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Roach Vale Primary School
Governance Statement

 

In accordance with the Government’s outlined functions for all governing bodies, the three core strategic functions of Roach Vale Primary School Governing Body are:

  1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  2. Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;
  3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

 

Governance Structure

The Governing Body of Roach Vale Primary School is made up of two staff governors (including the Headteacher), four elected Parent Governors, one Local Authority Governor and five co-opted governors. Co-opted governors are appointed by the Governing Body and are people who, in the opinion of the governing body, have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school: currently on our Governing Body two of the Co-opted governors are parents and one is a staff member.

 

The work that we do as a Governing Body 

The full Governing Body meets six times a year. 

The governing body decided in the autumn of 2021 to suspend the committees that had operated in previous years and meet more regularly as a full governing body but maintain the work of the previous personnel, finance & premises and curriculum committees. This decision was taken due to fewer numbers on our governing body which, therefore, made the existing committee structure untenable. Should our numbers increase sufficiently in the future, we will revisit this decision. The exception to the above is our salaries committee which still meets annually in the autumn term.

In March 2018, the Governors undertook the major project of erecting walls to create individual classrooms and thus end the school’s “open plan” layout. This was done at the suggestion of most children who felt that there was too much background noise due to the open plan nature of the school. This made hearing their teachers when they were sat at the back of the class extremely difficult. The last walls, between year 1 and 2 classes were erected during the Easter holiday bringing this project to a conclusion. 

In 2021/22 the school has embarked on a program to upgrade the toilet facilities for the children. This was due to the deterioration of the facilities over time. To date, Years 3, 4 and 5 have been upgraded and it is hoped that the remainder will be completed in the next two to three years, finance permitting.  

The Head Teacher and Chair of Governors meet regularly for updates and to review any matters that arise outside the regular meetings. This supports communication between the school and the governors and is recorded and reported to the board for their consideration.

Future plans Include;

The governing body is looking forward to supporting the plans in place for the next academic year. Some of which are listed below.

  • Continue with refurbishment works of the children's toilet facilities.
  • Explore the possibility of installing air conditioning to our south facing classes.
  • The continuing growth of Community links with local schools and businesses and to support the school to enhance the children’s engagement and learning experiences.

Attendance Record and Recruitment of Governors

Governors have excellent attendance at meetings, and we have not cancelled a meeting in 2021/22 because it was not “quorate” (the number of governors needed to ensure that legal decisions can be made).

A full list of Governors and their attendance record at meetings this year is available to view on the “Governors” page on our website.

We were sorry to lose the services of Mrs Siobhan Taylor, Ms Sarah Elliot-Hearn and Miss Rachel Meadows this year and thank them both for their service to the Roach Vale governing body. We wish them all the best for the future.  We were, however, delighted to welcome Mrs. Marta Karwecka, Miss Shannon Todd, Mr. Robert Mossop and Mrs. Delyth Bagley to our ranks. We look forward to a long and fruitful association together.

Minutes of Governing Body and Committee meetings are public documents –you can ask at the school office if you would like to see any of the minutes of our meetings.

How you can contact the governing body

We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents – please contact the Chair of Governors, Mr Johnson, via the school office. You can see the full list of governors, their attendance at meetings and more information about what we do, on the Governors’ page of the school website. 

If any parent or local community person is interested in joining us or would like more information about the governing body, please do not hesitate to contact either Mrs Sampson or Mr Johnson via the school office. 

admin@roachvale.essex.sch.uk