Governors’ Welcome

Welcome to St. Johns C of E Primary School & Nursery Governing Board.

As school governors, we are part of a corporate body known as the ‘Governing Board’. Our role is to develop the vision and set the strategic direction of the school with the headteacher and senior leadership team. In 2022, we set out the strategic direction for St. John's with our 5 year vision and values plan for 2022 to 2027. 

Our Governing Board has a vital role to play in ensuring every child receives the best possible education by driving up school and children’s performance. Our Governing Board is the key strategic decision-making body of St. John’s and we set the school’s strategic framework. As the Governing Board, we agree the strategic priorities, aims and objectives for the school and sign off the policies, plans and targets in order to achieve them. We check on progress and regularly review the strategic framework for the school in the light of that progress.

The Governing Board is not responsible for the day to day running or the procedural leadership and management of the school and leaves this to the headteacher, which is the only appointment we make. It is our role to support and strengthen the headteacher’s leadership and to hold him accountable for the performance of all children and staff. This is particularly important in relation to the educational performance of the school. We do not make decisions about the day to day and week to week leadership of the school; this is done by school staff and the headteacher. 

As Governors we need to know our school. We do this through visits to see the school in action, we check that the school is implementing the policies and improvement plans we sign off, and see for ourselves how the vision and plans for the school are working in practice. While it is helpful to see classes at work, Governors are not inspectors and it is not our role to assess the quality or method of teaching.

All our Governors are volunteers and bring with them a range of different skills and experiences. Decisions are taken by the whole Governing Board, but to make the best use of everyone’s time and expertise, all Governors may join one of two committees or take on other link roles for the governing board. Committees work on particular aspects of school life and present their recommendations to the Governing Board for approval or discussion. These committees also meet regularly, and are:

Curriculum and school effectiveness: Chair – Rachael Grime

• Behaviour and attendance
• Curriculum and school improvement
• Standards and achievement

Finance and resources: Chair – David Turvey

• Finance
• Site
• Personnel

Foundation Governors: Chair – Patience Atkinson-Gregory

• The Christian foundations and values of the school

Our Governing Board consists of:

• Foundation Governors - appointed by the Diocese Education Board on recommendation of the Parochial Church Council. Their role is to ensure the maintenance of the Christian Character and ethos of the school.
• Parent Governors – elected from and by parents and carers of children in the school
• Local Authority Governor – nominated by Derbyshire County Council
• Staff Governor – representative of teaching and support staff, who is elected by their colleagues.
• Co-opted Governors – appointed by the Governing Board on the basis that they have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

Who are we?

Archived attendance and interest information