Our Governors

Welcome to the St Werburgh’s Primary School Governing Body.

The Governing Body of St Werburgh’s Primary School is made up of a range of people from many different backgrounds, including representatives from our parents and staff, the Local Authority and the local community. All Governors are volunteers and we offer our time, skills and experience to help run our school. Our role is to act as both a supportive and a questioning friend. We engage with training and services offered by our Local Authority, Bristol City Council, to ensure we are in a strong position to do this.

We work as an efficient and effective team within a kind and caring environment. Our aim is to work together to achieve a standard of excellence as appropriate for each individual so that every child’s life chances are enhanced as a result of being part of our school community.

What does the Governing Body do?

The Governing Body is responsible for:

  • developing and maintaining a strategic vision for the school that reflects our distinctive character and values;
  • ensuring the curriculum is broad, balanced and inclusive;
  • monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the standards being achieved by our children;
  • managing the school’s budget;
  • appointing senior staff members.

How does the Governing Body work?

Governors meet as a Full Governing Body six times in an academic year.  We also meet in smaller sub-committees:

  • Resources
  • Working Groups

Business is conducted through meetings where we make decisions collectively as a team. Our role is strategic, while the Head Teacher, who we work closely with, has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the school.

We also have either an individual or a small group of governors who take the lead in monitoring many areas of the school including Health and Safety, Safeguarding and Child Protection and Special Educational Needs.

As well as meeting together regularly as a Governing Body we visit the school during the day in order to carry out our roles. Governors also like to attend assemblies, sporting events, performances and coffee mornings, where we can celebrate the achievements of the children, meet parents and share significant moments in the life of the school.

Above all, we aim to invest in and support the wonderful staff of our school in creating a safe, happy, inclusive environment in which children can learn, collaborate and play together.

Would you like to become a Governor?

  • Parent Governors are elected for a fixed term of 4 years. Parents are advised in writing when a vacancy for a Parent Governor arises. This could be because a Governor completes their term of office or because they stand down. Full details of the eligibility criteria and the process for nominations and any election are provided at the time. The Governors have put together information on being a Parent Governor click here for details. 
  • Local Authority Governors (L.A. Governors) are nominated by Local Councillors.
  • Staff Governors are members of the School staff who are elected by the staffing body (both teaching and non-teaching).
  • Co-opted Governors are appointed by the Governing Body to represent community interests or to bring specific skills to the Governing Body. Co-opted governors can be parents of children at our school.

What are your views of our school?

It is important to us to hear from parents and carers. We try to have at least one governor representative at school functions – please do come and talk to us. We also ask for parents’ and carers’ views through questionnaires given out at the first parent’s evening of each school year. Parents and carers are welcome to contact the Governing Body at any time by leaving a message at the school office, by writing to our Chair of Governors (please mark the envelope as confidential for the Chair of Governors), or by emailing our Chair of Governors: mark.mcgeown@stwerburghsprimary.com