Shaw-cum-Donnington C.E. Primary

Shaw-cum-Donnington is a popular local primary school looking to appoint an enthusiastic and committed individuals to join our effective cohesive team on the school’s Governing Body (GB) with a strong community spirit and an interest in our children’s futures and a desire to make a difference.  A foundation governor in a church school has an especial care for the school's Christian character.  Agreeing to stand as a foundation or Local Authority governor is a wonderful way for a parishioner to live out his or her faith and discipleship in the community.

What does this involve? 
The purpose of the GB is to provide confident, strategic leadership and to create robust accountability, oversight and assurance for educational and financial performance.  It carries out its role with three core functions:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;
• Supporting the Headteacher, but holding them to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils; and the performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure that its money is well spent.

We welcome governors from all walks of life to bring different perspectives and views.  What you do need is a strong commitment, an interest in education and the welfare of our children and willingness to get involved. The skills you have, whatever they may be, can be very useful to the GB.  Governors also need what is known as ‘soft skills’ – the ability to be able to build relationships with a range of people, able to work as part of a team, able to question and to make connections between different types of information by analysing and understanding data, reports and so driving efficiency in order to hold the school to account.

You will be required to attend approximately two termly meetings of the full GB, visit the school informally at least three times a year and commit to attend training courses, perform additional research and take part in monitoring as required.  The term of office for all governors is four years and every school governor must complete a Governor Eligibility Declaration form before commencing in post and undertake a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.

The Rewards of becoming a School Governor
The main benefit from being a school governor is a sense of satisfaction that you are involved in one of the most important volunteering roles. Collective decisions made by the governing body will help shape the future of all children at the school. Other benefits include:

• The opportunity to develop new skills and strengthen existing ones;
• The opportunity to work as part of a team, sometimes with a range of people from different cultural, social and religious backgrounds;
• The opportunity to gain a sense of achievement as an active member of the community;
• The opportunity to improve your negotiation, questioning, time management and financial skills;
• The opportunity to undertake training provided by West Berkshire Education Authority on various aspects of the governor role.

Application Process

Governor Information Pack
Expression of Interest Form
All expressions of interest can be submitted using the above form.  Please forward all applications by email to Delia Jones, Clerk to Governors at office@shaw.w-berks.sch.uk   or by post marked for the attention of: Delia Jones, Clerk to Governors, Shaw-cum-Donnington CE Primary School, Love Lane, Newbury, Berks, RG14 2JG.

You will then be warmly invited to meet with one or two of our governors to discuss the roles in more detail. 

Being a school governor is challenging but helping oversee the development of a school is fulfilling, enjoyable and extremely rewarding work.

We very much look forward to hearing from you!

Yours faithfully

Vicky Murray
Headteacher

01635 40971  office@shaw.w-berks.sch.uk

Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff , governors and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and Governor Eligibility Declaration.