Welcome to our Governors’ section

At Westgate Primary School, our Governors are proud to serve our school and community to ensure that it is the best possible place to learn for both our staff and pupils.

What is a Governor?

The headteacher at Westgate is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school and ensuring that the policies and strategies agreed with the Governors is implemented. Governors offer strategic guidance, looking at the big picture, rather than getting involved in the  operational aspects of our school.

The school governors are responsible as a body for determining the aims and overall conduct of the school. This includes deciding with the Headteacher how the School should develop in order to sustain and improve its provision. The Governing Body is also responsible for approving the policies, plans and procedures which support the School’s development.

This means:

• we work together as a Governing body to plan the school’s strategic direction.
• we oversee the school’s financial performance, ensuring money is well-spent.
• we have a large number of legal responsibilities, including: ensuring that the National Curriculum is properly delivered, arranging for religious education to be carried out, and approving the many different school policies, such as those referring to behaviour.
• and we hold the headteacher and school leadership to account.

A Governor’s relationship with the school’s leadership team involves challenging existing processes to drive school improvement, usually by asking lots of questions.

How is the Governing body structured at Westgate Community Primary School?

We currently meet as a governing body six times a year, which includes a formal meeting each term. The governing body is chaired by our Chair of Governors, Gareth Russell.  Minutes of Governors' meetings are available in school. 

From September 2023, the whole governing body will meet three times a year, with the following subcommittees meeting at least termly as well to monitor school performance:

• Teaching and Learning
• Finance, Personnel and Premises

The governing body consists of:

• 2 parent governors
• 1 Local Authority (LA) governor
• 1 staff governor
• the Headteacher
• 7 co-opted governors

The total number of governors is 12.

The term of office for all governors is 4 years.

To find out more about becoming a governor, please contact the School Office or visit: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/children-families-and-learning/schools/govern-suffolk

Who is a Governor at Westgate CP School?

If you would like to contact the governors, please do so by either telephoning or emailing the school.

Rev. Gareth Russell – Chair of Governors

Attendance at Governors Meetings 2022 – 2023