Governors

All schools in England have a Governing Body which is responsible for overseeing many of the strategic decisions of the school. A key role is to act as a ‘critical friend’: to support, to challenge, to ask questions, ultimately to represent the school community.

At Pathfield School, the Governing Body works in close partnership with the headteacher, staff, SENtient Trust and the local authority. Whilst the headteacher is, of course, responsible for the day to day running of the school, the governors are involved with such things as staffing, curriculum, school buildings and finance.

As Governors at Pathfield School our vision is:

Working together, supporting challenge and making a difference.

We aim to

• ensure that Pathfield school works on the basis of a culture of praise and support for all, where expectations are both ambitious and challenging, developing a culture of resilience
• work closely with partner agencies, including Adult Services, Children Services and Health to ensure best possible outcomes for children and young people
• have purposive(*) interactions with all parents / carers, ensuring the collective voices of child, family and all agencies are heard
• develop the role of a dedicated Family Liaison worker to facilitate the above, exploring ways to include families with pre-school children who use Portage
• ensure that the language we use in reports including Education, Health and Care Plan’s is accessible to all
• ensure that the curriculum is meaningful, enterprising and allows culture capital(**) for success, using our space creatively to meet need
• embrace new ideas such as ‘Purposeful Systems’
• starting the preparation for adulthood on entry to school
• meet the challenges of tight budgeting with creativity and innovation
• ensuring all parties recognise that the financial health of school is their business helping us to remain financially secure

(*) Purposive – serving or effecting a useful function, though not as a result of planning or design
(**) Culture capital – a high level of enlightenment as a result of extensive training and exposure to learning.

Full Governors’ meetings are held twice a term and copies of the minutes of these meetings are available upon request. A copy is held in the school office.

The Chair of the Governors can be contacted via the school. More details about our Governing body can be found here.