Meet the Governors

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There is a vacancy for a Parent Governor to serve on the governing board of this school. We are very keen to encourage parents to nominate themselves to fill this place. Details of how to nominate yourself are given on the letter, nomination form and self- declaration form that can be downloaded below. If an election is required, all parents will be able to vote.

Parent Governors are vital to our Governing Board. They share equally with other governors the responsibility for carrying out the governing board's wide range of responsibilities. Governors do not run the school day to day, as their role is at the strategic or policy-making level in the school.

If you join our Governing Board, you will serve for a four year term. Being a governor does take up time. There are 4 governing board meetings each year, and governors usually serve on one or more committees which meet once a term. You will need to set aside time to be able to be an effective governor: time to prepare for meetings, for visiting the school or meeting colleagues on behalf of the governing board, as well as undertaking training and updating your skills. The governors are asked to sign up annually to a Code of Conduct.

Before you decide to stand you may want to know a bit more about what is involved. Governors need not be experts in the field of education. What they do need is an interest in the school and in the welfare of our children and the time and willingness to get involved. The skills you have can be very useful to the governing board. The Governance Handbook and the Competency Framework for Governance are available at  www.gov.uk/government/publications/governance-handbook  At the moment the governing board is looking for governors who have expertise in Finance, Legal, Human Resources and People Management. If you are someone with the required experience, would you consider applying? Governors also need what is known as 'soft skills' — the ability to be able to build relationships with a range of people, to be able to work as part of a team, to be able to question, and to make connections between different types of information. All governors are expected to be able to read straightforward budget reports and data on school standards.

To find out more about what being a governor at this school is like, you can contact Fr. J. Furnival (Chair), who will be very willing to answer any questions.

All governors are required to hold on enhanced criminal record certificate. You will be required to make an application to the Disclosure and Barring Service for an enhanced DBS certificate.

If you would like to take the opportunity to put yourself forward as a candidate, you may only do so on an official form. Please complete and return the Nomination Form and Self Declaration Form to me by Wednesday 20th March at 9.30am. If it is necessary for there to be an election, I will contact you to let you know about the arrangements.

Yours sincerely

Miss D.M. Bradley

Returning Officer

Who can stand as and vote tor Parent Governors The definition of a parent in education legislation includes:

• all natural parents whether they are married or not;
•  any person who, although not a natural parent, has parental responsibility for a child or young person and; 
•  any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person

Parents who are NOT eligible to stand in parent governor elections are:

• parents who are paid to work at the school for more than 500 hours in any consecutive 12 month period at the time of election.

How to nominate yourself

• If you would like to put your name forward, you must complete a nomination form and a self-declaration form.

You should use the space provided on the form to write a brief personal statement to support your nomination.

The statement should be of sufficient length to set out:

• evidence of the extent to which you possess the skills and experience the governing body desires;
•  your commitment to undertake training to acquire or develop the skills to be and effective governor;
• if seeking your re-election, details of your contribution to the work of the governing body during you previous term of office; and  how you plan to contribute to the future work of the governing body.

Depending on the number of vacancies

If there is only one nomination this candidate will be elected unopposed.

If there is more than one nomination, an election will take place. The statements of all candidates will be typed in a standard format and circulated to all parents with a ballot paper.