Our Governors

The Governors help us make our school the best it can be. They meet regularly to support the Leadership Team in the decision making process and to ask challenging questions about how well we are doing and how we can improve.

The Governor's Vision for our school incorporates our "Caring, curious, courageous" motto but expands this further.  The reason for this vision plan is so that we as a board can focus on what we expect to see from our staff, children, parents and other stakeholders of our school.  Here is our vision.

The Chair of Governors is Mrs Elizabeth Durning (e: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and our Clerk to Governors is Mrs Christine Killey. Our Governors are caring, curious and courageous people who give up their time voluntarily to support the school and we are very grateful for the contribution they make. 

Governor News

I would like to welcome parents and carers of children who have recently joined our school and I am confident that your children will really thrive during their time at St Mary’s.

One of the key roles of Governors is to monitor aspects such as educational performance, safeguarding and wellbeing. We do this by listening to the Head Teacher and Senior Leaders, reviewing external data and independent expert reports. We also visit the school to speak to teachers, other staff and children, and observe the school day in action. It is obvious from our visits that St Mary’s provides a friendly and engaging environment where children are keen to learn.

We continue to be impressed with the wide range of extra activities and enhanced learning opportunities offered to our children at St Mary’s, and the list of activities for children of all ages is considerable. Recently, children from years 5 and 6 took part in Young Voices in Birmingham, which I am reliably informed is the largest group of children’s concerts in the world - what an amazing experience for them all! Still with a musical theme, but closer to home, the whole school participated in I Sing Pop where they learned and performed two song for the whole community.

These are only two of the many examples of how the staff of St Mary’s plan an enriching and stimulating curriculum for our children which goes over and above the academic side of school learning. Governors are extremely grateful to all staff who give up their time to develop and nurture children’s broader interests.

With all good wishes,

Elizabeth Durning (Chair of Governors)  

Governing Committees

The Full Governing Body is responsible for:

• Monitoring and challenging the progress of the school in achieving its priorities;
• Setting the strategic direction, vision and ethos of the school;
• Recruiting and performance managing the headteacher;
• Exercising employer responisibility;
• Ensuring the school meets its statutory responsibilities;
• Ensuring financial probity;
• Ensuring the premises are well managed;
• Reporting to the school's stakeholders.

We also have two sub-committees - the Teaching and Learning Committee and the Resources Committee:

The purpose of the Teaching & Learning Committee is to monitor and improve standards of pupil performance and the teaching of the national curriculum. The committee will support and advise and challenge the Headteacher and the Governing Body on the distinctiveness of St Mary's as a church school and on communication and engagement with parents and the community.  The committee will also ensure safeguarding meets statutory requirements.

The purpose of the Resources Committee is to ensure effective use of the school's financial resources, that the premises are fit for purpose and meet relevant health and safety requirements and to provide guidance to the Headteacher on personnel issues.

Our Governors

Each Governor has a specific curriculum responsibilty and a defined term of office.

Register of Business Interests

None of our Governors have any relevant business or financial interests in our school or any governance roles in other educational institutions.  Neither do they have any material interests arising from relationships between Governors or school staff.