Governors adopt a supportive but consistently robust approach, building on our highly constructive and transparent relationships with school leaders.
This year our focus has been on:
Governors completed a review of the school’s values, vision, mission and strategy, largely reconfirming the key elements but agreeing refinements with School Leaders where needed, as the school continues to explore the opportunities of, and the associated risks arising, as it expands towards being the largest boys’ selective school nationally.
The school’s Strategic Risk Register was reviewed confirming risk assessments and considering mitigating controls in place.
We conducted an extensive monitoring visits programme this year with a focus agreed with school leadership and covering Maths, English, Science, Modern Foreign Languages and Design Technology. We also reviewed SEND and Pupil Premium provision and performance. This programme further informed our understanding and enabled us to monitor stretch and consistency across the curriculum.
Within our Curriculum and Standards Committee, we explored progress data across all Key Stages and for our vulnerable students at critical points during the year. We specifically supported and challenged the school’s programme including a thorough curriculum review that sought to explore and exploit opportunities for further improvement in the curriculum and more broadly in teaching and learning following last year’s public examinations.
We were delighted last year to support the school’s successful initiative to achieve a nationally recognised Well-being Award with dedicated Student Well-being Governors appointed. As governors we are important sponsors and supporters of the school’s extensive programme, including counselling and life coaching, which is so much grounded in the school’s caring culture. Our monitoring programme included specific consideration of student well-being, both generally and where individual students needed support.
Governors received and reviewed safeguarding reports each term, which covered a broad spectrum of safeguarding policy and practice. All reports were also discussed in detail between our Safeguarding Governor and the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), before each meeting. Both of them also presented to the Governing Body at the start of the year, and the DSL attended a question-and-answer session with governors exploring how the school satisfied itself about the quality and effectiveness of key aspects of its safeguarding activities.
Our focus is on both the substance and systems supporting effective safeguarding.
Against a backdrop of national teacher shortages, especially in STEM and more generally, and supporting the school’s continuing expansion programme, teacher and specialist support staff recruitment has been a key focus for our Senior Leadership team. This issue continues to present challenges but a number of positive appointments have been made in important positions. Governors have spent time both understanding our needs and our recruitment processes and have been encouraging the school to explore all available options and to further consider innovative approaches.
We are grateful to KCC for the investments made in recent years and for the many significant contributions that have been made by parents and others, which have enabled us to transform our school and very substantially improve the educational experience of our students and the working environment of our staff.
This year governors have been closely involved in plans to further improve our teaching and learning environment, especially in the older areas of the estate. Substantial improvements to the old main building and staff facilities are underway. Plans to upgrade our science facilities are also advanced. Along with sustainability and attempts to reduce our carbon emissions from our sites, these improvements will be a key focus in the coming year.
Monthly monitoring through the school year was accompanied by stringent review of budgets, out-turns and procurement. Scenario planning has provided further insight to support the school’s spending decisions.
We conducted reviews of accounting controls and considered Local Authority compliance reports.
We continued to work closely with the school to monitor and seek to mitigate inflationary pressures, especially in the school’s continuing premises improvement programme and in energy supply.
Recognising our special responsibilities as a grammar school, last year we reviewed all aspects of our approach and supported the development of a new and comprehensive set of Equality Objectives to promote and support accessibility and success for all, especially those facing financial hardship. These objectives have been reviewed and refined during the current year, considering opportunities to sustain and promote a fair and inclusive community.
We held our second Governor Day in February 2024. We considered our role in the local community including our Year 7 accessibility, our Sixth Form vision and the opportunities that may be open to us to continue and grow in the future. We also met staff and students in order to listen to them and help us to understand their perspectives. Our communication and relationships with our key stakeholders are priorities for continual diligence.
We conducted our annual comprehensive skills audit and governance self-evaluation. We were delighted to welcome two new governors to the Governing Body over the course of this year, further strengthening our skills and experience base. It is disappointing that we have not been able to sustain the considerable level of ethnic diversity in the Governing Body, which has so delighted us in recent years. This is something for renewed energy in the year ahead.
We are immensely appreciative of the contribution of all our governors and associate members. We never forget that they are volunteers who continue to make an invaluable contribution through their significant knowledge, skills, experience and commitment.
Philip Drew, Chair of Governors
July 2024