Governors

Meadowfield School Governing Body

The Governors of Meadowfield School work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and staff to uphold the School Ethos and Values and ensure that every young person has the best individual learning opportunity and is able to maximise their development and progress to lead the fullest possible adult life.

The role of the Governors is a strategic one in the development of the school, with day to day management and operational issues delegated to the Senior Leadership Team.

The three core responsibilities of the Governing Body are:

• to hold the Principal to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils,
• ensure clarity of the school’s vision, ethos, values and strategic direction, and
• to oversee the financial performance of the school ensuring its money is well spent.

Additionally, the Governing Body maintains a high focus on Safeguarding and Child Protection in line with DfE guidance “Keeping Children Safe in Education”, with Safeguarding being a standing agenda item at every Full Governing Body meeting.

Our Governing Body Constitution currently consists of 14 Governors:

• 1 Headteacher (Acting Principal)
• 1 Staff Governor, elected by staff
• 1 Local Authority Governor, appointed by the Governing Body
• 2 Parent Governors, elected by parents
• 7 Co-opted Governors, appointed by the Governing Body
• 2 Foundation Governors, appointed by the Governing Body.

We operate a Teams system: Wellbeing, Teaching & Outcomes and Business Services (incorporating all matters relating to Human Resources, Finance, Premises, Health & Safety and ICT. All Governors attend Full Governing Body meetings and every Governor is a member of at least one Team, although all Governors may join any Team meeting regardless of membership. Every meeting is minuted by our Clerk and these minutes, minus any confidential discussions, are available to parents and stakeholders on request once agreed and signed.

Our current Governors are as follows:

* Awaiting statutory pre-appointment vetting

In addition to their membership of one of the Governing Body Teams, some Governors have specific roles and responsibilities as follows:

Our Governors’ attendance at meetings is excellent; full details of attendance can be found in the Governor section of the School Website.

Our Impact

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic it became necessary to adapt in order to comply with national restrictions and from March 2020 our meetings were conducted virtually via Teams; Governor attendance was exceptional, with all Governors making a huge effort to continue to prioritise school business from their homes. With the easing of restrictions, Governors made the decision to move with the national trend of working from home and we now hold blended meetings, offering the opportunity for Governors to attend meetings virtually as well as in person. This has resulted in much improved attendance allowing Governors to attend meetings which they may otherwise not have been able to. The Governing Body has continued to meet according to our agreed schedule to fulfil our statutory duties and are proud to have achieved many of our objectives in spite of the challenges, in particular:

• Strengthening the effectiveness of the Governing Body in a focused recruitment of new Governors with the appropriate skills to provide effective support and challenge to the school leadership team.
• Active involvement in every aspect of school business, including rigorous monitoring of progress towards targets on the schools’ Strategic Improvement Plan and statutory monitoring of the schools’ budget.
• Governors keep a strong focus on wellbeing for staff and pupils – ever mindful of the effects the pandemic may have on mental health.
• A review and comprehensive update of our Governor Code of Conduct and Standing Orders to emphasise the importance of the role of the Governing Body in holding school leaders to account.
• Attending regular training opportunities offered by the Local Authority as well as in-school sessions to extend our skill set and knowledge of new legislation and statutory duties.
• Regular attendance at KSENT meetings to maintain collaborative working within the Trust.

Our Priorities for this Year

In the forthcoming academic year we will work towards achieving the targets on our Action Plan, with a particular focus on:

• We continue to be focused on supporting everyone in the school community following the COVID pandemic.
• Ensuring Governance is also high quality and extending our commitment to Governor training and increasing the skills of our Governors to enable them to carry out their role effectively.
• Monitoring and overseeing the expansion of the school in terms of pupil numbers and the necessary building works to accommodate our growing roll.
• Overseeing the safety and wellbeing of our pupils and staff post pandemic.
• Developing and maintaining a good relationship within the community.
• Extending our commitment to the KSENT Trust and working collaboratively with colleagues from other member schools.
• Continuing to work with KSENT to develop Governor training and sharing expertise and best practice.
• Working with school towards taking over responsibility for pupil transport from the Local Authority.
• Promoting and offering the hire of school premises to local community initiatives.
• Continuing to monitor progress towards targets on the school’s Strategic Improvement Plan by scrutinising evidence showing progress and noting key successes or areas for development, including inviting key staff members to attend meetings and report to Governors.
• Ensuring all school policies are reviewed and updated and involving parents for their input when appropriate.
• Monitoring attendance, with a link Governor working closely with the Principal.
• Ensuring our website meets statutory requirements and appointing a designated Governor to oversee and monitor this.
• Monitoring the school’s budget and ensuring financial compliance by keeping abreast of changes to funding arrangements.

We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents.  Please contact the Chair of Governors via the Clerk to the Governors at clerktogovernors@meadowfield.kent.sch.uk if you would like to discuss anything.