School Governors
The village school is a vital part of the local community and the Governing Body plays an important role in ensuring the school continues to build on the success that the Headteacher and her staff have worked so hard to achieve.
The formal role of the Governing Body is to play an important part in the strategic leadership of the school, working with the Headteacher, and to hold the Head to account. In this section you will find a number of pages with more information about the membership and work of the Governing Body.
If you have Comments, Concerns or Compliments (CCC) you would like to pass on to the school and the Governing Body, please do pass on your feedback. If you have any matters you wish to raise with the Chair of Governors, Mr Jamie McStocker, please post a letter (addressed to the Chair of Governors) to the school office or email , marking it for the attention of the Chair of Governors. Thank you.
Welcome from our Chair of Governors, Jamie McStocker
On behalf of the Governing Body may I welcome you to information about our school governors that you may find useful. Our aim and the focus of all our work is to ensure each child receives a good education through effective teaching and the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum.
Presently Middle Barton Primary School has 9 governors who may have been appointed by the Local Authority or voted for by the parents of the school or recruited from the community because of skills they are able to offer to the Governing Body.
What is the Core Function of the Governing Body?
The Governing Body is the strategic leader of the school. The main focus of our work is to promote high standards of educational achievement in our school. We aim to build a co-operative, productive and supportive relationship with the head teacher- to ensure that every child gets the best possible education according to their own specific needs. We want the children to achieve their potential through a rich and varied curriculum that develops them as confident, hardworking and creative pupils. We ensure that the school is accountable to the children and parents and to the local community for the quality of the education provided, as well as caring for the professional development of all the staff who work in the school.
We focus upon three core functions:
Firstly, to ensure the school has a clear vision of what it wants to achieve for the children and where the curriculum is appropriate and relevant to all the children’s different needs. We work with the head teacher to ensure that a clear message about the ethos of the work of the school is shared with all who work and learn there, together with its parents and carers and that it is an ethos that is positive, hardworking, caring and inclusive. Most importantly we set the strategic direction in all actions of the school.
Secondly, to hold the head teacher to account for the educational performance of the school and all the pupils. This also includes the performance management of the staff.
Thirdly, to oversee the financial performance of the school to make sure its money is spent wisely and well.
The Governing Body
The Governing Body meets ten times over the course of the year. Meetings are clerked by a trained professional clerk. All governors attend these meetings, usually in the early evening. At these meetings we set aims and objectives for the year ahead, we set targets for improvement and discuss areas of concern and plan how any required action will happen. In following meetings we monitor the outcomes of those actions. Our focus is to continuously search for improvements in the educational experience provided for the children.
Composition of the Governing Body
The Head Teacher
6 Co-Opted Governor
3 Parent Governors
1 Staff Governor
You can find out more about all of our governors by clicking this link
Dates and minutes for the Full Governing Body Meetings
22 September 2016
24 November 2016
26 January 2017
23 March 2017
25 May 2017
12 July 2017
28th September 2017
16th October 2017
13th November 2017
14th December 2017
18th January 2018
8th March 2018
26th April 2018
24th May 2018
21st June 2018
19th July 2018
When minutes have been agreed by the Full Governing Body they are filed and available on request at the school office.
Individual Governor Responsibility:
Each governor takes responsibility for aspects of the school’s work.
Governing Body Newsletters
We produce a newsletter each term which keeps you informed of the important work of the governing body. Please click the link below to access these:
Autumn Term 2016
Addressing the public sector equality duty - click here to find out more....
Becoming a Middle Barton School Governor
As a Governing Body we aim to recruit members who have the necessary skills and commitment to support and challenge the school to bring about improvement and we choose candidates who are able to understand the demands of school leadership, who are supportive and appreciative of the breadth of responsibilities of school leadership and at the same time are able to hold the Head teacher to account for the school’s performance.
As a parent or carer in our school you may wish to support the school as a governor. All governors must be elected or appointed. When we have a vacancy for a Parent Governor we will inform you through the school newsletter. I would always wish to meet with you to discuss the role before you put yourself forward for election. More information can be requested from the school office or from the Chair of Governors, Jamie McStocker at CoG@middle-barton.oxon.sch.uk
Further information about the work of governors can be found at Oxford County Council at
