The Hall Orchard Governing Body works to support and challenge the school to be the best it can be for its pupils and staff.  Although a large primary school, Hall Orchard maintains a caring, happy and family environment and this has been reflected in a Good/Outstanding report from Ofsted in March 2025 and with the latest very positive Church SIAMS report in Autumn 2023. We are very proud of the school, staff and especially the pupils and are committed to supporting school in delivering its development plan and driving continuous improvement to the best of our ability.  With this in mind, I share below the purpose of a governing body and what impact governors should achieve.

All schools have governing bodies, and our purpose is to help the school to provide the best possible education for every pupil and help them reach the highest standards of achievement.

At Hall Orchard, the governing body comprises different types of appointed governors; Foundation (Church), Member and Co-opted appointed, Parent, Diocesan representative and the Head Teacher, but we all work together as one group in the best interests of the school. 

A school functions best when the governing body and the Head Teacher work together as a team in pursuit of common values. This certainly doesn’t mean that the governors are there just to rubber stamp decisions that are made by the Head Teacher. The governors’ relationship can best be described as a “critical friend”. Governors are volunteers, who work with senior leaders to push forward the strategic development of the school and raise standards of achievement. Governors bring a huge range of skills and expertise from their professional lives to the governing board.

All Governing boards have three core functions, whether in maintained school or academies:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• Holding leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff, and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

Governors monitor and evaluate the work of the school, offering constructive advice, a sounding board for ideas and a second opinion on proposals. We are not there to interfere in the operational day to day running of the school, or to comment on the quality or methods employed by the teaching staff – those are the responsibility of the Head Teacher.