SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

Chair of Governors - Mr Paul Goddard

Welcome                                                                                                                   

Welcome from the Oak Cottage Governors.  My name is Paul Goddard and I am pleased to be the current Chair of the Governing Body.

The governors are volunteers who are committed to the ethos of our school and ensuring that every child has the best possible experience while they are at Oak Cottage.  Getting this right is really important as it means our children will be fully prepared for when they move on to the challenges of secondary school. It has three core strategic functions:

• ensuring the clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction of the school
• holding the headteacher to account for the educational performance  of the school and its pupils
• overseeing financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent

                                                             See Terms of Reference below

How we operate

Our role is often described as one of a “critical friend”, governors support both the headteacher and staff and challenge in a constructive way.

We hold monthly governing body meetings where all issues can be discussed by all governors. Benefits of regular monthly meetings include faster turnaround of actions, no repetition of other committee meetings/minutes and everyone up to speed on everything. Meetings are held on a regular day in the month, with unfinished business carried forward to next month's meeting.

Our Governors - We have fourteen positions for governors on our Governing Body:

1 Local Education Authority Governor – appointed by Solihull MBC - Mr D Price

1 Staff Governors – elected by the school staff -  Mrs C Wilson

1 Staff Governor - ex-officio- Mr R Marshall  (Headteacher)

4 Parent Governors – elected by parents -Mrs Kemp, Dr Holland, Mr Dainty and Dr Henderson

7 Co-opted Governors – appointed by the governing body for skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school - Mr Goddard, Mr Baptiste, Mrs Hendry , Mrs Stone, Mrs Deffley and Mrs Tarpey.

The clerk to the governing body is Mrs Lesley Bullivant. If you would like to contact a school governor please contact the school office on 0121 704 9123.

Interested in becoming a governor?

If you are interested in becoming a governor at Oak Cottage or would like to know more about the role, please contact Mrs Bullivant in the school office.  Please find eligibility/disqualification information below and Governors Code of Conduct.

Appointments are carried out in accordance with the governing body's instrument of governance.

Review of academic year 2020-21

The coronavirus pandemic dominated the school year but thanks to the dedication and co-operation of our staff the school was able to meet all the government’s requirements and stayed open throughout. Pupil attendance was amongst the highest in the Borough and very little time was lost, thanks to effective management of class bubbles and the rigorous application of health, safety and wellbeing measures.

As with many members of our community, IT played a much more important part in our daily lives, from remote teaching for our children to virtual parents’ evenings and staff meetings.

In our small school every member of staff worked tirelessly and flexibly to support the children and each other. Teaching professionals, pupils, parents and carers embraced remote leaning. Teaching and Learning Assistants delivered lessons in school whilst teachers worked from home preparing the lessons. Everyone looked after each other. Everyone helped with the cleaning!