Welcome to Our Governors’ Page

The role of the Governors: 

Governors at Exhall Junior School have a strategic and supportive role, working in close partnership with the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to promote continuous improvement in the schools’ performance.

As Governors we have three important core functions to perform:

• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
• Holding the Headteacher (and all school leaders) to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils.
• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.

Our governing board comprises of a team of people elected or appointed to represent stakeholders in the school – parents, staff, the wider community, and the local authority and we meet officially 11 times a year.

Why do we do this?

While at times the responsibilities of governance can be demanding, we are privileged to be in the position of helping to shape Exhall Junior School pupils as responsible citizens who contribute to society and do as well as they can academically.

What do Governors do?

Together with the Headteacher, Governors are responsible for making sure the school provides a good quality education for all children and supports their well-being, they do the following:

• set the vision and strategic direction of the school.
• provide challenge and support to the Headteacher, by holding the Headteacher accountable for educational performance.
• make decisions together on matters such as performance, targets, school policies and the School Development Plan.
• monitor the impact of policies and oversee school budget and staffing.
• report on school achievements and respond to inspection recommendations.
• hear appeals from pupils and staff and consider complaints.

How do we do this?

We leave the day-to-day running of the school to the school leaders, but as ‘critical friends’ it is our job to ask questions and bring suggestions about the areas we have been linked to – for example Special Educational Needs, Mathematics or the Wider Curriculum.

We make visits to school during the school day to find out for ourselves what it feels like to be a student at our school, and we receive reports from the Headteacher (and other members of staff) at each of the governing board meetings held throughout the year.

We attend training to make sure we carry out our roles effectively and we subscribe to Warwickshire Governor Services and are members of the National Governors’ Association which helps keep us up to date with what is happening in governance and education, both locally and nationally.

All Governors are expected to conduct their business in a professional manner and to always maintain and respect confidentiality.  To support this, Governors have adopted a Code of Conduct and operate within agreed terms of our Circle Model of Governance.  Governors are also aware of and accept The Nolan Seven Principles of Public Life.

Membership of our Governing Board

The Department for Education (DfE) says that ‘governors hold an important public office, and their identity should be known to their school and wider communities’.  This information is provided in the tables below. 

The Governing Board of Exhall Junior School in Accordance with the Instrument of Government is:

Name	Appointed By	Term of Office From	Term of Office To	Business Interests Declared 2022
Governance Professional
Jane Hancox				Member of the Warwickshire Clerking Service
Headteacher
Robert Mann	Ex-Officio			Headteacher at Exhall Junior School
Staff Governor
Colette Inman	Elected by school staff	18th Oct 2022	17th Oct 2026	Staff member at Exhall Junior School
Local Authority Governor
Vacant
Co-Opted Governors
Amanda Gardiner Chair of Governors	Elected by FGB	14th Mar 2022	13th Mar 2026	Member of the Governor Services Team at Warwickshire Local Authority
Gurby Dhesi Vice Chair of Governors	Elected by FGB	17th July 2023	16th July 2027	Senior School Governance Officer at Warwickshire County Council
Helen Masefield	Elected by FGB	17th July 2023	16th July 2027	Education Standards, Performance and Governance Lead
Parent Governors
Steph Fludder	Elected by FGB	17th Jul 2023	16th Jul 2027	Parent of a child at EJS

Governors who have left the Governing Board in the last 12 months.

Name	Appointed by	Term of Office From	Date Left
Joanne Parker	Appointed by LA	26 September 2022	9 November 2023
Louise Dykes	Elected by parents	18 July 2022	5 July 2023
Louise Church	Appointed by FGB	26th Sept 2022	24 Jul 2023
Alison Glynn	Elected by school staff	3 October 2018	31 August 2022
Emma Godsell	Elected by parents	26 September 2022	31 December 2022
Jennifer Lewington	Appointed by FGB	24 October 2021	13 October 2022
Tom Gibbons	Appointed by FGB	13 January 2016	31 August 2022

 

See GIAS: the Register of Schools & Colleges in England

We are happy to hear from parents, carers, and members of the community. Should you wish to contact the Chair or other members of the Governing Board, please email Amanda Gardiner (Chair of Governors) - gardiner.a1@welearn365.com

Please note that if you have any concerns regarding your child's education or wellbeing, it is important to speak to the class teacher or Headteacher, before contacting the Chair of Governors.

Governors Roles & Responsibilities
Governor	Roles & Responsibilities
Amanda Gardiner Chair of Governors	Headteacher Performance Management Safeguarding Prevent Whistleblowing Panel Hearings Health and Safety
Stephanie Fludder	Safeguarding
Skye Lloyd	SEND
Gurby Dhesi	Finance
Helen Masefield	Finance
Colette Inman	Whole School Wellbeing

Governing Board Planned Meetings 2024-25

School Term	Day and Date
Autumn Term 2024
Autumn 1	Monday 16th Sept
Autumn 1	Monday 21st October
Autumn 2	Monday 25th November
Spring Term 2025
Spring 1	Thursday 16th January
Spring 1	Monday 3rd March
Spring 2	Tuesday 8th April
Summer Term 2023
Summer 1	Monday 19th May
Summer 2	Monday 7th July

 

If you would like a copy of the Minutes and Papers considered at a meeting of the Full Governing Board, please contact our Governance Professional (via the School Office). Please note that any documents or papers marked as ‘confidential’ will not be shared.

Members of the public can ask to attend a Full Governing Board meeting as an observer, by sending a request to the Governance Professional giving a notice period of four weeks.  Observers will be given a copy of Open Meeting Protocol to follow prior to attending.

Governors Attendance at Meetings

Governor attendance records at meetings and school events are recorded on GovernorHub and a report can be viewed if requested.

Governors are usually appointed or elected for a four-year term of office and if reappointed or re-elected can serve a further four-year term. As in all occupations, sometimes a governor must leave for personal reasons before the four years has ended and the process will be followed to recruit a new governor. 

Governor’s Business and Financial Interests

As governors hold an important public office, they are asked each year to sign a declaration about any business or personal interest they have which might conflict with being a governor. The table below shows our updated register of interests.

Governing Board – Register of Interests as Declared September 2022

Governor	Name of Organisation	Nature of Interest	Date Declared
Amanda Gardiner	Warwickshire County Council	School Governance Support Officer	24/9/22
Joanne Parker	Nothing to declare		17/10/22
Louise Dykes	Exhall Junior School	Parent of children at Exhall Junior School
Louise Church	Nothing to declare		17/10/22
Colette Inman	Exhall Junior School	Member of staff
Jane Hancox	Warwickshire County Council	School Governance Professional	8/3/23
Robert Mann	Exhall Junior School	Headteacher

Voting rights

Exhall Junior School operates using the Circle Model of Governance therefore doesn’t have any committee meetings.  All members of the governing board have equal voting rights, but the Chair has a casting vote if there is a tie. 

Governing Board Documents

Governors have created, approved, and adopted several resources to support them in their role. These are some of the resources available to governors:

• Exhall Junior School Instrument of Government
• Circle Model of Governance – A Whole Governing Board Approach
• Circle Model Governor Visits Policy & Procedures
• Governing Board Code of Conduct
• Governing Board Scheme of Delegation
• Governing Board Open Meeting Protocol

If you would like a copy of a document, please contact our Governance Professional (via the School Office).

Parent Governor Vacancy We currently have a vacancy on our Governing Board for a parent or carer which is a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in supporting the children in our community. It is a chance to be involved in the strategic direction of our school and we would love to talk through what is involved in the role with anyone that has an interest.  If you would like to arrange an informal conversation to discuss this further, please contact Amanda Gardiner (Chair of Governors) via email on gardiner.a1@welearn365.com

Find out what school governors and trustees do and the key role they play in helping schools to succeed. This short film produced by the National Governors Association (NGA) gives you all the essential information about this rewarding voluntary role.

Most people over 18 years old are eligible to govern so, if you’re interested in education and making a difference, watch this video to find out more about the role.