A warm welcome from the
St Margaret’s Governing Body!
As members of the local community and parents, we are incredibly proud to be the Co-Chairs of Governors for St Margaret's.
Like many other schools, our Ofsted rating of Good reflects our story of consistent improvement. What differentiates St Margaret’s however, is our people. The children who we are so lucky to have in our care are safe, valued, respected and seen as individuals - individuality that is encouraged to develop and grow throughout the formative primary school years. Teachers, Staff and Governors alike do not under estimate the faith you as parents put in us to provide the best possible education for your child and discharge that incredible responsibility with distinction.
Our vision is to provide academic and personal excellence for every child every day which is underpinned by Christian values and Gods guidance. By living those values, we are experienced in welcoming children from al diverse walks of life, from all socio-economic backgrounds, of all faiths and none. We pride ourselves on our belief that every child has the right to access education and learn in a healthy, happy environment conducive to learning academically, but also socially through high quality pastoral care and extra-curricular activities.
St Margaret's has an unbroken record of success in preparing children for secondary education and benefits from strong affiliate links with a wide range of secondary schools In Brighton and Hove and East Sussex, including Cardinal Newman, Longhill, Priory and PCS to name but a few. We have close links with Roedean school and are part of their Junior Roedean Academy programme. Several of our former pupils have transferred to Roedean, LOGs or Brighton College in recent years, the vast majority of which attend there on Scholarships won.
Over recent years 100% of our pupils have been successful in their application for their first choice secondary school. So when the time comes for your child to leave St Margaret’s and continue their journey into secondary education, you can be safe in the knowledge that the freedom to choose the right school for your child is within your gift.
We look forward to welcoming your children into St Margaret’s. I hope you will enjoy watching them flourish and grow throughout their primary education as much as we will.
Vanessa Britton and Paul Redfern
About our governors
The St Margaret's Governing Board meet 5 times a year as a group as well as providing financial scrutiny 3 times a year in a smaller group. The board is made up of 14 governors – 2 Parent Governors, 1 Local Authority Governor, 1 Staff Governor, 1 Headteacher Governor, 1 Co-opted Governor and 8 Foundation Governors.
Governors work with senior leaders in setting the strategic direction of the school and in raising standards of achievement. We have a strong focus on three core strategic functions:
- Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction.
- Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils, and the performance management of staff.
- Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its money is well spent.
Governors both support and challenge the Headteacher, so need to gain an understanding of the school’s overall performance in order to explain its decisions and actions. We do this by attending regular meetings, carrying out school visits and meeting with senior leaders. We also attend training in order to keep up to date with the requirements of our role. We work as a team and make collective decisions.
What is the role of a school governor?
Our school need committed and engaged governors from a range of backgrounds, who can bring different insights and experiences to their governing boards. School governors make sure the school provides good quality education for all children. When you become a school governor you'll become a member of the school governing board. School governors work with the headteacher and senior leadership team to set the school's vision, aims and objectives.
Duties include:
- making plans for the school's future
- being accountable for the school's performance
- making decisions about money and the school's budget
- appointing the headteacher
In this set of short videos, local governors describe what they do and the benefits they bring to the school and community.
A link to the schools financial benchmarking can be found here
Current Vacancies
There are currently vacancies for 1 Co-opted Governor and 2 Foundation Governors. We are interested from hearing from our local community if they are interested in these roles. We are also looking for associate members with specific Finance or HR experience to support our Finance and Resources Committee. If you are interested in becoming a governor or would like to request attendance and/or minutes of the governing board meetings please contact our clerk Michelle McCann on michellemccann@stmargarets.brighton-hove.sch.uk
