On behalf of all the governors of our Backwell federation I wanted to welcome you to our wonderful community schools and introduce you to our Local Governing Board (LGB).  

We have three key focus areas: 

1. Ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
2. Hold the Executive Head Teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils
3. Oversee and support the Headteacher and Federation Business Manager in the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.

How we work:

• As a full Local Governing Board we meet every term. 
• Subgroups, and individual governors, support specific activities and will go into the schools throughout the year to do more in-depth reviews with the leadership team and school business manager.    This includes, for example:  Safeguarding, Curriculum, Finance & premises; Outcomes, Special educational needs and disability, Ethos, Leadership, Behaviour and Health and Safety. 
• Our role is to actively provide support and challenge, ensuring clear monitoring and reviews are in place against action plans, policies and procedures. The Headteacher is responsible for the day to day management of the school and the implementation of plans and policies. 
• The Backwell federation is part of a Multi Academy Trust – The Lighthouse Schools Partnership. If you are interested to find out more about the Trust this website is a good resource https://www.lsp.org.uk/

Who we are: 

Please see attached list of the governors and our individual areas of focus.  We run skills audits to assess ongoing succession requirements for our board and to ensure we have the right mix of skills and experience.

We collectively feel privileged to be part of supporting our schools and were delighted to see another strong year for the schools in context of the results published.  Well done to everyone, and the ongoing dedication and work of the staff.

Importantly it is great to see not just results but the wider enrichment opportunities the school and PTA have supported and organised, all part of providing an interactive and engaging experience for our children.   Thank you to our brilliant PTAs whose time, energy and effort make such a difference.

There are many ways to support our schools– from the work of the PTAs; volunteering time to help in class; sharing skills & experience with the children or becoming a governor. 

If you are interested in finding out more about the work of the governors do drop me a line. Justine.stafford@staff.backwell.n-somerset.sch.uk

Your collective support is greatly appreciated in being part of the fabric of our schools, and part of the collective success of them.

To a happy and successful year ahead

Justine Stafford

Chair of Governors