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Governors

Role of the Governors

Introduction

Our Governing Body is responsible for overseeing the management and the strategic direction of the school and for determining the policies of the school, within the framework set by national legislation. The Governors are accountable to pupils, parents, Ofsted and the Local Authority for the school’s performance and the standard of teaching and learning.

There are three core functions of the governing board:

  • Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  • Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
  • Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent

All governors are volunteers and are drawn from a wide variety of different backgrounds. Governors spend on average around 6 - 10 hours a month on school matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Governing Body made up?

Blacon High School has the following Governors as set out in its Instrument of Government:

  1. 2 Parent Governor
  2. 1 Local Authority Governor (elected by the Local Authority)
  3. 1 Staff Governor
  4. Headteacher
  5. 2 Co-opted Governors
  6. 8 Foundation (Trust) Governors

How are Governors appointed?

With the exception of staff and parent governors, all governors are elected by the members of the Blacon High School trust. The Local Authority representative governor is selected by Cheshire West and Chester.

The Chair of Governors and Vice Chair are elected by the Governing Body for a period of three years, at the first full Governing Body meeting of the relevant academic year.

Governors are appointed for a four year period, except that this time limit does not apply to the Headteacher. Subject to remaining eligible to be a particular type of Governor, any Governor can be re-appointed or re-elected.

When appointing new Governors, the members will give consideration to the skills and experience mix of existing Governors in order to ensure that the Board has the necessary skills to contribute fully to the school's development.

How does the governing body carry out its role?

The full Governing Body meets ten times during each academic year and also for an annual Strategy conference. Governors each have a link role and they visit school each year and then feedback to meetings on their, findings, discussions and actions.

In addition to attending meetings, Governors regularly visit the school to meet with staff and students and to join in key events in the life of the school.

How can I contact the school Governors?

The Governing Body welcome any comments and suggestions on the school and are particularly interested in the views of parents and carers.

You can send your comments in writing to the following address:

Chair of Governors
Blacon High School
Melbourne Road
Blacon
Chester
Cheshire
CH1 5JH

The Co-Chair of Governors, Nigel Pell-Ilderton and Andy Brown, can also be contacted via email: npell-ilderton@blaconhigh.cheshire.sch.uk and abrown@blaconhigh.cheshire.sch.uk 

Any issues raised by the parents can then be fed into the next Governor meeting.

Parents are encouraged to use the school’s complaints process in the first instance for any complaints and to contact the Headteacher, as Governors only become involved when a satisfactory resolution of a submitted complaint has not been possible.

You can also contact the Clerk to the Governing Body, Mark Aspden, by contacting the school on 01244 371475 or by email: mark.aspden@edsential.co.uk 

How do I become a parent governor?

Parent governors are elected by parents and staff governors are elected by staff. Whenever there is a vacancy for a parent governor, this will be advertised in newsletters and on the school website. Details of the election process will be circulated to all parents by letter. Staff governor vacancies will be advertised internally to staff.

Elections are held for parent governors whenever a term of office ends or a parent governor resigns. The Chair of Governors will be pleased to discuss the role with you at any time.