Governors work closely with headteachers, school staff and representatives from the local authority (LA).
“Governing boards are the strategic decision makers and vision setters. They play a vital role in ensuring the best possible education for every child by creating robust accountability for school leaders.” Quote taken from ‘The Governance Handbook’ 2015
The purpose of the Governing Body is to conduct the school with a view to promoting high standards of educational achievement. Its three core strategic functions are:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
- Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff; and
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governing Body Committee Structure
You can find out more about our Governors by clicking the links below:
| Name | Representing | Term of Office | Committee | Responsibilities | Register of Interests | Relationship to Staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs Julia Hymers | Head Teacher | 01.09.18 - ongoing | Curriculum, School Performance & Welfare, Finance, Premises & Personnel | None | None | |
| Mr Kevin McMullan | Co-opted Governors | 29.02.2020 - 28.02.2024 | Finance, Premises & Personnel (Chair), First/Pay Review (Chair), Headteacher's Performance (Chair) | Chair of Governors & Safeguarding | Director of JITB Nursery | None |
| Miss Lisa Wright | Co-opted Governor | 04.03.2020 - 03.03.2024 | Appeals (Chair), Finance, Premises & Personnel | Vice Chair of Governors & EYPP | None | None |
| Mrs Helen Wigmore | Parent Governor | 13.02.2019 - 12.02.2023 | Curriculum, School Performance & Welfare (Chair) | SEND | None | None |
| Miss Leona Wilson | Parent Governor | 07.03.2019 - 06.03.2023 | First/Pay Review | None | None | |
| Mrs Tracy Codd | Co-opted Governor | 20.06.2019 - 19.06.2023 | Curriculum, School Performance & Welfare, Finance, Premises & Personnel, Headteacher's Performance | Governor Training & Website | Secretary of JITB | None |
| Miss Amanda Bond | Staff Governor | 08.09.2020 - 16.10.2023 | Curriculum, School Performance & Welfare, Finance, Premises & Personnel | None | None | |
| Mr David Watchman | Parent Governor | 24.02.2021 - 23.02.2025 | Finance, Premises & Personnel, First/Pay Review | None | None |
How To Become A School Governor
If you require further information on the roles and responsibilities of School Governors or you are interested in becoming one, visit the Durham County Council website School Governor section.
Statutory Guidance for Governing Bodies
Tudhoe Moor Nursery School adhere to the statutory guidance from the Department of Education. This means that governing bodies must have regard to it when carrying out duties relating to the constitution of governing bodies in maintained schools.
You can find out more by viewing or downloading the documents below:
The Constitution of Governing Bodies of Maintained Schools (2017)
Annual Governance Statement Sept 2021
Governor Attendance
Schools are required to display a record of Governor attendance at meetings for each school academic year.
KEY
✓ – Attended meeting
A/A – Apologies sent and accepted by meeting
N – Did not attend
X – Not a member of the committee
Record of Attendance 2022-23
| Name | Meeting [add date] | Meeting [add date] | Meeting [add date] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mrs Julia Hymers | |||
| Mr Kevin McMullan | |||
| Miss Lisa Wright | |||
| Mrs Helen Wigmore | |||
| Miss Leona Wilson | |||
| Mrs Tracy Codd | |||
| Miss Amanda Bond | |||
| Mr David Watchman |
Archived Records
You can also view previous years attendance on our website.
Committee Terms of Reference
Full Governing Body
Chair: Kevin McMullan
Vice Chair: Lisa Wright
Strategic Leadership and Accountability:
- In collaboration with school leaders determine a clear and explicit vision for the future. Ensure this is communicated to the whole organisation.
- Set strong and clear values and ensure these are embedded across the organisation and adhered to.
- Determine the strategic direction for the school.
- Monitor and evaluate pupil progress and attainment by receiving reports and information from the Headteacher and other school leaders; compare against national and local benchmarks over time.
- Receive reports from committees, working parties or individuals and agree actions.
- Approve the SEF and monitor throughout the year.
- Approve the School Improvement Plan priorities and monitor throughout the year progress towards agreed actions.
- Ensure there is a transparent system for performance management of all staff which is clearly linked to the school’s priorities. Have oversight of staff performance throughout the year.
- Ensure there are mechanisms in place to listen to and respond to the views of parents/carers, pupils, staff, local communities and employers.
- Agree recruitment process to be followed in relation to Senior Leader posts; where delegated ratify appointments.
- Final approval of the annual budget plan.
- Monitor the school’s budget throughout the year.
- Agree virement and expenditure limits for the Headteacher.
- Hold at least 3 meetings each academic year. Ensure that committee meetings are held in accordance with the agreed terms of reference.
People and Structures:
- Elect and/or remove Chair of Governors and Vice Chair of Governors.
- Appoint Committee Chairs or delegate to each committee.
- Consider and agree delegation of functions to individuals or committees.
- Agree committee terms of reference and membership.
- Establish a register of Governors business interests.
- Ensure Governors information on the Get Information About Schools (GIAS) register and the school website is up to date and compliant with current requirements.
- Confirm the Instrument of Government and subsequent amendments.
- Appoint Co-opted, Local Authority and where necessary Parent Governors to the Board.
- Review and monitor the Governor Induction Process.
- Have regard for Governors professional development.
- Where necessary, suspend or remove Governors from the Board.
- Appoint/dismiss the Clerk to the Governing Body.
Compliance and Evaluation:
- Consider business provided by Local Authority and other sources
- Suspend or end suspension of staff members.
- Ensure all statutory policies are in place and there is an effective policy review cycle.
- Review and agree the Governor Code of Conduct.
- Confirm arrangements for completion of a Governor Skills Audit.
- Ensure there is regular self-evaluation and review of individual’s contribution to the Board as well as the Board’s overall operation and effectiveness.
- As necessary, consider an external review of the Board’s effectiveness.
- Ensure school website is up to date and compliant with current DfE requirements.
Curriculum, School Performance, and Welfare Committee
Chair: Helen Wigmore
General terms
- To act on matters delegated by the full governing body
- To liaise and consult with other committees where necessary
- To contribute to the school improvement plan where necessary
- To consider safeguarding and equalities implications when undertaking all committee functions
- Consider complaints and parental complaints
- Promote the aims and values of the school and ensure that all policies and procedures reflect the school’s ethos
- Curriculum planning and delivery
- To review and evaluate the curriculum offer
- To recommend for approval to the full governing body the :
- Self-evaluation form
- School improvement plan
- Targets for school improvement to the governing body
- To develop and review policies identified within the school’s policy review programme and in accordance with its delegated powers
- To ensure that the requirements of children with SEND are met, as laid out in the Code of Practice, and receive termly reports from the Headteacher/SENCO and an annual report from the SEN governor (where appointed)
Assessment and improvement
- To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of leadership and management
- To monitor and evaluate the impact of the quality of teaching on rates of children’s progress and standards of achievement
- To monitor and evaluate rates of progress and strands of achievement by children , including any underachieving groups
- To set priorities for improvement, and monitor and evaluate the impact of improvement plans which relate to the committee’s area of operation
- To monitor and evaluate provision for all groups of vulnerable children (e.g. looked after, SEND) and ensure that all their needs have been identified and addressed, and to evaluate their progress and achievement
- To ensure that the school works effectively with other agencies to support vulnerable children and their families
- To consider the recommendations from external reviews of the school (e.g. Ofsted or school improvement partners), agree actions as a result of reviews and evaluate regularly the implementation of the plan
- To ensure that all children have equal opportunities
- To advise the resources committee on the relative funding priorities necessary to deliver the curriculum
- Welfare
- To ensure the school meets the requirements of the SEND and relevant disability legislation
- To ensure the school is fulfilling responsibilities regarding child protection and the requirements of ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’
- To ensure the school work effectively with other agencies to support vulnerable children and their families
- To monitor the nutritional standards within the school to include school meals and snacks
- To monitor children’s attitudes, values and how other personal qualities are developed
- Report on the oversight of health and well-being, British Values, Prevent strategy
- To monitor behaviour statement of principles
Engagement
- To monitor the school’s publicity, public presentation and relationships with the wider community
- To identify and celebrate the children’s achievements
- To ensure all statutory requirements for reporting and publishing information are met and the school website content is fully compliant and presented in an accessible way
- MEETINGS: at least termly
- QUORUM: 3
- DISQUALIFICATIONS: None
Finance and Premises and Personnel Committee
Chair: Kevin McMullan
Finance and resources
- In conjunction with the head teacher, to draft the first formal budget plan of the financial year for approval by the full governing body
- To monitor income and expenditure, including virement decisions, significant anomalies from the anticipated position, consider spending proposals from other committees and report termly to the full Governing Body
- To plan and keep under review any unallocated monies
- To make decisions on SLAs
- To ensure the school operates within the financial regulations of the County Council and the requirements of the Schools Financial Value Standards
- To consider and promote income generation
- To ensure that the annual accounts for all voluntary funds held by the school are audited, submitted and noted
- To ensure that the School Improvement Plan priorities are appropriately costed
- To ensure that Pay Review and Pay Appeal decisions are appropriately funded
Premises
- To ensure that the school meets health and safety requirements and review the school’s H&S policy regularly
- To ensure that adequate provision is made to make the building safe and secure
- To ensure that the buildings and the learning environment are maintained and fit for purpose
- To ensure that the school meets health and safety requirements and to review the health and safety policy regularly
- To review the accessibility plan
To consider and approve:
- The staffing structure
- The teacher’s pay policy adopted by the Governing Body
- HR policies and procedures adopted by the Governing Body related to staffing
- Decisions relating to a member of staff (other than the head teacher) under personnel procedures adopted by the Governing Body (unless delegated to the head teacher)
- Staffing issues, including staffing reductions
To monitor and evaluate:
- Implementation and impact of all policies and procedures relating to staffing
- Feedback from any staffing review on the quality of provision
- Impact of decisions made regarding staffing
- Decisions regarding the recruitment and appointment of staff
- Staff absence rates and effectiveness of absence management procedures
To receive and review matters referred to it from the Governing Body:
- An annual review of the staffing structure with the head teacher
- Teacher’s pay awards, in relation to the school policies and procedures
- Keep under review work/life balance, working conditions and well-being, including monitoring absence for all staff
- Any other matters delegated from the Governing Body
To advise and make recommendations to the full Governing Body:
- Any decisions under the personnel procedures adopted by the Governing Body, e.g. disciplinary, grievance, ill health, capability etc. where the head teacher is the subject of the action
- To make recommendations to the Finance Committee on personnel related expenditure
- On any other matters delegated to the committee and covered above
To consider, respond and feedback to the full Governing Body on all matters above and any other issues delegated to the committee.
VIREMENT AND EXPENDITURE LIMITS
| Virement Limits | Expenditure Limits | ||
|
Limit set for Headteacher without prior written approval of Chair of Governing Body Where the cumulative effect of multiple virements on the same budget heading exceeds this limit, details are to be reported to the next Finance, Premises and Personnel Committee meeting for information and retrospective approval |
£1000 | Any items of expenditure up to
|
£5000
|
| Limit set for Headteacher with approval from Chair of Governors
A log of these approvals will be maintained and details reported to the next Finance, Premises and Personnel Committee meeting. |
£1000
to £10000 |
Above this limit if item was previously notified to the Governing Body. | |
| Prior Finance, Premises and Personnel Committee or Full Governing Body approval (whichever is the soonest) to be sought outside of these limits. | |||
NB Any goods/services purchased and works to be carried out are subject to Durham County Council Contract Procedures Rules (January 2014) for quotations i.e. quotations or tenders to be invited from capable contractors based on the likely value of the procurement over its lifetime
- Between £500 and £5000 at least one quotation
- Between £5001 and £50,000 at least three quotations
- Over £50,000 full tender exercise
Delegation to the Headteacher
Under the 2009 Staffing Regulations the Governing Body determines the extent to which it delegates to the Headteacher responsibility, up to and including initial dismissal decisions for school staff. The Governing Body may also delegate the power to appoint outside the leadership group to:
- The Headteacher
- One or more Governors with the right of the Headteacher to advise
- One or more Governors and the Headteacher
Appointments:
The Governing Body delegates to the Headteacher to appoint outside the Leadership Group for:
- All Supply Cover
- Temporary staff
Dismissals:
The Governing Body delegates to the Headteacher responsibility for:
- First written warning
Lifting of Suspensions:
- Delegation to the Chair of Governors for all staff (excluding the Headteacher)
- First/Pay Review Committee for the Headteacher
First / Pay Review Committee
Chair: Kevin McMullan
- Elect Chair (if delegated by full Governing Body).
- Annually agree the Teachers’ Pay Policy.
- Act in accordance with the Teachers’ Pay Policy when carrying out the annual review of teachers’ salaries.
- Report to the Finance and Premises Committee on pay review related expenditure.
- Consider any requests made in accordance with personnel policies e.g. flexible working, leave of absence etc. (unless delegated to the Headteacher).
- Make any decisions under the personnel procedures adopted by the Governing Body e.g. disciplinary, grievance, ill-health, capability etc. (Unless delegated to the Headteacher).
- Deal with matters relating to staffing reductions.
MEETINGS: at least annually
QUORUM: 3
DISQUALIFICATIONS: Headteacher; Chair of Governors (if have prior knowledge); where there may be a conflict of interest; any Governor whose spouse/partner is involved; staff (annual pay review and matters relating to staffing reductions)
Appeals Committee
Chair: Lisa Wright
- Elect Chair (if delegated by full Governing Body).
- Consider any appeal against a decision made under the personnel procedures adopted by the Governing Body.
- Consider any appeal against a decision made by the First/Pay Review Committee during the annual review of teachers’ salaries.
- Consider any appeal against selection for redundancy through a staffing reduction process.
- Consider complaints against the school in accordance with the agreed school Complaints Procedure.
MEETINGS: as and when required.
QUORUM: Must have at least the same number of Governors as were present at the original hearing.
DISQUALIFICATIONS: Headteacher; Chair of Governors (if have prior knowledge); any Governor involved in the original hearing; where there may be a conflict of interest; any Governor whose spouse/partner is involved; staff (appeals in relation to salary or staffing reduction decisions)
Headteacher’s Performance Review Committee
Chair: Kevin McMullan
- Set, with the support of the School Leadership Advisor (SLA), the Headteacher’s annual performance objectives.
- Monitor throughout the year the performance of the Headteacher against agreed performance objectives.
- Review, with the support of the SLA achievement of performance objectives.
- Make recommendations to the First/Pay Review Committee in respect of the Headteacher’s annual pay progression.
MEETINGS: Autumn Term plus monitoring meetings
DISQUALIFICATIONS: Headteacher and staff
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