BOWKER VALE GOVERNING BODY
Updated February 2024
Chair of Governing Body - Atika Butt
Vice Chair of Governing Body - Sara Dale
What do Governors do?
Governors work as a team we call the 'Governing Body'. They are responsible for making sure the school provides a good quality education. Raising educational standards in school is now a key priority. This has the best chance of happening when there are high expectations of what pupils can achieve.
Governors also promote effective ways of teaching and learning when setting the school aims and policies. They do this together with the Head teacher, Mrs Jacques, who is responsible for the day to day management of the school.
Every school must have a governing body. The membership will vary according to the type of school. The governing body at Bowker Vale has 9 members, plus 1 associate member.
All governing bodies include governors who are:
- Parent elected by parents at the school - at Bowker Vale we have 2 parent governors
- Staff elected by Head, teachers and support staff at the school. The Head teacher is entitled to be a staff governor without an election - at Bowker Vale we have 2 staff governors
- Persons appointed by Manchester as the Local Authority (LA) - at Bowker Vale we have 1 LA governor
- Community, or Co-opted governors who are appointed by other members of the governing body - at Bowker Vale we have 4 Co-opted governors
- At Bowker Vale we also have 1 associate member
The School will be able to tell you if there are vacancies for parent or co-opted governors, please email the school office - admin@bowkervale.manchester.sch.uk to register your interest.
Usually a governor is appointed for a period of four years but may subsequently be eligible for re-appointment or re-election.
Governing bodies are responsible to parents, funders and the community. The governing body's main role is to help raise standards of achievement by being;
- accountable for the performance of the school to parents and the wider community
- able to plan the school's future direction
- able to select the Head teacher
- able to make decisions on the school's budget and staffing
- able to make sure the national curriculum is taught
- able to decide how the school can encourage pupil's spiritual, moral and social development
- able to make sure the school provides for all its pupils, including those with special needs
Governors are at the heart of how a school operates. It is important they get things right. How they do their job affects the interests of pupils, staff morale and how the school is seen by parents and others in the community.
Governors support and challenge the Head by gathering views, asking questions and deciding what's best for the school. They are not there to rubber stamp decisions. They have to be prepared to give and take and be loyal to decisions taken by the governing body as a whole.
So long as they act within the law governors are protected from any financial liability for the decisions they take.
A governing body is not a supporters club. Governors are responsible for how the school is performing. Following up inspection reports is an important job. Governors should try to be ahead of the game - identifying problems and tackling them in advance.
The Governing Body are responsible for monitoring all elements of our school, but we do delegate financial responsibility to a seperate committee, which is supprted by an external financial advisor.
