Welcome to the Governors' Webpage
The Governing Body acts as a critical friend to the school. It has responsibilities in formulating school policies and setting the financial budget which it then reviews during the year. It reviews the School Learning Plan and looks at the teaching and learning taking place in classrooms. The Governing Body is made up of parents, staff, local authority representatives, and members of the community. Individual governors are attached to year groups so that they can get to know the children, check on their progress and see how the Pupil Premium is being spent in raising attainment.
School governors
School governing boards work as a team to provide strategic leadership to schools. The three core functions of a school governing board are to:
Governing boards are required to appoint governors meeting the eligibility criteria based on the skills and experience required by the board. At Highlands, we ask each Governor to complete a skills audit. When a vacancy arises, the Board agrees what skills are missing and recruits a new governor to fill this gap.
Children's Rights
At Highlands, we know that our Governors play a key role as advocates for children's rights. Every time they meet, Governors discuss how to further improve the quality of education for each child. They discuss how to keep children safe and to protect them from harm. They ensure that every child is treated equally and with respect. These are the key rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child that Governors protect as part of their role:
Our Rights - (UNCRC in child friendly language)
Article 28. ‘You have the right to a good quality education.’
Article 12. ‘You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously.’
Article 29. ‘Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.’
Article 19. ‘You have the right to be protected from being hurt or mistreated, in mind or body.’
Article 3. ‘When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children’
Article 42. ‘You have the right to know your rights! Adults should know about these rights and help you learn about them too.’
Article 2. ‘All children have these rights (non-discrimination)’
Governing board statutory duties and policies
All governing boards are required to follow school governance legislation to meet statutory responsibilities as outlined in the Department for Education (DfE) Governance Handbook.
The other key statutory duties are:
Our professional clerk is a member of the Havering Governing Service team . If you would like to get in touch with the Governors, please contact the clerk via the school office. Governors warmly welcome communication from parents and recognise the importance of parent voice in continual school improvement.
The Board decided last year to move to a non- committee structure to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The only committee in place is the Pay Committee.
This committee considers recommendations from the Headteacher and agrees annual pay increases for all staff. The Committee meets at least once a year, or as required.
All Governors (except staff) will form a pool from which they will be selected to serve on panels according to availability and suitability. The terms of reference for each panel will be as per the relevant procedure/policy.
Relevant Business and Pecuniary Interests
All Governors are required to sign a declaration of interest form annually.
They are also required to disclose any pecuniary/business interests relating to specific items on the agenda at every meeting.
At this time the declared interests are:
Governors Composition and Terms of Office
The membership of the Governing Body of Highlands Primary School is as follows :
TOTAL MEMBERSHIP (9)
Co-opted Governors (4) Miss Hayley Foster (05-02/20 – 04/02/24) Rev Bernardino Mandlate (05-02/20 – 04/02/24) Dr Colin Runeckles (05-02/20 – 04/02/24) - Vice Chair Ms Shabana Shaukat (05-02/20 – 04/02/24) - Chair | Parent Governors (2) Mrs Ayesha Khanom (28/05/21 – 27/05/25) Mr Shohel Ali (28/05/21 – 27/05/25)
|
Headteacher Governor (1) Dr Kulvarn Atwal |
LA Governor (1) Cllr Mustaq Ahmed (23/03/22 – 22/03/26) |
Staff Governor (1) Mrs Jenny Owen (1/10/18 – 30-9-22) |
Associate Governors – Nil Observers Mr G Jelks Mrs Sandeep Kaur |
All Governors are appointed for a term of office of 4 years (other than the Headteacher, who is a Governor for as long as he is in post)
| Full Name of Governor | Appointing body | Position of responsibility | Register of Business/personal pecuniary interest | Number of FGB meetings attended May 20 - March 21) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dr. Kulvarn Atwal (or DHT in his absence)
| By Virtue of Appointment | Headteacher Pay Committee | None | 6 out of 6 |
Mrs Jenny Owen
| Staff | None | 6 out of 6 | |
Councillor Mushtaq Ahmed
| Local Authority | *Website compliance | None | 4 out of 6 |
| Dr Colin Runeckles | Governing Body | *Safeguarding, LAC and Attendance *SEND *HTPM Review *Pay Committee | None | 6 out of 6 |
| Rev. Bernardino Mandlate | Governing Body | *Data Protection | None | 4 out of 6 |
| Miss Hayley Foster | Governing Body | None | 5 out of 6 | |
| Mrs Shabana Shaukat | Governing Body | * Finance *Pay Committee | None | 6 out of 6 |
| All Governors are 'standards' link governors | ||||
Previous Governors (2017/18/19) | appointed by | reason for departure | appointed | resignation date |
| Mrs Helen Mitchell | Governors | Moved out of the area | March 2017 | Aug 2018 |
| Mrs Atiya Nasir | Parents | End of term | Oct 2014 | Oct 2018 |
| Lady T Adebowale-Jones | GB | personal reasons | July 2018 | June 2019 |
| Joy Mortimer | GB | Moved out of area | Aug 2019 |