Governance

The main task for governing bodies is to promote high standards of educational achievement. The three key roles that governors fulfil in order to achieve that goal are defined by the Department for Education as:
•  to contribute to strategic planning
•  to be a critical friend to the school (i.e to support and challenge the school)
•  to ensure accountability.

Please click here for the latest Governors Handbook published by the DfE.

To read our code of conduct for governors please click here.

Meetings
Governors are required to attend meetings. There must be at least three full governing body meetings per year and failure to attend for any six-month period could result in disqualification.

Working with the governing body
As a governor, you must work as members of the governing body for the best interests of the school. This involves asking questions on a range of matters, perhaps when you are visiting the school or during a meeting. It also means contributing your opinions to the discussions of the governing body and accepting the majority view, which may not always reflect your own opinion.

School activities
You must show an interest in school activities. This means the everyday work of the school as well as special events. Find out as much as you can about Grove school. There really is no better way of finding out about your school than by visiting during working hours; as a new governor you will be invited to spend a day in school. Governors are expected to make an advance arrangement with the headteacher if they are intending to visit.

If you are interested in becoming a School Governor at Grove or in another Birmingham school please click here for more information.

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Governors statement  2024 - 2025

Our school vision is:  Enjoy, learn, achieve

Our Grove Expectations are:
• We are kind and don’t hurt others or their feelings
• We respect all property
• We always try to do our best
• We are honest and tell the truth
• We are good listeners and thoughtful speakers
• We always treat others as we would want to be treated

We expect all pupils, staff, parents, governors and visitors to follow these expectations.

Our school’s aim is:
• To develop character, critical thinking and leadership skills in every child.
• To find out and nurture the talent of each child as they journey through our school.
Education is not only about what takes place in school but is about preparing children for life in the 21st century
As the Governing Body of Grove School we support the leaders of the school in achieving this vision, the schools expectations and aims. 

The core functions of our School’s Governing Body are:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

• Holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;

• Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent;

• Ensuring the voices of the Stakeholders (i.e. Parents, Pupils, Staff and the Local Community) are heard 

The day-to-day management of the school remains the responsibility of the Headteacher and Senior Leadership team. 

 
The structure of our Governing Body

Our governing body consists of 12 members, including the Head Teacher, 1 Staff Governor, 2 parent Governors, 1 Local authority Governor and 7 Co-opted Governors. 

The parent and staff Governors are elected by parents and the staff community whereas the other Governors are appointed by the Governing Body.

All Governors voluntarily give their time and receive regular training to fulfil their role appropriately. Governors are appointed to reflect the relevant skills and expertise needed to support the school in its development within its statutory and legal expectations. 

Our Governing Board has two permanent committees which are: 

• Performance, Standards and Safeguarding
• Finance, Staffing and Premises  

Governors can also be asked to join temporary committees/panels as required, such as recruiting senior positions, dealing with complaints and pupil exclusions. 

The names of the Governors, their meeting attendance record, their declaration of interests and the committees they are appointed to are all on the school website.

 
The work we do as Governors

Our work as Governors of Grove School fulfils our core functions and enables our school to achieve our vision and implement our aims and values. 
We attend the full governing body and a subcommittee each term. 
 
As Governors, we are responsible for: the school premises; admissions; staffing and performance management; health and safety; curriculum; children with SEND; safeguarding and pupil welfare; equality; data protection; policies; complaints; exclusions; and finance. We have strategic oversight of these areas, but the day-to-day running of the school is carried out by the Headteacher. To fulfil our strategic duties, we hold leaders to account through our scrutiny and questioning of the reports provided at full Governing Body and committee meetings. 

All our Governors are linked to a specific area of the school curriculum or school life, and visits to the school give us a deeper understanding of the work of the school. We make regular visits to the school. We provide written reports of our visits to the senior leadership team and Governing Board. These reports can be found on the school website: https://web.grove.bham.sch.uk/governance

In our meetings we approve and review policies and major expenditure. We have been involved in the recruitment of senior staff. We manage the performance of the Headteacher. We also hold the Headteacher and all leaders to account to ensure all pupils achieve their absolute best in all subjects and aspects of school life. We do this by our scrutiny and questioning of all reports from senior leaders, curriculum leaders, the site management team and the finance team. We report on what we do and observe when we join leaders, teachers and pupils on link visitor days.

The governing body review the views of the stakeholders through the questionnaire completed by pupils, parents and staff, all of which have been extremely positive.

Our plans for the academic year September 2022 – July 2023 were:

• To support leaders to improve pupil attendance

• To support leaders to raise attainment in writing at the end of key stage 1 mathematics at the end of key stage 1 & 2

• The further development of the curriculum

• Refurbishment of the nursery toilets

• The continuation and further development of the afterschool clubs.

We are pleased to inform you of our success in achieving and implementing these plans.

Attendance

Whole school attendance (from September 2023 – July 2024) was 93.6%. Nationally attendance in primary schools was 94.5%.

Whole school attendance is improving and persistent absence has reduced but remains higher than primary schools nationally ( Grove 18.3%, national 15.2%)

Raise attainment in writing at the end of key stage 1
Raise attainment in mathematics at the end of key stage 1 & 2

Writing

The leadership of writing has led to significant improvements in attainment at the end of Key Stage 1. The leader for writing has worked with consultants to the benefit of the pupils and diligent tracking of pupil progress, in writing, throughout the year has made sure all teachers know and understand what makes for good writing.

Mathematics

The leadership of mathematics has led to improved outcomes in maths at the end of Key Stage One and Key Stage two The training that staff have received has been excellent and it has supported them in embracing new approaches to teaching and learning. Our work with external consultants has benefitted the development of mathematics. The achievements of the children at the end of Key Stage One have improved and for the children at the end of Key Stage Two the improvement has been significant. Our achievements in the Multiplication Check remain consistent.

The Curriculum

The Foundation Subjects are well taught at Grove and are a strength of the school. Leaders of curriculum areas have carried out excellent training for staff and tracked the children’s progress with teachers. Learning has been brought to life by the superb visits and visitors.

Below are a few examples of some of these experiences:

Nursery
Our walk around Handsworth and Living eggs

Reception
Handsworth Park and the Animal Man

Year 1
Happening History – Victorian Toys and Twycross Zoo

Year 2
Blakesley Hall and Plants Parent Workshop

Year 3
The Past Presents – Iron Age Workshop and Wroxeter Roman City

Year 4
Hands on Science Teeth workshop and The Brighouse residential

Year 5
Whitemore Lakes and Egyptian Workshop

Year 6
London residential including Harry Potter World and The Museum of Cannock Chase

Nursery toilets

The Nursery toilet refurbishments were completed successfully and have improved the facilities for the pupils.

After-school Clubs

The range of after school clubs and the number of pupils participating in clubs has expanded; the interests and talents of pupils are fostered and encouraged.

 

Priorities for 2024-2025

The Governing Body have three main priorities next year, which are below; within each priority there are actions that will take place to achieve them.

Priority 1
To maintain and sustain the passion for learning and teaching of both pupils and staff so that all pupils are prepared for life in the 21st century.
The Governing Body will support leaders to develop:
• the children’s ability to effectively proof-read and edit their writing.
• The teaching of mathematics as we enter the developing year of Maths Mastery.

Priority 2
Build a culture that everyone understands they have a leadership role to play in the school; all staff and pupils.
The Governing Body will support leaders to develop:
• the establishment of the Grove School bank.
• the expansion and development of the leadership roles for pupils in school.
• curriculum leaders monitoring and reviewing of the impact of their curriculum area every term with a pupil leadership team.

Priority 3
To support and develop the physical, social and emotional well-being of the whole school community.
The Governing Body will support leaders to develop:
• the My Happy Minds programme for all pupils and evaluate the impact of this programme through pupil voice.
• their continued engagement with the Attendance Hub to share information about new and different initiatives to address absence and improve attendance.
• the implementation of Beacon School’s parenting support programme to help and support our parents.

For more details please refer to Grove School's 3 Year Strategic Plan by clicking here

Governors continue to be proactive in their role through link governor visits which provides them with a deeper insight into the work of the school. We are a smaller but highly effective Governing Body; the work of the board was reflected in our OFSTED report.
 

Attendance Record and Recruitment of Governors 

Governing Body meetings are well attended which enables the business of the Governing body to run smoothly and effectively. 

How you can contact us 

We are always happy to hear from our parents and staff members and if you wish to get in touch with us then please contact the Chair of Governors, Mr Kamran Arshad, via the school office. 

If any parent or local community person is interested in joining the Governing Body or would like more information about the Governing Body, please do not hesitate to contact us via the school office.

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For the 2023/24 Pecuniary Register and governor attendance at meetings,  please click here.

 

Click the following links to read the link governor reports:

Link governor report - safeguarding

Link governor report - health and safety

Link governor report - mathematics

Link governor report - reading & personal development

Link governor report - mathematics January 2024

Link governor report - Leadership in reading and writing February 2024

Link governor report - SEND March 2024

 

Our Governing Body

 

Co-Opted Governors

Mr Kamran Arshad- Chair of Governors

(Finance, Staffing, Pay & Premises)

Mrs Ingrid Hines - Vice Chair of Governors

(Finance, Staffing, Pay & Premises Committee)

Ms Ruth Tonkinson

(Finance, Staffing, Pay & Premises Committee)

(Performance, Standards and Safeguarding Committee)

Miss Nikita Sowan

(Finance, Staffing, Pay & Premises Committee)

(Performance, Standards, and Safeguarding Committee)

Mr Denis Campbell - Roberts

(Performance, Standards and safeguarding Committee)

 

LA Representative

Mr Raj Kumar

(Performance, Standards and Safeguarding Committee)

Mr Adrian Axinte

(Performance, Standards and Safeguarding Committee)

 

Staff Governor

Mr Daniel Parton

(Performance, Standards and Safeguarding Committee)

 

Parent Governor

Mrs Noreen Akhtar

(Performance, Standards and Safeguarding Committee)

Mrs Saima Rashid

(Performance, Standards and safeguarding Committe)

Head Teacher

Ms J Baker