Stretham Community Primary School
Welcome
Key Governors Information
What is the role of the Governing Board?
Stretham is a community primary school where children feel happy and safe and the quality of education is good. All local authority maintained schools are required to have a Governing Body, which is the critical friend of the school, tasked with ensuring the school environment is safe, the interests and needs of all stakeholders are met as much as is possible and children enjoy their learning and achieve as highly as possible.
As Governors we will work with the whole school community to develop and deliver a strategic plan that reflects our community, ensures school achievement improves and that supports children to thrive in every aspect of their learning. We recognise that each child is individual in their hopes and needs and to ensure continuous improvement we will work with the school to ensure that every child is able to achieve their aspirations and that they become the best that they can be.
How the Board sets its priorities
The governing body sets the strategic priorities for the school through stakeholder engagement, regular review, evaluation and reflection. As leaders, and critical friends, we listen to feedback from the school community, and set appropriate expectations for staff, pupils and parents. We set priorities to support the ambitious improvement programme within the school, recognising the school foundations, built on a supportive culture of kindness and excellence.
Governors Strategic Priorities for 2024/25
We want all pupils, parents and carers to feel part of our community and for the community to strive for outstanding performance where children exceed expectations. By the time they leave school the pupils of Stretham Primary School should be kind, respectful and resilient and possess the essential knowledge required, to prepare them for both Secondary School, and beyond.
Each year the Governing Body sets objectives to support ambition, our current objectives are as follows:-
- The governing board will be effective and responsible leaders and role models to the school community, through ownership of the school’s vision and values, effective challenge and rigorously supporting the delivery of the vision.
- Ensure the schools safeguarding policies and procedures reflect the requirements of the pupils, are collectively owned and are appropriately implemented to support pupils of the school.
- We will develop a visible and transparent style of governance within the school community, that values and responds to the feedback of staff, parents/carers and children and strives to improve standards and attainment.
- Oversee the financial performance of the school to ensure resources are appropriately allocated and deliver value for money for educational outcomes and the school building environment.
You can read more about these priorities and how the governing body monitors school progress in our current Governor Development Plan.
How does the Board hold the school to account?
In addition to meeting on a half-termly basis as a Full Governing Board there is also a Finance Committee that meets on a half-termly basis to focus specifically on the financial performance of the school.
Whilst meetings provide an opportunity to discuss a range of topics, Governors also undertake formal monitoring visits and learning walks in the school on a regular basis. These formal visits offer the opportunity to talk to staff throughout the school, witness lessons and talk to children directly about their experiences in the school. Reports are produced as a result of these visits that are shared with staff, and may include recommendations on ways of working. They are also available to Ofsted and the local authority. Visits cover a range of topics but generally focus on assessing how the school is performing in the following areas:-
- Safeguarding
- Special Education Needs
- Quality of Education
- Behaviour and Attitudes
- Pupil’s Personal Development
- Leadership and Management
- Early Years Foundation Stage
- Wellbeing
- Pupil and Sports Premium