Galliard's Local Governing Board

Galliard’s Local Governing Board is part of the overall governance of the Children First Academy Trust. Galliard’s LGB aims to monitor the objectives as set out in the School Improvement Plan and act as a critical friend to the Headteacher and school’s senior leadership team, providing challenge where necessary.

The role of the Local Governing Board

The role of our Local Governing Board is an important one and it is a committee of the Board of Trustees within the structure of governance. The aim is for each LGB within our Trust to work closely with the individual school at a local level whilst the Trust Board oversees all schools within the Trust.

Whilst the Trustees and CEO of the Trust have the overarching responsibility for ensuring high quality educational provision and for holding the leaders to account for outcomes, the LGB role is to support and constructively challenge school leaders when identifying school improvement priorities and when monitoring the impact of decisions taken.

Their role is also to link with the wider community beyond the Local Governing Board meetings, to meet staff, parents and children and assess the impact of the school both within and beyond the classroom. In this way, they triangulate what the Leadership are putting in place with what they see in school and with what the school community is saying.   

The LGB also monitor risks, in particular with reference to safeguarding and health and safety, hear complaints as necessary and report concerns to the Trustees through the Area Governance Committee or the Chief Executive Officer. A named link Governor has responsibility for overseeing a specific area such as Pupil Premium, Safeguarding, SEND and Health and Safety.

Our LGB members are expected to:

• Prepare for and make an active contribution at meetings of the LGB
• Champion Galliard in the local community
• Familiarise themselves with Galliard’s policies
• Visit Galliard both during school hours and for evening events to get to know the school and be visible to the school’s community
• Attend training sessions for Governors regularly

The team of Governors is made up of the following members:

• The Chair
• The Vice Chair
• Staff Governor
• Parent Governors
• Trust appointed Governors
• Headteacher

Meetings

Meetings of the LGB are held once each term. Attendance at each meeting, issues discussed, recommendations for decisions and expected actions are all recorded by the clerk and the minutes signed by the Chair at the next meeting.  In addition, there are two days each year when the LGB members visit the school for training and development purposes.

Review of 2020/21

The Chair of the LGB resigned and moved away in January 2020. In addition, several other LGB members resigned/retired. During the year we appointed several new LGB members through Inspiring Governance and they are currently attending training and building their knowledge and understanding of the role. Harry Berman, a long-serving Governor, has stepped up to the role of Chair.

In July 2021, the Headteacher retired and a new Headteacher has been appointed from September 2021. The new Headteacher and the new LGB are now working together to build relationships and create a cohesive LGB for Galliard.

Our plans for 2022/2023

As identified in our School Improvement Plan for 2022/2023, our focus for the strategic development of the school will be;

1. To work with Children First Academy Trust to ensure outcomes for 2023 in reading, writing and maths are the same as, or above, the national outcomes for 2022 

2. To implement and embed the approach to planning and teaching the curriculum including a focus on reading across the whole school

3.  To ensure pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, working with parents to ensure engagement with learning both at school and at home. 

4.  To prepare our children for future success, including having good mental and physical health

We will work with the new Headteacher and her leadership team, as they drive school improvement across all of these areas. The termly action plans and impact reports, along with our meetings and visits to the school, will help us to ensure we keep on track with these objectives.

We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents – please contact the Chair of the Local Governing Board, Mr Berman, via the school office or email.

Click here to link to the Children First Academy Trust website for further information on governance within the Trust.