About the governing body at Widden Primary School

Widden Primary School is part of The Greenshaw Learning Trust. The Greenshaw Learning Trust is a charitable company, limited by guarantee, with the sole purpose of maintaining and developing academy schools to provide comprehensive and inclusive education for the public benefit. You can find out more about the governance of the Trust and all its schools, including details of its Scheme of Delegation, here.

The school is overseen by its governing body under the authority delegated to it by the Trust. The governing body is responsible for the strategic leadership of the school, for the school’s financial and academic performance, and for holding the headteacher to account.

Governors act collectively as the governing body, exercising their powers in a primarily strategic leadership role; they should not get involved in the day-to-day running of the school.

As well as attending governing body meetings, governors are expected to be a member of at least one committee and to engage in appropriate governor and school activities. Governors also serve on various panels that decide on specific matters such as grievance, complaints and staff appointments.

The governing body normally meets six times a year and each committee once per term.

Governors are appointed in a number of different ways:

• Trust governors are appointed by the board of trustees. A trust governor is a person appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Greenshaw Learning Trust.

• Parent governors are elected by ballot of all parents and carers of current students. A parent governor must be a parent of a student at the school at the time of their election; parent governors are elected by a secret ballot of all parents of registered students at the school.

• Community governors are appointed by the governing body to reflect on its community and stakeholders.

• Staff governors must be employed in that capacity by the school, and will cease to be a governor if they cease to work for the school; teaching staff governors are appointed by the governing body following a secret ballot of all teaching staff; non-teaching staff governors are appointed by the governing body following a secret ballot of all non-teaching staff.

• The headteacher is a governor ex-officio.

All governors except the headteacher serve for a term of office of four years, but can be reappointed.

Find out more about the Greenshaw Learning Trust here.

For further information, contact the clerk to the governing body:

mrwpgbclerk@greenshawlearningtrust.co.uk