Governors at Highfield Hall

The Governors believe that Highfield Hall is an inclusive school. We seek to ensure that all children are given the opportunity to achieve and succeed. We are focused on supporting the Head Teacher and his team to remove barriers to learning and enable our children to develop their interests and skills, expand their horizons, and become good citizens.

The main functions of the Governing Body are to:
agree the aims and objectives of the school
agree the policies to help achieve those aims and objectives
monitor and evaluate progress
support and challenge the Head Teacher and the other school leaders in relation to the progress and attainment
manage the school’s use of resources
ensure that the school is a safe place to work and learn


​The school's Governing Body currently consists of TEN members appointed in the following categories:​

· 1 Head Teacher governor
· 5 Community governors
· 2 staff governor

*The governing body currently has two vacant positions*

​Committees

​The Full Governing Body appoints each year a number of committees which carry out detailed work and bring recommendations back to the Full Governing Body. The main committees for 2026 are:

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All members of the Governing Body sit on one or more committees. In addition, certain governors are appointed to act as a link with those teachers who have certain responsibilities in the school, such as special educational needs. A governor is also appointed to take special responsibility for safeguarding provision for the children.

The Finance Committee
This committee consider financial issues and ensures that the financial resources provided to the school are well spent. It also focuses on the best application of specific grants. In its work of managing the school’s financial resources the committee uses benchmarks to compare us to similar schools to ensure that we are broadly conforming to common standards. It also checks the school’s financial procedures against county-wide schools financial value standards to ensure compliance with those standards. This ensures that the school is applying best practice in these areas and acts as a safeguard against misappropriation or misuse of funds.

The committee is also responsible for maintaining the school’s IT equipment within the scope of the available financial resources. In the course of the year new interactive whiteboards were purchased for five classrooms. The new whiteboards provide better visibility within the classroom, better graphics, and can be used in a wide variety of ways in conjunction with other IT equipment making it faster and easier for the class teacher to access information, so that the classroom learning experience is improved.

​​This committee is also responsible for Health and Safety and ensures that the school fully complies with all Local Authority Guidelines. In addition to this, they carry out an annual check on different aspects of Health and Safety.

In the coming year this committee will review the way pupil premium and sports premium money is used in the school, ensuring the most effective outcomes for our children.

Head Teacher’s Performance Management
The Head Teacher is responsible for the day-to-day leadership and management of the school. An essential part of the Governors' work is to assess how the Head Teacher is performing these functions, and by this means to monitor the standard of teaching and practice in the school. A special committee of the Governing Body has responsibility for assessing the Head Teacher's performance against targets set the previous year, they are supported by an advisor from the local authority.

The governors look closely at the performance of the Head Teacher, have discussions about areas of strength and development and set new targets against which the Head Teacher’s performance will be evaluated. The impact of this is that the governors understand, through their assessment of the leadership and performance of the Head Teacher, the areas of strength and development needs within the school as a whole, including children's progress, curriculum coverage, and the learning environment. In addition, the data presented enables them to develop an accurate picture of the school. The governors are by these means better informed so as to enable them to challenge and support the Head Teacher.

Reviewing policies
​Every year the committees review the school’s policies on matters falling within their remit. Some policies are revisited annually and others fall into a three year cycle of monitoring and review. In some cases changes are made to these policies by the governors to reflect best current practice and experience within the school.

External Review
The governors and the Head Teacher sometimes have the benefit of an external review of the school’s performance. Our last OfSTED inspection was in 2019, when we were judged ‘good’. 

The School Development Plan (S.D.P.):
​The governors work co-operatively with the Head Teacher to identify priorities for school improvement and in preparing, and then monitoring, the School Development Plan (S.D.P.). The S.D.P. sets aims for the forthcoming year, it is monitored and reviewed termly at each meeting of the Full Governing Body.

​Over the course of the year individual governors have taken the opportunity to visit the school informally to listen to children read; attend events such as plays and sports days; join in class activities and help on school trips. We also have an annual Governor’s Day when most of the governors come in to visit the classrooms; join the children for lunch; meet with the School Council and talk to the children about their school.