THE WORK OF our GOVERNORS

Rooted in our Christian vision, our school’s ethos shapes every aspect of daily life, underpinned by our core Christian values of wisdom, service, friendship and courage. Our rich, welcoming and inclusive curriculum fosters a lifelong love of learning, offering many wider learning opportunities. Our motto Bringing Out The Best reflects our vision for children's education.

The role of the Governing Body is:

to provide strategic planning in partnership with the Executive Headteacher and staff by understanding the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and by reviewing and approving policies which ensure high standards of educational achievement and underpin improvements
to ensure accountability with effective performance management procedures and monitoring of staff
to act as a critical friend by both supporting and challenging the Headteacher and senior staff
to create an effective climate for children’s learning, celebrating their success, and supporting the professional development of staff
to build partnerships which will promote the best interests of the school, with the local community, other schools and relevant individuals and organisations.

The UK's largest volunteer group

School governors are all volunteers who are appointed or elected to serve on the Governing Body for a 4-year term of office; more than 300,000 support schools across the country. At St James, there are four categories of governor which must be represented – Parent, Staff, Local Authority and Foundation. In addition, the Headteacher and St James’ Church Rector automatically serve on the Governing Body. We have chosen to have 12 governors on our Governing Body, in the proportions set out in our Instrument of Government.

The Governing Body (GB) works as a team with each governor bringing a different set of skills of experience to the whole. The full GB meets at least 6 times per year, at least once in each half term. The GB operates with 1 additional committee (Pay) with its own terms of reference which are reviewed and agreed annually. To manage its work, the GB delegates monitoring activities to individuals or pairs. This can apply to statutory functions, the priorities of the 5-yr Strategic or 1-yr School Development Plans and national or local priorities.

Chairman Governing Body: Lizzie Geffen

Chairman Pay Committee: Charlotte Brew

If you would like to contact the Chair of Governors about a school matter in confidence, please use the school address, marking the envelope Confidential; your letter will be passed on without being opened. Alternatively, you can contact any governor through our Clerk, Rachel Dunnage, on: rdunnage@st-james-elstead.surrey.sch.uk