Welcome from Chair of Governors
On behalf of the Governors, I would like to welcome you to Hinckley Parks Primary School.
Our team of Governors provide support to the school in a number of ways, using experiences from our various backgrounds. We are here to ensure that the schools performance is evaluated and continuously improves, to make sure that legal obligations are met and to provide strategic direction for the school. Most importantly we are here because we care about Hinckley Parks children and want them to succeed.
The Senior Leadership Team and all the staff ensure that your children are given a sound foundation and that they are taught in a happy, safe and caring environment.
I have had two generations of my family attend the school, my three daughters and three of my grandchildren. I sincerely hope that your children enjoy their time at Hinckley Parks as my family did. I am proud of my long association with the school and of being a member of Hinckley Parks Governing Body.
Rae Cresswell
Chair of Governors 2023/24
About School Governance
Governors are volunteers who work closely with the Headteacher and the school’s senior management team to ensure that the school provides the best possible education for all children. Governors are generally parents, professionals and members of the community from all walks of life, who bring varied skills and experience to support the leadership of the school.
The Governing Body focuses on three core functions:
- To ensure the school has a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction.
- To hold the Headteacher to account for the school’s educational performance, and the performance management of staff.
- To oversee the financial performance of the school and ensure its money is well spent.
For 2023/24, the Governing Body's Development Plan for Hinckley Parks focuses on five key objectives:
- To ensure the safeguarding, health and wellbeing of staff and pupils.
- Ensure that the expectations of pupils and staff remains high.
- To ensure the provision of education continually evolves and remains consistent by providing a progressive and meaningful curriculum.
- To increase the provision and uptake of extra curricular activities.
- To continue to develop the training, engagement, effectiveness and impact of the Governing Body.
We make decisions as a corporate group so no single Governor is ever solely responsible, and as a body some of our specific responsibilities include:
- Setting the strategic vision for the school.
- Appointing and performance managing the Headteacher.
- Ensuring the quality of teaching and learning and therefore pupil achievement in the school is meeting or exceeding agreed targets.
- Ensuring that an appropriate curriculum is taught.
- Celebrating the school’s successes.
- Ensuring all the school’s results are published each year.
- Inputting to and ratifying school policies.
- Monitoring the school budget to ensure financial security.
- Helping to decide priorities for the school such as new building work or staffing structures.
We meet five times each school year as a full governing body, plus we have sub-committees who meet in addition to focus on specific key areas such as finance, safeguarding, learning and teaching, standards and leadership and community – see Meetings & Committees 2016/17 section for details.
At each full meeting we receive the Headteacher’s report covering the crucial areas of the school’s work that we are required to monitor against the School Education and School Business Plans: teaching and learning, new curriculum, assessment results, Special Educational Needs (SEN), Pupil Premium activity (how we spend additional funds from Government specifically to support our children in receipt of Free School Meals), how school challenges high achieving pupils, school council activity, Foundation stage, PE/sport, staffing, budget, premises and more. There’s a lot of ‘business’ to address at each meeting but the children’s safety, happiness and progress is always our priority in all that we do, as it is for everyone at school.
Governors are also play an active part in school life (attend performances, fundraisers, sports days etc), and carry out regular ‘formal’ monitoring visits in school in our area of focus (eg SEN, Mathematics, English, Safeguarding etc) so you and the children should see us around and about at school!
Hinckley Parks Governor Handbook
Becoming a Governor at Hinckley Parks
Governors join the school from many walks of life. Some join as Parent Governors (while their children are pupils at the school), some as Community Governors (who may not have any other link to the school but live or work in the local community), and some as Staff Governors (elected by the staff body).
You do not need any prior experience of school governance, substantial training is provided. In fact, more and more governors are joining without any prior experience but they bring with them a huge range of skills and knowledge that can benefit the leadership of the school, such as financial management, data analysis, project management, child protection, healthcare, building, disability issues, teaching in another sector, marketing, public speaking, bid writing/fundraising and much more.
Many employers actively encourage their staff to take up a community role like this and many offer time out of work to do so, as all governors do need to visit school during the day sometimes, as well as attend evening meetings and events.
To find out much more about the role of school governors, visit the link below:
When we have a vacancy on the governing body, details will be posted on this page.
Get in Touch
If you would like to contact a governor at any time, or ask about becoming a governor in the future, please email our Clerk to Governors via the school office.