College Governors

Chair of Governors

Mrs Marjorie Bannister

C/O Mrs Samantha Dossetter, Clerk of Governors

St Michael’s College, Llewellyn Street, Bermondsey, London, SE16 4UN

The Role of Governors

Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country and have an important part to play in raising school standards. The role of the governing board is absolutely key to the effectiveness of a school.

Time and time again Ofsted (the national inspection body for schools) has noted that the most effective schools demonstrate effective leadership and management – including by the governing board.

What do Governors do?

School governors provide strategic leadership and accountability in schools. Governors appoint the head teacher and deputy headteacher. In some schools the site is owned by the governing board.

It is governors who hold the main responsibility for finance in schools, and it is governors who work with the headteacher to make the tough decisions about balancing resources.

Each individual governor is a member of a governing board, which is established in law as a corporate body. Individual governors may not act independently of the rest of the governing board; decisions are the joint responsibility of the governing board.

The role of the governing board is a strategic one, its key functions are to:

set the aims and objectives for the school
set the policies for achieving those aims and objectives
set the targets for achieving those aims and objectives
monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making towards achievement of its aims and objectives
be a source of challenge and support to the headteacher (a critical friend)

How committed are Governors to ‘their own development, as Governors, in order to improve their performance’?

Governors have undertaken the NGA Skills Audit in order to identify gaps in knowledge and expertise, and regularly attend training sessions or have in-house training delivered.

How effectively do Governors evaluate the use of Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium (in addition to existing duties around pupil premium)?

The Curriculum Committee robustly discuss PPG Data in-depth and this is reported on a regular basis to the Full Governing Body. Governors are aware of the PPG spend and its impact.