Terms of Reference
Governing Body Committees and Terms of Reference
Effective committee structures have the advantage of:
- Smaller and more flexible meetings
- The ability to appropriately support and challenge the school’s leadership team.
- The opportunity for governors to build up expertise in certain areas
- Wider involvement by more people including school staff, parents and community representation.
Etchells Governing Body committees are as follows:
Teaching and Learning Committee
Dawn Copley (Chair), Cathy Beddows, Charlotte Laurie, Helen Wise, Pete Cope and Claire Wilson (invited member)
Terms of reference:
- To review, adopt and monitor an overall curriculum policy.
- In collaboration with staff, to provide information about how the curriculum is taught, evaluated and resourced.
- To review, adopt and monitor policies including pupil behaviour and discipline, child protection, and SEN and to monitor their implementation.
- To advise the Finance committee on the relative funding priorities necessary to deliver the curriculum.
- To collaborate with the Senior Leadership Team in regularly reviewing the prospectus and school profile.
- To oversee arrangements for individual governors to take a leading role in specific areas of provision, eg SEN, Literacy, Numeracy. To receive regular reports from them and advise the Governing Body.
- Monitor and evaluate progress made on the School Development Plan and School's Self Evaluation
- To work with the SLT and SSIA (school improvement advisor) to keep abreast of Ofsted expectations and requirements.
- Reviewing progress data for all cohorts and looking at trends
- Receive feedback from the Headteacher regarding issues which are a barrier to progress and how these can be addressed
- Reviewing the Pupil Premium Progress data and strategies to ensure funding is being used effectively
- To oversee arrangements for educational visits, including the appointment of a named co-ordinator
- To draft and keep under review the staffing structure in consultation with the Headteacher and the Finance Committee
- To keep under review staff work/life balance, working conditions and well-being, including the monitoring of absence
- To review policies that fall within the remit of the committee
- Additional items which individual Governing Bodies may wish to include
Resources Committee
Helen McMahon (Chair), Duncan Kerr, Cathy Beddows, Pete Cope, Denise Maskew, Daniyaal Zulfiqar, Claire Wilson (invited member) , Diane Griffiths (invited member)
Terms of reference:
- To draw up and present an annual budget for the governing body’s approval, taking account of the agreed priorities of the School Development Plan.
- In consultation with the Headteacher, to draft the first formal budget plan of the financial year
- To establish and maintain an up to date 3 year financial plan · To consider a budget position statement including ongoing contracts at least termly and to report significant anomalies from the anticipated position to the Governing Body
- To ensure that a recovery plan is put into place where a budget has gone into a deficit position or that there is a plan to spend surpluses.
- To ensure that the school operates within the Financial Regulations of the County Council
- To annually review charges and School policies that fall within the remit of this committee
- To make decisions in respect of service agreements · To prepare financial statements for inclusion in the governing body report to parents
- To make decisions on expenditure following recommendations from other committees
- To determine whether sufficient funds are available for pay increments as recommended by the Headteacher and costed within the pay policy
- In the light of the Headteacher Performance Management Group's recommendations, ensure funds available to imlement the pay policy
- Annually review the School Financial Value Standards (SFVS)
- To advise the Governing Body on priorities, including Health and Safety, for the maintenance and development of the school's premises and consider annual Health and Safety Audit
- To oversee arrangements for repairs and maintenance
- To agree on premises-related expenditure
- To oversee premises-related funding bids
- To oversee arrangements, including Health and Safety, for the use of school premises by outside users, subject to governing body policy
- To establish and keep under review a Building Development Plan and Asset Management Plan
- To review and consider improvement to IT infrastructure and DFC committment
- To review policies that fall within the remits of the committee, including annual Review of the Teachers' Pay Policy
- Marketing of the school
- Additional items which individual Governing Bodies may wish to include
HEADTEACHER'S PERFORMANCE REVIEW GROUP
Duncan Kerr (Chair), Dawn Copley (Vice Chair)
Purpose of committee
This committee would have responsibility for monitoring and reviewing the Head teacher's performance against targets.
Terms of reference:
- To arrange to meet with the External Adviser to discuss the Headteacher's performance targets
- To decide, with the support of the External Adviser, whether the targets have been met and to set new targets annually
- To monitor through the year the performance of the Headteacher against the targets
- To make recommendations to the Finance Committee in respect of awards for the successful meeting of targets set
- Additional items which individual Governing Bodies may wish to include
Linked Governors
As per our skills assessment forms the linked governors are listed below and these governors will need to keep up to date on training in their area of expertise.
SEND Governor – Charlotte Laurie
Safeguarding Governor – Helen McMahon
Development Governor – Dawn Copley and Helen Wise
EYFS Governor- Charlotte Laurie
Health and Safety Governor – Pete Cope
Community Cohesion/Diversity and EAL linked Governor – Duncan Kerr
This document will be reviewed annually together with succession planning for changes in Chairs and vice chair positions.
Date reviewed and adopted: September 2023
Date of next review: September 2024
Signature of Chair of Governors: Duncan Kerr
