Governors

The Governing Body is made up of a team of governors who are responsible for making sure the school provides a good quality education. Raising educational standards in school is a key priority. This has the best chance of happening when there are high expectations of what pupils can achieve.

Governors promote effective ways of teaching and learning when setting the school aims and policies. They do this together with the head teacher, who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school.

Every school must have a governing body. The membership will vary according to the type of school. The governing body has some discretion of the numbers of governors. All governing bodies include governors who are:

• Parent elected by parents at the school
• Staff elected by Head, teachers and support staff at the school. The head teacher is entitled to be a staff governor without an election
• Persons appointed by Sutton Local Authority as an LEA governor.

Our Governing Body meets in full each term and also in smaller committees focusing on Curriculum and Standards (Chair - Mrs Jane Templeman) and Resources (Chair - Mr Ian Love).

Governors are at the heart of how a school operates. It is important they get things right. How they do their job affects the interests of pupils, staff morale and how the school is seen by parents and others in the community.

Governors support and challenge heads by gathering views, asking questions and deciding what's best for the school. They are not there to rubber stamp decisions. They have to be prepared to give and take and be loyal to decisions taken by the governing body as a whole.

So long as they act within the law governors are protected from any financial liability for the decisions they take.

Finally, the Governing Body is responsible for investigating complaints but usually only after the School's complaints procedure has been exhausted. At Dorchester we always try to resolve a situation before it becomes necessary to investigate the matter formally. Sometimes a simple chat can resolve a situation far more effectively than putting pen to paper! Try to remember that if you have any concerns you should always approach your child's classroom teacher first and then if you are still concerned then please contact the Head teacher who always maintains an 'open door' policy.

For any Governors enquires please write to us c/o Dorchester Primary School, Dorchester Road, Worcester Park, KT4 8PG.

Mrs. Jane Templeman (Co Chair of Governors and Designated Governor for Safeguarding) and Mrs. Janet Carroll (Co Chair of Governors and Deputy Designated Governor for Safeguarding)

Chair of Governors (CoG)