Governors
Welcome to the St Helen’s Primary School Governors page.
The Governing Body of St Helen’s School is made up of a range of people from many different backgrounds, including representatives from the Local Authority, St Helen’s Church (known as Foundation Governors), the Local Community, Parents and Staff. All Governors are volunteers and we offer our time, skills and experience to help run the School. Although as Governors we receive some training from the Local Authority, we are lay people, not experts and our role is to act as a critical or questioning friend.
Meet the Governors 2022-23
Please click on the link below to meet all our school governors.
Latest Governor news:
Governors Attendance at Meetings 2021-22
What the Governing Body does
The Governing Body works with the school’s Senior Leadership team and Staff to ensure all children at St Helen’s the best educational opportunities possible. The Governing Body is responsible for:
- Managing the school’s budget.
- Ensuring there is a balanced and broad curriculum.
- Reporting on the standards being achieved.
- Appointment of senior staff.
- Developing and maintaining a strategic vision in line with our distinctive Christian, caring environment and school values.
Following on from an inspection by Ofsted, Governors have to draw up an action plan for the school in response to the inspection report.
Meet the Governing Body
Click on the link below to hear from our Governing Body:
How the Governing Body works
Our role is strategic, whilst the school’s Senior Leadership Team, with whom we work closely, has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the school. The Full Governing Body meet six times in an academic year with additional smaller sub-committees covering:
- Curriculum & Standards
- Finance & Staffing
- Pay
We also have individuals or a small group of governors who take the lead in monitoring many areas of the school, pay and performance management, special educational needs, safety and safeguarding all the way through to play!
Additionally, there is the Strategic Working Group which meets more regularly to consider various day-to-day issues and provide a regular link between governors and senior staff. And along with governors and staff at St Mary’s Primary School, there is the Partnership Board, which deals with the operation and development of the partnership with St Mary’s, and other matters of interest to both schools.
Business is conducted through meetings where we make decisions collectively as a team. Meetings take place early in the evening and can involve a lot of paperwork which needs to be read in advance. Meetings of the Full Governing Body are normally held in September, November, December, January, March, May and July. The date of the next meeting is:
- Wednesday 28th September 2022
The Minutes of previous meetings can be accessed by clicking the links below:
FGB Meeting minutes to be updated shortly
Governors also like to come and visit the school and be involved in school life ( as much as circumstances allow) . We particularly enjoy attending events like concerts, sporting events, festivals and Church Services where we can celebrate the achievements of the children as well as sharing in significant moments in the life of the school. Twice a year we organise Governor days during which we focus on a particular area of school life in line with school’s strategy. Above all, we hope to support the staff of the school in creating a safe, happy and pleasant environment in which to learn and play together.
Becoming a Governor
- Foundation Governors are nominated by St Helen’s Church in consultation with the Diocese of Bristol.
- Parent Governors are elected by parents for a fixed term of 4 years. Parents are advised in writing when a vacancy for a Parent Governor arises. This could be because a Governor completes their term of office or because they stand down. Full details of the eligibility criteria and the process for nominations and any election are provided at the time.
- Local Authority Governors (L.A. Governors) are nominated by Local Councillors.
- Staff Governors are members of the School staff who are elected by the staffing body (both teaching and non-teaching).
- Co-opted Governors are appointed by the Governing Body to represent community interests or to bring specific skills to the Governing Body.
- Associate members are appointed by the governing body to help or advise on a specific matter (recent associate governors have been appointed to assist with finance-related matters, and with finalising the partnership arrangements). Associate members don’t generally have voting rights, but can attend relevant committee meetings and full governing body meetings.
Click on the links below to see our current Governing Body, Statutory Information, Register of Interests and Parent letter:
St Helen’s Board of Governors – RandR Sept 20
Governor Register of Interests 2020 to 2021
Register of business interests to be added
If you would like to contact us please email St Helen’s Primary Governing Body at governors.sthelensprimary@gmail.com