Governors

Overview

Garden Fields has a committed team of governors who play an important role in the strategic leadership of our school. We are unpaid volunteers (save for our Headteacher who is also a governor) and are either appointed or elected to serve a four-year term of office. Our Governing Body reconstituted on 15th December 2020 under the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 and comprises:

a. 2 parent governors
b. 6 co-opted governors*
c. Our Headteacher
d. 1 staff governor
e. 1 local authority governor

* co-opted governors are appointed by the governing body, on the basis of our regular skills audits, because they have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

What we do

Our task is to govern the school, providing strategic leadership and focussing on the following core functions:

Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Once appointed or elected as governors, we must operate in the best interest of pupils, not as representatives to lobby on behalf of any particular constituency, whether parents, staff or other. We all have equal rights to participate in the work of the governing body and to state our own views, but we work as a team and are bound by the collective decisions of the team.

How we work

We work in partnership with our Headteacher who, in addition to his role as governor, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school with the support of his senior management team. We are supported in our work by the clerk to the governing body.

How often we meet

We meet as a full governing body at least once each term. There are two committees, dealing with curriculum and resource issues, which meet regularly and report to the full governing body. We have at least one governors’ day per year when governors attend classes, experience other aspects of a typical school day and meet to discuss strategy and/or other current issues. Governors regularly spend further time in school and participate in small ‘working party’ meetings in order better to understand the issues the school is facing and to inform decisions on policy and strategy.

How to contact us

If you would like to contact the governors you can do so by either emailing governors@gardenfields.herts.sch.uk or addressing any correspondence in a sealed envelope for the attention of the Chair of governors, Garden Fields JMI School c/o the School Office.

If you have any concerns about any aspect of school life, please raise them in the first instance with the appropriate member of school staff or with a member of the school’s senior management team.

Interested in becoming a School Governor?

Visit the Herts Direct website, www.hertsdirect.org to read more.

Our Governors