Hollyfield School Governing Board
The Governing Board is committed to fulfilling its role of providing strategic leadership and accountability. The Board oversees the financial performance of the school, making sure money is well spent, holding the headteacher to account for educational performance and ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
In addition, some of the more specific achievements over the past years have been:
- The Governing Board continues to provide support to the Headteacher and the school in the changed environment post-Covid-19 pandemic
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Staff Welfare is on every Board meeting agendas, ensuring discussion at each meeting so that it continues to be monitored
- Appointing dedicated subject link governors to support development of the curriculum in all areas. Governor insight and assurance is gained through school visits
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Utilising online governor training enabling governors to access more training courses to develop knowledge and competencies and thereby improving performance
- Providing support to the school's cultural arts leaders with their development of the cultural arts at Hollyfield leading to their successful application to start the Artsmark award.
- The Board uses Governorhub effectively, allowing documents to be shared easily and efficiently.
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Ensured the school was prepared for significant changes in banking and administration arrangements following delegation of responsibilities from Birmingham City Council
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The Board recently agreed there should be governor representation at parents evenings to ensure there was opportunity for school, governors and parents to work together.
The Governing Board is dedicated to providing support to school and its leaders in order that the best outcomes can be achieved for pupils, staff and the wider school community.
Governors
Governors are all volunteers and most have jobs elsewhere. One of the major benefits is that governors are able to bring experience and expertise from different walks of life into the school. This can help the school take a more creative and strategic approach to management, problem solving and long-term planning. The current Governing Board includes governors with experience in management, financial services, building, information technology, health and safety and primary education.
The Governing Body
All Governors, except the Head teacher serve a four-year term, at the end of which they can stand for re-election or appointment. Hollyfield Primary School Governing Board is currently made up of:
- 3 Parent Governors – elected by parents of pupils at the school
- 1 LA Governor – appointed by Birmingham City Council for the Local Authority
- 1 Staff Governor - elected by the staff at the school
- 1 Head teacher
- 2 Foundation Governors – volunteers from the wider community appointed by the Governing Board
- 7 Co-opted Governors – appointed by the Governing Board (including parents, staff and volunteers from the local community)
The Chair of Governors is elected by the full Governing Board at its first meeting of each school year. The current Chair of Governors is Mrs. Gill Shilton.
The Governing Board does not run the school. That is the job of the Head teacher and senior management team. We take a more strategic overview of how the school is run, and as a ‘critical friend’ act as an invaluable sounding board. Ofsted view our effectiveness in how we challenge and support the school so that weaknesses can be tackled decisively and statutory responsibilities met.
Some aspects of our role are laid down in law. We approve the school budget as well as targets for attainment and various policies. Any decisions made by the school to permanently exclude a pupil, has to be reviewed by an independent panel. The full Governing Board meets twice a term, but much of the ‘ground work’ of the governors is carried out by its two principal committees:
- Finance and Resources
- Standards & Achievement
Finance & Resources
Finance and Resources committee focuses on managing the school budget ensuring that it is takes into account the priorities of the School Improvement Plan. It examines the implications this will have on resources, especially staffing of the school and maintenance and development of school buildings, including Health and Safety. The committee reviews the school’s financial performance making sure money is well spent. We also plan for the future by establishing and maintaining a three year financial plan.
Standards & Achievement
Standards and Achievement committee reviews the progress and achievement of pupils on a regular basis. We ensure development and delivery of the curriculum at Hollyfield meets all statutory obligations and that policies reflect current practice. ‘Walk-abouts’ and talking to pupils allow us as Governors to view at first-hand the impact on learning within the classrooms. Governors are particularly excited at the prospect of implementing a more creative curriculum.
Governor Attendance
We must publish a summary of attendance for the governing body meetings. You can view the summary here
2023 - 2024
2022 - 2023
2021 - 2022
2020 - 2021
Governor Register of Interests
You can view a list of interests that our governors have by clicking this link. We publish information about each of our governors in the interests of transparency.
Contact the Governors...
Should you wish to contact the Governing Body you can do so via the school office or by clicking here: