Governors

What Do Governors Do?

The Governors’ work affects most aspects of the school’s life and work.  Governors establish a long-term strategic plan for the school, which is then put into practice by the Headteacher.  They establish how many staff are employed in the school and take part in interviewing and appointing candidates, including appointing a Headteacher.  The Governors also deal with school Finances and Premises matters, including Health and Safety,

Governors also have responsibilities such as ensuring the National Curriculum is taught in accordance with the regulations, including drawing up policies relating to Sex Education and charging for School visits.  Collectively they monitor the curriculum and provision for Special Educational Needs and all governors have a duty to ensure that all aspects of safeguarding are sound.

More generally, Governors are expected to be in touch with the local community and to help guide the school to meet the community’s educational needs. They are also expected to help the school explain to the community what the school is trying to achieve for their children.

If you have any matters which you would like to bring to the Governors attention please approach them or write to the Chair of Governors: cofg@goathland.n-yorks.sch.uk, or via telephone to the school on 01947 896230.

Do Parent Governors Have Special Responsibilities?

No.  Parent Governors do not have ‘extra’ duties.  All governors are equally responsible and discharge their responsibilities as a body, not individually.  The Parent Governors speak as parents: they can’t speak for all parents.

Record of Governors’ Work

Minutes of all Full Governing body meetings are available on request from the school office. If you would like to see one or more sets of Minutes, please email admin@goathland.n-yorks.sch.uk or telephone 01947 896230 to request a copy by email or a hard copy.

How is our Governing Body organised?

Goathland School has a “circle model” of governance, where the governing body works as a ‘whole team’ without any committees, and meets every half term, or more if required. This means that all governors have up to date information regarding the school, and can offer timely support and challenge, as well as take action should the need arise. The governing body may commission assignments or projects arising from the business of any particular meeting which will be recorded in the minutes. The governing body will also at times delegate monitoring activities to either individual or pairs of members. This delegation could relate to statutory functions or to priorities identified in the School Development Plan (SDP). Any delegated decisions will be reported back to the Full Governing Body (FGB).

To support this we have Link Governors (see below) to take a focussed oversight of key areas, and a Pay Committee which convenes twice a year. There are also are committees which only function on an ad hoc basis, including the Complaints Committee and the Disciplinary Committee.

Information about the formal complaints procedure is available on this website together with details of other Goathland school policies.

Link Governor for Safeguarding & Attendance (Including filtering & monitoring): Mrs Nicola Atkinson

Link Governor for Inclusion (SEND & Pupil Premium): Mrs Nicola Atkinson

Governor Visits Policy –  click here Governor Visits Policy

Governor Allowances Policy –Governor Allowances Policy

 Meeting Dates 2024 -2025

4.30 Monday 11^th November 2024

4.30 Tuesday 28^th January 2025

4.30 Tuesday 25^th February 2025

4.30 Tuesday 1^st April 2025

4.30 Tuesday 13^th May 2025

4.30 Tuesday 8^th July 2025

Full Governing Body 2024-25

Link Governors

The role of the Link Governor is to provide a link between the Governing Board and the school. When Link Governors visit the school and report back to the Governing Board they help to deepen all governors’ understanding of how the school operates, how the strategic objectives are being pursued, how financial resources are being used and what extra support the school may need to meet its objectives. Without Link Governors, the Governing Board is totally reliant on the Headteacher, or other staff governors, for their understanding of the school. The presence of Link Governors provides an additional source of evidence upon which governing decisions can be made. This additional evidence should enable the Governing Body to better challenge information presented by the school and also better support the school to meet its strategic objectives.

At Goathland School, we ask our Link Governors to:

• Gain insight into the life of the school
• Create and develop relationships with staff, children and where appropriate parents
• Better understand the Governors roles in raising standards
• Enable a deeper understanding of the school’s current performance, practice, strengths and areas for further development.
• Observe policies and plans being implemented on a day-to-day basis 

Governor Attendance at Meetings Academic Year 2023-2024.