Governors

What Do Governors Do?

School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. It is governors who hold the main responsibility for finance in schools, and it is governors who work with the Principal to make the tough decisions about balancing resources.

Each individual governor is a member of the school’s Local Governing Body which has delegated powers to oversee Wombourne High School from the Invictus Education Trust Board. Individual governors may not act independently of the rest of the governing board; decisions are the joint responsibility of the governing board.

The role of the governing board is a strategic one. Its key functions are to:

Set the aims and objectives for the school
Set the policies for achieving those aims and objectives
Set the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
Monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making towards achievement of its aims and objectives
To be a source of challenge and support to the Principal (a critical friend)

Governors are expected through their contribution to the work of the governing body to ensure high standards of achievement for all children and young people in the school by:

Contributing to the strategic discussions at governing body meetings which determine:

The vision and ethos of the school;
Clear and ambitious strategic priorities and targets for the school;
That all children, including those with special educational needs, have access to a broad and balanced curriculum;
The school’s budget, including the expenditure of the pupil premium allocation;
The school’s staffing structure and key staffing policies;
The principles to be used by school leaders to set other school policies.

Holding the senior leaders to account by monitoring the school’s performance; this includes:

Agreeing the outcomes from the school’s self-evaluation and ensuring they are used to inform the priorities in the school development plan;
Considering all relevant data and feedback provided on request by school leaders and external sources on all aspects of school performance;
Asking challenging questions of school leaders;
Ensuring senior leaders have arranged for the required audits to be carried out and receiving the results of those audits;
Ensuring senior leaders have developed the required policies and procedures and the school is operating effectively according to those policies;
Acting as a link governor on a specific issue, making relevant enquiries of the relevant staff, and reporting to the governing body on the progress on the relevant school priority; and
Listening to and reporting to the school’s stakeholders : pupils, parents, staff, and the wider community, including local employers.

Ensuring the school staff have the resources and support they require to do their jobs well

Including the necessary expertise on business management, external advice where necessary, effective appraisal and CPD (Continuing Professional Development), and suitable premises, and that the way in which those resources are used has impact.

When required, serve on panels of governors to:

Appoint the senior leaders;
Agree the pay recommendations for other staff;
Hear the second stage of staff grievances and disciplinary matters;
Hear appeals about pupil exclusions.

In addition to their regular committee responsibilities Governors will also sit on panels relating to staff matters (grievance, disciplinary) student behaviour (exclusion hearings, governor review and warning meetings) and complaints.

Our current Governors are: