The Role of the Governing Body/Local Academy Board
The role of the Governing Body/LAB is to contribute to the work of the school in ensuring high standards of achievement for all children and young people in the school by:
Establishing the strategic direction, by:
- Developing and upholding the Christian distinctiveness of the school
- Setting and ensuring clarity of vision, values, and objectives for the school(s)
- Agreeing the school improvement strategy with priorities and targets
- Meeting statutory duties and responsibilities
Ensuring accountability by:
- Appointing the headteacher/executive headteacher/principal
- Monitoring the educational performance of the school/s and progress towards agreed targets
- Performance managing the headteacher/ executive headteacher / principal
- Engaging with stakeholders
- Contributing to school self-evaluation
Overseeing financial performance, by:
- Setting the budget
- Monitoring spending against the budget
- Ensuring money is well spent and value for money is obtained
- Ensuring risks to the organisation are managed
Role of The foundation Governor
Foundation governors have the same core objectives as any other member of the governing body. In addition they have a special role in, and responsibility for, ensuring that the Christian Character of a Church of England School is secured, preserved and developed and that the school is run in accordance with any trust deed relating to the school.
Who nominates Foundation Governors?
In most cases, one of the Foundation Governors will be the incumbent of the school’s parish/benefice by virtue of their office. This is called the Ex-officio Foundation Governor.
The school’s Instrument of Government, will set out which organisation has the responsibility of appointing the remaining Foundation Governors.
In the Diocese of Birmingham, appointments may be made either by the Diocesan Board of Education, (DBE), or the Parochial Church Council, (PCC).
Nominations for PCC Foundation Governor appointments should be ratified at a PCC meeting. The nomination form is completed by the PCC Secretary and then forwarded to the diocesan education team for approval.
Nominations for the appointment of DBE Foundation Governors, should be made by the Incumbent. The Incumbent should consult with the Headteacher and Chair of Governors. The nomination form should be completed by the nominee and the reference form by the Incumbent. When there is an interregnum, this task can be discharged by the PCC Secretary or a Churchwarden.
Who should they be?
- ‘Actual communicant’ and church electoral roll member within the Church of England ¹
- Regular worshipper at Church of England services or
- Regular worshipper within one of the Member Churches of ‘Churches Together in Britain and Ireland’ (CTBI) or
- By exception, an individual may be appointed as Foundation governor being a Christian who is not a regular worshipper at one the churches listed above but is committed to the tenets of the Apostles’ Creed²
- Local community or business individuals who are committed to supporting the distinctive Anglican ethos of the school
A reference must be provided by everyone putting their name forward for consideration as a foundation governor. If this is not achievable, e.g. in the case of the ‘by exception’ criteria, then the nominee must be interviewed, by the ex-officio Foundation Governor.
Any person employed by the school, (whether by the Local Authority or the Governing Body), is not eligible to become a Foundation Governor, except in exceptional circumstances.