Welcome to St Francis Local Governing Body

Effective governance is vital to any successful school and the Department for Education Governance Handbook identifies three core functions for governing bodies:

• Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
• Holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the organisation and its pupils, and the effective and efficient performance management of staff; and
• Overseeing the financial performance of the organisation and making sure its money is well spent.

 St Francis Local Governing Body

The School Governors are volunteers who give their time and expertise free of charge to ensure that the school is run well, within budget and putting the needs and well-being of pupils and staff at the forefront. They come from varied backgrounds and represent different groups within the community. Their brief is to assist the school’s Leadership Team with the management of the school and to ensure that the distinctive Catholic nature of the school is maintained. The governing body works in close partnership with the leadership team, staff, and the Diocese. Whilst the leadership team is, of course, responsible for the day-to-day running of the school, the governors are involved with such things as staffing, curriculum, school buildings, finance and admissions. In addition to attending local governing body meetings, governors are also expected to join at least one committee. There are four main committees at St Francis:

• Steering
• Admission.
• Resources – including three sub committees – Pay; Personnel; Performance Management.
• Standards.

The Chair of St. Francis Local Governing Body is:  Mr J Elwell and he can be contacted at St. Francis Catholic Primary School, Coronation Road, Ascot, SL5 9HG.

St Francis governing body is made up of 10 governors:

• Head Teacher 
• School Business Manager (Ex-Officio)
• One staff governor – a member of staff, elected by the school staff.
• Two parent governors – a parent / carer of a child at the school, elected by parents / carers.
• Six foundation governors – appointed by the diocese, they have an additional specific role in preserving and developing the religious ethos of the school. The Chair of Governors is a Foundation Governor. 

If you would like to find out more about the role of the Governors or if you wish to contact the governors regarding a particular matter, please feel free to contact the Clerk to the Governing Body, via the school office who will be able to direct you to the appropriate governor or committee.

Local Governing Body Information: