Governors

Welcome to Mill Ford School’s Governing Body. We are a friendly and committed group of people who come from a variety of backgrounds and have a passion for our school. We work collectively as a team and provide expert input and advice based upon our own individual skills and experience. Our mission is to make Mill Ford the best possible school for the children and young people who learn here and to support the staff that make this happen.

The Governing Body at Mill Ford has three key roles:

• To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
• To hold the Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, including their well-being and safety.
• To oversee the financial performance of the school and to ensure that money is well spent.  

At Mill Ford School the Governing Body has also chosen to add an additional role: 

• To oversee staff are provided with an excellent working environment ensuring their performance, career development and wellbeing are paramount.

We work in collaboration with the School Leadership Team to ensure that the school is the best it can be for our pupils, parents/carers and other stakeholders. We do this by rigorously challenging leadership on the school’s effectiveness and ensuring that the best use is made of all resources particularly in relation to pupils’ achievements, behaviour and safety and teaching quality.

Governors undertake training in school management and spend time in school and classes gaining a greater understanding of how the school operates. We are a “Critical Friend” to the Headteacher and staff. 

The Governing Body meets once every half term to discuss school issues and systematically review procedures and policies.  Minutes of all meetings are available on request.

The Governing body consists of:

• The Headteacher
• Co-opted Governors
• Parent Governors
• Local Authority Governor
• Staff Governor 

The Governing Body at Mill Ford School proposed and adopted a new structure in the academic year 2016/2017.  It has not included individual Committees since September 2017, rather it functions as a whole with panel's reporting back to the Full Governing Body following meetings twice an academic year: 

• Head Teacher's Appraisal Panel - meets twice yearly and provides a report to the Full Governing Body in the Autumn Term each year.
• Salary Panel - meets annually and reports to the Full Governing Body in the Autumn Term each year.