Welcome from the Chair of Governors

On behalf of the Governors, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to St. George’s CE Primary School. In this section you will be able to find out more information about the school’s Governors and the work that we do.

As a Governing Body, our purpose is to ensure that a high quality of education is being provided, in a safe, nurturing and Christian environment.  We take responsibility for the strategic development of the school by monitoring progress and challenging the school leadership team to maintain the excellent conduct, ethos, and performance expected at St. George’s.

The Governors work very closely with the Executive Headteacher, Senior Leadership Team and all teaching and support staff, supporting them in their commitment to providing pupils with the best possible education, spiritual wellbeing, key social and creative skills, confidence and self-esteem and to help them achieve their full potential.

St. George’s is a wonderful place, and all of us who serve the school as Governors are immensely proud of the fantastic achievements of those attending and working at the school, and we would like to thank parents for their interest in supporting and maintaining the  strong links with our church and close partnership with the local community. I would also like to highlight the leading Teacher Training being led as part of the Yarrow Valley Teaching Schools Alliance along with the fantastic opportunity the formal collaboration with Wrightington  Mossy Lea Primary School brings to both schools.

It is a privilege to be Chair of Governors at St. George’s, with an experienced and dedicated team who very work hard to share their expertise in helping to guide our “outstanding” school forward. On these pages of the school website you can find out more information about the school’s Governors and the work that we do. We can always be contacted through the school office at :                     bursar@st-georges.lancs.sch.uk .

We wish your child every success and happiness at St. George’s.

Fr David Arnold

Here is a list of our School Governors, their appointing body and their positions.

The different categories of governors on our governing body are:

• Parent governors who have a child in school at the time of their election, and are elected by the parents with children at the school;
• Staff governors who are members of staff at the school and are elected by their colleagues;
• Foundation governors are appointed on to the governing body by Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education via nomination by St George’s CE Church either by the  Parochial Church Council (PCC) or the Principal Officiating Minister (POM);
• Co-opted governors are appointed by the governing body and who, in the opinion of the governing body, have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school;
• Local Authority (LA) governors who are nominated by the Local Authority and appointed by the governing body;
• The Headteacher (HT) is also a member of the governing body by right of the position they hold in the school;
• Associate members (or Observers) are not actually governors but can be appointed to serve on committees and attend meetings of the full governing body. They do not have the right to vote at meetings of the full governing body but may be given voting rights on the committees that they are a member of, but these rights can only be given by the governing body.

The main committees our governing body have are:

There are also separate Disciplinary and Appeals Committees which are convened if they are required. Additionally, there is a separate Admissions Committee. Committee Chairs may choose to invite other Governors to a meeting on an as required basis to support specific areas of interest to offer specific advise and guidance.

School also has some nominated governors who take on specialist roles on behalf of the Governing Body working with the SLT and  relevant staff :

• Fr D Arnold - Child Protection / Safeguarding Governor
• Fr M Print - Pupil Premium Governor
• Mr G Blackledge - Music Governor
• Mr J Bradley - Pupil Interface Governor
• Dr A Gibson - Numeracy Governor
• Mr B Holmes - Special Educational  Needs & Disability, and Deputy Child Protection / Safeguarding Governor
• Mr S Newell - Training Link Governor
• Mr S Pollard - Literacy Governor, Prevent Governor and Deputy Training Link Governor
• Mrs N Print - R.E. Governor
• Mr K Tierney - Phonics and Early Years Reading Governor

The Governing Board has agreed that all the Assistant Headteachers may attend Governing Board meetings in the capacity as an Observer.

In line with normal operating protocol, newly appointed Governors are not always immediately assigned to serve on Sub-committees.

The purpose of governance is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.

Details of the role of the Governors can be found using this link 

Governor Impact Statement

Further to the Welcome Statement from our Chair of Governors, the Governing Board is made up of a group of dedicated volunteers, who invest a huge amount of good will, hard work and time for the sole purpose of ensuring every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential in an ‘outstanding’ school.

We remain extremely fortunate of having a strong Governing Board with an extensive and varied range of skills. knowledge, experience, and competence to effectively discharge our responsibilities. The importance and benefits of Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are fully recognised and reflected in the range of diverse backgrounds of our members. The Governing Board is committed to promoting equal opportunities for all and to valuing and celebrating people’s individual qualities. We recognise that discrimination disproportionately affects some groups and we will ensure that as a governing board, we promote equal opportunities to comply with all equality legislations. The principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are fully embraced through living the Mission, Values and Ethos of the school.

Regular skills assessments are undertaken by the Governing Board with training offered to ensure all members are kept abreast of their responsibilities regarding the latest regulations and requirements. It is also noted that many of the members also undertake formal training, applicable to their role as a Governor, as part of their occupational Continued Professional Development. Committee arrangements are regularly reviewed to ensure ‘fitness for purpose’ with membership matched to the skills required to maximise a high-performance diverse culture.

The Governing Board operates effectively both strategically and tactically, ensuring short, medium, and longer-term planning is undertaken aligned to external and internal intelligence and assumptions and ensuring legal and regulatory requirements are understood. It operates in a manner that reflects the school vision and supporting the prominence of our church distinctiveness and ensuring this provides a firm foundation and supporting infrastructure to help the school maintain its high level standing and reputation.

In addition to continual internal review, the effectiveness and high performance of the Governing Board has been further endorsed through feedback received from various external independent sources including SIAMS and Ofsted.

Full Governing Board and Sub-Committee Meetings are very well supported and provide the opportunity to receive regular updates from the Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Team and hold them to account in the areas of Educational Performance, and Finance. The Governing Board continue to ensure clarity of the vision, ethos, and strategic direction of the school. We remain confident of the sound budget control and financial management in place to maintain financial stability and effectiveness of the curriculum resulting in progress and having an impact on all children learning all subjects, across a broad and ambitious curriculum. Additionally oversight of the value, effectiveness, and rigorousness delivery of specific grant funded activities (e.g., Recovery, Pupil Premium etc.) is also undertaken.

The Governing Board welcomes the ‘open door’ policy afforded to Governors by the Headteacher who proactively encourages governor monitoring visits which aid the role of governance and maximises the opportunities of fully experiencing the normal daily life in the school.

The Governing Board has always recognised the importance of being an outstanding employer to ensure staff enjoy working at the school with good career opportunities and that we are able to recruit and retain high quality staff. Wellbeing of all the staff including the Senior Leadership Team and Headteacher is continually monitored with support provided when needed.

The importance of community stakeholder involvement is also fully understood with a significant network of contacts in place ensuring regular applicable on-going collaborative engagement and communication.

Register of personal, pecuniary or business interests

All the governors listed below have signed the Register of personal, pecuniary or business interests. This is a declaration of any personal or business interest they or any relative or person closely connected with them, have with businesses or other organisations that may have dealings with the school.

Attendance information for Sub-Committee meeting is available below or upon request from the school office.