The Governing Board

School governors offer their time on a voluntary basis and the board is made up of parents, staff and members of the local community and local authority. We use our skills and interests to support and work with the Headteacher in managing the strategic direction of  the school. The governors monitor and evaluate the school's progress by regularly reviewing what is happening in the school - from pupil progress, to absences, facilities, finance and health and safety.

What governors do

The main responsibilities of the governing board are to ensure the:

• the vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school are clearly defined
• the headteacher performs their responsibilities for the educational performance of the school
• the sound, proper and effective use of the school’s financial resources
• that voices of all school stakeholders are heard.

Governors also act as a ‘critical friend’ to the school, working in partnership with the Head, Senior Leadership Team and other school stakeholders to help provide the best possible education for pupils, including those with special educational needs.

How we work

To be effective, governors need to understand how the school works and how regulation and policy impact the school and the educational progress being made by pupils. In particular, governors are expected to:​

• attend the formal Governing Board meetings (normally 6 per year) and strategy days (1-2 per days per year).
• undertake a range of training courses relevant to their role in the Governing Board.
• become a governor link or part of a monitoring pair for a particular area of school activity such as pupil educational data, curriculum implementation, finance, well-being, health and safety and safeguarding.

Governors have equal rights to participate in the work of the Governing Board and to state their own views, but always work as a team and are bound by the collective decisions of that team.  The discussions that take place at governing board meetings remain confidential but minutes of meetings, once approved, are available from the school office on request.

Governing Board constitution

The membership of Sauncey Wood's Governing Board comprises:

• Five parent governors - elected by and from the parent body
• The Headteacher
• One staff governor - elected by and from the staff body
• Five co-opted governors - appointed by the Governing Board.  These are often people from the local community who have specialist skills to offer, e.g. finance.
• One Local Authority governor - nominated by the Governing Board

Contact us

Parents are welcome to contact the Chair of Governors by e-mail (michelle.saas@saunceywood.herts.sch.uk) or by telephoning the School Office. However, it should be noted that governors do not get involved in individual pupil issues or specific complaints about, for example, teaching or playground matters. Parents and carers should speak to the class teacher in the first instance or to the Headteacher. If a matter is not resolved to the satisfaction of all parties, then governors may become involved via the school’s formal Complaints Procedure, but this would always be a last resort.

Statutory information

​As required by the DfE, we publish full details of each category of governor, governors' terms of office and their attendance at meetings.  The document below is for the previous academic year.

Meet the Governors