The School
Cobham Primary School is a family-focused, one form entry, maintained primary school in the village of Cobham. Its 216 pupils are drawn from Cobham, Sole Street and the area directly north of the A2, cover a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds and include a number of children with special education or medical needs. Rated at Outstanding in our last Ofsted inspection 11 years ago, we are currently awaiting our next inspection.
The Governing Body
Alongside the headteacher, Cobham Primary’s governing body has overall responsibility for the running of the school. Governors help in deciding school policies, allocating the school’s budget and appointing staff and are responsible for holding the senior leadership team to account and providing appropriate debate, both of which in turn lead to better educational outcomes for our children.
The members of the governing body all share a keen interest and pride in the school, uphold its ethos – Caring, Proud and Successful. They have what is best for the children and the forefront of all the decisions and challenges they make.
The Commitment
The full governing body meet at least once a term, with sub-committees focused on Quality of Education and Buildings & Finance meeting on average three times a year. In addition, governors are expected to carry out monitoring visits and training to develop knowledge in and keep up to date with all areas of governance. They are also encouraged to be visible part of school life by attending selection of events throughout the year, these may include, for example, sports day, school performances or school council. Each governor takes on a specific focus area, for example Safeguarding, Early Years Foundation Stage, Special Education Needs, Health and Safety, English, but all governors need to have an overview of all areas.
The Person
No special qualifications are needed to be a Governor, you can be any age (over 18) and do not need to have children, but must pass a DBS check (organised by the school). We just ask for a commitment and desire to invest some of your time and experience, into helping provide the best possible education and opportunities for the children of Cobham Primary School – present and future.
The Role
In each academic year a governor must:
Commit to six full governing body meetings of up to 2hrs and three committee meetings of c.1.5hrs per academic year.
Carry out three monitoring visits or learning walks in school at times mutually agreed, but so as not to inconvenience the teaching staff, focussing on a predetermined area improvement.
Attend one full school assembly, lasting half an hour, and taking place four times a week.
Undertake sufficient training (6 – 10hrs) to develop their knowledge and keep up to date in all areas of school governance, including safeguarding – this is currently mostly online.
Attend a small selection of other events during school hours to gain a full picture of school life and become an active member of the school community.
In return we can offer the opportunity to:
Make a difference in the educational life of local children and their families.
Develop transferable skills and benefit from free training.
Become part of a proactive and caring team.
Gain experience that employers recognise as being valuable.
Give something back to the community in which you live.
Vacancies
There are currently no vacancies on our board of governors.
If you would like to register your interest for future vacancies please contact Chair of Governors, Kate Cresswell, who will be happy to talk to you.