About Us
Governors and Governance
On behalf of the Governors of St Francis of Assisi Catholic College, I would like to offer you a very warm welcome to our school. As a Governing Body, our purpose is to ensure that a high quality of education is being provided, in a safe and nurturing environment. We take responsibility for the strategic development of the school by monitoring progress and challenging the school leadership team to maintain the excellent Catholic ethos, conduct and performance expected at St Francis of Assisi Catholic College. The Governing body are committed to working in partnership with the Head teacher and all school staff to ensure that your child has the best possible experience while they are part of the school community and that they are encouraged and supported to work to, and achieve, their very highest potential. I am one of a number of Foundation Governors, appointed to represent the interests of the Archbishop of Birmingham in respect of maintaining the Catholic life at the centre of our school, as well as welcoming students and families of all faiths and backgrounds. The Governing Body is also made up of parent governors, staff governors and co-opted governors who bring a breadth of experience from a wide range of professional and personal backgrounds including business and industry. The website provides an overview of the wide range of provision provided in the school and I hope you find it useful. We wish your child every success and happiness at St Francis of Assisi Catholic College.
Contacting the Governors
St Francis of Assisi Catholic College
Erdington Road
Aldridge
Walsall
WS9 0RN
The roles of our Governors include
- Understanding their strategic role – building a productive and supportive relationship with the Headteacher while holding her to account for school performance and taking hard strategic decisions in the light of objective data;
- Ensuring they have the necessary skills and commitment, including challenging the school to bring about improvement and hold leaders to account for performance;
- Appointing an effective Chairman to lead and manage the governing body
- Evaluating their performance regularly in the light of Ofsted expectations and other good practice; and
- Making changes as necessary to improve their effectiveness.
This is a demanding role for our volunteer governors who are a group of representatives of parents, staff, the local community, the local authority and the Catholic Church.
Governing bodies are the key strategic decision-making body in every school. It is their job to set the school’s strategic framework. This includes ensuring the school has a long-term strategic vision. The governing body agree the strategic priorities, aims and objectives for the school and sign off the policies, plans and targets for how to achieve them. They check on progress and review regularly their strategic framework for the school in the light of that progress.
Foundation governors, appointed by the Catholic Diocese, have a specific role in preserving and developing the character of the school, including its religious character. They ensure the school is conducted in accordance with the foundations’ governing documents, including the trust deed relating to the school.
Catholic Faith in the School
The School Governors are the strategic leaders of our school and play a vital role in making sure every child gets the best possible Catholic education. That means they don’t get involved in the day-to-day running of the school, that is the job of the Headteacher and the staff, but they do get involved in ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction. They hold the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its students and oversee the financial performance of the school and make sure its money is well spent. Governors uphold and demonstrate Catholic values and virtues at all time – Faith, Hope and Love as well as Justice, Solidarity, Temperance and Courage.
