authority is responsible for administering admissions under the terms of the agreed co-ordinated admissions scheme. Admissions policies must follow the Statutory Code of Practice on Admissions, and be approved by both the Diocese and the Local Authority. In most areas the Local Authority will arrange for the necessary consultation processes to be carried out if policies are submitted in time.
  • the body determining whether the diocesan or locally agreed RE syllabus is followed - the diocesan syllabus is regularly reviewed, and covers all the major world faiths. Advice and support are available from the Board of Education.
  • the contributor of 10% of the costs of any capital works to the school - Devolved formula capital (DFC) and some other DCSF grant funding will only cover 90% of the costs of any capital work. Governing bodies can raise the other 10% through fundraising, support from trusts, the local parish or supporters groups, or through use of the school budget (but not where this will put the school in deficit or impact adversely on other aspects of the school’s work). It is strongly recommended that the 10% contribution to DFC is set aside each year as the DFC is received.
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