School Governance

Governance at Southwark Primary School

Welcome to the governor’s page. School governors make a valuable contribution to our children’s education, opportunities and futures. Being a school governor at Southwark is a challenging but hugely rewarding voluntary (unpaid) role. It is an opportunity to make a real difference for our pupils, give something back to the local community and use and develop your skills and experience in a strategic role. 

Our Local Governing Body works with the headteacher and the ONE Academy Trust Board of Trustees to provide strategic leadership; accountability and assurance; and strategic engagement

Governors contribute to setting the aims and objectives for the school and the policies and targets for achieving those aims and objectives. They monitor and evaluate the progress the school is making and act as a source of challenge and support to the headteacher. They may ask relevant questions such as “Is it working?”, “How do we know it is working?” and “How do we get better?” 

Types of governor

All our governors are volunteers and at our school we have 3 types of governor:

• Parent Governors - Parent Governors are elected by the parents of pupils at the school.  We conduct an election process when vacancies arise and will advertise here and by other communication routes.  
• Staff Governors - Staff Governors are elected by the staff at the school.
• Co-opted Governors - Co-opted governors (also known as community governors) are appointed to the governing board from the community and are appointed (co-opted) by the board for the skills and experience that they offer. These may also be parents or may have no other connection with the school.  The school has an appointment process for co-opted governors which includes completing an application form, having a short interview and visiting the school. This provides an opportunity for both you and the school to make an informed decision about whether the role is tight for you.  The school will also take up references before confirming their decision to appoint.

We also sometimes appoint Associate Governors who offer their expertise to support particular aspects of school life.

Responsibilities

The full governing body meets at least four times during the school year (usually 4pm on a weeknight). It also meets as and when required to support particular needs and activities. The headteacher attends all governing body meetings.

Each governor has a link governor role, overseeing a particular aspects of school life such as equality & diversity, anti-bullying and safeguarding. 

Governor skills & training

We aim to have a governing body that has a broad set of skills to meet the needs of the school. Governors are required to undertake some basic training including induction and annual safeguarding training. In addition, training is made available for governors to access to develop their skills and linked to roles they may take within the governing body. Most of the training is online but other training opportunities can be made available. 

Vacancies

Vacancies for parent governors and community governors arise from time to time and we always welcome hearing from you if you are interested in either role. 

We currently have vacancies for co-opted (community) governors. 

More information about the role can be found in the following document:

Could you become a governor?

Governor Eligibility Criteria

Co-opted Governor Application Form 

If you would like to find out more about the role, please email Diane Dakin, the governance coordinator at d.dakin@oneacademytrust.co.uk, or telephone the school office and leave your contact details and we will get back to you.  Please get in touch - there is no commitment if you decide the role isn't right for you.   

How governance works within ONE Academy Trust

Southwark Primary School Local Governing Body (LGB) is a committee of the ONE Academy Trust Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees has delegated responsibility to the local governing body (LGB) to fulfil governance functions related to Southwark Primary School. The way we operate is set out in our Articles of Association, Scheme of Delegation and Terms of Reference (copies available on the ONE Academy Trust website here).

Please note: Our school used to be part of Believe Academy Trust which joined with another primary trust to become ONE Academy Trust in 2023.  We have reviewed and rebranded most of our policies and documents etc. but there may be some legacy references so please bear with us as we make the necessary changes. 

This diagram illustrates our organisational structure and where the Local Governing Body fits in.

Statutory Governance Information

Governance and Financial Information relating to the multi-academy trust can be found on the ONE Academy Trust website here

Names and details of our members and trustees are available on the ONE Academy Trust website in the Governance in ONE Academy Trust section. These include the contact details of the Chair of Trustees (Dr P Dean), appointment details, attendance at meetings and the Register of Interests for members, trustees and senior employees. For any further information related to trust-wide governance or to contact the chair of the board of trustees, please contact the governance coordinator Diane Dakin on d.dakin@oneacademytrust.co.uk or write c/o the head office and addressed for the attention of the chair of the board of trustees, Dr P Dean at Sawley Junior School, Wilmot Street, Long Eaton, Derbyshire, NG10 3DQ.

Financial & Statutory compliance information is available on the ONE Academy Trust website in the Finance & Compliance section (within Policies & Documents).  This sets out the regulatory information related to our status as a limited company with charitable status including:

• Audited annual trustees’ report and audited accounts (previous two years accounts)
• Funding agreement and any supplemental funding agreement
• Memorandum of Association

The trust’s Accounting Officer is Graham Boyd (CEO) - (enquiries@oneacademytrust.co.uk)

Register of Interests

We keep a register of our business and personal interests to ensure that potential conflicts of interest are clearly identified and managed appropriately. Details of these can be found below:

Register of Interests

Attendance at Meetings

Details of our attendance at meetings can be found below:

Attendance Register 

Copies of Minutes of Meetings

If you wish to see a copy of the agendas or minutes of our Trust Board or Local Governing Body meetings or documents considered at a meeting, then please contact the governance coordinator Diane Dakin (d.dakin@oneacademytrust.co.uk) or the school office (see Contact Us). These can be made available on request. Please note that confidential information cannot be released.

Governing Board Diversity Data

We are working on collating this information trust-wide and this will be published on the ONE Academy Trust website when available.