St Bede's Catholic Infant SchoolGovernors' Information
St. Bede’s Catholic Infant School Governing Body (please click here to visit our Governing Body page)
Chair and Vice Chair of the Full Governing Body and Committee Membership and Terms of Reference and Chair and Vice Chair of Committees are reviewed annually in the Autumn Term.
The purpose of governance
As the Governing Body of a Catholic school our overarching responsibility is to ensure the school is conducted in accordance with its Catholic character at all times. This overriding duty permeates everything that we do. Canon Law also requires all Catholic schools to strive for academic excellence and we are equally committed to this.
Beyond this our purpose is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance. We believe that the most effective way to do this is through a strong partnership between the Governing Body and the headteacher, with governance at a strategic level and the headteacher and senior school leaders responsible and accountable to us for the operational day to day running of the school.
The core functions of the Governing Body are set out in (Regulation 6) and include but are not limited to ensuring:
- that the vision, ethos and direction of the school are clearly defined
- that the headteacher performs their responsibilities for the educational performance of the school
- the sound, proper and effective use of the school's financial resources
(DfE Maintained Schools Governance Guide March 2024)
These functions are reflected in the Schools Governance regulations and in Ofsted criteria to judge the effectiveness of Governance.
A Governing Board and its Governors must, as required by The School Governance (Roles, Procedures and Allowances) (England) Regulations 2013, regulation 6(2)
- act with integrity, objectively and honesty and in the best interests of the school
- be open about the decisions they make and the actions they take and shall be prepared to explain their decisions and actions to interested parties
The Governing Body also has legislative responsibility and strategic oversight of the school's safeguarding arrangements.
As a Voluntary Aided School, Governors have responsibility as an Admission Authority and Employer of Staff.