Governors

The Governing Body and the role of the Governors

The Governing Body provides strategic leadership and accountability at St Francis'. It has three key functions:

• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction: ensuring the Catholic character of the school is preserved and that the school is conducted in accordance with the trust deed of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

Governors set the aims and objectives for the school and set the policies and targets for achieving those aims and objectives. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the headteacher. In action, this means:

• Appointing and performance reviewing the headteacher and senior leaders, including making decisions about pay.
• Managing budgets, oversight of premises, health & safety and deciding how money is spent.
• Engaging with pupils, staff, parents and the school community.
• Sitting on panels and making decisions about things like pupil exclusions and staff disciplinary.
• Addressing a range of education issues within the school including disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special needs, staff workload and teacher recruitment.
• Looking at data and evidence to ask questions and have challenging conversations about the school.