Membership of the Governing Body May 2009

14 governors constitute the governing body: 5 elected parent governors; 4 Local Authority (L.A) appointed governors; 2 staff governors; 4 community governors appointed by the governing body.

All the governors are local people who are interested in the education of children and most have had a long association with the Crawley Ridge Junior School and wish to support the school in raising standards.

Name	Type of Governor	Term of Office Ends
Mr Paul Appleyard (Chair)	Community	Mar 2014
Mr Jonathan Bolden	Parent
Rev Mark Chester	LA	09 Dec 2012
Mr Tim Fitzgerald (Vice Chair)	Community	10 Jun 2014
Mrs Linda Halsey	Community	21 Oct 2012
Mrs Sue Knight	Staff	Jan 2014
Mrs Maria Martin	Staff (Head)	Ex officio
Mr Stephen Miall	Parent
Mrs Jean Weatherley	Community	Mar 2014
Mr Nick Varns	Parent	16 Nov 2010
Mr Phil Woodland	LA Governor	Mar 2014
Mrs Caroline Roberts	Clerk	n/a

What the governors do:

The governing body has the general responsibility for the conduct of the school so that high standards of achievement are promoted. We work closely with Mrs. Martin, the Headteacher, taking on a strategic role in the running of the school by agreeing aims and objectives, and adopting policies and targets to achieve them. We monitor and evaluate the school progress and, by acting as a 'critical friend', challenge and support the school.

This strategic role is in contrast to Mrs. Martin's responsibility for the day-to-day internal organisation, management and control of the school and implementation of strategic framework. Mrs. Martin is accountable to the governors for these functions and keeps them fully informed. The governors are accountable to the community.

The governors perform their role through four committees; Children and Learning committee; Human Resources committee; Finance and Facilities committee and the Pay committee. Most governors serve on two committees; the Children and Learning committee having the largest membership. Each committee meets at least once a term as does the full governing body.

Some of the matters considered by the governors:

A special selection panel was set up consisting of five governors, our Local Authority school consultant and a member of the Local Authority personnel department. After the fourth advertisement for a new Headteacher, the panel recommended the appointment of Mrs. Maria Martin which was then ratified by the full governing body in September. We were very pleased to welcome Mrs. Martin to Crawley Ridge Junior School at the beginning of the spring term 2008. She visited several times at the end of the autumn term, getting to know both staff and governors. She is now a familiar presence to all members of the community. All the staff continue to work as a very enthusiastic team under her new leadership and look forward to the introduction of some new ideas that will be continue to raise standards for all pupils.

Members of the Finance and Facilities committee received a presentation by several year 6 pupils, of a whole school audit of the use of heating, energy used and waste recycling. They also suggested ways in which energy use could be made more efficient. Class monitors will remind staff to switch off lighting and equipment when not in use and monitor room temperature. They will also check that waste is disposed of appropriately. A further audit is planned in a year's time to show progress.

As usual the budget for 2009-2010 was carefully discussed and will be monitored during the year to ensure compliance.

The governors are always extremely grateful to the parent partnership whose financial donations make a considerable difference to the school's resources. In particular this year the installation of a kitchen area in the Studio will improve resources for Food Technology as part of the Healthy School Award.

The termly report of the School Improvement Partner was considered by the Children and Learning committee as well as the results achieved by the children compared to other similar schools and national results. This is always with a view to future improvement which is then set out in the annual School Development Plan. The DCFS has requested setting a combined target for Maths and English for 2009 results. However, the governors decided to continue setting targets for individual core subjects for the present as these will help school improvement.

A new format for the annual report on each child was also agreed. We hope you find it contains more information in an easily accessible form.

Support and Training:

The governors are supported by Four S governors' services from whom we buy back training. The new governors undertake training which gives a broad overview of governors' responsibilities. More experienced governors attend training sessions according to need and interest. Training for the whole governing body simultaneously usually occurs once a year.

Governing Body and Committee Meetings 2010-2011

From September 2007, the number of committees was reduced to four which are Children and Learning, Human Resources, Finance and Facilities and Pay. Terms of reference were amended as necessary.

 Meeting dates for 2010/2011 will be posted here shortly.