Welcome from the Governors

Thank you for visiting our site. We hope you will find useful information on our Governors and how we carry out our roles.

The Governors, like the staff and parents, consider each child to be at the heart of all we do. As governors we invest our time to support an excellent Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team and to play our part in the drive to ensure that all pupils receive the best possible education and experience at Bassett Green. We want every child to feel safe and happy in an environment that encourages them to enjoy learning. Our three main responsibilities are: to set the school's aims and priorities; to be confident that the Headteacher provides the leadership to achieve them; and to ensure that the funds the school receives are used to best effect.

Maureen A Smith, Chair of Governors

We are a statutory corporate body which means that no governor may act on their own without proper authority from the full Governing Board. All governors carry equal responsibility for decisions made. Although appointed through different routes, the prime concern of all governors is the welfare of the school.

We have discretion as to how we undertake our responsibilities but are required to constitute ourselves in line with the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003 and to appoint a Chair and Vice-Chair. Governors are drawn from different parts of the community, and our Governing Board comprises staff, parents, a governor approved by the Local Authority, co-opted members of the community and two Foundation governors appointed by the Aspire Trust. This helps to ensure that we have sufficient diversity of views, skills and experience.

Working together with the Headteacher, we are responsible for strategic and long-term decisions about the school. Our responsibilities include:

• setting high educational standards and targets for school improvement
• appointing the Headteacher
• offering support and advice
• ensuring the school values reflect the needs of parents, children and community
• providing an environment where pupils can work in a caring, safe and inclusive place;
• helping to develop school policies
• managing the finances of the school

We carry out much of our business through formal meetings of the full board of governors and have two sub-committees that report to the Board: Finance & Human Resources and Curriculum Standards Committee.

Each governor has a special link role and we regularly visit the school to meet with staff and pupils to discuss our areas of responsibility and to consider the school’s progress and future needs. Governors also undertake visits as a group to see the whole school in operation.

You can read reports on our activities and what it means to become a governor in the documents at the foot of this page.

We are happy to hear from parents, carers and members of the community. Should you wish to contact the Chair or other members of the Governing Board, please send an email to Chair@bassettgreen.net. Please note that if you have concerns about your child's education or wellbeing, it is important to raise any issues through the Headteacher in the first instance, before contacting the Chair, as it is the Headteacher who is responsible for the internal organisation, management and control of the school.