The purpose of governance is to provide confident and strong strategic leadership which leads to robust accountability, oversight and assurance for performance. In schools, this is the governing body, which is responsible for scrutiny of decisions made in school and for driving improvement, and the processes and policies which allows the school to work effectively and appropriately.

As a school within a multi-academy trust, responsibility for the governance of The Priory School ultimately is with the Board of Trustees of The 3-18 Education Trust.  In common with all the Trust schools, The Priory School has a Local Governing Body (LGB), which is technically defined as a committee of the Trust Board.

The powers defining the legal relationship between The Priory School and The 3-18 Education Trust, together with the delegation of general powers within the Trust, are set out in a document called the Scheme of Delegation and can be found here.

In summary, the role of the LGB is to:

• provide advice to the Trustees on the functioning of the school;
• act as a key link between the Trust, parents and the school community;
• act as a sounding board for the Headteacher and offer challenging but positive support to the Headteacher;
• continually review the overall impact of the school; and
• assist with and review the implementation of certain school policies, such as student admissions and behaviour.

The LGB has the following core responsibilities:

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

All Local Governors agree to a Governance Code of Conduct which sets out the expectations of and commitment required.  A copy of the Governance Code of Conduct can be found here.

There is a Role Description for Local Governors.  A copy can be found here.

 The Chair of the LGB can be contacted through the School or the Governance Professional

The Governance Professional is: Ms Carole Warner and can be contacted by email:  carole.warner@318education.co.uk or by post

The Priory School, Longden Road, Shrewsbury SY3 9EE