Governor Details

Woodlands Governing Board

The Governing Board is a crucial part of the Woodlands family and works with the school to promote our key drivers and vision for the pupils. They share in our successes and support us when needed.

The governors are very supportive of the school not only attending regular meetings but also scrutinise documentation, approve policies and act as critical friends.

The Governing Board is made up of volunteers who are: parents, staff, local authority representatives, and members of the community. Most members serve for a period of 4 years.

The full Governing Board meets at least once per term with governors also belonging to committees which meet more frequently. At Woodlands, the governors also come into school to meet with their link year group leader, looking at their priorities & the data that supports this, meeting the staff and children and looking at the children’s work. They also meet with their subject leader to discuss their vision for their subject and action plans, look at any monitoring taking place and discuss this. 

The leadership team will also have an ‘away day’ with the governors once a year to look at the strategic direction of the school, sharing the targets and discussing the plan for the year and how this relates to the school development plan.  

If you would like more information about membership, please see the documentation below.

Associate governors

At Woodlands, we also have associate governors who attend the full governing board meetings and some committee meetings as: observers; to support the school; to advise the governors on matters relating to the area they oversee or for their own professional development. Associate governors do not have a vote.

Associate governors at Woodlands are:

• Miss Moughton - Deputy headteacher - attends full governing board meeting, premises committee and finance committee.

Responsibilities of a governor at Woodlands

Purpose of the post – the role of School Governor:

School Governing Boards work as a team to provide strategic leadership to schools.  The three core functions of a school governing board are to: 

• set a vision for the school
• be accountable for school performance and safety of pupils
• provide financial probity to ensure that resources are well spent 

Requirements for the role:

• Act within the framework of the policies of the governing board and legal requirements.
• A commitment to attend meetings (For example full governing board, committees and working groups).
• Respect confidentiality and all governing board decisions, while fully supporting the collective responsibility of any decisions which are made.
• Be committed to training and development opportunities.
• Understand the school’s needs, strengths and areas for development.

 The usual term of office for governors is four years.

Eligibility criteria:

• No formal qualifications needed.
• Aged 18 years and above.
• Meet the skills and experience required by the governing board.
• Be willing to meet the time commitment of attending meetings, reading documentation, attending training sessions and visiting the school on focused visits.
• Have a debarring service check and obtain clearance.
• Sign the Governors Code of Conduct.

Governor Code of Conduct

The code of conduct which sets out the expectations of and commitment required from school governors must be adhered to and is underpinned by the following principles: 

• Act in the best interests of the school – declaring any conflicts of interests immediately, recording any business interests where applicable.
• Work as a member of a team at all times and as one board - respecting confidentiality and be loyal to collective decisions made by the governing board.
• Act fairly and without prejudice - recognising that all governors have the same rights and responsibilities unless particular responsibilities are conferred on them by the full governing board.
• Acknowledge that the role involves the commitment of a significant amount of time and energy - with training, meetings and visits to the school.

How to become a governor?

If you are interested in joining the governors at Woodlands you should contact the Clerk to Governors, Karen Mount at: kjmgovservices@gmail.com

Vacancies

We currently have three vacancies – 2 x co-opted governor and 1 x parent governor positions.