Our Governing Body
The Governing Body's role is to act as a "critical friend" to the school and the Senior Leadership Team, offering help, support and advice as and when required. They have responsibility for raising school standards through their three key roles:
- Setting strategic direction
- Ensuring accountability
- Monitoring and evaluating school performance
There are 4 main categories of School Governors:
- Parent Governors - parents of children at the school (elected by parent vote)
- Staff Governors (Teaching and non-Teaching) - members of the school staff (elected by staff vote)
- Local Authority Governors - nominated by the Local Authority (Wokingham Borough Council)
- Co-opted Governors - members of the local community (appointed by the Governing Body)
The Headteacher is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school, whilst the Governing Body is responsible for deciding the priorities for implementing new strategies and initiatives and for managing a delegated school budget to cover salaries, running costs, maintenance and equipment. They decide on how many staff and types of staff to employ, as well as which equipment to upgrade and replace. Governors also have a vital role in monitoring the school's progress and in setting annual targets for the school's performance and for the Headteacher (and ensuring that the Headteacher sets targets for other staff).
Governors must appoint the Headteacher, and may be involved in the appointment of other staff.
The Governing Body uses a committee structure to undertake their monitoring and evaluation roles. Membership and terms of reference for these committees must be determined annually. Radstock has 2 committees; one responsible for Standards, Teaching, Learning and Curriculum and one responsible for Resources, encompassing Site & Buildings, Personnel and Finances. The Chair of Governors is Andrew Charlton-Perez; STLC committee is chaired by Melanie Hills and Resources comittee is chaired by Karen Press.
Governors and clerks are offered training and support either by the local authority, by central government or by other organisations.
