Governors

Hello from the Governing Body! This short piece is to introduce ourselves and give you some idea of our role.

I am Jan Winter and I have been Chair of governors for 3 years. I am a Co-opted governor and there are also Staff governors, Local Authority governors, Foundation governors (from the Church) and, of course, Parent governors on the Governing Body.

The governors' role is to support and challenge the school in improving its provision. We do not have a 'hands-on' role in the day to day running of the school - that is the Headteacher's responsibility. Instead, we monitor and oversee the school's work at a strategic level - helping the school consider the ways in which it can develop. We are from a wide range of backgrounds and all bring different skills and attributes to this work. Sometimes the role of the governors is misunderstood - we are not the 'first point of contact' if there are issues that concern you. The Head teacher is always happy to talk through any issues you may have. We do however have a formal role in complaints if things are not resolved within school.

We have a monitoring role as part of our support for school improvement. This year many of us have a focus on a specific area - Leadership, Teaching, Achievement, Behaviour & Safety or Social & Moral aspects - and are going to look at how the school is carrying out its plan to improve in these areas.

We have six full Governing Body meetings each year and also three committees, Personel, Finance and Curriculum, which deal with specialised business in those areas. These committees each meet either three or six times per year and most of us are members of one or two of them.

We are (we think!) a welcoming group who care strongly about the success of the school and want to work together to make sure the children get the best from their time at Olveston. From time to time there are vacancies as we all serve for fixed terms. While it is a commitment, we hope it is something that can still be fitted into busy lives.

We all think Olveston is a great school and want to do our best to help it continue to improve - we hope you will help us in doing this too.

Instrument of Government