The Governing Body

At Riverside Primary School, there is a Governing Body consisting of a number of school governors who oversee the school. The Governing Body has 7 members including the Headteacher. Some members are elected, such as Staff Governor and Parent Governor and some are appointed, for example, the Local Authority Governor.

Governing bodies have three main functions:

• Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

Governors assist the strategic direction of the school by:

• Supporting the vision, values, and objectives for the school
• Understanding the strengths of the school, informed by the views of pupils, parents and staff
• Agreeing the school improvement strategy with priorities and targets
• Meeting our statutory duties

They ensure accountability of the Headteacher by:

• Considering the content of the Headteacher Report on progress towards meeting school performance targets
• Making a contribution to school self-evaluation
• Providing support and challenge to the Leadership Team and acting as a ‘critical friend’

To oversee the financial performance of the school, governors have responsibility for managing a delegated budget and will:

• Engage with stakeholders
• Ensure value for money is obtained
• Ensure risks to the organisation are managed

The headteacher of the school is responsible for day-to-day management of the school whilst the role of the governing body is to provide strategic management.