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Our Governors

Federation Leadership Structure

Whilst Headteachers are responsible for day-to-day management of the school, the role of the Governing Body is to provide strategic management and to act as a ‘critical friend’, supporting and challenging the school.

The federation has one overarching governing body with governance responsibility and accountability across both schools.

Schools generally have a budget to cover salaries, running costs, maintenance and equipment and the Governing Body is responsible for managing this budget. They can decide how many and what types of staff to employ, which equipment to upgrade or replace and what the priorities are for implementing new strategies and initiatives.

Governors also have a role in monitoring the school's progress and in setting annual targets for the school's performance and for the Headteacher.

Governors are volunteers and the overall Governing Body is made up of a number of different types of Governor: Parent Governors, Staff Governors, Foundation Governors (ie: Appointed by the Bishop and likely to be Parishioners or those with a close history with school or Parish) and Local Authority Governors.

Different Governor Roles are outlined below

THE SIZE OF THE FEDERATION'S GOVERNING BODY

The Federation’s Governing Body shall consist of 12 governors as follows:

Type of governor	Total Number
Headteacher (Represented by 1 from each school)	1
Parent Governors elected from across the schools in the Federation : 1 from each school	2
Staff Governor elected from across the schools in the Federation	1
Local Authority Governor Nominated by the LA and appointed by the Federation Governing Body	1
Foundation Governors appointed by the Diocese of Salford	7
TOTAL	12

Role of Foundation Governors

Although all of the governors have the responsibility to promote and maintain the school’s Catholic character and mission, the foundation governors have special responsibility in this area. The CES document ‘Governing a Catholic School’ (1998) gives this summary of their role.

‘Foundation governors are appointed by the Bishop specifically to ensure:

that the religious character of the school is preserved;
that the school is conducted in accordance with its trust deed (ie the diocesan trust deed);
that the religious education curriculum is in accordance with the bishop’s policy for his diocese, based on the Bishops’ Conference Curriculum Directory.’

Foundation governors in voluntary aided schools with a religious character have additional legal duties:

They are:

in employing teachers, ‘whenever possible, they should appoint Catholic teachers in order to promote and maintain the Catholic ethos of the school.’ They must appoint practising Catholics to the posts of Executive headteacher, deputy headteacher and coordinator of religious education.
admitting children ‘first and foremost on religious grounds’, by giving priority for admission to baptised Catholic children;
ensuring that the whole curriculum, including religious education, ‘is taught in the light of gospel values and actively promotes the spiritual and moral development of the pupils’.

Role of Staff Governor

Staff governors are elected in the same way as other governors.

There is a teaching and support staff member on the governing body and they serve a four year term.

The Executive Headteacher is automatically a part of the Governing Body and other members of the leadership team may be delegated to particular committees on their behalf.

Role of Parent Governors

Parent governors are in a unique position on a governing body. Not only do parent governors have to work in the best interests of the school, but they have to balance this with their natural desire to see the best outcomes for their own child(ren).

Parent governors are not delegates and are not obliged to get voting instructions on matters to be decided, nor to vote in accordance with the parent body's views.

It is important that parent governors can give a fair and accurate representation of parental opinion on matters of importance.

Care must, however, be taken if they are approached by another parent with a complaint about the school, in which case the parent concerned should be referred to the school’s complaints policy.

They vote, however, according to their own conscience and with the well being of the school foremost in mind.

Role of Local Authority Governors

Their role is to represent the Local Authority but they do not have to vote in agreement with the views of the Authority. As all governors their duty is to put the best interests of the school first.

Associate Governors

The new Federation Governing Body can also invite additional associate members as required to provide a specialist skills set and ensure strong governance. Associate members will not have the voting rights of the governing body.

The Admissions Authority

The new Federation governing body is also the admissions authority for both schools within the Federation. The Federation complies with the guidance and suggested admissions policy set out by the Diocese of Salford.

Committees:

All governors are part of the Full Governing Body and invited to attend those meetings. Governors are usually invited to join smaller committees. The governing body has three committees, each of which has delegated responsibility and accountability across both schools.

The committees are:

Curriculum Inclusion & Standards Committee

Resources and Finance Committee

The Headteacher or their representative from the leadership team sits on all committees.

Meet The Governors

Sean Brennan (Chair of Governors)

I became Chair of Governors in our Federation in April 2024, prior to this I had been the Vice Chair at St Mary's and had been on the governing body for seven years.