Governor Impact Statement   

July 2019

Chair: Mr A.Watson

Vice Chair: Mr R.Dunbar

Aims of our work

Over the past year, governors at St Stephen’s have effectively challenged and supported the school in many ways and have developed new systems to support ongoing improvement. The main functions of the governing body are:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, catholic ethos and strategic direction of the school
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its  pupils, and the performance management of staff
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
   
  How we are structured
   
   As well as the full governing body, there are three main sub-committees who meet on a regular basis.
   

1. Leadership and Management (incorporating ethos and curriculum)
2. Finance and Staffing
3. Welfare, Safeguarding and Premises
    
   We also have committees for Admissions and Performance Management which meet annually. Additionally we have named governors with specific responsibilities  for Special Educational needs and vulnerable pupils, religious education, equality and  also early years education.The governing body is now smaller yet more effective in that members are working more closely with senior leaders on school development.  The development plan is constantly being reviewed as is the contribution of staff.
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   What we’ve done to support and challenge the school in securing ongoing improvement
    
   Through the sub-committee structure, which feeds into the full governing body function, governors have been able to make a significant contribution to school development.
   They have successfully:
    

• Acquired  a much greater knowledge of school evaluation by
   
  • Carrying out a series of joint learning walks with senior leaders as well as observing follow up and feedback discussions. This has enabled governors to question aspects of provision, make suggestions to secure improvement and cross reference against information provided by the headteacher to check accuracy.
     
  • Carrying out a series of Senior leader interviews, challenging and probing practice in order to elicit a better understanding of learning provision. This has proved valuable for senior leaders  in helping them to articulate  their contribution to school development.
  • Observing triangulation exercises where information from book scrutiny and lesson observations is tested against performance data. This has helped governors make a deeper contribution to the formulation of school improvement targets in the whole school development plan.
  • Meeting with Local Authority officers for training in increasing the effectiveness of the governing body
  • Meeting with specific subject leaders to establish how they contribute to school development and outcomes for learners.
  • Carrying out appropriate Health and safety audits to ensure the school is compliant in its approach to safeguarding, risk assessments and keeping children safe in education.
     
• Made significant contributions to whole school development planning by
   
  • Acquiring the necessary knowledge, through participating in evaluation activity, to offer suggestions, ideas and solutions to aspects of provision.
     
  • Participating in discussions and planning meetings, assessing the merits and necessity of new initiatives aimed at school development. For example, contributing to the process  around updating school Mission and Vision Statements and observing and contributing to the planning and implementation of our updated curriculum.
     
     

• Ensured that financial management and deployment of resources offers good value for money by:
   
  • Scrutinising budget documentation  and proposals regarding future spending.
  • Examining future staffing proposals against needs of the pupils through the curriculum before agreeing updated staffing structures.
  • Evaluating how well additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used and offering suggestions as to how it might be used in future years. This has been carried out in collaboration with the senior leadership team
  • Evaluating how well the school uses additional  funding to promote the development of sport and physical education across the school.
  • Ensuring that performance management is explicitly linked to whole school development and any salary progression in school
  • Liaising, when necessary, with appropriate people within the Local Authority to support their work and input in this area. - Human Resources, Legal Services, Finance etc.
     

• Where appropriate, individual governors have attended relevant training to support them in their role. Governors have attended Safer Recruitment training, PREVENT duty training, Link governor training etc This has helped governors to secure an increased understanding of current issues affecting schools and pupils.
   
   

• Ensuring an ongoing commitment to  preserving and developing the Catholic identity of the school by
   
  • Supporting the significant investment in religious education resources across the school, in particular the teaching hall.
  • Attending whole school collective worship, Mass and liturgical celebrations throughout the year.
     
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    What we want to do next
     
    Because  governors have a good understanding of the school, we are able to identify, with the headteacher and senior leaders, the following key areas for development going forward.
     

• Support the school in developing the quality of teaching and learning across as a means of maintaining the existing standards.
• Ensure  that  new curriculum initiatives are embedded and understand the  impact of this.
• To safeguard the existing strength of the governing body by ensuring that members fully engage with school development activity and ongoing training and an induction programme for new members.
• In line with the the new CIF (Common Inspection Framework) seek to gain a better understanding of how this impacts on school provision. Also, secure a deeper understanding of the school’s monitoring activities, particularly around curriculum planning and foundation subjects.
• Aim to increase the capacity of the governing body by filling vacant posts with members who have the  skills, knowledge and expertise to enhance the overall work of the group.
   
   
   
   
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Please find below  the names and terms of appointment for each Governor.

The governing body is made up of the following sub-committees:

• Finance and Staffing
• Leadership and Management (including Curriculum)
• Welfare, Safeguarding and Premises