Welcome from the Co-Chairs of Governors at Barnburgh Primary Academy

Our academy Co-Chairs are Janine Reid and Paul Brown. We are delighted to have this opportunity to give you an overview of governance at Barnburgh Primary Academy.

Our Academy joined Leger Education Trust on 1 August 2023. Formerly we were Barnburgh Primary School where I joined the board of governors in 2004 and was Chair since 2014. Paul joined us in January 2022.  Our current terms of office as Co-Chair ends at the Academy Governing Body (AGB) meeting normally in September when the Annual Business takes place.

Governance has altered dramatically over the last few years and we are adapting to our new roles as trust governors. Our governing body is a group of professional people, from a variety of employment areas which allows their skills to be transferable to monitoring, supporting, challenging and working in partnership with senior leaders to ensure the delivery of a high standard of education for all the pupils in our care and to ensure Barnburgh Primary Academy is the very best it can be.

What do we do?

Our Governors have 3 key roles:

• to ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• to hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the Academy and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
• to oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent. 

 

They also carry out a number of other important duties, which include:

• determining how the school's budget is spent
• the appointing and dismissing of staff
• hearing appeals and grievances
• forming policy on the school's curriculum
• setting standards for pupils' behaviour, attendance and discipline
• making sure school buildings are welcoming and safe
• setting and monitoring the school's aims and policies

How is this achieved?

Meetings. Governors at Barnburgh are constantly reflecting on their practice and the changing needs of our committees to respond to the needs of the Academy. Our Academy meets twice each term to an agreed trust schedule in order that the information can be made available to the trust executives at their half termly meetings. Our sub committees eg Pay committee meet at appropriate times during the year to action our statutory duties.

Visits. Every governor has specific areas of responsibility, these are monitored, challenged and reported at full governing body meetings. These are actioned through regular and timely, pre-arranged notes of visits with school leaders (including Headteacher, SENCO, School Business Manager, Curriculum staff lead, School Council).

Training. Every governor attends formal introductory training to ensure they have an understanding of the role. Training can be accessed on-line or by formal face to face training courses run by the Trust. These courses are free of charge to members of the Board of Governors. We have high expectations of governors accessing training to ensure they gain the knowledge carry out their responsibility roles. Mentoring and induction is undertaken.

Interested? Please email admin@barnburghacademy.com or visit https://www.inspiringgovernance.org/ for more information on our current requirements. Priority will be given to those people whose expertise matches a skill which may not be fully met. We are actively looking to recruit governors with knowledge of Human Resources to support us further in these areas. 

 

Please click on the links below to find out more about our meeting schedule/attendance, our structure, our register of interest and our roles and responsibilities, along with policies specific to governance.

 

Signed 

J M Reid & P Brown