What do we do?

At Wylye Valley School there are twelve governors who meet as a full board once a month and together make up the governing body. We come from different backgrounds and include parents, teachers, members of the local church community and a ‘specialist’ appointed by the Local Authority. We work in partnership with the Headteacher in the leadership of the school.

We set the vision and values for the school, and ensure that all the policies and procedures that guide the school are up to date and relevant. The daily management of the school is the responsibility of the Headteacher.

As a church school our Foundation Governors ensure that the school is meeting the expectations of SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools).

There are three sub-groups which meet at regular intervals to monitor progress, review policies and make recommendations. These are:

• Resources
• Teaching & Learning
• Strategic Leadership Group

Our primary role is to help the school provide the best possible education for our pupils and we aim to do this as follows:

We think and work strategically to help raise standards
We are there to ensure the school is focused on raising standards of achievement and that it sets high expectations so that all our children reach their potential.

To do this we help to provide the framework for how the Headteacher and staff should run the school through:

• Deciding what the school wants to achieve (the vision) and making plans to get there.
• Ensuring there are systems in place to check progress is being made.
• Helping to set the school’s policies and keeping these under review.
• Ensuring that the curriculum is balanced and broadly based and that our Christian values underpin all that we do.
• Ensuring effective use of resources to achieve the school’s priorities, including approving how the budget should be spent.

We monitor and evaluate progress towards the school’s priorities and targets

Periodically, we review the Wiltshire Tracker which is used to monitor standardised pupil results.  The headteacher’s report gives us further information and updates, relating to staff training and professional development.

We support the head and staff as well as challenge their expectations – called being a ‘critical friend’

One of our key roles is to support the Headteacher and the staff – the phrase often used to describe this role is ‘a critical friend’.

In this role we are there to recognise and celebrate the achievements of the school and understand any challenges staff and pupils may be facing.  We provide support and encouragement for agreed developments.

We try to strike an appropriate balance between support and challenge.

We are accountable to all stakeholders for the school’s overall performance and for the decisions we make.

As schools have a responsibility for the education and well-being of pupils and are spending public money, there needs to be accountability.

We are required to promote high standards of educational achievement. 

We must be prepared to account for the school’s overall performance and explain its decisions and actions to anyone who has a legitimate interest e.g. Ofsted, the Diocese, the Local Authority.

If you would like to know more about our role as governors in the running of the school, please let us know.