Tithe Barn Primary Governing Body
Welcome Message from The Governing Board
Tithe Barn Primary School
Dear Parents, Carers, and Friends
A warm welcome from the Governing Board of Tithe Barn Primary School. At Tithe Barn Primary School, Governors, staff, parents and children work collaboratively and share the school's vision to provide the environment where Every Child’s a Learner. We strive to ensure that every child has the opportunity to reach their potential, and through our core values of respect, responsibility, integrity and caring, our pupils develop the characteristics to be confident lifelong learners
- Curiosity
- Co – operation
- Concentration
- Continuous Improvement
- Resilience
We believe that a growth mindset empowers our pupils to embrace challenges and persist, even when things are tough, and making mistakes is an integral part of learning. With effort, perseverance and challenge, all our pupils can develop talents and achieve their goals. We actively encourage effective feedback at all levels and aspire for the whole school community to constantly improve.
I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you the roles and responsibilities of the Governing Board, to give you an understanding of what we do. The Governing Body is involved with our school at every level. This includes teaching and learning, finance, safeguarding, premises management, health & Safety, SEND, staff appointments….
As Governors, we consider our most important role to be the safety, welfare and education of our pupils and whole school team. We are committed in supporting the school team develop an engaging, rich curriculum that provides opportunities to question, challenge, push themselves, make mistakes, find new strategies and grow as independent learners.
We work closely with our Local Authority and Mrs Muncaster and her team share best practices with other schools both in the local area and wider community in our efforts to continuously improve.
If you have any questions regarding the role of the Governing Body, or indeed would like to consider supporting the Governing Body as a Governor yourself, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Trudy McLindon
Chair of Governors
If you wish to contact our Chair of Governors please email
Please view our Current Governors here
Functions of the Governing Board
Tithe Barn Primary School is a maintained primary school with a Board of Governors who work closely with the Headteacher and whole school team.
The three core functions of the governing board are:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school
- Holding headteachers to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent
In exercising their functions the governing board will:
- Act with integrity, objectivity and honesty in the best interests of the school
- Be open about the decisions they make and the actions they take and in particular be prepared to explain their decisions and actions to interested parties
Our governing board works closely with the Local Authority and have appointed a clerk from the local authority with a view to ensuring efficient functioning and advice.
The Headteacher’s responsibilities include:
- the internal organisation, management and control of the school
- the implementation of the strategic plan established by the governing board
The Headteacher is accountable to the governing board for the performance of all his/her responsibilities.
The Headteacher must comply with any reasonable direction of the governing board.
Conduct of the Governing Board
- All Governors have equal status
- Governors must observe complete confidentiality and should only speak or act on behalf of the governing board when they have been authorised to do so. Any decisions taken should be in the best interests of the school and not those of individuals or groups. Governors must be aware of and act within the spirit of the Code of Conduct at all times
- Governors should express their views openly within meetings but accept collective decisions
- Governors should not get involved in individual complaints - any person with a complaint about the school should be directed to the School’s Complaints Procedure on the school website
- Governor visits - Visiting the school whilst it is in operation is the best way a governor can learn about their school. The purpose of such visits is to support the governors’ monitoring role rather than being seen as an inspection role and as such governors should be mindful that they visit their schools as guests. All visits should be arranged with the Headteacher at a mutually convenient time and the visit should be planned carefully with an agreed focus.
We have two committees, Resources and Learning plus each Governor has specific responsibilities depending on their skill set and subject link to work with teachers on monitoring progress.
Categories of Governors
At Tithe Barn School we have different types of Governors who work together to support the school
Parent Governors
- Parent governors are elected by other parents at the school
- The role of the parent governor is to work openly in partnership with the Headteacher and staff for the benefit of the school and its pupils and not in the interests of an individual child or parent
- Issues that arise between individual parents and the school are in the first instance the responsibility of the Headteacher and staff – as a governor you cannot act for the governing board; parents should always be guided to take the matter up with the Headteacher or a member of the senior management team and follow the complaints procedures adopted by the school
- Whether elected by parents or appointed by the governing board, a parent governor is not a representative of the parent board, but a governor in his or her own right to act for the good of the school
- Parent governors are subject to the same rules as other governors and are accountable in the same way
Staff Governors
- The staff governor role is to support the school as a whole and not individual teachers or staff. They can contribute professional knowledge of certain activities in school to better enhance the governing board’s understanding of a particular task (or report on any staff views on a particular issue)
- Will be required to withdraw from a meeting if there is a direct or indirect conflict between their duties or their duty to remain impartial (i.e. pay, discipline, recruitment)
- While elected by staff members, a staff governor is not a representative of the teaching or non-teaching staff, but a governor in his or her own right to act for the good of the school
- Staff governors are subject to the same rules as other governors and are accountable in the same way
- Staff governors are not eligible to hold the office of chair of vice chair of the governing board of the school
Co-Opted Governors
- Are appointed by the governing board to add their particular skills and experience to it (it is recommended that the governing board has approved procedures for the appointment of co-opted governors)
Local Authority nominee Governors
- LA governors are nominated by a panel of councillors and may be appointed by the governing board if the governing board is satisfied that the nominee meets its criteria and will add complementary skills to those already in place, or are willing to train and develop identified skills for the benefit of the governing board
- LA Governors are subject to the same rules as other Governors and accountable in the same way
Associate Members
- Are not governors
- Associate members are appointed by the governing board to attend committee meetings and/or full governing board meetings due to their particular skills or experience
- Do not have full voting rights but may have delegated rights for committee voting which are agreed at the time of appointment
Governing Board Working Committees
At Tithe Barn School the Full Governing Board meets each term. We also have a Learning Committee and Resource Committee, all Governors are members of both Committees, with responsibilities delegated for Pay, Appeals and Health & Safety to subcommittees. The Learning and Resource Committees meet at least once per term. Recommendations and minutes from the committees are discussed at the Full Governing Board Meetings.
Proposed Governing Board Meetings
2023/2024
Autumn - 7th November 2023
Spring 1 - 19th March 2024
Spring 2 - 21st May 2024
Summer 1 - 16th July 2024
Governing Board Meetings
2022/2023
Autumn - 8th November 2022
Spring 1 - 7th March 2023
Spring 2 - 22nd May 2023
Summer 1 - 18th July 2023
2021/2022
Autumn - 9th November 2021
Spring 1 - 8th March 2022
Spring 2 - 17th May 2022
Summer 1 - 19th July 2022
2020/2021
Autumn - 3rd November 2020
Spring 1 - 3rd March 2021
Spring 2 - 18th May 2021
Summer 1 - 23rd June 2021
Summer 2 - 14th July 2021
If you would like further details, you can view the remits on the attached documents.
At Tithe Barn School Governors also have additional specific responsibilities to support the school team and the school’s ethos of continual improvement.
Please see the attached document for full information