The Governing Body
Purpose of The Governing Body
The overall responsibility of the Governing Body is to oversee the conduct of Dulverton School with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement. To support this aim, Parliament has given school Governing Bodies a range of specific duties, responsibilities and powers. Our main duties are to:
- Set the strategic direction, vision and ethos of Dulverton school;
- Monitor and challenge the progress of the school in achieving its priorities;
- Ensure the school meets its statutory responsibilities; and
- Oversee the school’s financial performance and ensure financial probity.
Structure of the Governing Body
The Government has set out how Governing Bodies must be constituted in the School
Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012. Dulverton has fully applied these
regulations in developing its own Instrument of Government, which came into effect from 1
September 2014. This Instrument sets out that the full Governing Body of Dulverton School
consists of 14 Governors. As per the Regulations and the Instrument of Government,
governors come from a number of different categories, as set out below:
|
Category |
Number | Method of Appointment |
| Parent | 4 | Elected by other parents of children at the school |
| Staff | 1 | Elected by staff at the school |
| Local Authority | 1 | Nominated by the London Borough of Bexley |
| Co - opted | 7 |
Appointed by the Governing Body due to their specific skills and/or their ability to contribute |
| Head Teacher | 1 |
Ex officio member by virtue of their office |
With the exception of the Head Teacher, whose appointment lasts while they are in post, all
Governors serve for a term of four years. The Staff Governor also serves for a term of four
years, except their appointment ends if they leave the employment of the school within that
time. After this, Governors can be re-appointed or re-elected for further terms of office.
The full Governing Body normally meets once a term, with an additional administrative
meeting at the beginning of the school year. Once the minutes of meetings have been
approved by the Governing Body, they are available to view in the school office on request.
The Governing Body delegates most of its work to a series of Committees, of which the principal ones are:
| Committee | Purpose |
| Quality of Education | Monitors the delivery of the school’s curriculum, the quality of the education provided and considers any inspection reports and the results of pupil testing |
| Finance and General Purposes | Approves the annual school budget and monitors the school’s performance against that budget, approves major procurements, and oversees the school’s management of its assets and estate (including health and safety issues) |
| Staffing | Approves the school’s staff complement and organisational structure, determines pay and allowance arrangements for school staff, and considers the school’s performance management and staff development arrangements |
There are other formal committees that the Governing Body is required to have, but which
only meet as and when required. These are:
Head Teacher Performance Appraisal Committee, which agrees performance targets for
the Head Teacher and monitors performance against these targets;
Pupil Discipline Committee, which only meets to hear appeals against the permanent
exclusion of pupils; and
Staffing “First” Committee, which only meets to discuss staff discipline procedures or to
determine staff suspensions or dismissals.
Governance Support
The Governing Body appoints a governance professional (formerly known as a Clerk) to
advise it on constitutional and procedural matters, duties and powers, as well as to take
minutes of its meetings. The Governing Body has appointed
Judicium Education as Dulverton’s governance professional.
All governors can be contacted through the school’s administration office and the
governance professional at sonia.blake@judicium.com.
