Governance at Hurst Green Infant School and Nursery

On behalf of the governing body, welcome to Hurst Green Infant School and Nursery. Whether you are a first time parent or one with children already in the school, we hope that the time your child spends at Hurst Green will be memorable for all the right reasons and will offer them opportunities that make you wish you were back in your primary years!

We want Hurst Green to be an outstanding school, not just in Ofsted terms, but also in our own terms: a great place to learn, grow, play, work and be associated with. This section seeks to set out what is the governing body, who we are and how we work to support the school.

The role of governors is often summed up in the phrase “a critical friend” to the Head Teacher and the school. Governing body responsibilities include:

•  setting strategic direction, objectives, targets and policies;
•  reviewing progress against the budget, plans and targets;
• approving the school budget;
• acting as a critical friend to the Head Teacher by providing support and challenge; and
• appointing the Head Teacher

There are 11 governors at Hurst Green, in one of 4 categories: staff, parent, local authority & community. Details of the current membership are on our website, along with more information about how the governing body operates.

Being a governor is interesting, rewarding and challenging work: it does require commitment, but there are no formal qualifications required – the most important attributes are interest, enthusiasm and a genuine desire to make a difference. We also want and need our governing body to be diverse and representative of our local community. There is plenty of training and support available to allow governors to become effective as quickly as possible. Governors can take on specific individual responsibilities as well as participating in the full governing body.

This can include being:

• a link governor, for either a subject area or an area of work identified in the school improvement plan;
• chair or vice-chair of the governing body

Vacancies will occur during your time as a parent, as the length of term for parent governors is 4 years. If you are interested in serving as a governor, do let the school office know and we would be happy to arrange for a current governor to talk with you in more detail about the role and when vacancies are next expected to occur.

I trust you will enjoy your association with Hurst Green and I look forward to meeting many of you and perhaps working with some of you during your time connected with our school.

Katherine Saunders

Chair of Governors

ksaunders.gov@hurstgreenschool.org