Structure & operation of the governing body

The structure of the GB is designed to fit in with and hence be able to contribute to Broad Oak's school development programme.

The GB sees governance as being part of a team of pupils, parents and carers, staff and governors who's sole focus is on raising the quality of what is offered to our children. Yes, it would be good if this focus were to result in an outstanding Ofsted judgement, but all at the school believe that the quality of our children's school experience is the driving force for our work. In our last Ofsted one of their findings was that "this is a happy school where children thrive and parents (and carers) feel welcome". Thriving means, not only, doing well in exams, but also, that our children feel, and are, safe, they are free from pressure including bullying and that they all feel able to progress at the fastest rate of which they are capable, across all aspects of their development.

The school has invested in a quality assurance programme called Aspire, a programme of activities that looks at what the school is offering, plans ways to develop that offer and then undertakes a rigorous programme of monitoring with outside experts coming in to moderate the work of the school leadership team thus ensuring that the school  does not become complacent and continues to move forward at a pace that will positively influence the life chances of all the pupils of Broad Oak Primary School. Our duty as Governors is to ensure that this process works well and to the benefit of our children and as such we operate two ways.

Firstly as a full GB we meet each half term to ensure that we discharge our 3 fundamental responsibilities which are 

• To set and modify , as appropriate, the vision of the school 

• To hold the school to account for its adherence to delivering that vision and to ensuring that academic standards are upheld

• To ensure that the financial affairs of the school are properly conducted and the principles of best value are always employed when undertaking any finacial activity.

For us the notion of holding the school to account is best achieved, not by an adversarial system where the governors ask pointed but often ill informed questions of the school but rather a system where all the stakeholders of the school work together, in their relevant roles, to achieve the best possible outcomes based on rigorous targets for school improvement.

The second way we operate is to become part of the Aspire areas of development as full and active members of staff/ governor teams that seek to develop the following areas of our work in line with our vision of thriving children:

• The learning environment - the big picture of what our children experience in the school

• Pedagogy and curriculum - what our children learn and the way it is taught

• Assessment for learning - working out what your children know and hence the best way for them to take their next steps (this is not end of course testing where the test result is often the end of the process for a child, here any assessment is the start of the next stage in the learning process.

• Student and family support - the school realises that two of the major influences on a child's progress are his or her own personal wellbeing and the support and encouragement from home.

Whilst all of these activities are overseen by external educational professionals, Broad Oak feels very strongly that the views of parents and carers are vitally important in establishing whether our systems area working for the best of our children. If you have a view, concern or indeed, wish to praise the school please feel free to contact your child's form teacher in the first instance - we will be pleased to hear from you. Those without a child in the school can contact the school about general issues using the contact details supplied on this website.