Governor Visits Policy

All governing bodies have a statutory responsibility to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the school and its curriculum and there are several ways of fulfilling this requirement: visiting the classroom, accompanying classes on school trips, talking to the class/subject teacher, reading published material, analysing assessment data and attending school functions and governors’ meetings.

All the schools within the Blue Tangerine Federation welcome the governing body’s active involvement in its life. Governors are encouraged to visit during the school day to:

• Advise the whole governing body on its fulfilment of its statutory role;
• Meet with the Executive Headteacher and Heads of School, senior staff, subject leaders, HIP or other members of the Local Authority;
• Improve governor knowledge of the ethos of the school and awareness of the work on the curriculum;
• Observe school policies in action;
• Carry out specific responsibilities on behalf of the governing body for example, health and safety checks;
• Develop governor links with staff, pupils, parents/carers;
• Attend school functions, for example assemblies, social and fundraising events and school trips;
• Assist the leadership team with staff selection, job descriptions, personal specification and interviews where appropriate;
• Highlight the needs for particular resources.

Each governor is allocated a link role and are encouraged to visit the school on a termly basis. When organising and conducting a visit, governors will be courteous and considerate at all times, respecting the professional roles of the staff.

Governors will:

• Agree the date, timing and focus of each visit at least one week in advance with the member of staff involved and notify the Executive Head Teacher as a matter of courtesy;
• Discuss what they have observed with the member of staff and clarify any points they are uncertain about;
• Recognise that any information about any individually named pupil should not form part of the visit or be communicated in any subsequent report; and
• Endeavour to not comment about the lesson, its content or the pupils within the hearing of any pupils. 

It is important to remember that governors' visits are not a form of inspection in terms of making professional judgements about the professional expertise of the teacher.  That remains a task for the Executive Headteacher, the Heads of School and other education professionals.

After the visit governors are encouraged to complete a Governor Visit Report to be shared with the governing body at the next full meeting (see appendix 1).  Completed reports should be sent to the relevant member of staff for agreement before being uploaded to the Governor Visits Folder in Governor Hub.

Governor Visits form an essential part of our governance - seeing first hand and asking the questions to challenge and support the teams working in and across our schools to ensure our pupils get the best quality of work and expertise.