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Itchen Abbas Primary School

Governors

Welcome to the Governor pages in which you can find out more about who the governors are and how they work with the school.

 

Welcome from the Co-Chairs of Governors

As Co-Chairs of Governors we are proud to join all the other Governors in our work to support the school. Our main role is to ensure the school delivers the highest quality education and that all the children make progress and achieve. To do this, we monitor many aspects of school life including the ethos of the school, the curriculum, teaching and learning, finances and the resources. We do this work in partnership with the staff and all members of the community, children, staff and parents.

The Governing body meets regularly - at least once a half term and the membership comes from the elected parents, staff and members of the community. We aim to have a wide spread of skills and expertise to carry out our tasks with commitment and knowledge. We hold and attend courses to increase and enhance our knowledge and skills. It is a very busy but rewarding role!

Rachael Cowling & Sharon Priest
Co-Chairs of Governors

Who are we?

Every school is required to have a governing body and school governors are drawn from different parts of the community.  This helps to ensure that the governing body has sufficient diversity of views and experience.  At any time, our governing body will have a mix of each of these types of governors:

  • Co-opted governors
  • Local Authority governor
  • Parent governors
  • Headteacher
  • Staff governor

Each autumn the governing body elects a chairperson and vice chairperson for the coming year and new parent governors are elected as required.  This year, the role of Chair of Governors is shared between Sharon Priest and Rachael Cowling.  The key responsibilities of each governor are set out in the 'Meet the Governors' section.

What do we do?

We work in partnership with the Head Teacher, Mr Bogan and are responsible for the strategic direction of the school.  In addition to the half termly meetings, we make regular visits to the school to observe lessons, meet with teachers and talk to the children, all with the aim of building our relationship with the school, our understanding of how things work, the curriculum and help us understand and further develop the strategic priorities for the school.

Our Governing Body is made up of 1 Sub Committee called 'The Resources Committee' and is made up of a selection of Governors. The committee is responsible for the close monitoring and scrutiny of the school’s annual budgetary spend, ensuring the school meets its statutory obligations when recruiting and managing staff and ensuring the premises and grounds meet all current legislative Health and Safety requirements.  The committee has a Terms of Reference which are agreed annually.

Pecuniary interests

Governors also certify that they have declared to the best of their knowledge, all beneficial interests which they, their relatives and other individuals closely connected with them have with businesses or other organisation’s which may have dealings with the school. This declaration is signed annually, and checked at each meeting of the Board of Governors.  Any pecuniary interests have been declared and viewed by clicking on their profile above. 

Safeguarding

Keeping children safe is a key role of the governors. All Governors complete the Child Protection training and are familiar with Keeping Children Safe in Education.  Our Safeguarding Governor is Karen Tregunna.  Her role includes checking the Single Central Register of staff and volunteers on a regular basis, assisting in the recruitment of new staff, as part of her Safer Recruitment role, and meeting with the Headteacher to audit the school's safeguarding provision and complete the annual Safeguarding return to DfE.

To find out more about becoming a governor in a Hampshire School follow the link: Hampshire Governors Webpage